What I am about to share with you really isn’t a secret. Now, I know it may seem like a secret in the evangelical church today, because so many preachers have reduced the message of the Master to mere moralism. In reality, however, it is only a secret because it has been shrouded in secrecy by Satan himself. The adversary knows if this “secret” gets out, the church will begin to have the impact God has been calling us to have in a fallen and broken world until the day He returns to make all things new.
So what is this secret I am suggesting? CAMP OUT UNDER THE CROSS!
In the seventh chapter of Luke’s gospel, we read about Jesus sitting down to dinner in the home of a Pharisee named Simon. The meal was interrupted by a sinful woman who entered Simon’s house—uninvited—and approached our Lord. We do not know what her sin was, but it was scandalous, and her actions indicate that she was likely a prostitute. What happened next was as shocking as it was supernatural.
I say her actions were “shocking” because religious leaders would not allow any contact with sinful people, yet Jesus let this known sinner anoint His feet with her tears and then wipe them dry with her hair. And if that wasn’t shocking enough, she proceeded to kiss His feet and anoint them with expensive oil.
Her actions were “supernatural” because the humility, contrition, penitence, and godly sorrow she demonstrated could only come as a work of the grace of God.
Simon the Pharisee was scandalized, and Jesus, knowing his thoughts, told him a parable about two debtors. The story concluded with these words: “He who has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47).
Why was the love this sinful woman lavished on our Lord so “over the top”? She understood the difference between a holy God and a sinful woman—the vast difference between Jesus and herself. She recognized that she was indeed a great sinner, but she also knew that Jesus was a greater Savior. And this, dear reader, is the reason why we must “camp out under the cross” each day. When Jesus said those who have been forgiven little love little, He was also saying that those who have been forgiven much love much.
When we don’t camp out under the cross, we shrink the size of the cross and therefore the magnitude of the cross work of Christ. We forget just how sinful we actually are and what our sins cost our Lord. Our lives reflect our forgetfulness. Our love for Jesus grows cold and our zeal for obedience becomes rooted in duty rather than devotion. We become the Pharisee in the story who cannot see his own sin, rather than embodying the unashamed love of the sinful woman who could not see any good in herself apart from Jesus.
Only those who camp out under the cross live lives that are pleasing to God. Only those who camp out under the cross no longer feel the need to pretend they are better than they actually are. Only those who camp out under the cross can hop off the performance treadmill, because they know they are fully accepted by God on account of what Jesus has done for them.
Do you know this today? Does the confession of your life demonstrate your understanding of the gospel by the way you camp out under the cross each day?
When we pitch our tent in the cool shade of the Gospel, we remind ourselves that we are still sinners after we are saved. In far too many churches in America, the truth that we are still sinners has been watered down with moralistic messages designed to change behavior rather than transform the heart. If it wasn’t for sin, behavior modification would be a fine approach! A little extra effort in one area and a little positive affirmation in another and we would be on our way to living lives of happiness and success. But because our hearts are still deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9), lawless (1 John 3:4), ungodly (Romans 4:5), and ultimately dead (Ephesians 2:1), behavior modification is like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg. It looks like you tried to do something, but it’s painfully obvious that your actions are absurdly inadequate.
You see, Satan knows he cannot take the cross away from those who have been rescued by it, so he works feverishly to try to shrink it. When he convinces believers that the cross work of Christ is only for salvation, we disregard it for our sanctification, and we no longer camp out under the cross day by day.
If we see the cross only in the light of eternal life, we will miss its benefit for everyday life. However, when we camp out under the cross we see the incredible forgiveness we have been given by the slain Savior, having been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. Great sinners need an even Greater Savior—and His name is Jesus Christ.
This is the gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 
Pastor Boland,
In your blog, The Strangest Secret, you wrote about how desperately we still need God’s grace because of our sin and you stated our hearts are still….Dead(Ephesians2:1)” You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked”…….and verse 4-5 goes on to say”But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us,even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ….” So as believers we are not still dead but alive even though we still sin because we have been saved by grace. You didn’t mean to say we are still dead, did you?
Dear Colleen,
Thank you for reading the blog so closely. That is a great encouragement to me. You are absolutely right in saying that we are NOT dead, having been raised from death to life by Christ. What I was attempting to communicate was that we are ultimately dead to behavior modification and I can see how that could seem confusing.
The primary point of “camping out under the cross” is that lasting change never happens by changing behavior, it only happens by transformation of the heart, which is the grace of the Gospel.
I hope this helps clarify.
Thank you again.