PACKAGE DEAL
The first cost of following Christ is the possible loss of social connection. The second cost is even more personal and more difficult.
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9.23)
“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14.33)
“Denying self” means I must say no to me. The natural tendency of every soul is to always say ‘yes’ to me. I want what I want, and if my only reason is “because that’s what I want”, that is a good enough reason for me. I make sense to myself, and I can dismiss differing opinions on that basis.
We use the idiom “lead your life”, and it is a fitting phrase. Self naturally leads and dictates one’s own life.
Until you meet Jesus.
If you follow Him, Jesus says, you no longer “lead” your own life.
YOU put “you” – not just the bad things, but even the good things – your whole life, all that you are – on the cross. You get ‘you’ out of the way.
Then Jesus leads your life. You follow. Every day. In everything.
This is what Jesus demands of those that wish to follow Him. He demands it at the outset of your walk with Him. You must give Him a blank check and say “Do as You please. I trust You.” This is not just about your eternal destiny but the entire path of life that leads to that eternal destiny. It is all one big walk with Jesus.
Any thinking person chafes at this demand. A good many evangelicals have chafed at this idea as well. It is too hard! Who wants to follow Jesus if this is the message?
So they made “following Jesus” easier. Instead of calling people to follow Jesus no matter what, they divided Jesus into two separate offices – Jesus the Savior and Jesus the Lord.
Becoming a Christian, they taught (I was taught!), means accepting Jesus as your SAVIOR who loves you, forgives you, and gets you out of hell and into heaven through a simple single moment of faith. If you have that one moment of faith, you are guaranteed heaven. Nothing afterward can undo that moment or its eternal results.
But what of Jesus’ other office: “Jesus the Lord”? I was taught repeatedly that you could “make Jesus Lord of your life”. If you wanted to. Or not. It was optional. Even if you don’t make Jesus your Lord, you still escape hell because you accepted Jesus as your Savior, and the Savior saves, even if you reject “Jesus the Lord”.
That’s a pretty sweet deal. Who could turn that down? It demands nothing but one moment which can be left behind, out of sight and out of mind.
At birth, I was not given the luxury of accepting my parents as providers and caretakers but rejecting them as disciplinarians and authorities. Parents are parents. I got the package deal.
Likewise, Jesus is who He is. You don’t decide to “make Jesus Lord”. You don’t have that kind of authority. Jesus is what God has already made Him – “Lord and Christ” (Acts 2.36) – and you either believe that and follow or you refuse Him and turn away. If you can pick and choose which parts of your life belong to Jesus and which don’t, who is “the Lord” – you or Jesus?
If you want to follow Jesus, your life belongs to Him. All of it. Everything. Every step toward and on into eternity. This demanding call overturns every soul’s approach to life. Each soul must count the cost of making that weighty commitment. Jesus said we should.
If this is the invitation of Jesus, then the “quick and easy nothing-to-it” method of traditional evangelism must change. The change in method will change the role of the church in getting that message out as well, and that change will dictate what kind of church we are trying to build.
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9.23)
“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14.33)
“Denying self” means I must say no to me. The natural tendency of every soul is to always say ‘yes’ to me. I want what I want, and if my only reason is “because that’s what I want”, that is a good enough reason for me. I make sense to myself, and I can dismiss differing opinions on that basis.
We use the idiom “lead your life”, and it is a fitting phrase. Self naturally leads and dictates one’s own life.
Until you meet Jesus.
If you follow Him, Jesus says, you no longer “lead” your own life.
YOU put “you” – not just the bad things, but even the good things – your whole life, all that you are – on the cross. You get ‘you’ out of the way.
Then Jesus leads your life. You follow. Every day. In everything.
This is what Jesus demands of those that wish to follow Him. He demands it at the outset of your walk with Him. You must give Him a blank check and say “Do as You please. I trust You.” This is not just about your eternal destiny but the entire path of life that leads to that eternal destiny. It is all one big walk with Jesus.
Any thinking person chafes at this demand. A good many evangelicals have chafed at this idea as well. It is too hard! Who wants to follow Jesus if this is the message?
So they made “following Jesus” easier. Instead of calling people to follow Jesus no matter what, they divided Jesus into two separate offices – Jesus the Savior and Jesus the Lord.
Becoming a Christian, they taught (I was taught!), means accepting Jesus as your SAVIOR who loves you, forgives you, and gets you out of hell and into heaven through a simple single moment of faith. If you have that one moment of faith, you are guaranteed heaven. Nothing afterward can undo that moment or its eternal results.
But what of Jesus’ other office: “Jesus the Lord”? I was taught repeatedly that you could “make Jesus Lord of your life”. If you wanted to. Or not. It was optional. Even if you don’t make Jesus your Lord, you still escape hell because you accepted Jesus as your Savior, and the Savior saves, even if you reject “Jesus the Lord”.
That’s a pretty sweet deal. Who could turn that down? It demands nothing but one moment which can be left behind, out of sight and out of mind.
At birth, I was not given the luxury of accepting my parents as providers and caretakers but rejecting them as disciplinarians and authorities. Parents are parents. I got the package deal.
Likewise, Jesus is who He is. You don’t decide to “make Jesus Lord”. You don’t have that kind of authority. Jesus is what God has already made Him – “Lord and Christ” (Acts 2.36) – and you either believe that and follow or you refuse Him and turn away. If you can pick and choose which parts of your life belong to Jesus and which don’t, who is “the Lord” – you or Jesus?
If you want to follow Jesus, your life belongs to Him. All of it. Everything. Every step toward and on into eternity. This demanding call overturns every soul’s approach to life. Each soul must count the cost of making that weighty commitment. Jesus said we should.
If this is the invitation of Jesus, then the “quick and easy nothing-to-it” method of traditional evangelism must change. The change in method will change the role of the church in getting that message out as well, and that change will dictate what kind of church we are trying to build.