Scandal of the Cross

Following Christ, which has become possible through his self-surrender, will not consist in doing some right thing but in fundamentally surrendering everything, and surrendering it to the God who has totally emptied himself, so that he can use [that right thing] for the world, according to his own purposes.

The life of Christ is the center of our participation. Theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar writes "The scandal of the cross cannot be removed by further theoretical discussion but only by praxis, which is twofold: it is a decisive step into the future, beyond the baneful barriers set up by doctrine, and it is also a return to Christianity’s authentic and original meaning: God shows his truth to us through acting.” As the apostle Paul tells us, we should "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Philippians 2.12-13).

The world is God’s theater of glory; it is the place for humanity’s performance in Christ through the Spirit. Faithfulness to the performance of God recognizes that Christianity is praxis. It tells us how we should act not simply what we should believe.