LUKE 14:25-33 – Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “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. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
THEME OF THE DAY. THE UNCOMFORTABLENESS OF DISCIPLESHIP. Today’s scripture is one of those demanding a pause for deep soul-searching. Take a few moments and read it again. As we do, identify the four-word phrase Jesus repeats. It appears in verses twenty-six, twenty-seven, and thirty-three. It is one of those “eye-opening” statements Jesus makes that leaves one a little on the uneasy side. Why? A couple reasons.
First, it is direct – “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.” When Jesus says, “cannot”, there is no “wiggle room” for us. I recall growing up, there were times I would ask my mother if I could do something or go somewhere and she responded, “No, you cannot.” But then after some persuasion by me or her simply changing her mind, the cannot went to “Yes, you can.” There is no such deviation when Christ calls us to follow Him. We either meet His conditions or we don’t follow. Let that sink in. It is serious. Our Lord never lowers the bar of discipleship. He doesn’t let us determine the level of commitment and that includes its impact on our human relationships. He said “Place no one above your allegiance to Me, not even your most prized human relationships.” Our Lord is basically saying, “You must be all in with Me or you are not in with Me.”
Another uncomfortable truth about Jesus’ call to discipleship is that it requires a daily dying to self-interests and suffering – “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” The cross is an instrument of death. And the Christian life is a daily dying to self-interests and self-government. Again, note the lack of “wiggle room” from our Lord. There is no partial crucifixion. No one partially dies on a cross. So, if we are to be His disciples, we must die; give ourselves over to the suffering of daily death to self. Without this, as our Lord states, “you cannot be my disciple.”
The final area our Lord says demands we be all in with Him is the surrender of all we are and have – “So, therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Here is where our discipleship may reach the greatest challenge; our attachment to things of the world, our pursuit of the pleasures of the world, and our desire for the comforts of the world. And our Lord says, “They must be surrendered – all of them – if you want to follow Me.”
Yes, the words of Jesus “cannot be my disciple” are direct, narrow, and place us in a position of “all in with Jesus” or “all out with Jesus.” But don’t hesitate. Our greatest experience, our greatest joy, and our greatest satisfaction will come from being “all in” with Jesus; an “all in” that places no relationship above Him, embraces death to self and suffering with joy, and lets all the things of this passing world go for His sake and our good.
PRAYER: “Father, may I not only understand but willingly pay the price of being Your Son’s disciple.”
QUOTE: “When we truly see the worthiness of Christ, we won’t struggle to surrender our lives to Him.”