Christian Living

Terms of Discipleship

by Thomas Kirkpatrick
11/12/20
Free to Share
Author requests article critique

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” (Luke 14:26-28, 33)

As Jesus traveled around in the Galilean country teaching of the coming Kingdom of God, He was attracting many crowds who came to hear what He was teaching. Many heard of the miracles, the healing of the sick, and the free food when they were hungry by word of mouth. These things were of great interest to the people, and they wanted to witness the show that was unlike any other in the day. Jesus never withheld doing miracles to glorify His Father. He was willing to heal those who had faith that He could to glorify His Father, and out of His compassion for the people, we know of two times that He fed the crowds because they were hungry and to glorify His Father.

We do these same things today in the Church to attract people so they will come. We use the latest technology. We’ve done away with the symbols of the Church, crosses and pews, and the like, and we have replaced all inspiring hymns from the ages past for contemporary music to appeal to the younger generations. I am not saying that is wrong, but I am saying that it becomes about the show and not God’s Word, then our show is no different from the one at the local theater. Christians come to the Church to fellowship with their fellow saints and to praise their God. Believers come to be equipped with God’s Word and find hope, to grow into the image of their Savior, and to go and make disciples throughout the world.

When people are seeking God, they want to hear the good news of His salvation. If they want a show, there is plenty to be seen on television, the ballpark, and the theaters. When they come to the House of the Lord, they come to visit with Him in His spiritual presence. They come to find hope in a hopeless world, and they come to drink the water that Jesus gives so they may never thirst again. “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14) It was true for the Samaritan women at the well, and it is true for those who seek Him today. If people come to Church and do not leave going another way, then they have not been in the presence of Jesus.

Jesus is well aware of all people’s hearts, and He knows those who are seeking the benefits of the Christian faith and are only interested in what is there for themselves. That is okay with me. As long as they are coming, there is an opportunity to witness to them in prayer; their spiritual ears will open to the truth of Jesus Christ. Because of God’s love for humanity, each has free will and can accept or reject the truth of God. We are not forced into a relationship with God or forced out of it. It is our choice to believe or to disbelieve. The people that Jesus was speaking to loved His common grace, but some were not willing to accept the call of His saving grace. It is the same today. God’s common grace is upon us all. The rain falls upon the righteous as well as the unrighteous. They come to His house for many reasons, but the few come to serve Him and His Kingdom. Jesus knew the people who were following along with Him, and in our text, He laid out the terms of Discipleship.

First, we see that a term of discipleship is to give Jesus lordship over our lives. Not just Sundays, or Wednesdays, and maybe an evening prayer. Jesus wants to live within and live with His disciples. “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” Some will quickly balk and say they will not hate their family in exchange for a relationship with Jesus. But this is not what this verse is saying. If we look at the word hate in Greek and the context it is used in, then it does not mean hate but loves less. As Christians, we are not to hate anyone but to show God’s love towards them. But we love the Lord above them. He is our first love and the priority of love in our life. He loved us while we were yet sinners, and we love Him for the great sacrifice He made out of His love for us.

Too many people are in it for what they can get out of it. They believe in rewards in Heaven and on earth. They believe in the blessings of His grace. But Jesus is not just offering a welfare program that life here in this world will be free of trials and tribulations. Although there are rewards here on earth and there is an excellent outcome to the trials and tribulations we face, as we look at them in the complete context. For those who ask, they are given eternal life. (John 3:16) My greatest enemy on earth is myself. Actually, it is my own flesh that I must battle each day. It desires all the pleasures of this world, which in itself is not wrong if I do not give them priority over my service to my Lord. “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24)

Like Jesus, we are to carry our cross. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” People of today have many interpretations of what that means. “Well, I have this large student loan to pay; I guess that is my cross to bear.” “My marriage is rather shaky, but I took my vows, and I will stand by them. That is my cross to bear.” Others say that their cross to bear in service to the Lord. “I don’t miss a Sunday at Church. That’s my cross to bear.” The proper context is that the Romans had perfected the most painful and enduring way to execute a person. Some would hang on the cross for days. The Apostle Peter was on the cross for three days. When Jesus said this, the people of His day knew what He meant. The Roman cross.

Not many of us here today in America worry about being nailed to the cross. I read in the news that a family of Christians was executed on the Monday following Easter this week. This happened for no other reason than they were Christians. They could have forsaken their faith in Jesus, but they did not. They would not trade their freedom and salvation in the Lord for a few more days in this world. It is precisely what Jesus was saying that we are to follow Him to and beyond the point of death for His sake. All of the Apostles, except John, were martyred for their faith in Jesus. Our chance of martyrdom is slim in this present time, but we must be willing to sacrifice our life for the cause of the gospel. This world is the battleground, and death is not an end but a beginning. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:24-25)

Many Churches are interested in saving the lost, which is a good ministry, but they fail in mentoring the new believers. Christianity is not an instant renewal but a process of growth in spiritual maturity. The babes in Jesus have to grow into spiritual adults in the faith. It is just like any school of thought. When you turn away from this world and point to the Kingdom of God, it is a process of sanctification, a work of obedience to the Holy Spirit that indwells the new believer. Salvation is a free gift from God by His grace through faith. Being a Christian comes with a cost.

We cannot follow Jesus and remain in the way of the world. We have given up our citizenship in the world and are now citizens of the Kingdom of God. Yes, we are in the world, but we are no longer of the world. People should view us as different, like people from another land, and see a change in our lifestyle. We are no longer on the broad road with the shepherdless but on the narrow road being led by the Good Shepherd. “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

There is a cost to this that may be unpleasant for us in a short time. We may lose relationships with people close to us, there will be a change in our dreams of the future, some of the material things that we desire we will have to abandon, and we could even lose our lives. “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”

Some buy into the prosperity teaching that believes that life will be a glorious thing now that they are Christian. But they will fall away when things do not work out that way. The Christian life is a life of service and sacrifice. So many times, I am led to do something that I don’t want to do. Like Moses, when he was commissioned to free the Israelite people from Egypt. But I am always amazed at how God has prepared the way for me, and it works out wonderfully. Like Jonah going to Nineveh. “In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.” (Mark 4:16-17)

Jesus ends His terms with this final statement, “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” Giving up our possessions may mean physical things, but it is also emotional things more times than not. Some things possess us emotionally, and we must let them go, so they do not possess us. When we become a disciple of Jesus, we are no longer people of the world. Pastor Kevin once told me that one has to protect their testimony. If we do not walk the faith as we exactly talk the faith, then our testimony is useless. We cannot live like the lost worldly but must live as the saints bound for the glory land in the Kingdom of God, which is our home. “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-17) We are His Disciples, and He is our Lord and Master, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Thomas N Kirkpatrick