The Internet is full of information on how people can do certain things:
How to repair a specific broken belt on a lawn mower
How to balance a budget
How to cook a dish
How to pay for college
There is also a ton of information on how to avoid certain things:
How to avoid debt
How to avoid phishing scams
How to avoid paying too much for insurance.
How to avoid being hit by lightning
Today, we are going to reflect on something that likely comes very naturally to us - that is: How to avoid being a disciple of Jesus.
Now you may hear that statement or read the title of the sermon and think - “that’s easy - whatever Jesus says - do the opposite, but why would we reflect on that premise at church?” I’m glad you asked.
Part of the reason why I want us to reflect on this “how to” statement is based in how Jesus addresses His audience in the passage we’re considering today. He argues from the negative.
Of course, His goal for us and our goal for us is that we would be sold out followers of Jesus - that we would truly be His disciples. Jesus argues that discipleship costs a lot more than people expect. Following Jesus is not an add-on to an already full life - it’s a transformative change - it’s a new life
Open your Bibles to Luke 14. We’ll be looking at verses 25-35.
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve found Jesus interacting largely with religious leaders. Sure, there have been some crowds and some side conversations, but most of His harshest words are reserved for the religious elite while He makes his way toward Jerusalem.
Today however, Jesus points His difficult sayings to the crowds, to the common people, to you and me. As I read this text, if you’re following along in your Bible, consider underlining the times that Jesus states “cannot be my disciple.”
Let’s consider the text:
Luke 14:25–35 ESV
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.”
Did you catch how many times Jesus states you “cannot be my disciple”? Three. Those three statements and their underlying arguments will mark the first three parts of our outline.
So, Jesus begins by noting that we cannot be His disciples if we…
Put people before Jesus (25-26)
Now Jesus uses some very strong language here that should cause us some pause. He says…
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.”
Is he really calling his followers to hate their family members or their own lives?
Back in Luke 6:35, we heard Jesus teach that we should love our enemies.
So is Jesus completely upside down telling us to love our enemies and hate our families?
No.
Jesus’ argument to the extreme seems to be one of love. In other words, our love and devotion for Jesus should be so great that it looks like we hate our families and even our own lives. When it comes to a point of conflict, we should choose Jesus over every other relationship. Jonathan Edwards has noted (quoted by McKinley):
Luke 12–24 for You Not Designed to Be Easy
“Hate … should not be understood in terms of emotion or malice, but rather in its Hebraic sense, signifying the thing rejected in a choice between two important claims.”
For those who come from cultures that are founded in an honor-shame ethic, doing things that honor the family or the community tends to trump other motivations. For example, education, careers, marriage partners, and even faith all are guided by a motivation to honor family.
When it comes to faith in Jesus, some of our brothers and sisters around the world have to face extreme loss as disciples.
One woman recounted how proclaiming her faith led to her family ostracizing her and her loss of community. Yet, she stood firm, declaring, 'I’d rather be alone with Christ than be safe among the world.'
There’s a powerful story of a young man named Andrew who chose to follow Christ. When he disclosed his beliefs to his family, they threatened to cut him off financially. Andrew made a painful choice, deciding to remain true to his faith despite the isolation it brought.
Eric Bass has even shared how a new believer in their fellowship in the Middle East was assigned work hours that intentionally prevented him from hanging out with Christians. Following Jesus has a financial cost to him.
But our culture is not based like that. Does that mean following Jesus will be easier for us? Not necessarily. There may be times when we find that following Jesus will rub against the intentions, priorities, or desires that some people closest to us may have for us.
When you look at the list, Jesus seem addresses the relationships that we all have or had ant some point around us.
father
mother
wife (husband)
children
brothers
sisters
Jesus has said at different times that we should honor our parents and love our brothers and sisters. The NT teaches how parents, especially fathers, should not exasperate their children. When it comes to our love for Jesus in relation to these, we should choose to follow where he leads us.
As we read earlier, Ruth abandoned her family and land in order to demonstrate faithful love and devotion to her mother in law Naomi. To her family in Moab, Ruth’s love for Naomi may have felt like hatred, and yet scripture elevates it as a type of our love for Jesus.
But, let’s pause for a moment and consider the last person in his list - ourselves. Jesus uses the Greek word psyche (see-KhAY) here for “life.” We often think of that as it relates to our minds or psychology. Frequently, that word refers to soul or life in the NT.
So what does it look like to regard our lives less than we regard Jesus? Our natural inclination is for self-preservation or self-satisfaction. What will make me happy? What will make me fulfilled? What will make me comfortable?
And yet it seems like Jesus’ call is that we should focus on what He desires for us.
career
areas of service
witness
qualities of whom we’ll marry
Essentially, as a disciple of Jesus, He sets the priorities in our lives and our relationships. That will mean saying “no” to some things and “yes” to others.
This afternoon or sometime this week, let me encourage you to reflect on what this means for you personally but also for the relationships that Jesus delineates here. Talk it over with those you may be eating with today or with your community group. Again - it seems like hate is relative - it’s not outright hatred for others, but a devotion and love for Jesus that so overshadows all of those other relationships - even our own lives.
As if the call to “hate” isn’t enough, Jesus ramps up the rhetoric on hating our own lives by stating that we can’t be his disciples if we…
Prioritize comfort over a cross (27)
Jesus said,
Luke 14:27 ESV
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Context is key here. For most of us, when we think of a cross, we may consider a piece of jewelry or a wall decoration symbolizing what Christ did on the cross. But the idea of bearing our own cross may not hit us with the same punch that it did Jesus’ first audience.
Bearing a cross was insulting, humiliating. It was a walk toward death.
When criminals were convicted and then sentenced to death on a cross, they would have to carry the horizontal beam of a cross through the city to the crucifixion site. They would be the object of ridicule. Then, once at the site, they would be nailed and bound to these pieces of wood, hoisted into a vertical position and left to die - from the pain and suffocation. It was excruciating.
Jesus is not promoting some sort of suicide cult, but He is promoting a lifestyle of sacrifice over surplus, service over selfishness.
This is not the first time that Jesus has called for sacrificial living. Luke 9:23-25
Luke 9:23–25 ESV
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
This life of sacrifice will affect all of us a bit differently.
For introverts - this may mean rallying energy in order to engage with others. Being hospitable rather than home-bound hermits.
For extroverts - this may mean slowing down a bit and separating from the crowd to have meaningful conversations with a few.
For gamers - this may mean turning off the device for a bit more time in order to engage with or serve others or spend time with Christ.
For earners - this might mean being intentional about tithing first rather than giving leftovers.
Maybe this looks like giving up spring break to minister in the middle east with the Bass family or giving up a couple of weekends in the year to minister with Ned and a few others in the prison.
Maybe this looks like facing the difficult conversation in order to solve for peace.
Our society is wired to make our lives more comfortable - entertainment in the forms of countless shows, books, games, events, concerts, movies, hobbies, podcasts, and more.
It seems like Jesus is calling us to move away from the easy and toward the difficult, challenging, influential in order to honor Him fully and share His way of life with the world.
Where do we need to move from a mindset of comfort to a mindset of a cross?
What does bearing your cross look like? What does bearing mine look like?
So after challenging His throng with these two criteria of discipleship, Jesus notes a third cost for following Him. He essentially says that we can’t be His disciples if we…
Pile up possessions instead of pursuing Christ (33)
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to accumulate things? In the last few weeks, we’ve been moving a lot of things around in the process of helping Melody get established in her own home and in order to prepare a room for Zack, now that he is back.
What’s more, the accumulation of things requires our attention. Cars need maintenance, gardens need tending, clothes need cleaning, objects need dusting, roofs need replacing, money needs managing, TVs need watching.
The things that we possess can be so distracting!
Jesus says:
Luke 14:33 ESV
So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Now, as in the call to hate and the call to bear crosses - I think Jesus is exaggerating a bit here. He knows that we need things - food, clothing, shelter. He knows that we need resources to acquire those things. But those things should have their proper place and balance in our lives.
A few weeks ago, we heard Jesus urge his listeners to:
Luke 12:15 ESV
“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
This problem of possessions must have been an issue for them, just as it is for us.
But Jesus’ comment here is that His disciples should “renounce” all that they have. Just as it does in English, this Greek word means to abandon or say “farewell.” Most often, it’s used in the NT to describe someone who is leaving someone else - as when Jesus left his disciples to pray (Mark. 6:46) or when Paul “took leave” of the Corinthians in order to return to Antioch (Acts 18:21).
When we renounce something, we leave it behind us, we let go.
So the question becomes, how do we apply this? Do we leave or sell everything we have and live as homeless wanderers? Well, Jesus did. Is that what He is calling us to?
I don’t think so.
But I do think He is calling His disciples to have such an open-handed perspective on our possessions that the things we possess do not possess us.
If God called us to go overseas and serve in a foreign context, could we joyfully leave all of this - family, wealth, comfort, stuff - behind for His glory?
If God called us to go to another city to start a new church, knowing that we would leave behind a secure job to do that?
Could we offer up that spare room for someone in need or share a vehicle with someone else?
There may be so many other ways that this gets applied to our lives specifically.
McKinley states that…
Luke 12–24 for You Count the Cost
real point of Jesus’ teaching: namely, that there can be no split loyalties in the hearts of his followers
Will our Savior or our stuff mark our lives?
So, Jesus has completely raised the bar for what it means to be his disciple or follower. The crowds may have been tempted to follow because He was entertaining and popular at the moment. They were being healed, fed, and encouraged. Maybe it was convenient for them.
As one commentator noted that Jesus is “calling not for spectators, but for recruits.” (Wilcock, 147 - quoting Caird).
Jesus’ underlying message is that if we are going to be His disciples, then we should…
Count the cost (28-32, 34-35)
of discipleship.
We are used to counting costs in other ways - where we live, what we eat, what we drive, what we wear. Why should we not calculate the costs spiritually?
Jesus does this by essentially using three metaphors that illustrate two parts of the cost.
Expenditure
Effectiveness
The cost of expenditure
The illustrations of a person building a tower and a king going to battle seem to relate to this.
Luke 14:28–32 ESV
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.
Do we have what it takes to finish life as a follower of Jesus? Thankfully, we are not alone in this - we have His Spirit, His Word, His people to help, guide, encourage, support along the way.
Michael Wilcock notes that…
“Jesus requires total service and we have to reckon whether we have ‘enough to complete it.’
While both of these illustrations are quite similar in reference to costs, Darrell Bock notes that they have slight differences.
“The first pictures coming to Jesus, the second deals with following after him. First, consider what discipleship will cost. Second, consider what refusing the ‘more powerful one’ will mean.”
If you are not yet a follower of Christ, know that your salvation, your eternal life has been paid in full by Jesus. He counted the cost and willingly paid for you and me. Entering into a relationship with Him is something He initiates out of his grace and love. But know, that life with Him involves complete transformation. He changes how you relate to people. He changes how you view yourself. He changes how you value things. Count the cost. But also, count the cost of resistance. Can you stand up to Him at the judgment? Come to Jesus. Yes, it is both cheap and costly, but the life that you have with Him will be amazing and hard and abundant and eternal!
Renouncing all that we have may refer to possessions, but it also refers to self-righteousness.
confessing
Acknowledging our need for Christ
Recognizing our own shortcomings
The final illustration that Jesus gives regarding the salt seems to refer to…
The cost of effectiveness
Luke 14:34–35 ESV
“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.”
As in our day, salt for them was both a preservative and an accent. It helped to keep foods from going bad and it made foods taste better.
In wars, people would use salt to make their enemy’s lands infertile and unable to produce food.
On manure piles, salt was used to slow down the fermenting process and to increase heat when it was used as fuel for fires.
But can salt become un-salty?
Mike McKinley notes:
Luke 12–24 for You Salty Followers
Jesus knows that salt does not lose its saltiness, and therefore the saying suggests that the scenario Jesus is referring to is impossible.
Salt cannot become un-salty - it is what it is, but Christians, disciples, who are called to be the “salt of the earth,” (Mt. 5:13) can become un-salty. When we allow compromise, sin, divided allegiances to dilute our faith, we run the risk of becoming ineffective - un-salty.
Beloved, are there affections in our hearts that divert us from total allegiance to Christ? Are there loyalties that undermine our witness?
I pray that we would be truly salty, effective disciples.
Closing thoughts
Abraham Kuyper, has famously said…
There is not one inch in the entire area of our human life about which Christ, who is Sovereign of all, does not cry out, “Mine!”697
Abraham Kuyper, Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader
Abraham Kuyper (Calvinist Theologian and Politician)
Often times, people misquote that and refer to all of creation. While yes, the whole universe is His, this quote relates to the lives of his people.
Stating it another way, Mike McKinley notes that prospective disciples must know that…
Luke 12–24 for You Count the Cost
…following Jesus means that he has a claim to everything in their lives; nothing is off-limits or outside of his lordship.
Beloved, are we living that? Are we proclaiming that in our gospel presentations?
Let’s pray.
Benediction
Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Questions for reflection and discussion:
Read: Luke 14:25-35
To whom was Jesus speaking? Why is that significant?
How many times does He say “cannot be my disciple”? What is different about those times?
What does Jesus mean when he says we should “hate”?
What does it mean to bear our own cross?
How can we renounce all that we have?
Why does Jesus urge that his listeners count the cost of discipleship? What does discipleship cost us?
How are Christians like salt?
Where does this passage hit you the hardest?
Thabiti Anyabwile suggests that we ask:
Am I willing to hate all other relationships to receive the love of God in Jesus Christ?
Am I willing to die to my own desires and plans to live by God’s will for me?
Am I willing to surrender all my possessions to receive God’s kingdom?
Sources:
Anyabwile, Thabiti. Exalting Jesus in Luke. Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2018.
Bock, Darrell L. Luke 9:51-24:53. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999.
Harrison, R. K. “Salt.” In New Bible Dictionary, edited by D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, and D. J. Wiseman. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996.
Martin, John A. “Luke.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.
Liefeld, Walter L. “Luke.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, edited by Frank E. Gaebelein, Vol. 8. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984.
McKinley, Mike. Luke 12-24 for You. Edited by Carl Laferton. God’s Word for You. The Good Book Company, 2016.
Stein, Robert H. Luke. Vol. 24. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992.
The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press, 2005. Print.
Wilcock, Michael. The Savior of the World: The Message of Luke’s Gospel. The Bible Speaks Today. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979.
