What would it mean to go through life with the conviction that you have been called of God to die a violent death on the cross?

The cross, more than any other aspect of Jesus’ life, is capable of nurturing and dividing Jesus’ followers.  There are those who focus on the Cross as a sacrifice to God paid heavenward (objective atonement) and those who focus on the Cross as a symbol of a God who has come to earth to reveal God’s character of love (subjective atonement). Both images speak powerfully of God’s love, both are biblical. Tragically, some find one set of images so crucial that they cannot see the other set at all, or seek to merge the two pictures into one.