The Passion of True Discipleship

 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 14:25-35).

Here is another wonderful example of Jesus drawing “great crowds” and then confronting them with a challenge to step up and away from the crowd of followers and to come closer to Him and into the life of true discipleship. He made the requirements of disciples very clear in this brief exhortation. He described a fresh new attitude toward people, possessions, and purpose that would mark His genuine disciples in every age. Today the Holy Spirit uses Jesus’ words to challenge our hearts to go deeper with Him by discovering and embracing the passion of true discipleship.

The priority of discipleship is Christ before people. Jesus did not advocate hating the important people He has placed in our lives, like family, friends, and neighbors. He used the word hate here to mean His disciples must not love anyone more than Him. He clarified this principle in another lesson… “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). Decreasing love for our own lives is another mark of maturing faith… “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). True disciples are learning to love everyone, even our enemies, but we love no one more passionately than Christ.

The price of discipleship is Christ before possessions. For pilgrims moving ever steadily toward our eternal home in heaven, the things of this world are serious distractions. We learn to be stewards of everything the Lord has given us and we long to use them for His eternal purposes. Jesus’ exhortation to “renounce all that he has” is a call to surrender ownership of our possessions to Him and to use them to show our growing love for Him to the world around us… “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). True disciples hold onto nothing more passionately than Christ.

The preoccupation of discipleship is Christ before the world. Salt is a substance used for seasoning and for the preservation of certain foods. When we accept Christ as our Savior we become salt for Him… “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet” (Matthew 5:13). He wants true disciples to be a flavoring and preserving influence in the world. As we walk closely with Him and grow up in the faith, our lives should become a clearer and more influential reflection of His life to the world around us… “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). As we mature as disciples, others will react either positively or negatively as we passionately season our world with the salt and light of the life of Christ that is growing in us… “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). True disciples passionately share Christ.

As we grow up into Christ, all of life becomes all about Him as we mature in the faith and grow in…

The Passion of True Discipleship.