Stephen Baldwin
OT: Jeremiah 18.1-11
NT: Luke 14.25-33
Casual Christians?
These are
tough words from Jesus. Whoever does not
hate his family…whoever does not hate his own life…whoever does not give up all
his possessions…cannot be my disciple.
Does he mean that we must leave everyone and everything behind to be a
Christian?
Let me ask
you another way. When an Energizer
commercial says, “It keeps going and going and going,” does that mean you’ll
never have to replace the battery? Of
course not. It means their batteries are
supposed to last longer than others.
When a
commercial for Citi Bank says, “Citi never sleeps,” do they mean you can go to
the bank and it will be open 24/7?
Heavens no. The bank opens after
you go to work and closes before you get off; we all know that!
When a Disney commercial says, “The
happiest place on earth,” they leave out the part about heat and lines and
crowds and the most expensive tickets on earth.
They’re trying to make a point that you can come there, leave your daily
life behind, and find some happiness.
When an AT&T commercial says,
“Reach out and touch someone,” does it mean you can reach through the phone and
touch someone? Of course not. It simply means they help you connect with
people.
So let’s revisit our earlier
question. When Jesus says, “Whoever does
not hate his family, give up his own life, and give away all his possessions
cannot be my disciple,” does he mean we must leave everything and everyone
behind to be a Christian? Of course
not. He’s making a point using strong,
tough language. He means that there is a
cost to discipleship. Being a Christian
is not something we can do casually or occasionally or half-heartedly. There is a cost to discipleship.
Isn’t that true of anything you do? If you want to get in shape physically, you
have to work at it. Eat right. Exercise.
If you want to get in shape financially, you have to work at it. Save.
Mange spending. Make good
decisions. If you want to get in shape
spiritually as a disciple of Jesus Christ, you have to work at it. Pray. Study. Love.
Serve.
That’s the cost of
discipleship. You have to give up some
of those things that matter to you in order to do what Christ compels you to
do. He’s not asking you to leave your
family or to give away everything you own or to give up your life. He’s asking you to make a commitment. To make an effort. To be a disciple. He’s asking us to be more than casual
Christians.
People followed Jesus everywhere he
went. For most people that would be
enough. To have crowds following you is
a dream come true for many in today’s celebrity culture. Not for Jesus. It wasn’t enough to have people follow him
around. He wanted disciples. He wanted people who were ready to make a
commitment and people who were ready to make an effort to live out their
faith. Are we those people? Are we ready to make a commitment each and
every day we wake up? Are we willing to
make an effort as disciples of Christ each and every day we live in God’s
world?
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