What it Means to be a Fully Devoted Disciple
Luke 9:23-26
Luke 9:57-62
There is a difference in the life-style of a fully devoted disciple and one who is not fully devoted. When I think of my life as a new Christian I was like a roller coaster. I was up and down in my spiritual life. I had victory when I was with other Christians, but compromised when I was with non-Christians friends. I had received Jesus as my Savior but when with old friends at Gypsum I did not take a strong stand for the Lord.
Chameleon Christians are not fully devoted disciples – they take on the attitude of the people they happen to be around.
The fully devoted life is like riding the cog-rail train up the Pike’s Peak Mountain. There are twists and turns on the cog rail as you go up the mountain. It’s not near as fast as a roller coaster, but there is no comparison to the splendor and magnificent scenery as you travel to the 14,110 ft. high peak.
Carollyn and I have traveled the cog rail three times and I drove up one time. I prefer the cog-rail to driving. At the top of the mountain it is often cold and one time we rode into a blizzard with several feet of snow stacked up on places.
A roller coaster is fast and furious, but it goes up and down and in one big circle. On the way up your first incline you have great excitement and anticipation, and when you go down you leave your stomach behind. It’s thrilling to ride at 120 miles an hour and go 420 feet and drop 400 feet. But the ride is over in a minute.
The cog-rail train up to Pike’s Peak is a long ride of three hours and ten minutes for the round trip.
The cog-rail train is like a fully devoted disciple. There are bumps along the way, curves and some valleys, but you are always on an upward trend.
What is it that helps us reach the tipping point and turn toward becoming a fully devoted disciple? God often sends someone along our path in life that becomes our coach and discipler. For me it was my High School Sunday School teacher. Then at Central College it was my college room-mate Tom Morgan who roomed with me for three years. He came from a healthy Christian home and was a positive influence on my life. In fact he was the one who suggested that I date Carollyn Reid who became Carollyn Ellis.
Many of you have come to faith and are followers of Jesus because someone became a friend and encouraged you to live for Jesus. Erroll Dietz had a friend a work who helped him come to faith. Erroll is going to come and tell us how he came to having faith in Jesus.
What does it means to be a disciple?
The word “disciple” is used 269 times in the New Testament. A disciple is a learner and follower of his/her teacher.
The key word to becoming a disciple of Jesus is “obedience.” The call of Jesus is a demanding call. If a person says he wants to follow Jesus and continues to live as he is living is fooling him self.
Jesus gave the call to follow him as a disciple in Luke 9:23-26, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the world world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self. If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
The call of Jesus is to follow him. He doesn’t say where He is going to lead us. Our commitment is to follow. Our commitment is like the missionary song we sing: “If Jesus goes with me I’ll go, anywhere.”
Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23 Self denial is doing things we don’t like to do. Self denial means doing things that are not easy or convenient. The call of Jesus is a call to self-denial not a call to self-fulfillment.
#A man living in a rural community called his doctor late one stormy night. “Doctor, my wife is very sick. Can you come out and help her. You must come over right now.” The doctor replied, “I would be glad to come, but my car is in the shop. If you will come and get me, I’ll come and help.” There was silence on the phone for a long time. Then the man said, “You mean, you want me to come out on a night like this.”
What does self-denial mean?
What does self-denial mean to you? To deny self is to refuse to depend upon ourselves. To deny self means we give up control of self. It doesn’t mean we do not live with confidence. We don’t keep our fit clinched with the idea what is mine is mine, we open our hand and say “Not my will but God’s will be done.”
Self denial often means taking up our cross. Jesus is not talking about bearing burdens and gritting our teeth and slouching under the load of life’s problems as we walk along. Whatever hinders us from following Jesus we take it up and hand it over to Jesus. 2 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your cares/anxieties on Him because He cares for you.”
Jesus defines self denial as loving God more than we love the things of this world. Jesus says, “What does it profit a person if they gain the whole world and lose their own soul.”
The opposite of self denial is portrayed by the life of material girl, Modonna. In an interview she commented on her material wealth. “Money is like everything. Money is like sex. It’s like food. They’re all manifestations of God. They’re blessings that we get, but they’re not what’s going to make us happy. They’re not real. They don’t last. There’s only one that that lasts, and that’s your soul. And if you don’t work on that, and you don’t pay attention to that, then all the money in the world is not going to help you.” Modonna concluded her interview by saying that she is looking for answers. Currently she is investigating Hebrew Mysticism.
Self denial and taking up your cross means you are not ashamed of Jesus. You may suffer ridicule and made fun of by the stand you take in honoring God. Jesus challenges us all when He said: “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
Later in Luke 9:57-62, Jesus tells of different responses to His call to follow Him and become His disciple.
57 – “As they were walking along the road, a man (Matthew says this man was a scribe, a professional religious man who studied and taught the scripture) said to him, ‘I will follow your wherever you go.’” This man was willing to follow, but he didn’t think through the consequences of what following Jesus would mean. He was willing to follow if following Jesus did not demand hardships or a struggle.
Jesus answers the man, realizing how shallow the commitment the man was making: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” If the man followed Jesus his life would be turned up side down. If he followed Jesus his life would be on the move, eating and sleeping in the homes of other people.
Jesus was saying “If you are going to follow me and be useful in the kingdom I expect unconditional loyalty. That means you give Me priority over convenience, safety and values of the world. Following Jesus means no “ifs” or conditions.
Following Jesus today does not mean for most of us committing to living homeless. It does mean that the things of this world lose their lasting appeal and gaining the pleasures and riches of this world are not our primary goals. Following Jesus and honoring Him in our life become our primary goals. This world is not our home, we are just passing through. Don’t live as if this world is all you have to live for.
Jesus is not looking for shallow followers. He’s not looking for people who follow Him as a fad or a hobby or follow for personal recognition.
Luke 9:59-60, “Jesus said to another man, “Follow Me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
This man’s response was one of making excuses. “If my mom and dad, family and relatives go with me, I’ll go where you want me to go.”
This man said he first needed to bury his father. He first wanted to wait and get his inheritance. Then with his bag of money he would follow Jesus. Jesus said, “Let those who have no commitment to honor the Lord and His Kingdom, bury the dear. But you have heard my call. You come follow me.
The chances that this man ever followed Jesus are very slim. Experience tells us that most decision to become believers and live for Christ is made before a person is 19 years old. The longer a person delays and make excuses the harder it become for the person to humble himself and accept Jesus.
The decision we make today does make an impact on our future. Many years ago a young man went to work at a hardware store. He found all sorts of junk that took up space but did not sell well. This clerk asked the owner to allow him to put it all on one table and sell each item for 10 cents. He did so and had a successful sale. Later he did the same thing, and had another successful sale. The clerk approached the owner and suggested that they open up a store specializing in items that cost only a nickel or dime. The owner thought it was a bad idea and refused. The clerk went into business for himself and became very successful with his idea. His name was F. W. Woolworth. His old employer later said, “I have calculated that every word I used to turn young Woolworth down cost me a million dollars”
Jesus says, “Follow me,” and we have a choice, to make excuses or make an unconditional commitment.
Luke 9:61-62, “Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.” Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
This man wanted to follow Jesus on his own terms. He wanted first to go home and organize a big farewell party with friends and family. Jesus wants his followers to make a clean break with the old life. Too many want to follow Jesus with part of their life in God’s hand and the other half still attached to the unrighteous world.
When I used to plow fields I was taught to begin in the middle of the field and plow a straight line across the field. You make a straight line by keeping your eye of a tree or fence post. Don’t look around as you plow. Keep your eye on the end target.
To begin to follow Jesus and continually look back longingly to their old way of living; does not totally honor the Lord. Jesus calls us to be fully devoted disciples. The call of Jesus is to follow Him with total commitment.
# Richard Harris, famous for his roles as King Arthur in Calmelot and Prof. Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies, died on October 25, 2002. He was 72 years old. Harris had a reputation as a bar fighter and hated signing commitments for films. He said, “I hate making commitments, I hate the idea that my life in any ways is sort of restricted. That’s why my marriage broke up. I hate commitment, and I’m totally unreliable anyway.”
Contrast the reluctant indecisive followers of Jesus with the fisherman, Simon and Andrew, who did follow Jesus. Mark 1:17-18,20 - “Come, follow me,” Jesus said , “And I will make you fishers of men” At once they left their nets and followed him. When Jesus went a little father, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Jesus.
What does total commitment mean?
When you follow Jesus as a fully devoted disciple you don’t allow the influence of family or friends to stop you. Regardless of the resistance others may give you, you put following Jesus above all other priorities.
# A man wanted to sell his house in Haiti for two thousand dollars and another man wanted badly to purchase the house. The problem was that the man who wanted to purchase the house could not come up with enough money to buy the house. After a great deal of negotiating the owner of the house agree to sell the house for half of the original amount under one condition. He would still own one nail that hung over the home’s front door. The agreement was made and the sale of the house was completed.
After a few years the original owner of the house wanted to buy the house back but the new owner refused to sell. So the first owner went out and found the carcass of a dead dog and hung it on the nail that he still owned in the house. Before long the house became so un-liveable that the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.
The sad reality is that the same is true of those who leave just one area of their life uncommitted to Christ. The one small un-owned nail can have some rotting garbage hung on it and devastate our spiritual life. Our most desperate need as Christians is to have every area of our lives committed to walking with Christ.
The first step is to follow Jesus. Following Jesus is like a big rock.
An expert on the subject of time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will probably never forget. As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered over-achievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he smiled and asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?”
By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," one of them answered.
"Good!" he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in, and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted.
Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!"
"No," the speaker replied, "that’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is this: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.(7)
Jesus says, "Follow me." BIG rock. We respond, "I will follow you, Lord, but..." Priorities. Get the big rocks in first. How to make sure the priorities are appropriate? A good start will be to make a commitment that does away with all preset conditions, then all the rest of the details of your life will fall into place.
If you haven’t made a firm commitment to follow Jesus I invite you to respond to the call of Jesus, “Come follow me, come be my disciple.” Make the big rock decision and as you follow Jesus with all your heart and become fully a fully devoted follower, other things in your life will fall into place.
Invitation
Prayer
