Bearing the cross is expressed in being willing to be wronged or defrauded (1 Cor. 6:7b). In all things and with all kinds of people, including our wives, husbands, parents, children, relatives, brothers, sisters, and roommates, we must be willing to be wronged or defrauded. A willingness to be wronged or defrauded is a willingness to suffer loss, to learn the lesson of the cross, to keep the virtue of Christ at some cost. Our common experience is to react when we are wronged by others, especially when others make mistakes at our expense.
In May 1935, several co-workers stayed together with Brother Nee in order to study the Song of Songs. I stayed in a room with another brother with whom I was very familiar. The room in which we stayed did not have a bathroom, so we had to bring water into the room from outside in order to wash ourselves. Every time I brought a basin of water into the room, I had to pass by his bed in order to get to my bed. The passageway by his bed was narrow and each time I passed by with water, I would spill a few drops of water onto his bed. After spilling some water on his bed, I did not feel peaceful, so I apologized to him. Because I often spilled water throughout the day, I would apologize to him once, twice, and frequently three times a day. One time when I began to apologize to him, he said, "The worst thing is to make a mistake and not apologize. It is good to apologize when one makes a mistake. But the best thing is not to make a mistake at all." This word caused me to feel very ashamed, but it also indicated that my roommate was unwilling to bear the cross. He reacted to my repeated apologies because he was unwilling to be wronged. We need to apply the principle of not reacting but living under the shadow of the cross.
In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul applied the cross by asking two questions. "Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?" If you are unwilling to be wronged or defrauded, this means that you are unwilling to bear the cross. Your unwillingness to be wronged or defrauded in small things is an indication that you are unwilling to bear the cross. We Christians should behave not merely by the standard of morality, but by the standard of crucifixion. I may be absolutely right according to the standard of morality, but I may also be a person who is very much in the flesh without any experience of crucifixion.
Being paid less than what someone owes you can be used as an illustration of being defrauded. Someone may owe you $27.25. But if he only pays you $26.25, you have been defrauded of one dollar. If you react, this reaction indicates that you are unwilling to be defrauded. After receiving $26.25, you may wait for a day or two, expecting the payment of the dollar. When the dollar does not come, you may go to the person and demand payment. According to the standard of morality, you are right. But according to the standard of crucifixion, you lose everything because you are unwilling to be crucified. If I am a person who is willing to be crucified, I would never think about the dollar. I would not expect the payment of the dollar, not by exercising my patience, but by putting myself with my flesh on the cross. As a result, I would not remember the dollar or mention this incident to anyone. This shows that the standard of our virtues as Christians is much higher than the standard of people in general. This is an example of bearing the cross in a very fine way.