Do any of you have some of those words that you just cannot stand? You know the words, usually words used by kids, that just rub you the wrong way; for example, “righteous dude,” psychedelic, totally awesome, and one of my personal favorites wicked. Why would you want to call anything good and given of God “wicked?” Another one of my favorites on this list of disliked words is “Christian.” Now that about half of you are up in arms, listen to what I have to say before you get too defensive. The word Christian means to be Christ-like. Christian denotes having Christ’s character and nature. Everything about us would exude some aspect of the way Christ did his work. I personally feel very far from this. Christian means we carry the life of Christ around with us. A somewhat common phrase says “We may be the only Christ some people ever see.” Although this should all be true, I feel very far from being adequate to call myself Christ-like; maybe a follower or a believer but not a Christian.
The problem then is that there is a difference between a follower or believer and a full fledged Christian. Think of the difference between walking behind and walking with someone. There is a specific difference between walking with someone and walking behind someone. You walk behind your dog; you walk with your spouse. Hopefully that isn’t backwards though I could almost see Gary Nall surrounded by His dogs and Danelle about fourteen paces ahead to get away from the mob. When you walk behind someone you may be aiming to pick up things they leave or forget. You may be patiently waiting for them to fail. You may not want to be fully associated with them. However, when you walk with them, you engage them and live in their world. You work through problems together with them and develop a deeper relationship due to what you have been through together. There is something more to walking with someone through life than to just walk behind them.
Jesus encountered this very problem. Many people had been following behind him and watching him perform miracles and teach. They stood in awe as Jesus corrected the powerful Pharisees and the strict Sadducees. When they heard the messages they cheered that someone was going to learn their lesson. As the large mob of people had been following behind Jesus, He finally turns and addresses them. We find this address in Luke chapter 14:25ff. Jesus needed to explain to them that there was a big difference between just following him and becoming one of his devoted and precious disciples. There was a difference between following behind him and walking with Him. It wasn’t enough to just walk behind Jesus. It wasn’t enough to listen to Jesus’ sermons. It wasn’t enough to attend the Church of Jesus every week. It took more to walk with Jesus. To follow Jesus Christ, enough means everything you have. Starting in verse 25, Jesus explains what enough really means by listing the full requirements of being a disciple of His.
The Requirements: (vs. 26-27, 33)
“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "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. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” – “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
There are at least four quickly noted places where someone who only walks behind Christ will need to grow before they can be a true Christ-like person, a disciple. Verse 26 labels two of them and also poses a slight problem. Number 1: What does Jesus mean when he says that you must hate your family or you cannot be His disciple? This is a linguistic issue. Just as we use certain words to mean the opposite and to express the difference between two objects (like calling something wicked when it is good), so every language has its peculiarities. In this case Jesus might as well be saying, “You must love me so much that compared to your love for me, you might as well hate your family.” The love we have for Jesus must be so spectacular that any other love seems pathetic beside it. Jesus must have picked this very topic because he knew that this test would basically fail most people. What do we love more than the family we have around us? God himself in a way set this example by giving up his only Son to save us. God gave up his “family” to save us. An example you will find to test this hasn’t occurred in America for years now. However, in other countries, and especially in the days of the early church, it would be common to see men who called themselves Christians lined up and forced to watch the torture and death of their beloved spouses. If only they would renounce Christ, their spouse would go free. Many of them did renounce Christ, and as Jesus says, they were no longer disciples.
Number 2: The second thing we treasure the most is our own life. Jesus says we have to hand that one over too. Selfishness behooves us to push for our own way and to live how we want to live. We don’t have quite the same testing of our faith as the early church did. When Nero burned down the ghetto part of Rome, He blamed it on the Christians. Men and women would be asked, “Will your deny Christ and worship the emperor?” If they chose to, they would be let go free of charge. However if they chose not to, they would be beaten, burned, crucified, etc. Jesus pulls no punches when listing the requirements of being his disciple. He knows how much we value our own lives. He valued his life as well. Yet, when the time came, he also gave up his life for you and me. He did it voluntarily at that. Many people come to the end of their life and think about how much they don’t want to die. Most of us will not die a martyr’s death for Christ. Most of us will never be asked to renounce Christ or die. Most of us will be left here on earth to live our lives out as Christians until we die of old age. Giving our lives may happen in an instant however most likely it will mean giving our lives for years to come. Will you give your life to Christ to use how he sees fit? Maybe he wants you to clean up messes for the next 50 years as a servant.
Jesus definitely means business. He asks us to love him more than our first two loves. Verse 26 covers half of the four requirements for discipleship found in this text. Love for our families and love for ourselves must be nothing in comparison to our love for Jesus. The third requirement is found in verse 27. Anyone who does not pick up and carry his own cross, cannot truly follow Jesus. What does “carrying your own cross” mean? "The general idea that these words of Jesus about bearing the cross refer to passive submission to all kinds of afflictions, like disappointments, pain, sickness and grief that come upon man in life, is totally wrong . . . only a person who for the sake of His service surrenders all self-seeking and abandons all striving after his own interests can be His disciple." (Geldenhuys www.studylight.org, David Guzik) The idea that we will suffer for Christ isn’t so much the picture here. The idea seems to be that becoming a disciple means being will to sacrifice all that we desire so that we live totally and completely for Jesus Christ. This means we give up wanting to do what we want and actually follow what he tells us to do.
Finally, the last and seemingly cover-all for what we must do to be disciples of Christ comes in verse 33. We must give up our right to everything we own. This refers to family, friends, churches, homes, money, cars, you name it. The large crowds must have been reeling after hearing this incredible list. Everything we own must be given over to Christ. They had been seeking the miracles and the healings that Jesus performed. They got their feel good for the week and then went home. They “enjoyed” church with Jesus only to turn around and leave not having heard a thing he said. Now, Jesus is speaking directly to all of them telling them that to walk with Him they would have to put him first above all else. They could and would continually follow behind him picking up bread crumbs he dropped along the way. Not until much later would many of the leave as they found the requirements to hard. It was much easier to get the feel good of walking behind Him without the sacrifice of walking with Him. However, walking behind Jesus doesn’t reap the same benefits. The crowd has heard, as you have, what Jesus expects of a true Christian. They must love Jesus more than their families and their own lives. They must crucify their desires to obey Him and they must give up their rights to owner of the things of this world. Now maybe you better understand why I don’t like the term Christian. I really don’t think I measure up.
The Considerations (vs. 28-32)
Jesus has a little more to say in this passage. Now that the crowd knows what he expects of them, He issues a challenge of sorts to them in the form of two different stories. “"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? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ’This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’” Before you set out on any major project, you find out the requirements and then plan to see if you can actually fulfill those requirements. Can you really afford enough lumber, nails, and other materials to build this building or will it flounder due to lack of funds? Jesus reminds the crowd that he has just explained to them (vs. 25-27) the requirements to walk with Him. Now they need to sit down and consider if they truly want to accept Him and live their lives out for Him. Just as you wouldn’t begin building a house without making sure you can pay for it, shouldn’t you also be wise in your planning for the most important decision you can ever make? Yes, Jesus Christ forgives your sins and makes you a new person. Yes it is very wonderful to serve Christ. However, are you really willing to give up your “rights” to follow Christ? If your family isn’t Christian, will you give up your family and follow him anyway? Christian families are nice because you have the ability to see them in heaven someday. Knowing very well everything that will be required of you from Christ, will you walk with Him or continue walking behind him picking up the crumbs?
What good does it do to continue coming to church week after week without accepting Christ and living for Him? Yes, it may make you feel good because you come to church but has it really changed your life? Has he revolutionized your world? You only get those types of benefits by walking with Him and learning closely from His life. You can’t learn that anywhere else. So many people just walked behind Jesus listening to Him and enjoying His company and yet never went so far as to get the full benefit of being near him. They never took the step needed to walk with Him. That is why he said this to them. “Don’t you understand that I am trying to tell you how to find real joy in life? Just walking behind me isn’t going to change your life for the better. Living out your life with me will.
Jesus gives them one more consideration that finishes the text off. Verses 31-32 describe a king who has half the army of another. Can he really afford to fight the other King? Can he refuse the other kings demands and wage war? Can he afford to refuse the other King? If he cannot then he had better make peace quickly with this other king before he loses his kingdom and the lives of many people. The first king may well be the crowd while the second King may be Jesus Christ and the high standards he has for their lives and ours. As the people meandered along behind Jesus, they flippantly followed him with little or no real reason except the miracles. They now were faced with the monumental requirements of Christ, the need to examine if they can afford to accept Him and then a blatant example stating how they really couldn’t afford to refuse Christ’s offer. They had a choice to make. Would they continue just walking behind Jesus or would they begin to walk with Him? Could they really afford to give their lives to Him or would they refuse?
We have much the same dilemma every single morning and every single Sunday. Our sins weigh down our souls and lead us straight to death. We must wake up and renew our vow to follow Jesus Christ with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We must remember that to walk with Christ means to entrust our families, our possessions, even our own lives into his hands to do how he pleases. If we so entrust him with all we have, then we truly can be called Christians or disciples. Truly trusting means not blaming Him when he takes it away. If we have truly entrusted our spouses and children into His hands, he never says he has to give them back. That doesn’t mean we will like it but that is what he requires of us. If you read the newsletter, I wrote about my trip to Arkansas and how I came face to face with the reality that I had no control over the protection of my wife there. I had to trust God to take care of her. What if he took her and my baby away while I was gone? The only peace I could find to calm me down came from knowing that an all loving and all knowing God was in control the whole time.
Can we really afford not to accept the life Christ offers? Can we really afford to refuse an offer of peace with God and eternal life? A better question may be how can we not afford to give Him everything in our lives? Some know better than others that although the requirements may seem steep and very difficult, the more you give your life to Christ the better life gets. What good is something that requires nothing of you? You can’t get in shape without strenuous exercise. You can’t reform your spending habits without cutting up the credit cards. You can’t change as a person without working hard to change some of those bad habits. You also can’t walk and learn and live eternally with Jesus without some sacrifice and hard work either. Yes, it is all worth it. Just as the mob followed behind Jesus for so long and never truly gained anything from it, so you too will gain nothing if you sit in the pew each Sunday and never dedicate yourself to Jesus Christ. The last two verses of Luke 14 sum up Jesus’ point quite well. Salt is good but if it loses its saltiness it is worthless. Dedication to Christ is good but if it loses its purpose it is worthless. You can follow behind all you want but unless you take the step forward and give your life to Christ, it will become worthless. Enough means everything! You know the requirements. Now consider whether or not you want to dedicate your life to Christ. Accepting Christ is simple. Believe that Christ is the Son of the Living God. Repent from the sins and mistakes you have made in life asking forgiveness for those sins. Confess both to God and to others that you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who lived and died for you. Then, once you have accepted Him be obedient by baptism and wash away all the sins of your past and all the guilt and shame and rise to a new life in Christ. From there your journey begins. You have moved from behind him in the pew to beside Him every day of your life.
