In Christian teaching, Jesus’ command to “pick up your cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24) but Carrying your cross differs for Catholics and Protestants. It is central to understanding how believers should live their lives. This call to carry one’s cross represents a path of discipleship, sacrifice, and perseverance in the face of suffering. However, how this teaching is interpreted and lived out varies between Catholic and Protestant traditions. While both emphasize faith in Christ, Catholicism emphasizes active participation in carrying one’s cross as part of salvation. In contrast, many Protestant traditions focus on salvation through faith alone, with less emphasis on personal suffering and sacrifice as necessary components of spiritual growth.
The Catholic Understanding: Embracing Suffering and Participation
In Catholic teaching, “picking up your cross” is not merely a metaphorical concept—it is a call to actively participate in the redemptive suffering of Christ. Catholics believe that following Christ means imitating His willingness to endure hardship, even death, for the sake of others. This concept is deeply rooted in Catholic spirituality and theology, which holds that suffering can have redemptive value when united with Christ’s own suffering on the cross.
The Catholic Church teaches that through our own crosses—whether they be physical suffering, emotional struggles, or life’s challenges—believers are invited to participate in Christ’s redemptive work. This is not to suggest that human suffering is required for salvation but that suffering can be a means of drawing closer to God, offering our pain for the good of others, and growing in holiness. This belief is seen in practices like offering up one’s sufferings for the souls in purgatory or as penance for sins.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
“By his passion and death on the cross, Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion” (CCC 1505).
In this view, carrying one’s cross is integral to the Christian life. It aligns with the broader Catholic understanding that faith must be lived out through works (James 2:14-26), which includes enduring trials, embracing sacrifices, and offering these struggles to God in union with Christ’s suffering.
The Protestant Perspective: Salvation by Faith Alone
In contrast, many Protestant traditions interpret Jesus’ command to “pick up your cross” through the lens of *sola fide*—the belief that salvation comes by faith alone. Protestants emphasize that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is sufficient for the salvation of all who believe in Him. This teaching, particularly championed by reformers like Martin Luther, focuses on the complete and total sufficiency of Christ’s work on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, without the need for human works or additional acts of suffering to achieve salvation. Listen to why this Protestant says you should not even make the sign of the cross.
For many Protestants, “picking up your cross” is understood as a call to live a life of obedience to Christ, but it does not hold the same redemptive connotation that it does in Catholicism. The cross, in Protestant theology, represents the acceptance of Christ’s lordship and a willingness to follow Him, often in the face of opposition, hardship, or persecution. However, there is a strong emphasis that such suffering is a byproduct of faith, not a contributing factor to salvation. This is derived from the erroneous Reformation principle that salvation is a gift from God, received through faith, and not something earned or enhanced through personal effort or suffering.
Ephesians 2:8-9 emphasizes this idea:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
While Protestants agree that a Christian life may involve hardships, they view these challenges as a test of faith rather than a form of participation in Christ’s redemptive work. Salvation, from this perspective, is entirely reliant on the finished work of Christ on the cross, and human suffering has no role in contributing to one’s salvation.
Points of Convergence and Divergence
While both Catholic and Protestant perspectives affirm the need for faith in Christ and recognize that the Christian life involves sacrifice, the role and purpose of suffering differ between the two. Catholics see suffering as a way to unite with Christ’s passion and contribute to spiritual growth, while Protestants typically view suffering as a consequence of following Christ, with no salvific value in itself.
Convergence:
– Both traditions agree that discipleship involves self-denial and a willingness to face hardship.
– Jesus’ call to “pick up your cross” is a command to follow Him, despite the costs.
Divergence:
– Catholicism teaches that human suffering, when offered in union with Christ, has redemptive value.
– Protestantism emphasizes that salvation is by faith alone, and suffering is not a part of the salvific process but rather a result of living a life obedient to Christ.
Conclusion
The teaching of Christ to “pick up your cross” is a powerful reminder of the demands of Christian discipleship. For Catholics, this means an active participation in Christ’s suffering, seeing value in offering up one’s trials in union with Christ for the redemption of the world. For many Protestants, this teaching points to the call to follow Christ, trusting in His grace alone for salvation, while recognizing that faith may lead to hardship. Both perspectives call Christians to a life of dedication and self-denial, though they understand the nature and purpose of suffering in different ways.
By examining these perspectives, we see how the same scriptural command can be understood in diverse ways, shaped by different theological frameworks but united in their reverence for Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross.
References:
– Catechism of the Catholic Church, Section 1505. Read online here
– The Bible, Matthew 16:24, James 2:14-26, Ephesians 2:8-9.
– Martin Luther, “The Freedom of a Christian,” on justification by faith alone.