“YOU CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE…”

02-21-08

THE COST OF FOLLOWING CHRIST

Hello beloved,

According to most Christians today, there is no cost to following Jesus. Oh, they might agree with you that there is one, but after looking at their fruit, it’s quite easy to see that there is very little that they have given up to follow Christ. In fact there is very little that even distinguishes them as Christians. That is, other than their WWJD bumper stickers and contemporary “Christian” music, most of which they have illegally downloaded off of the internet. (It’s embarrassing that the divorce rate, and the number of abortions, doesn’t go down when polling the church.) So, despite the saltless, costless, counterfeit Christianity we see around us, Scripture is very clear that there is a cost. That cost is called repentance. Often times, we look at repentance as a turning from sin, which it is. But, a frequently overlooked truth about repentance is that we must turn from, not only things that are bad, but often-times we must give up things that aren’t bad. That is, they aren’t bad in and of themselves, yet they are still creating a wall between you and the call that God has on your life. As we look at the Scriptures, we will see that Jesus clearly explains that there is a cost to follow Him. The question is “Are we willing to pay it.” Let us first look at Mark, chapter one, starting with verse fourteen.

14After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15″The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

16As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17″Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 18At once they left their nets and followed him.

19When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.  -Mark 1:14-20

As we look at verse fourteen, we see that their is “a time that comes” when we are confronted with the truth and we have to make a decision whether or not we will fully surrender to God. Jesus proclaims this good news saying “The time has come,…The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” This is followed by a literal illustration of this, as four of His disciples, Simon, Andrew, James and John, made that decision. They decided to leave all that they had worked for, their entire lives, to follow the long awaited Messiah.

To fully understand the cost of their surrender, we need to look into the life of a fisherman in the time of Jesus. What exactly were they giving up? First of all, the job of a fisherman was not easy. They worked year-round in the heat of summer and the cold of winter, often at night. During the day, they would have spent much of their time making and mending nets. It was an occupation that demanded the utmost dedication, requiring them to pour much of their lives into their business in order for it to be successful. So, when you look at it from this perspective, you will see that these guys were not just flippantly dropping their nets. There was a tremendous sacrifice involved in this; one that these disciples were willing to pay. They were truly forsaking all that they had to follow Christ. And, regardless of what Joel Osteen says, that is exactly what every person on the face of this earth is called to do. There is a point in everyones life when “the time has come” to forsake all that they have and follow Jesus. Unfortunately, it is a choice that most do not make.

One thing I really like in verse seventeen is when Jesus says “Come, follow me…and I will make you fishers of men.” Basically, He is saying “Look, you just leave everything you have and follow me. Don’t worry about what lies ahead. I’ll take care of that. I will make you fishers of men.” The only way we can forsake all that we know, and follow Jesus is if we can be assured that He will make us into the person He has called us to be. And we don’t have to worry about that. Just look at the scriptures. He took four fishermen and made them into some of the most influential men in the history of Christianity. We can rest assured that he will not forsake us. We just have to come to the point that we are willing to leave everything and follow him.

So, then we see, in verse twenty that James and John left their father in the boat to follow Jesus. This reminded me of a passage of scripture in Luke 14. If you will, just turn to Luke fourteen and we will start with verse 25.

25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26″If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. – Luke 14:25-27

I should point out, here, that Jesus is not calling us to hate our families. He is simply saying that we must love Christ more than we love our families. That we cannot allow our love for our families to get in the way of serving Christ. Let’s continue with verse 28 and look at how Christ explains that we should estimate the cost of following Him, before making that choice.

28″Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

31″Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

34″Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” – Luke 14:28-35

Since I first read this passage of scripture, I have found it quite intriguing that Jesus gives three instances where someone “cannot be his disciple.” Well, that just doesn’t add up to most theologies today, basically saying that you just need to pray a prayer and attend church and you’re set. Unfortunately, in most churches today, you will not hear a message on the cost of following Christ. Well, beloved, the truth is that there is a cost to following Christ. And I would submit to you that it is quite unbiblical to convince anyone to follow Christ without first explaining that there is a tremendous cost. Far too many are just repeating a prayer, in hopes that they will find this great joy and peace. And while it is true that a life, totally surrendered to Christ will lead to joy and peace, there is also a necessity to repent. And Jesus sums it up in verse 33 saying that “any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

To wrap things up, I’d like to revisit Mark 1:15, where Jesus said “The time has come…”. Beloved, there comes a time in everyone’s life that they must make the decision to either leave all that they have and follow Christ, finding that narrow way which leads to life, or continue to follow the broad path which leads to destruction. It is a choice we all must make. One thing that helps me, when I lose sight of what God has called me to, is to look at all of the decisions being made around me. As I look at the younger generation today, I see so many making the same choices I made growing up, and it breaks my heart. So many are believing the lies and following Satan. They are making the wrong choice, rejecting the truth and turning to drugs, sex and suicide. I truly believe that a time is soon to come that the choice for many teenagers will be quite clear: God or suicide. Satan has embedded in their minds that it is pointless, that there is no hope, that they should just end it all. This horrible decision is being made by so many today. And the choice we must make is to reach out to these troubled teens and show that there is hope in Jesus Christ. So, beloved, we must be willing to step outside of our comfort zone and “rescue those being led away to death, and hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” We must deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Christ, or it’s real simple…we cannot be His disciple.

In Christian love,
Adam Tennant