Paul's Cruciform Spirituality

Paul’s Cruciform Spirituality
Michael Downey holds that, “The human spirit is that which is drawn to unfathomable mystery, to which believers call God. And this capacity to be pulled and drawn into mystery abides within each and every human being… Each one is spiritual insofar as each one is, by nature, drawn to mystery”(Downey, 1997, p. 33). Paul’s boundless mystery is the presence of God that was made embodied by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. His cruciform spirituality is demonstrated throughout his letters to new Christian communities. Most of his letters include at least one message in which Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are the foundation. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians and his Letter to the Philippians both exhibit his cruciform spirituality. Paul addresses problems within the Corinthian community and responds to them using the Christ event as the foundation of his message. In his Letter to the Philippians, he emphasizes his cruciform spirituality by encouraging the new Christians in the community to live a life a Jesus had.
Paul’s cruciform spirituality can be seen throughout his First Letter to the Corinthians. While addressing the multitude of problems within the Corinthian community, he puts on emphasis of the Christ event in order to convey his messages.
First, when he is addressing divisions within the community, he puts an emphasis on weakness and foolishness. Paul argues that the Christ event provides an image of weakness and foolishness because Jesus died on the cross, but God raised him from the dead, so there is a deeper power involved. Paul holds that the cross puts under judgment all human ways of looking at things because Jesus was resurrected from the dead.
Next, Paul challenges the Corinthian community to look at their own spirituality and what they value as their ultimate concerns. They value eloquence, worldly wisdom, power, and social prestige. Paul holds that the community is bound to be competitive with these values, so they are not going to see that there is a paradoxical power in shame (the cross). Paul is ultimately trying to move them from a spirituality of glory to a cruciform spirituality.
Then, Paul addresses a problem of lawsuits within the community. He tells the new Christians that they are the chosen people, and at the end of time, they will be on the side of God judging the unclean world. He argues that the fact that they have lawsuits already will defeat them because they are not living out the narrative of Jesus who was not driven by his own self-interest. Paul holds that they are no longer in their pagan world anymore, so they need to stop acting in ways that they did before. His cruciform spirituality emphasizes that they should rather be wronged and defrauded by others, just as Jesus had been, than pursue lawsuits against one another in the community.
When responding to the problem of new Christians within the Corinthian community eating food sacrificed to idols, he addresses the group with knowledge who think they have certain rights and do not care if others are scandalized by their actions. Paul argues that they should act not for themselves, but for others. Here, Paul is emphasizing that his cruciform spirituality leads him away from self-interest. “The spiritual dimension of the person describes the ability that human beings possess which enables them to transcend or break out beyond themselves and the limits of self-isolation, self-preoccupation, and self-absorption” (Downey, 1997, p. 33). Paul states that he is an apostle, and with this status, he can expect certain rights, just as the group with knowledge expects certain rights. Paul argues that although he has this status, he does not take advantage of his rights, but has instead willingly sacrificed them for everyone in order to spread the gospel. Once again, Paul is using Jesus’ narrative to emphasize his cruciform spirituality. Although Jesus was in the form of God and equal with God, he did not regard equality as something to be exploited, and he willingly sacrificed himself for others.
Paul’s cruciform spirituality can also be seeing in his Letter to the Philippians. In this Letter, Paul is encouraging the new Christians within the Philippian community to act as Christ had by imitating his actions.
Paul is writing the Letter from prison, and is possibly facing the death penalty or contemplating suicide so that he can more perfectly be with Christ. “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain… I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in flesh is more necessary for you” (Philippians, 1:21,23). The fact that Paul does not give in to his own desire to die for the sake of others illustrates his very cruciform spirituality.
Then, Paul holds that the new Christians in the community should imitate Christ’s humility. “… Make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…” (Philippians, 2:2-5). Here, Paul is emphasizing his cruciform spirituality by encouraging the Philippians to live out the Jesus narrative.
Paul also uses the Christ Hymn to encourage the new Christians within the Philippian community to live a self-sacrificial life as Jesus had. Working on the model of pre-existence, Paul holds that Jesus emptied himself of high status. Because he emptied himself, he became human and died a shameful death on the cross in an act of obedience. There is first a downward movement of humiliation where he is not regarded as equal and he dies a shameful death. Then, there is an upward movement of glorification. God exalts him because he emptied himself, and gives him cosmic authority.
Paul uses the Christ Hymn as a teaching moment; for the Philippians to act as Jesus did. He is giving the Philippians a model of how they are to live using the Jesus narrative. The Hymn suggests the most shameful moment is an honorable one because God exalts one who is put to death on the cross because of his obedience. Although Jesus had once been in the form of God, he did not exploit his equality, but instead emptied himself in his obedience to God. Jesus willingly gave up his status for the sake of God and others, and the life that he lived led him to ultimate recognition from God.
Paul utilizes his cruciform spirituality in delivering his gospel message to the new Christians within the Corinthian and Philippian communities. In his Letters to these communities, he emphasizes that they are the chosen and beloved people of God, and that they need to set aside their previous pagan ways and learn to live out the Jesus narrative in order to be saved and to have the right relationship with God. Paul holds that the new Christians within these communities need to lead a life of self-sacrificial love and set themselves apart from self-absorbed thinking, just as Jesus did throughout his life, death, and resurrection.