What's it cost to be a disciple?

When we think of the term, “Disciple”, we often think of the 12 guys Jesus chose to follow Him throughout His ministry on earth.  Fair enough.....but what does it mean to be a disciple today?  My next several posts are going to focus on what it means to be a disciple.

Check out Jesus’ words when He challenged people to follow Him.

A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,   “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 
And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don’t begin until you count the cost.  For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?”  (Luke 14:25-28, NLT)

Those are some pretty intense words and through these words Jesus raises the standard to as high as it can go.  If all you want is the “title” of Christian, it probably won’t cost you anything.  But, if you want to follow Jesus, be like Him, do what He did, you gotta understand that it will cost you.  You will lose some friends.  Some family members may turn on you.  It might cost you your job or a promotion.  In some parts of the world, maybe even in our country one day in our lifetime, it could even cost you your life.  So what does it mean to be a disciple?

Being a disciple means I give up everything to follow Jesus.

The word “Christian” has become watered down today.  It’s watered down so much that the vast majority of Americans would call themselves Christians.  From the White House to the poor house, the vast majority of Americans consider themselves to be Christians.  I’m not sure what that means for everyone, but for a lot of people it means, “I believe Jesus is the Son of God who died and rose again.”  It’s great to believe that, but believing that doesn't save anyone...it doesn’t make anyone a Christian.  Even satan believes that.  Simply believing that doesn’t put anyone in a right relationship with Jesus.

Being a disciple goes beyond cultural Christianity; beyond just believing in Jesus.  A disciple is one who puts their faith in what Jesus did when He died on the cross.  A disciple believes so much in Him that their whole life pursuit is to become like Him, and that not only are we to become like Him, but as a disciple, we are to do what He did - and there’s a profound difference between those 2 definitions.

If we are disciples of Jesus, we will do what He did.  I’m not talking about dying on a cross - I’m talking about living a life that emulates what Jesus came to do.  What did Jesus come to do?  John 10:10 and several other verses tell us:

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  (John 10:10, NIV)

If we are disciples, we will help impart that kind of life.

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”  (Luke 5:31b, NIV)

If we are disciples, we will be here for the sick, those who are in need.

“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  (Luke 5:32, NIV)

If we are disciples, we will be there for the prostitutes and the lepers, the sinners, the no good, the low down, the outcast.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  (John 3:17, NIV)

Jesus came to do all of these things, including bringing people into a growing relationship Himself.  But that means going against the grain of what’s commonly accepted in society.  A couple of examples:  Someone strikes you on the cheek, you want to hit them back.  But Jesus says, “Turn the other cheek.”  Doesn’t make sense.  Someone curses you, you want to curse them back.  Jesus says, “No.  Bless them instead.”  Doesn’t make sense.  Someone asks you for your shirt.  Jesus said, “Give them your coat, too.”  Give them more than they expect. Someone says, “Go a mile.”  Jesus says, “Go two.”  Jesus says, “Give and it will be given to you.”  You don’t understand, but because Jesus says so, we follow.

Being a disciple begins with being sold out to Jesus.  I’m not talking about cultural Christianity where we simply believe Jesus died on the cross.......I’m talking about committed discipleship where I make God my top priority; where I put Him first in everything in my life; where I choose His way over my way and over the way of convenience; where I’m willing to take up my cross - to step away from all the other things I’ve been pursuing - and follow Him.  That’s what it means to be a disciple.  Jesus said:

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  (John 14:12, NIV)

A disciple who leaves everything to be like Jesus, will do the things Jesus does.

Defeating Giants (Part 5)

For several years a woman had been having trouble getting to sleep at night because she was worried that a burglar might show up.  One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, lo and behold, he found a burglar had broken in the house and was looking around to find something to steal.

The husband approached the burglar, baseball bat in hand, and said, “Man, am I glad to see you!”  The burglar was surprised, but kept quiet. The husband went on, “Please, come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting 10 years to meet you.”

Why do we worry so much?  Well, let’s see:

Life is hard. Bad things happen to good people, to bad people, and everyone in between.  Even the wealthy and powerful aren’t exempt. All you have to do is watch the news or read the paper to see that tragedy comes to everyone.

The future is uncertain. We worry because we don’t know what the future holds. Not only are there dangers we know about and can make some preparation for, but there are dangers which are completely unexpected.  We can prepare as best we know how. We can watch our diets and exercise to prevent heart attack. We can stockpile food and water to prepare for an emergency. As hard as we try, though, the bottom line is that the future is unknowable.

We’re not in control.  Everyone knows someone we consider to be a control freak.  You have friends who consider you to be a control freak.  The truth is, we’re all control freaks because we want to know what’s going on and when it’s going to happen.  At best, we have only the illusion of control. Even doctors get sick. Financial experts lose money in the stock market. Policemen get robbed. Lawyers get sued. Good, loving, responsible parents are rejected by their teenage and adult children.

We live in a high stress culture.  There’s stress from lack of job security… few people believe they’ll be in the same job 5 years from now.  There’s financial stress… as soon as you are on top of your finances, the car breaks down. Stress of watching your portfolio drop lower and lower.  There’s the stress that comes along with the pace of life.  It just doesn’t slow down.  The list goes on and on.

Before we look at Jesus’ answer to worry, let’s define what worry is.  The Greek word for worry is MERIMNAO.  Merimnao comes from “merizo”, “to divide”, and “nous”, which means, “mind”. The word “worry” means:  to have a “divided mind”.

A mind divided between the worries of the world, and the peace of God; between worldly attitudes and Biblical truth; between a focus on the situation, and a focus on the God of the situation.  So let’s take a look at a solution to worry and learn how we can defeat it.  In Jesus’ sermon on the mount, He addresses this subject of worry. Matthew 6:25:

      “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what
      you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?   Look at  
      the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds
      them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his
      life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or
      spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is
      how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he
      not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What
      shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly
      Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things
      will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
      itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  (Matthew 6:25-34, NIV)

Jesus’ teaching here gives us some clear help with this subject of worry and gives us some weapons with which we can defeat it.  First:

I need to recognize that worry accomplishes nothing.  If we can really grasp this one, we’re well on our way to a solution.  Ask yourself this, “Why is it that there are no classes on how to worry?”  No high school offers college prep worry.  No college offers Worry 101 or a degree in worry because worry accomplishes nothing.  It has no productive value whatsoever.  Worry doesn’t help anything.  Not only does worry not help, it often has the opposite effect.

Worrying about everything is like trying to take a trip by sitting in a rocking chair. You expend lots of energy, but you make no forward progress.  Here’s something else Jesus teaches us:

I need to learn that God cares about me.  Rick Warren says, "Worry is the warning light that God is really not first in my life at this particular moment." Worry says that God is not big enough to handle my troubles.  But the fact is, He is big enough and you also need to know that you matter to Him!

God values us even more than the rest of his creation. Birds, who don’t labor at all to provide for themselves, have adequate food to eat. Even flowers, which only live for a short time, have beautiful "clothing." If God provides for them, doesn’t it stand to reason that He will care for us, since we are much more valuable?  Here’s a 3rd lesson:

I need to put first things first.  We worry too much because we care too much about the wrong things.
We have our priorities reversed.  We worry about what we eat, but don’t care enough about what we are going to do with the life that the food makes possible.  We worry about what we wear, but aren’t concerned enough about what we are doing with the bodies we put those clothes on. We concern ourselves with how to preserve our lives as long as possible, but we give very little thought to what comes afterwards.

No one would claim that having enough food to eat, and clothing to wear, are trivial matters. For the people to whom Jesus was speaking, these were life and death issues. But they aren’t the most important things.

The things we should be most concerned about are the things which matter most. Putting first things first gives us a right perspective and give us strength to face life without worry.  The most important things for us to concern ourselves with are His kingdom and His righteousness.  Our primary concern in this life shouldn’t be pleasing and serving ourselves, it should be knowing and serving God.  One more step:

I need to transfer trust.  Rather than trusting in our own power, wisdom, and strength, we need to place our trust in God for everything. As a result, he will give us a peace which defies logical explanation. It’s not a trick of the mind; it’s a spiritual reality.

We exercise this trust by actively committing our concerns to God in prayer.  We aren’t in control, but we can place our trust in Someone who is. We don’t know the future, but we can place our trust in Someone who does.