{"id":32586,"date":"2023-04-25T19:20:06","date_gmt":"2023-04-26T02:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=32586"},"modified":"2023-04-25T19:20:06","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T02:20:06","slug":"hidden-mickeys-and-hidden-crosses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/hidden-mickeys-and-hidden-crosses\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Mickeys and Hidden Crosses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLook Mommy, it\u2019s a Hidden Mickey!\u201d My daughter was no more than eight or nine at the time. She pointed to a knot in the wood on the table at the Hungry Bear Restaurant. I chose not to dash her imagination and tell her that it was not an intentional \u201cHidden Mickey,\u201d it was just the shape of the wood. She would get so excited any time she found one. And it makes me think. What excites me? I recall reading a devotional on the Cross by Judith Couchman in grad school. She wrote, \u201cAt a time when Christians couldn\u2019t display their faith openly, they saw the cross all around them.\u201d[i]<\/sup><\/a> They saw the Cross on a doorframe, on the mast of a boat, in intertwined branches of a tree. How passionate am I about my faith? Do I get more excited about visiting Disneyland and finding Hidden Mickeys than I do about seeing the beauty of God all around me?<\/p>\n

\n

Bebbington\u2019s Four Characteristics of Evangelicalism<\/strong><\/p>\n

What do Hidden Mickeys have to do with Bebbington? When checking out information about Bebbington\u2019s Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/em>, an article from Ouachita Baptist Seminary discussed a lecture by Bebbington. The author wrote, \u201cIn order to define evangelicalism, Bebbington identified four enduring characteristics of the evangelical faith: the Bible, the cross, the concept of \u201cbeing born again\u201d and activism.\u201d [ii]<\/a> The characteristic of \u201cthe cross\u201d stood out to me and reminded me of that moment with my daughter. Bebbington refers to this as \u201ccrucicentrism<\/em>, a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.\u201d[iii]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Cruciformity<\/strong><\/p>\n

If we desire to grow, to flourish, and to be filled with the Joy of the Lord, we cannot afford to be indifferent to the Cross and all it symbolizes. It is central to the Christian message. The symbol that once stood for death and shame now stands for life. We must live the cruciform life. Cruciformity is a term coined by Michael J. Gorman to represent Paul’s understanding of the Cross. \u201cThe life of conformity to the cross \u2013 cruciformity \u2013 that Paul seeks to embody and transmit is as multifacted as the cross itself.\u201d[iv]<\/sup><\/a> The cruciform life is a life focused on the cross of Christ, one that is willing to die daily, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:31.<\/p>\n

\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Clark writes, \u201cEvangelicalism was about being in the world, even whilst it tried not to be; this is its double dynamic. Personal faith as a way of fleeing the world led, in fact, to a way of living in the world.\u201d [v]<\/a> The Cross is the foundation for faith. Apart from the Cross, the Christian life is devoid of meaning. We are able to have a personal faith, and to live in this world because Jesus died for us. We find meaning in His sacrifice. \u201cGod could have chosen any method to save us, but he used the cross. The cross is our spiritual centerpiece, the sign of our soul\u2019s emancipation.\u201d[vi]<\/sup><\/a> When we realize and act upon the significance of the Cross, we follow the footsteps of Paul in living the cruciform life.<\/p>\n

\n

[i]<\/a> \u00a0Judith Couchman, The Mystery of the Cross: Bringing Ancient Christian Images to Life<\/em> (Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2009), 71.<\/p>\n

[ii]<\/a> Rachel Gaddis, \u201cDr. David Bebbington Discusses Evangelical History, Trajectory in Birkett Williams Lecture at Ouachita,\u201d Ouachita Stories, October 22, 2019 https:\/\/obu.edu\/stories\/news\/2019\/10\/22\/dr-david-bebbington-discusses-evangelical-history-trajectory-birkett-williams-lecture-ouachita.php#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20define%20evangelicalism,being%20born%20again%E2%80%9D%20and%20activism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[iii]<\/a> D. W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/em>. (London, Routledge, 1989), 3-4.<\/p>\n

[iv]<\/a> \u00a0Michael J. Gorman, Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross<\/em> (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001), 92.<\/p>\n

[v]<\/a> Jason Clark, \u201cEvangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship\u201d (2018). Faculty Publications \u2013 Portland Seminary, 73.<\/p>\n

[vi]<\/a> Couchman, 22.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLook Mommy, it\u2019s a Hidden Mickey!\u201d My daughter was no more than eight or nine at the time. She pointed to a knot in the wood on the table at the Hungry Bear Restaurant. I chose not to dash her imagination and tell her that it was not an intentional \u201cHidden Mickey,\u201d it was just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2579],"class_list":["post-32586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp01-bebbington-clark","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32587,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32586\/revisions\/32587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}