Summoning others to his revolutionary cause, Garibaldi cried, "He that loves Italy, let him follow me! I promise him hardship . . . suffering . . . death. But he that loves Italy, let him follow me!" (Strong 1907:766). Only a cause worth dying for is truly worth living for, and a generation of Western youth, deprived of causes worth their lives and of elders personally committed enough to point the way, have become restless and disillusioned.

"Taking up one's cross" in antiquity hardly meant simply putting up with an annoying roommate or having to live with ingrown toenails. It meant marching on the way to one's execution, shamefully carrying the heavy horizontal beam (the patibulum) of one's own death-instrument through a jeering mob (Jeremias 1972:218-19 and 1971:242). Jesus anticipated literal martyrdom for himself and many of his followers by the Romans' standard means of executing lower-class criminals and slaves; his kingdom was ultimately incompatible with Rome's claims (Manson 1979:131; F. Bruce 1972a:19). If disciples "come after" and imitate their teachers, Christians' lives are forfeit from the moment they begin following Christ; to come after Jesus, Peter himself had to return to walking behind him (v. 23).

Although genuine Christians may fall short on their commitment at times (26:69-75), those who wish to follow Christ should understand from the start that they are surrendering their lives to Christ. Those who do not acknowledge Jesus as Lord-as having the right to demand of them anything, including their lives-have yet to be truly converted. Today Christians continue to debate the character of the gospel: to be saved, does one need to accept Christ as Lord or only as Savior? Throughout the New Testament, however, the question is more or less a moot one. Jesus came to save us from our sin, and accepting him must include recognizing his right to rule our lives. This does not imply that Christians are perfect; it does indicate that they recognize who their Lord is.