His Disciple: There’s A Cost Either Way

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. – Luke 14:25-27

• Large crowds were with Him, but not necessarily following Him.
• They were told that unless they were willing to hate their family, they could not be His disciple. Let’s stop right there.

What is this hate He speaks of? The word is miseō, and like most words, it means different things depending on context. Here, it does not mean to hate in a “you detest me” sort of way. It means to prefer one thing over another, and is used in much the same context as “the impossibility of serving two masters.” In other words, you cannot put anyone, including parents, children, siblings, or even your spouse, above Jesus. Your allegiance is to Him first, otherwise, you cannot be His disciple. There is no murkiness to these waters. Nothing open to interpretation, just plain and simple – Jesus above all things. This is part of the cost of following Him, not just being with Him.

AND (in additon to, plus, also)… if we are unwilling to carry our cross, we cannot be His disciple. If we will not allow yourselves to be crucified to the things of this world, to our own passions and pleasures, to anything and everything that is of us but not of Him, we cannot be His disciple.

Do you feel the weight of it yet?

We all want to be with Him, don’t we? We all want to reap the benefits of His goodness, His power, and His love. And here is truth – we can be with Him and not become like Him, but that is not the life of a disciple. Unless we are willing to pick up and carry the suffering in our flesh, dying to all that opposes His will, then we will be just part of the crowd.

We will not wear the dust of our Rabbi as part of the crowd.

And maybe that’s just fine with you. Maybe you’re ok just trying to walk in the basic teachings of Jesus, trying to be moral and good, but not going overboard on the whole “Jesus thing.” And I’ll be honest, somedays, that sounds good to me too. Somedays, I’m just not all that interested in dying to myself again. But there is one thing that Jesus said that keeps me from staying in that place.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ – Matthew 7:21-23

So, two questions.

Have you counted the cost of being His disciple?

Have you counted the cost of not being His disciple?

Father, help us take up our cross. I pray that each of us will be led by the Holy Spirit to the same conclusion – You are worthy of anything in me that needs to die. Worthy of being put above all else, including family. You are worthy of it all.