The Way of the Cross in an Age of Civic Religion
How grace and costly discipleship collide, why civic religion avoids the cross and what it means to reclaim the Way of Jesus in our neighborhoods.
The Cost of the Narrow Way
One of the things I’ve been struggling with lately is how to hold together two truths: the unmerited favor of God and the Narrow Way of Jesus. God’s love is completely free. It demands nothing from us. Nothing. Yet the Narrow Way demands everything. It calls us: Come and die. How can these two realities be held together?
Because here’s the truth: if we don’t choose the Way of Jesus, we will inevitably be swept along by the louder voices of civic religion. Neutrality isn’t possible: the wide road always fills the silence with all sorts of alternate ways, all of them leading places other than Jesus. And that’s exactly what we see happening all around us: people think they have a choice about Jesus and where he leads.
The tragedy is that civic religion has become the loudest, most dominant voice within American Christianity. This is what I’ve been attempting to describe on Wednesday nights during my book study. As we’ve read Brennan Manning’s The Ragamuffin Gospel, we’ve paused to wrestle with what discipleship means in light of God’s free grace. If you haven’t read the text, you should consider doing so. I knew of it before, but reading it with others has unsettled me in new ways.
In fact, last week I admitted to the group that I’ve been more angry lately (I think that was pretty obvious to them). The book has stirred something and recent events, like the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the people’s response, has stoked my anger to new levels. Coming to terms with my feelings, I realize now that my anger is in response to the grotesque grasp of civic religion. The predation seems too easy because most who claim Jesus have but an elementary faith. As such, it becomes easy to prey on the masses. And so I was fired up Wednesday night and I sense that Jesus could benefit from more being angry.
But why?
Because civic religion has traded away the cost of discipleship for a cheap alternative that misses Jesus altogether. In a day where people crave prosperity, ease and peace it’s easy to make Jesus a genie willing to grant us our wishes. In a country that is divided like never before, Jesus can easily become something he is not. I wish this weren’t so. I wish we could just have Jesus unadulterated. But it isn’t so.
And so I’m left with a set of questions that won’t go away:
What does Jesus demand from those who claim him? Who is Jesus?
Pause and answer that for yourself. What does Jesus demand from us as disciples? Jot it down. Share it in the comments. I want your thoughts.
Why Civic Religion Never Asks the Question
What I’ve recognized is that civic religion almost never speaks of discipleship. At least I’ve never heard it. Pop Christianity will not, or cannot, talk about the Narrow Way.
Why not?
Because the Narrow Way of Jesus cannot be understood through political lenses. Many “Christian” talking heads are more concerned with trans people, the border, “the family,” or “making America Christian,” than with Jesus. Their agenda misses the purpose of Jesus in the same way the powerful religious leaders missed him in his own day because they were too enamored with political facades. Jesus and empire did not mix back then and they never will. Yet, civic religion keeps trying. But in the end, you have to choose: Jesus, or something that isn’t Jesus at all.
I choose Jesus. I hope you will too.
The Loudest Voice Isn’t the Truest Voice
The tragedy is that civic religion has become the loudest, most dominant voice in American Christianity. For many of our neighbors, this is Christianity. That’s hard to stomach and they’ll never accept it. Because it means the only Jesus they know is a political mascot.
That’s why I believe this is a pivotal time. Followers of Jesus must differentiate themselves from civic religion. We must be clear on what discipleship actually means.
So think about the voices you hear on Facebook, TikTok, or X. Do they speak of Jesus’ death and resurrection? Do they call us to love our neighbors and our enemies? Or do they thrive on antagonism and cultural outrage?
Civic religion preaches a “bootstrap Jesus,” one that pits Christians against its neighbors and does not allow for mutuality. Yet, the Way of Jesus always leads to the cross and three days later, to resurrection. If you’re not hearing about death and resurrection, you should stop and ask why not.
Differentiating from Civic Religion: Discipleship, the Church, and Hospitality
As disciples, we must be clear: God’s love is unconditional and free, yes. But taking on the name of Jesus raises the stakes. The Way of Jesus demands everything. Full stop.
This is what I’ve been reflecting on as we’ve worked through Manning’s book. Manning captures the scandalous love of God, but he leaves unsaid the hard edge of Jesus’ teaching: take up your cross. That call cannot be ignored.
Here’s where the neighborhood church comes in. Our calling is hospitality. Jesus revealed God’s grace most clearly at the table: with outcasts, sinners, tax collectors, and the unwanted. He didn’t come to judge the world but to establish a Kingdom marked by radical love. God showed up in flesh, and it looked like sitting at tables.
So this is our model. As disciples, we embody grace by sitting at tables in our neighborhoods. We offer unconditional love. But we also name the Narrow Way. Because the table isn’t just where Jesus loved people, it’s where discipleship begins. Around the table, the Kingdom takes root.
God With Us in Flesh and Blood
As such, God-with-us isn’t simply an idea. It’s the most real thing there is. And following Jesus requires both tenderness and clarity, the finesse of holding grace and cost together.
If we live this way, I believe many who don’t yet claim Jesus will see something compelling. Because while civic religion bombards us with antagonism, people are hungry for the real thing. They’re waiting for a Jesus who both loves unconditionally and demands the whole of their lives. While this may seem at odds with what we’ve heard about church decline and about how people don’t care about God anymore, I sense something else altogether. People are hungry to hear that something or someone demands something that costs. That someone is Jesus. Don’t deny people this calling.
We must allow the Gospels to disrupt us. When we surrender to Jesus’ cross-shaped way and call others to do likewise, the Good News becomes flesh again, in us. And as we give ourselves to one another and to our neighbors, God shows up in powerful ways.
Transformation is still possible, but only if we choose it. Only if we resist the wide road of civic religion and take up the Narrow Way of Jesus. Grace is free, but discipleship costs everything. The table of Jesus is still set and we, everyone, are still invited. The question is whether we will come as we are and stay to be changed.
Amen and amen.
Only the best,
Andrew S Dungan, EdD