Scripture reading: Luke 14:25-35
The following points are taken from the characteristics Christ listed.
1. Hate your father, mother, spouse and children, brothers and sisters, and even your own life. The word “hate” literally means hate. It is sort of an ironic word because Jesus told us in other teachings to love one another as we love ourselves and to treat one another the way we want to be treated. This talk about hate seems to be contrary to His own teaching.
We can become so attached to the people closest to us that our desire to please them becomes so strong we forget about everything else. This is especially true in dysfunctional relationships when all you may desire is to just once hear the other person say he or she accepts you, finds pleasure in you, applauds your accomplishments or approves of you. Ordering our lives around the approval of other people and desiring to please the people in our lives requires that we place Jesus second, third or at some lower level in our lives.
That which drives and motivates us determines the impact we will have on people around us. If we are driven by other people, we will never accomplish more than they desire for us. If we are seeking someone else’s approval and it has not come in many years of close relationship, then what do they want for you? Certainly not the best life has to offer.
If you should lose someone such as that from your life, did you really lose anything at all? Jesus points out that you have lost nothing and gained everything. Seeking and receiving approval from Jesus is all we need in life, and will provide us with the deepest satisfaction and acceptance, so much better than anything we have ever known previously.
2. Carry your own cross. Again, the wording here is somewhat curious because Jesus is in the middle of His earthly ministry and has not entered the persecution leading up to His crucifixion. Therefore, the disciples are not at this point associating Jesus with a cross as we would today. It is also not likely that there were many martyrs for the cause of Jesus as there would be in a few short years after these words were spoken. Associating the cross with following Christ would not have been on the minds of the disciples.
These words were likely a foretelling of what was to come rather than teaching by association. Jesus here was painting a picture of what the disciples would face if they chose to follow Him. He was warning them of the cost of discipleship, and we would do well to heed this same warning.
By “cross,” Jesus does not here mean a literal cross in all cases. “Cross” is to be a metaphor. The Lexicon puts it well by defining cross to mean “to encounter persecution on account of one’s avowed belief in the saving efficacy of Christ’s crucifixion, the doctrine concerning the saving power of the death on the cross endured by Christ. The judicial usage which compelled those condemned to crucifixion themselves to carry the cross to the place of punishment gave rise to the proverbial expression, which was wont to be used of those who on behalf of God’s cause do not hesitate cheerfully and manfully to bear persecutions, troubles, distresses – thus recalling the fate of Christ and the spirit in which he encountered it.”
In other words, we must be prepared to face persecution, trouble and distress (2 Corinthians 12:10) and to face them with the resolve and spirit Christ embodied for us. That is to say, when faced with persecution, trouble and distress, we must not turn back. We must not then say the cost is too high, and we must not have a change of heart. Jesus clearly teaches us that persecution, trouble and distress are a natural byproduct of following Him. If we are to follow Christ, we must accept these things as the cost of discipleship.
This is not to say we must bear them alone or that we will be thrust into persecution, trouble and distress untrained. When we first accept Jesus Christ into our lives, He begins the process of training and shaping us for the work we will one day be called into and building our faith so that it can withstand the tests and trials of life, provided we decide to press toward the prize of heaven despite the persecution, trouble and distress that may come, resting only in the power and providence of Christ to sustain us.
3. Give up all your own possessions. Our wealth, whether small or great, and the things we own have for centuries been one of the largest stumbling blocks to those who would follow Christ. The rich young ruler was sad when Jesus told him to sell all that he owned, and Jesus told us in Matthew 6:24 that we cannot serve Him and wealth at the same time.
If our allegiance is to our possessions, then we will not be able to follow Christ. Our reward will be whatever happiness and reward can come from our possessions. Happiness from possessions will be the only happiness we will know.
If, instead, our allegiance is to Christ, then we will secure a heavenly, eternal reward that surpasses anything we can receive from earthly possessions.
The biggest problem with possessions is our inability to envision what heaven will be like, to visualize a postponed reward, and to give up the comfort, enjoyment and security to which we have become accustomed. Deciding that what Jesus has for us in heaven is infinitely better than anything we can derive from earthly possessions is the first step in following Christ.
Until we can make this decisions, our possessions will own us and define the impact our lives will have in the world. Truthfully, however, renouncing our possessions and serving Jesus Christ in this life produces so much more joy and peace than we can ever know from possessions, on top of securing a place in heaven. Following Christ is not really delayed gratification at all.
At the heart of the matter is our selfish desire to amass as much happiness to ourselves to the exclusion and at the expense of other people and, sadly, at the expensive of our eternal future. If we allow the transformation of the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives, we can be made into givers instead of takers and be rid of our selfishness.
The challenge for us is two-fold. First, we must not rush into discipleship and the call we feel Christ has placed on our lives. We can be so eager to get busy doing Christ’s work that we dive in head first without understanding the costs. In the middle of our “obedience” we meet a challenge for which we lack the faith to complete, lack the resources to accomplish, or find that the doors are closed. I did this once. I led my family to join a ministry group because I believed it was my lot in life. Unfortunately, Christ had once before said no. We went headlong into a daunting challenge without counting the cost and wound up having to notify everyone who donated money to the ministry that we had to back out.
Second, we must be prepared to go when Christ opens the door. There have been innumerable followers of Christ who embarked on a journey of discipleship and call to ministry or mission who have fallen away, pursued secular occupations or were unable to meet the challenge before them. Unlike those who rushed into discipleship, they simply lacked the faith necessary to walk through the open door. Renouncing family and possessions and taking up their cross to bear persecution, trouble and distress was too much. At the first difficulty, they took the hard times to mean the Lord had withdrawn His presence and closed the door or that action was required on their part in doing something that logically was contrary to the end goal, when in fact all that was required to move ahead was faith that the Lord would provide that which is needed to complete the task. Some of these are college students who became saddled under the burden of student loan debt and could not thereafter walk through the open door. Others came to Christ but could not bring themselves to leave everything for the missionfield. Still others were so encumbered by dysfunctional family relationships that they could not obtain a clear view of Christ at work in their lives.
The cost of discipleship can be high. Are you prepared?
Are you prepared for the consequence if you choose not to pay the cost of discipleship?
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