Crux Probat Omnia - 9 September 2026

 

Last Sunday I mentioned a rule of thumb I picked up from Martin Luther: crux probat omnia – the cross is the test of all things. I hope you’ll think that little statement over and ponder its implications and applications on your own, and with your family. If you want a verse to go with it, try Galatians 2:20. Or you can dwell on Colossians 1:12-23 or Philippians 2:1-11.

 

And here’s an example of how that rule of thumb, crux probat omnia, might look. William Willimon was a bishop in a “mainline” denomination that has been speeding down the dead-end alley of theological, social, and moral compromise. While he was in that position, he wrote a book on preaching titled, “Peculiar Speech.” A delightful book, by the way. And in that little manual he made this observation regarding his compromised denomination: “Unable to preach Christ and Him crucified, we preach humanity and it improved” (pg. 9). Ouch!

 

Now, that project sounds very familiar. “Humanity and it improved” comes out of the mouths and presses and podcasts and blogs of liberals, but also conservatives. It’s the kind of theology of glory that promotes human perfectibility – individually and socially and politically. ‘Buy into our product/project/program/party and you will be spiritual, really, really spiritual. Or successful. Or more faithful. Or more powerful than all those sheeple out there.’  It actually sponsors a form of utopianism. But notice how Willimon – who was more biblical and faithful than many in his denomination – employed Luther’s rule of thumb as a way to gauge and evaluate the utopian project of his own tribe: “Unable to preach Christ and Him crucified, we preach humanity and it improved.”

 

I could take you down more avenues of evaluation, such as assessing those who endorse having measurable outcomes to calculate discipleship or church health or styles of worship, and more. But in the end, if you will hold on to Luther’s rule of thumb, I think you’ll be able to see clearly and make wholesome decisions. You’ll be able to tell when you’ve run into a conservative or liberal dead-end, such as “Unable to preach Christ and Him crucified, we preach humanity and it improved.”

 

Crux probat omnia, 

Pastor Mike


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