Crucified Followers
#BecomingTheChurchHeIntended
Francis Chan opens up the 7th chapter of his book letters to the church with this Scripture
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20
In the Ironman Triathlon, participants swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles. If I asked you to watch it with me, many of you would consider it. If I asked you to compete in it with me, that number would drop considerably.
There are millions of people in our country who call themselves Christians because they believe the Christian life is about admiring Christ’s example, not realizing it is a call to follow it.
If they really understood this, the numbers would drop drastically. The New Testament could not be clearer: we are not just to believe in His crucifixion; we are to be crucified with Christ.
If you listened only to the voice of Jesus, read only the words that came out of His mouth, you would have a very clear understanding of what He requires of His followers. If you listened only to modern preachers and writers, you would have a completely different understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. Could there be a more catastrophic problem than this?
There are millions of men and women who have been taught that they can become Christians and it will cost them nothing. And they believe it!
Forget what you have been told about… asking Jesus to be your personal Savior. Read what Jesus demanded and ask yourself whether you still want to follow Him. There was no misinterpreting what Christ was calling for.
This is why He had so few disciples. The call to follow Jesus was a call to die. The price tag was front and center. Jesus laid it out from the start and told people to count the cost before they got themselves into something they weren’t ready to commit to.
Nowadays we just want to talk about the good part—the grace and blessings. And of course grace, forgiveness, and mercy are central to the gospel, but at the same time Jesus was very truthful and up-front about the costliness of the gospel, a concept that we completely neglect.
In doing so, we’ve lost something so central to the essence of what it means to be Christian. Becoming a Christian is a complete and total surrender of your own desires and flesh to the higher purpose of serving God’s glory.
It means you die to yourself and put on Christ. That is what you’re signing up for… According to Jesus, far from having no cost, following Him will cost you everything.
Prayer…
OKAY – so we are in this extremely important message series called… Becoming the church He intended.
This morning we will see that Jesus intended that His church be made up of… Crucified Followers.
NOW – before we jump into the main conversation for today,
I think it’s important in understanding who we are to understand who we are not.
YOU SEE - we just tend to come with a lot of preconceptions, a lot of ideas about church—oftentimes unintentionally.
And so, as we get into this, let me just say that..
We are not fans…
UNDERSTAND – being a fan of Jesus is much different than being a follower of Jesus…
Speaking of being a fan.
When it comes to being one I think NFL football fans are in a class all by themselves.
I MEAN – check out a few of the images of NFL fans I came across this week…
AND - as you look at these, could you imagine seeing people dressed like this at a tennis or golf tournament?
Don’t think so…
NOW – this last one I was unsure whether or not I should show it, because I was afraid it would make you stumble…
YEAH – NFL football fans are serious about their teams… probably the most serious of all sports fans.
BUT LISTEN – even though they may… paint their bodies, wear the jersey, put cheese on their heads, wear some kind of orange barrel thing… and dress up like Halloween on steroids…
THEY STILL – only spend the day in the stands (they never walk in between the chalk lines…
AND – not only that, but they didn’t train all year long… getting up early, running, lifting weights, pushing their bodies when all they want to do is quit, running plays over and over again, watching hours and hours of game film, playing through pain, sweat, blood and injuries…
YEAH – there is a big difference between fans who cheer in the stands or in their living rooms and those who… are actually on the field playing the game and taking the hits…
AGAIN – a big difference between being a fan or player.
Players take hits fans don’t.
Check out some of the hits this one guy took for Jesus and His Gospel
I have been in prison frequently, been flogged severely, near death many times. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,
I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.
I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
2 Corinthians 11:23-29
WOW – those are some serious hits…
AND LISTEN – many followers of Jesus are still taking hits today.
NOW - the way I want to spend our time in this extremely important and potentially life changing message, ‘Crucified Followers’ - is to try to answer 4 basic and critical questions…
OKAY - here are the 4 questions
1. What does it mean to be a fan?
2. Why do we think being a fan is even an option?
3. What does Jesus say about following Him?
4. Why is following Jesus worth it?
I. What Does It Mean To Be A Fan?
OKAY – here is the most basic definition of ‘fan’ in the dictionary. ‘An enthusiastic admirer”
What is a fan?
IT’S - the guy who goes to the football game with no shirt and a painted chest. He sits in the stands and cheers for his team. He’s got a signed jersey hanging on his wall at home and bumper stickers and flags on his car.
BUT – he’s never in a game.
HE - never breaks a sweat or takes a hard hit in the open field.
SURE HE - knows all about the players and can rattle off their latest stats, BUT HE - doesn’t know the players.
HE - yells and cheers,
BUT nothing is really required of him.
There is no sacrifice he has to make.
AND - the truth is, as excited as he seems, if the team he is cheering for starts to let him down and has a few off seasons, his passion will fade pretty quickly, and the ‘boo birds’ will start to sing.
BECAUSE - he is an enthusiastic admirer, not a follower…
AND LISTEN – even if he considers himself a follower, it’s more like the kind of followers that you find on social media…
Raise your hand if you follow anyone of social media.
Here are pictures of the top 5 followed people on Instagram...
Do you recognize them?
BTW – all of those numbers went up by one this week as I began following each of them.
YOU KNOW – I think Jesus has a lot of fans and followers like that these days.
FANS - who cheer for Him when things are going well, but who walk away when there’s a difficult season or that find what they feel is a better offer on the table.
FANS - who sit safely in the stands cheering, but they know nothing of the sacrifice and pain of the field.
FANS - of Jesus who know all about him, BUT they don’t really know Him.
Jesus was never interested in having fans. When he defines what kind of relationship He wants, “Enthusiastic Admirer’ isn’t an option. My concern is that many of our churches in America have gone from being sanctuaries to becoming stadiums. And every week all the fans come to the stadium where they cheer for Jesus but have no interest in truly following Him.
The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren’t actually interested in following Christ. They want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but no so close that it requires anything from them.” - Kyle Idleman (Not A Fan)
UNDERSTAND – a fan is someone who can and will take off his or her ‘Jesus Jersey,’ depending on the situation…
YOU SEE FANS - try to negotiate or re-negotiate the terms of the deal… “SURE I follow Jesus, but…
• I am not going to sell any of my stuff and give to the poor. (and off comes the Jersey)
• Don’t ask me to forgive people who hurt me, they don’t deserve that
• Don’t ask me to save sex for marriage, I can’t help my desires
• Don’t ask me to regularly give 10% percentage of my money to His church, I work hard for my money
• Don’t expect me to go to church regularly or to serve
NOW UNDERSTAND – those are things that fans ‘can’ do…
BUT - followers cannot.
YOU SEE – Jesus never left open the option of selective commitment or partial surrender.
BOTTOM LINE – essentially what a fan says to Jesus is, “Jesus I love you. I am committed to you. BUT let’s not make this thing exclusive.” YOU SEE…
• FANS don’t mind Jesus making some minor changes in their lives BUT JESUS wants to turn their lives upside down.
• FANS don’t mind a little touch up work, BUT JESUS wants a complete renovation.
• FANS come to Jesus thinking tune up, BUT JESUS is thinking overhaul.
• FANS think that a little make up is fine, BUT JESUS is thinking makeover…
• FANS want Jesus to inspire them, BUT JESUS wants to interfere with their lives.
Get it?
II. Why Do We Think Being A Fan Is Even An Option?
NOW – I reflected a lot on this question…
AND - in that reflection I came up with at least 4 reasons why we would think that being fan, that being an enthusiastic admirer of Jesus is an option.
A. Preachers, Teachers and Church Leaders
NOW - this one hits close to home,
BECAUSE - everyone of those words describe me.
AND – the truth is that I can relate to the following words that Idleman wrote in the prologue to ‘Not a Fan’…
“Too often in my preaching I have tried to talk people into following Jesus. I wanted to make following Him as appealing, comfortable and convenient as possible.” – Kyle Idleman
QUESTION…
WHY – would church leaders do this… make following Jesus easy, as appealing, comfortable and convenient as possible…
A DEAL- where Jesus does everything for us and expects very little in return?
ANSWER…
• To not offend people and have them get uncomfortable and walk out of the door
• To have a bigger church
And sometimes the goals may seem noble, like - we really do want people saved, and you do not want to scare them off.
So we try to ‘sell them on Jesus.’
AS IF – we could somehow make Jesus more appealing than he already is.
LIKE – if we show people who Jesus really is and what he demands they will not want Him.
B. American Culture
MGCC - our culture is a consumer driven culture, would you agree?…
AND – would you also agree that we tend to bring that mindset into the churches that we choose to attend…
I MEAN – many come to church asking this question…
“What can the church do for me?”
YOU SEE - the truth is we prefer what I call ‘Burger King’ churches.
Now back when I was a kid when you went into a fast food place there was only one way to get a hamburger – the way they made it… There were no special orders.
And for a kid who hated onions, that meant I did a lot of scrapping…
And then in 1974 my prayers were answered when Burger King developed a new slogan, accompanied by an amazing jingle…
“hold the pickles, hold the lettuce – special orders don’t upset us… all we ask is that you let us serve it your way.”
There is a second line...
"We can serve your grilled beef whopper, fresh with everything on topper, anyway you think is proper, have it your way."
And on the way out the Dad says – "now that’s the way to do things…’our way’
Hold the serving, hold the tithing and the hard to do forgiving…
Your demands they don’t upset us
All we ask is that let us serve you your way…
C. The Company We Keep
UNDERSTAND – if everyone around us is a Fan… we can actually convince ourselves that we are all followers of Christ, when in reality we are still just fans.
There’s a book out by a guy named David Platt called (RADICAL, taking back your FAITH from the American Dream) maybe you have read or heard about it.
Great book. But I think the title is wrong.
And it shows just how much the concept of following Jesus has been watered down.
I MEAN – in reality the book should simply be called normal.
Because a follower of Christ is by definition ‘radical.’
If you need proof read the book of Acts
D. Us (Me, You)
AND – the final reason why being a fan is even an option is us… Is you. Is me.
I MEAN – we have God’s Word…
AND EITHER – we have chosen not to read it…
OR – we have chosen to ignore what it says or at least ignore the parts that we don’t like or that make us uncomfortable…
QUESTION – is this conversation, making anyone else as uncomfortable, as it is making me?
GOOD…
BECAUSE…
WHAT IF - all of life comes down to this one question, “am I a follower of Christ?”
I MEAN – what if there really is a heaven and a hell and where we will spend eternity comes down to this one question,
“Am I (are you) a follower of Christ?”
Not, am I a fan of Christ.
Not, am I a church attender
Not, am I an enthusiastic admirer
BUT – am I a follower of Christ.
UNDERSTAND – being a follower of Jesus causes me, forces me
TO – look at life differently
TO – live life differently
• You do something to hurt me…
How do I respond?
(well, it depends on whether I am a follower or a fan)
• My flesh wants me to do something I know is wrong ‘Steve, let’s do this, it’s no big deal.’
Yes it is a big deal, if I am a follower of Jesus.
YOU KNOW
ONE - of the most sobering and terrifying passages in Scripture is found in Matthew 7…
JESUS TELLS - of a day when many people who consider themselves followers of Jesus will be stunned to find out that he does not even know them… and that they had only been fans and enthusiastic admirers all along.
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
– Matthew 7:21-23
Do those words of Jesus, scare you a little?
Believe me when I tell you, they terrify me….
NEXT – question…
III. What Does Jesus Say About Following Him?
AND LISTEN – this is an important question.
BECAUSE – I am convinced that Jesus’ idea of what it means to follow Him is much different from the idea that many who claim Him today have.
I MEAN – the way that many follow Jesus today is really not that different than how they follow… The Rock, Selena Gomez or Ariana Grande
UNDERSTAND - the word “follower” or ‘disciple’ is an important word (use about 100 times more than the word Christian)
AND IT - implies an ongoing commitment, a decision that has daily implications.
IT IMPLIES - that you are on a journey. You’re on a path.
The Bible describes it as a path that is narrow and not frequently traveled. In other words, it’s not just this one decision where you say, “Okay, I made that decision, so that’s me.”
Instead it’s this ongoing commitment.
If I said, “I’m a vegetarian”—which I’m not. If I said, “I’m a vegetarian,” and then you said, “But, I see you eat meat all the time.”
And I said, “Well, that’s because I made a decision fifteen years ago to become a vegetarian, but I’ve eaten…you know, I’ve eaten meat ever since. But I did make that decision.”
Well, that doesn’t…that doesn’t really add up. It’s not consistent. And so when we say “follower” we’re not just saying, “Okay, I’ve made a decision back in 1979,” but we’re saying,
“This is an ongoing commitment that gives direction to my life.
NOW – when we read the Gospels we see that Jesus talks a lot about (and we see demonstrate clearly in the disciples) what it means to follow Him…
I am only going to read two passages both from Luke…
Then he said to the crowd,
(and listen, what we are going to see here is that,
It wasn’t the size of the crowd Jesus cared about, it was their level of commitment)
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world, and you lose or forfeit your very self. – Luke 9:23-25
AND – just a little further down the road in Luke 14 we read…
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
NOW - here’s what you’ll find in the New Testament, in the Gospels:
THAT - Jesus from time to time will try to find out who’s traveling with Him and who’s following after Him.
There’s a distinction that gets made.
Where there’s a large group of people traveling with Him and He wants to know, “Who’s following Me and who’s just traveling with Me?”
AND - to be clear, the travelers were welcome, right?
Some of you are travelers. You’re learning more about Jesus. You’re getting to know Him. And that’s great. You can keep traveling. You can keep traveling with Jesus, learning a little bit more about Him. BUT - the time comes where He’ll challenge you to not just travel but to follow after.
And so that’s what happens.
This is one of those moments…
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple… any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. – Luke 14:25-27
WELL - that will thin the crowd out, right?
I MEAN - that’s one way to figure out who’s traveling with you and who’s following after you. If you want to come after me, you’ve got to hate your family.
AGAIN - it doesn’t seem like a great membership recruitment approach.
IF - the local gym wants to get new members that’s not the type of language they want to use.
INSTEAD – they put up billboards and you send out ads and you make it clear to people all the ways this is going to benefit them. They try to sell you on it.
Jesus isn’t doing that.
SO WHY - does He use this language of hating your family? WELL - obviously to take that literally would contradict the other core teachings of Jesus and of Scripture.
One translation translates that as “you must love me more than,” which is probably a more accurate way to understand the point Jesus is making.
BUT - I don’t want to take away from His statement.
IN FACT - I think to understand it you have to understand that in that first century world a decision to follow Jesus would have been considered oftentimes, by the family as a complete turning away from them.
WELL - when Jesus says this to the crowd and He calls for this level of commitment, you can almost hear some of the people in the crowd getting pretty uncomfortable, starting to ask questions.
I mean, why would Jesus say it?
Why would…? Why would He make such a statement?
I mean, doesn’t He want more people to travel with Him? As a rabbi, doesn’t it help Him if there are bigger crowds? I mean, why would He say something like this?”
And Jesus explains in verse 28. He says,
“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.’”
UNDERSTAND – Jesus is being straight with them and with anyone who wants to follow Him. There is no fine print,
YOU SEE - He wants us to fully understand the cost of what we are signing up for.
AND THAT’S - one of the reasons we’re having this conversation as a church family… to remind ourselves what it is we have signed up for and that we should expect there to be a cost.
Recently I read about how in South Asia persecution of Christians is common.
And how some church planters and pastors there have decided that one of the ways they’re going to help people understand what they are really getting into by following Christ is by asking them a series of questions, so that they know what they’re signing up for.
It’s only fair, right?
AND SO - they’ve come up with a series of questions that they ask new members…or perspective members…before they surrender to Christ and become a part of the church.
And here are the questions that are asked:
• Are you willing to leave your home and lose the blessing of your family?
• Are you willing to lose your job?
• Are you willing to forgive those who persecute you and share the love of Christ with them?
• Are you willing to give an offering for the Lord?
• Are you willing to be beaten rather than deny your faith?
• Are you willing to go to prison?
• Are you willing to die for Jesus?
THOSE - are their questions. So you still want to sign up? They just want to be fair. They want to be honest and say, “Look, this is what it could cost you.”
AND LISTEN - though you may never be put in a situation like this, if we follow Jesus there will be a cost.
QUESTION – what has following Jesus cost you?
NOW – I think one way that following Jesus will begin to cost us more and more…
Is in the area of moral values.
YOU SEE – much of what we read in the New Testament about right and wrong… is not politically or culturally correct.
Over the past decade, it has been refreshing to see Christians have a greater awareness people’s thoughts and feelings. Rather than quickly judging and labeling people, they take time to listen to their stories and consider their hurt and desires. This is a good thing.
In doing so, however, many have made a damning mistake: they lost sight of God‘s thoughts and desires. In their compassion for people, they have ignored the holiness of God. They have forgotten that what God feels about an issue dwarfs what any human feels.
Let God be true though everyone were a liar. - Romans 3:4.
In an effort to be sensitive to others, we often lose sight of truth. When we do this, we no longer help people but damn them.
True compassion takes into account more than what a person feels today; it takes into account what he or she will feel on judgment day.
What some do in the name of being open minded and compassionate is actually done out of self-love and cowardice.
We want to be accepted, so we listen and cuddle but refused to rebuke. If that is love, then the prophets, apostles, and Jesus were the most unloving people to ever walk the planet.
On the contrary, Jesus love so deeply that he was willing to suffer a lifetime of rejection.
Jesus never lost sight of God‘s holiness and the offensiveness of sin. He suffered for speaking truth, showing us that true love is often rejected. This is a way of Jesus. This is the way of love.
We may never have to run from physical suffering like our brothers and sisters around the world, but many have chosen to run from the suffering of rejection.
More and more often, people are starting to water down their convictions because they don’t want to offend anyone.
Instead of embracing the persecution that comes with standing out from and against the world, we got to embrace the world to try to convince at the tolerate us. That’s not the way it supposed to be.
Jesus and the apostles were persecuted because what they said and taught was so countercultural. The culture of our world is just as ugly, if not more so, than it was in Jesus time.
The teaching of the church should be radically different from that of the world.
There will be backlash, and church attendance might decline, but the church will be purified.
We need to return to a God-centered theology rather than a human centered theology, and we need to be willing to flip some tables and suffer for it along the way.
Okay I want to say 3 things, 3 awesome and transforming things that Jesus said about what it means to follow Him…
Are you ready? Sweet…
Following Jesus is…
A. An Open Invitation – ‘anyone’
If anyone would come after me… - Luke 9:23
UNDERSTAND – ‘anyone’ is a significant word because it makes it clear just who Jesus is inviting…
He is inviting anyone and everyone, it’s an inclusive invitation.
I love it.
JESUS doesn’t begin with a list of prequalification’s… anyone means that we are all invited to be His followers..
• Sexual past – anyone
• Alcoholic – anyone
• Addict – anyone
• Anger and pride issues - anyone
• Recently divorced – anyone
• Fearful and insecure - anyone
• Hypocrite - anyone
• Republican? Democrat? - anyone
• Steelers fan? NY Giant fan? Well… okay… yeah, anyone
B. A Passionate Pursuit – ‘come after Me’
If anyone would come after me… - Luke 9:23
NOW – the term ‘come after’ was a phrase commonly used in the context of a Romantic relationship.
WHEN - Jesus says ‘come after’ – He’s describing a passionate pursuit of someone you love.
SO the best way to understand what Jesus is wanting from us as His followers is to compare it to how we would pursue someone with whom we wanted to have a romantic relationship…
YEAH – I get that.
In the fall of 1996… I went after, I pursued with great passion someone I wanted to have a romantic relationship with…
And in a little over 3 months she was my wife!
C. A Total Surrender – ‘dying to and denying yourself’
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up your cross daily. – Luke 9:23
JESUS SAYS – that we can’t come after Him, without dying to and denying ourselves.
Check out this quote from Bo Chancy (I’m Going To Light Myself On Fire)…
Following Jesus is an all-or-nothing deal.
There is no such thing as partial surrender. In order to follow Him, we must completely lay down our lives. We do not get to pick and choose what we hold onto and what we give up.
Total surrender is the only option.
Take a moment to examine your life.
Who is in charge? Who is calling the shots? Who is the director of your life? Is it you? Or Jesus?
It can’t be both. If you answer both you and Jesus, then total surrender has not occurred. Jesus will not stand for it. He will not share His throne. Call Him selfish if you like, but that’s just the way it is. Jesus desires you, and He is not willing to share you with anyone, including yourself.
Total surrender is an outlandish extreme that justifiably produces discomfort in most. We may believe or accept the concept on a cognitive level, but in our hearts, most of us are holding onto hope that there will be a little “wiggle room” on the deal. We may desire the appearance of surrender, but we clearly know who is in control. This is not one of those fuzzy, hard to interpret theological ideals. It is clear cut. Total surrender and nothing less is required. Nowhere in Scripture do we see Jesus backing off of this. ..
Jesus wants all of you. He wants your hopes, dreams, goals, plans, agendas, lifestyles, families, relationships, jobs, service, hobbies, gifts, talents, money, abilities, passions, the lists goes on… He purchased you, and the price was significant.
Jesus is not negotiating this deal with you. His final offer is on the table. – Bo Chancy
Dying to yourself may mean…
• Forgiving the person who hurt without getting even or expecting anything in return
• Loving someone who has been unkind and hateful to you
• Taking a risk by working Jesus into a conversation with a friend or co-worker
• Signing up to serve in the children’s ministry
• Reworking your budget so that Christ and His church get the first fruits
• Walking by that empty room in your house and asking God if there is an orphan foster child that should be sleeping in that bed
IV. Why Is Following Jesus Worth It?
Why is following Jesus and dying to yourself worth it?
BECAUSE – Jesus said it is!
LISTEN – if it wasn’t worth it we’d every reason to stay off the field and remain in the stands.
Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. - Mark 10:28-30
QUESTION - if I asked you to give me $10 but I told you I would give $1000 in return, would you take me up on the offer?
Why is following Jesus worth it?
because we get back so much more in return...
- we get to live life in all it's fullness
- we experience - deep intimacy with Jesus, peace that passes understanding, freedom from anxiety, living hope, life in the Kingdom of God
- our lives will have meaning and purpose
- and we will be part of some thing of great importance - redirecting the forevers of lost people, giving hope to the hopeless, freedom to the captive, healing to the hurting, mending to the broken, belonging to the lonely...
