The Cross or The Machine
It’s always the same choice
Big life update: In the early hours of Good Friday, my wife Liz gave birth to our third child, Benjamin! Ben was born in our own home, surrounded by midwives, Liz’s mom, and myself. We are privileged and blessed that it was a safe and healthy pregnancy and birth. I am also grateful to work for an employer that offers paid paternity leave.
The whole experience of watching my wife give birth during Holy Week has left me even more reflective than usual.
As Liz was laboring late on Maundy Thursday evening, I thought of Jesus and his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. They had just eaten the Passover meal together, but now, in the garden, Jesus begins to be distressed and agitated. And he said to his disciples, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” (Mark 14:33-34).
All that Jesus wanted was for the disciples to stay near and pray, while he went and wrestled with the magnitude of what was about to happen to him. In many ways, it was like Jesus was in labor, preparing for the final, wrenching moments on the cross.1
The disciples, however, simply could not stay awake. Three times Jesus asked them to stay awake, and three times he returned from agonizing prayer to see them peacefully sleeping.
I imagined the betrayal he felt in that moment, a smaller betrayal compared to the ones that would come just moments later, but a betrayal nonetheless.
It would be a little like if I saw my wife laboring, and despite knowing she wanted me to stay near, I instead chose to go to a sports bar and order myself a beer and cheeseburger.
Of course, soon enough the mob comes to arrest Jesus—Peter strikes out with a sword (Jesus rebukes him for that), and all the disciples scatter to the winds.
Virtually none of Jesus’ followers choose to stay and wait with him while he endures a sham trial, brutal torture, and public execution over the next twelve hours. The few that do are highlighted prominently in the gospels: Mary, Mary Magdelene, Salome, John, and a couple others. It would have been heart-wrenching, and risky, for these individuals to be present with Jesus at his crucifixion. But they chose to do so.
Perhaps they recalled Jesus’ words, spoken earlier in his ministry:
“If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?” -Mark 8:34-36
In the past weeks leading up to Ben’s due date, I’ve been listening a lot to the new Mumford and Sons album, Prizefighter. Frequently, I find myself in tears. I don’t know why exactly, but the lyrics keep hitting me hard.
One line in particular, from the song “Conversation with My Son (Gangsters & Angels)”, keeps ringing through my head: The lyric is:
The Cross or the Machine / It’s always the same choice .
Here, songwriter Marcus Mumford isn’t saying these two choices are equivalent. He’s saying that in all the ups and downs of human life, ultimately, all the hardest decisions come down to the same dilemma: will we choose the way of the cross, or the way of the machine?2
To be clear, the way of the “machine” is more than just the way of smartphones, suburban sprawl, and AI, although those might count.
The way of the machine is the path of choosing things that are “easier” but ultimately self-serving:
It’s taking the path that is more “efficient” but ultimately dehumanizing.
It’s about eliminating a rival civilization to keep gas prices low.
The machine is about gaining the world…but losing our souls.
The cross, on the other hand, is about the opposite of those things. The way of the cross means embracing sacrifice for the sake of others:
It’s about being willing to lose our own life for the sake of others
It’s about loving our enemies, even as they curse us and kill us
The cross is about losing our life for Jesus’ sake…in order to save it
Honestly, the more I think about it, the theme of the Cross or the Machine comes up time and time again, even in our media franchises:
In Lord of the Rings, the machine of Saruman and Sauron is contrasted with the self-sacrifice of Frodo, Sam, and others.
In Star Wars, the machine of the Empire is contrasted with the scrappy rebels.3
In The Hunger Games, the machine of the Capitol and its elaborate, brutal rituals is contrasted with the austere heroism of the Districts.
I could go on and on. (I also don’t want to over-read into this. It’s just a song lyric.)
But in a world where everyone wants to take a shortcut, Jesus shows us a different way.
The way to find life is not by avoiding pain. (To be clear- it’s also not about pain for pain’s sake. The flagellants were wrong about that.).
The way of life comes from following Jesus, even if it costs us everything. The way of the cross is a little bit like childbirth. It’s painful. It may split us in two. But it’s the only way for new life to enter into the world.
For further reading:
Jesus himself spoke of “the beginning of birthpangs” just days before his Passion began-see Mark 13:8. This metaphor is not far from his mind as he heads to the cross.
Other Christians throughout history have also reflected on the idea of birth and connected it to the cross: see https://artandtheology.org/2020/10/15/hidden-in-the-cleft-artful-devotion/ and:
I can’t be sure, but I wonder if Marcus Mumford was inspired by Paul Kingsnorth ‘s recent book, Against the Machine.
It’s why Darth Vader feels it so important to remove his mask in his dying moments at the end of Episode 6, to look at his son through his own biological eyes instead of the machinery.
Congratulations!! 💕 can’t wait to meet Benjamin!
Welcome, Benjamin! .... Hugs & blessings to you, Andrew, and to Liz and your growing family!