Sacrifice

I've been thinking about this word lately... sacrifice. Do we have any idea what it really means? We say, "Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice." We mean that He gave His very life so we could live forever. We talk about "giving sacrificially." We mean giving when we really can't afford to give. Do we really understand these concepts?

Jesus--the sinless Son of God in the flesh!--surrendered Himself to be arrested, mocked, spit upon, ridiculed, beaten, and stripped naked. He trudged down a long, dusty road carrying a cross that was so heavy He fell under the weight of it and someone had to help Him lift it back up and carry it for Him. He allowed men who hated Him to drive nails into His hands and hoist Him up on this same rough, wooden cross. His flesh was ripped. His body was pierced. And then He said... "Father, forgive them. They don't even know what they're doing!" Can we really grasp what He did for us?

And then we--especially in America--talk about giving sacrificially. We don't give sacrificially. We give out of our abundance. We may pay our 10% tithe--many Christians don't even do that! And if we do pay our tithes, the 90% we have left is greater than what most people in the world have. Then we fuss and feud if the pastor asks for a special offering to meet a need in the church and accuse him or her of "always asking for money." If we truly gave sacrificially, the pastor wouldn't have to ask for money. The church bank account would be full and we could eliminate social service programs because the Church would be doing her job and meeting the needs of the poor and hungry.

Sacrifice... a hard word. An even harder concept. What do you think about it?