I grew up in Atlanta, GA during the 70’s. We had four professional sports teams: the Braves in baseball, Falcons in football, Hawks in basketball and Flames in hockey. The combined records of our local teams were so abysmal, that I remember Sports Illustrated magazine writing an article about the Atlanta professional sports scene and the title of the article was “Loserville, USA.”
My young friends and I loved our Braves, Falcons, Hawks, and Flames; but since they were so bad, each of us also adopted a “good” team to follow as well. For me that meant in baseball I pulled for our local Braves and the “Big Red Machine” of Cincinnati with Pete Rose and Johnny Bench. In addition to the Falcons, I pulled for Roger Staubach and the Dallas Cowboys. Along with the Hawks, I was a fan of the Boston Celtics with John Havlicek and JoJo White.
For the most part, this worked well. I pulled for the hometown losers but found heart in also pulling for some remarkable champions. The only problem came when my two favorite teams played each other. At that point, I would find myself dually aligned and confused as to who to pull for.
We’re in a series, “Say What?!” And we are taking a look at some of the head-scratching statements of Jesus. Today, we are looking at Jesus’ statement concerning his followers being dually aligned. In Luke14:26, he makes one of his most shocking statements;
Luke 14:26, “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.”
What is Jesus saying here? At first glance, this sounds like a CULT! The notion of hating your parents and family smacks of Jim Jones, David Koresh, or Charles Manson. It also sounds like a CONTRADICTION. Didn’t Jesus say in other places that we were to honor our father and mother? After all, this is one of the “Top 10” commandents.
In order to get the full picture of what Jesus is saying, let’s walk through Luke 14:25-35.
Luke 14:25-35, Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,
The crowds that followed Jesus can be compared to consumers today. Their basic question as they followed was, “what’s in it for me?” They had heard of Jesus’ free lunch program, his traveling miracle show and his healing of the sick. Jesus was popular and entertaining, and just like a winning sports team, he had his share of people riding the bandwagon.
The temptation we face when we have a crowd is to appease the crowd. We are tempted to tell them what they want to hear and give them the show they are looking for. Like a politician seeking votes, there is a temptation to make promises that we know we cannot keep.
But Jesus did just the opposite. Instead of playing to the crowd, he CHALLENGED the crowd:
Luke 14:26-27, “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. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
A disciple was more than just a student. A disciple was a follower who was seeking to pattern his life after his teacher. That’s why Jesus said, in Luke 6:40, “ A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”
Many today seem to think that being a disciple means simply knowing more about Jesus, the Bible, and the ways of God. However, discipleship isn’t about just KNOWING more, but about BEING more. A fully trained disciple will BE LIKE the one he is following.
Concerning this, Jesus lays down the priority of following him. Following Jesus means our allegiance to Him must be above our allegiance to FAMILY. Facing rejection because of one’s decision to follow Jesus was a real possibility in Jesus’ day, and is very likely in many places of the world today. Here in America, while many homes claim to be “Christian,” when a family member begins to truly follow Christ and live the kind of radical life he calls us to live, they can find themselves questioned and ridiculed. If our allegiance to Christ is not above that of our family, we’ll shrink back.
In too many places, our church culture has become one of easy believism. We want just ENOUGH Jesus to keep us from HELL, but not SO MUCH Jesus as to be INCONVENIENCED.
Jesus also calls those of us who follow him to an allegiance to him before SELF. “Take up your cross and follow me,” means DEATH to self. According to Jesus, there is no place for casual Christianity.
To drive this point home, Jesus gave two illustrations:
Luke 14:28-30, “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? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”
When faced with the truth that following Jesus will cost us something, this is where the CONSUMER will say, “This is where I say, bye-bye.” But the real question we should consider when it comes to counting the cost is this, “Can I finish life without Jesus? And, can I afford the ultimate cost of living life without him?”
Luke 14:31-32, 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? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.”
Two kings are mentioned here. You are one king. The other king is God.
The main point of this passage is verse 33:
“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”
Three truths we can take from this:
1. Jesus calls us into a relationship, not a decision.
“Follow me” is an ongoing relationship, not a onetime decision.
2. Following Jesus will eventually cost you something.
What will it cost? That’s the question we all have when it comes to this. The truth is, you’ll know it in your heart
3. The benefits of following Jesus far outweigh the cost.
Perhaps you remember The Bible mini-series that was on television a couple of years ago, and the movie, “Son of God’ that was a part of it. The scene where Jesus invites himself into Simon’s boat was a powerful scene to me. Jesus challenge to Simon was this, “Follow me, and we’ll change the world.”
Jesus concludes with this:
Luke 14:34-35, “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 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.”
What Jesus had to say about following him should force each of us to ask ourselves, “Am I really a FOLLOWER, or am I just a CONSUMER?”
