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.
Luke 14:25-33 (ESV)
This episode in the life of Jesus is fascinating and has fascinated me for years.
When I worked as someone who supported people into employment, I encouraged individuals to think of their pursuit as if it was a match-making opportunity. The employer has their requirements – you have your requirements. The employer has its opportunities in its job description – you have your opportunities to offer in your skills, qualities and experience. Where these match up more often than not, it’s worth seeing if the two of you can be matched. There’s no point in looking for perfect matches especially as you appreciate the need for room to grow and get accustomed to each other. However, if you don’t recognise how you mee the expectations of the employer, don’t be surprised if you are unsuccessful in becoming their employee.
OK, we’re also aware that in the world of employment it’s not what you know, but who you know – those personal connections can often make all the difference. Don’t forget about that – personal connections.
The bigger point is that when we know what’s required then we can make an informed decision and we can recognise if we are in for something or not.
In the reading above, Jesus does something that would make many marketing people slap their foreheads in dismay. When you’re popular enough to have crowds following you and being thrilled by what you’re doing, there’s no need to put them off. I often imagine being around Jesus at the time and giving Him the heads up that what he’s saying here could put off quite a lot of people. Those are failrly high demands that he’s making. Note how he says three times – you cannot be my disciple.
If Jesus isn’t more important than your key relationships including how you relate to yourself – you cannot be His disciple.
If doing everything it takes to follow Jesus isn’t your number one responsibility in life – you cannot be His disciple.
If you don’t prioritise Jesus over everything you own – you cannot be His disciple.
I read those three requirements from Him and it comes as no surprise that those who fit that criteria would be considered light and salt. These type of people would definitely be distinctive from the world around them. These people would not be like everyone else around them. The distinction is their devotion and commitment and priority of following Jesus – eager to study Him, eager to attend to His teaching, eager to obey Him, eager to be like Him.
That is not mental assent to His existence. That is not saying words that agree that He died and rose again. That is not a habitual attendance at a location on a given point of the week to go through rituals that you think will assuage Him.
That is an understanding that believing He is requires the total submission of all of life to Him – the will, the emotions, the thoughts, the ambitions, the dreams, the goals, the desires, the relationships, the material, the responsibilities, the gifts, the talents, the abilities and the personal qualities. That is the ultimate demand – and that’s the minimum requirement He makes on what it is to be a disciple. You don’t meet that – you cannot be His disciple.
That does sound challenging and if we’re left to naval-gaze and see all our failings and how prone we are to wonder, we might be beaten before we begin. That’s why the deal is not to look to yourself. Will you fail? Sure. Will you focus on other things from time to time? Certainly. Is Jesus still calling you to Himself? Yes. Does He grant you the grace to be forgiven as well as the grace to overcome and continue following? He certainly does.
In the light of those truths will you commit to Him afresh to be His disciple?
The personal connection element comes in right here. Jesus is not making these demands and just leaving people to it expecting them to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps and get it done when it comes to following Him. Jesus’ invitation in following Him is to relate to Him. It’s to get to know Him. This same Jesus who makes these demands is also the same Jesus who says,
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)
When we consider all that Jesus is and what He has done for us, then what appears as an overwhelming demand becomes a reasonable request. When we see Him and how He carries our sins away from us, how He restores the soul, how He brings peace, how He mends the broken heart, how He heals us from diseases, how He provides for us, how He restores right relationships vertically and horizontally. When we see this and note that this is just part of what He does for us, then it is not unreasonable and impractical to prioritise Him above everyone and everything else.
It is an act of worship to the true and living God. It is our service to Him who has done so much for us. It is our part in the love relationship He has forged even when we rebelled against Him. It really does feel like it’s the least we can do in the wonder of all He has done, is doing and will do.
As mentioned in a previous post, the cost of following Jesus is great. The cost Jesus paid to allow that to be possible, however, was greater. As we daily celebrate what Jesus did, so we access what He has given us to take delight in following Him acknowledging that as we do this we can affirm that we can be His disciples.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 
You’re skipping over the most stunning and problematic part of this text — that word “hate.” No one who is so bitter, resentful, pitiless, heartless as the one here could possibly love Jesus, the one who tells us to love our neighbor equally as well as we are to love ourselves.
This is one place where I feel the Living Bible comes closer to the intent of the passage than I find in the other translations at hand, where “my follower must love me far more than he does his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters — yes, even more than his own life …”
The world has too many hate-filled religious fanatics who are ready to murder on behalf of their doctrinaire followings. That can never bring Heaven on Earth.
Could it even be that as disciples, we are to let go of our unrecognized, unadmitted hate that can stain our closest relationships? Now there’s a place where each of us can struggle.