“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple….In the same way, (that is…without counting the cost), those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.””
Luke 14:25-27, 33-35 NIV
Following Jesus is not popular.
However, when we read the gospels, it would seem that, initially, Jesus flourished on popularity. No so! Unlike political party leaders of today, who go all out to canvas, with T- shirts and food parcels, for voters who will put their mark on the ballot paper next to their name…Jesus did His best to turn would-be followers away!
Now, that’s not the way to build a following or to invite people into a forever family! Why would one contradict one’s own mission?
Let’s look at it this way. Jesus came to bring a life so radical, so different from the world’s way that it would take dying to “self first”, and coming back to life a brand new person, bent only on loyalty and obedience to Jesus as Lord…who is the supreme authority over every detail of life.
Who, in their right mind would want to do that except for one reason…the outcome? This is not about a comfortable life now. This is about the choice to adhere Jesus, the supreme ruler of God’s eternal kingdom, in a union so intimate that the life of Jesus, in the person of His Spirit, becomes the very life I now live, and the destiny of an eternity with Him.
Jesus’ life and my life cannot co-exist. The one cancels the other out. I either live my self-centred life, and perish with it because my way is self-destructive, or His life through me because His life is eternal. Unlike any other cause or movement which requires only that we like and follow the narrative, Jesus wants only those who are inextricably joined to Him by faith and obedience.
With this demand before them, the very ones who eagerly followed Him for self-gain, turned on Him and bayed for His death.
Death still stalks in this scenario and the choice is left to us to make. Death either stands between Jesus and us or binds us together in an eternal union. We either choose to be on the side of death if we pamper self…or we choose life, die with Him and rise to eternal life.
This is not about going along with Him for self-gain or self-aggrandisement like the many who initially followed Him because He could do so much for them. This is about dying with Him in a death so radical that it destroys everything but what is of value in His eternal kingdom.
God created humans as already in this inextricable union. He filled the model He fashioned from dirt with His own breath. When we pulled away and fashioned our own lives, we prostituted the very life He gave us. We became criminals…thieves…because we took what we His and made it our own by excluding Him from our very existence.
Am I making sense?
Jesus calls us back to what He made us to be. It’s called repentance…returning to His way… faith…submitting to His authority and utterly relying on Him for our very breath.
Union with Jesus drives a wedge between us and even those closest to us. Loving Jesus turns family loyalties into what seems like hatred by contrast. Yet, strange as it may seem, when we love Jesus, even enemies within our own families are not enemies to us. They become the objects of our compassion and prayer.
This is the true nature of our union with Jesus. While loyalty to Him becomes the energy of our lives, His love and His mercy become the very life-blood that courses through our veins. We are separated from unbelieving family and friends by the nature of the realm in which we live…Jesus’ rule and standards in contrast and opposition to the realm of selfishness and self-rule…but, at the same time, we at their side to model and present the values and benefits of life under God’s rule.
Jesus said that those who belong to Him are like pure salt. What happens when we add salt that has been adulterated by another substance to our food? The food will decay because that salt is useless.
Likewise, if we mix our lives with worldly values or pursuits, our value as a preservative in society is lost. The salt has lost its ability to preserve from decay.
Jesus only accepts disciples who are unmixed with the impurities of the world’s system which are characterised by selfish pursuits and worldly desires. These who are ”pure” salt will drive His kingdom forward because they model loyalty to Him and faithfulness to His mission above all else.
So, said John…
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
1 John 2:15-17 NIV
…and so prayed David…
“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”
Psalms 86:11 NIV
Jesus is not interested in numbers. He wants quality…those people who love Him with pure hearts, love, and absolute loyalty to Him…
To be continued…