If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [[a]in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters–[yes] and even his own life also–he cannot be My disciple.(Luke 14:26)
What is Jesus really saying here? Are we to truly hate our family, our wives and even our children? Or is this merely a figure of speech?
I believe what Jesus is doing here is calling for a commitment that is so great that anything by comparison will be deemed as hatred. This is in contrast to the parable in the previous verses where one of the invited guests declined the invitation because he had recently married a wife (14:20).
Do you really, with all your heart want to be a disciple of Jesus?
Then you must give Him preeminence. You must recognize His sovereignty and His Lordship. You must give Him your devotion and your love. You must put Him first in every area of your life. You must be even willing to wake up this morning, turn to your wife and children and say “I love you all, there is a good chance that I will not be returning as I more than likely will be killed for proclaiming the gospel message out there today”!
Today, many desire the presence of the Lord, they want all the blessings of His Kingdom, but they are unwilling to sacrifice anything. Now, they consider the time they go to church on Sunday and Wednesday a great sacrifice – but that is the extent of their service in the kingdom.
Jesus call’s us to lay our own lives down – this isn’t a popular message in the church today – most hireling’s (paid clergy) will tell you that is not what Jesus really means here – I guess several years in the theological cemeteries has birthed this “dead religious” theology in them.
Yet the truth be told, Jesus made a very strong statement that discipleship involves a willingness to come and die. One German theologian seeing the truth of a disciples calling stated that “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die”.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.“(Luke 14:28-33)
The message in these two parables is the same. It is that you are called to count the cost of discipleship and to make a determination as to whether you will see it through to the end.
This is quite different than the watered down gospel invitation that suggests that you “give Jesus a try” in much the same way that you test-drive a sports car. Jesus says, “Only come if you are going to come for keeps.”
Many preachers today when calling people to come to Jesus, come across as a used car salesman: “Don’t read the fine print; we’ll get to that later.” But Jesus tells unbelievers to count the cost before coming to Him.
Jesus calls all who follow Him to recognize Him as the Lord of your life. He wants it all. He refuses to be the Lord of a small portion of your life. He refuses to be a weekend God. And so, He calls for you to count the cost. If you are going to be a Christian, be a real one.
“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”. (Luke 14:34-35)
There is nothing more useless that salt that is not salty. It is only fit to be thrown out and discarded. That is the picture of the person who says that they are going to follow Jesus but who does not follow through on that commitment.
Have you counted the cost? Have you determined to follow through to the end, to be salty salt? Your call is to hold to a faith of the heart, not merely of the attendance role.
Jesus calls you to do that which He first did on your behalf. He put you before…
Family
Possessions
His own life.
And He calls for you to do the same:
“Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and come after (follow) Me cannot be My disciple“.
Does it take a commitment?
Yes it does – a 100% commitment.
Is it easy?
Not in the least – but praise God for He has sent the Promised one who will walk every step of the discipleship path with us!
We as well have brothers and sister who have walked before us who are there to help along the way – Most importantly is the promise that our Lord has giving us – No matter how hard it gets, no matter how dark the trail appears at times, no matter if even feels as though we are walking it alone – we are never alone for He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us – He is personally there every step of the Way.
We simply need to put doubt to death and walk in total surrendered faith!
For indeed we serve an Awesome God!!
Radical Disciples - A Remnant Revolution 