Unable to be a disciple

Luke 14:33: So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

These are incredibly challenging words. We struggle to understand them because they seem so different from Jesus’ open invitations to people to come, those who are thirsty and weary, those who are weak and lowly and outcast. This call sets an impossibly high barrier. Unless I give up all that I have I cannot be his disciple!

Just before this statement (14:25), Luke tells us that there were huge crowds following. Certainly here is an example of winnowing them down, of finding out who the true disciples were. The true disciples are the ones who love God more than family, and more than their own lives. The pseudo disciples are those who fail, or who would fail, to give up anything that Christ demands of them. They would follow unless it involved breaking a relationship in their family, or leaving another relationship. They would follow unless it meant leaving their career. They would follow unless it meant giving up a dream they hold dearly. All of those who would follow “unless” *cannot* be Christ’s disciple.

Jesus gives two illustrations: a man building a building, and a man going to war. Neither one begins without figuring out the cost of the whole project, or if he does so, he looks foolish (as in the case of building a tower) or he is destroyed (as in the case of war) if he gets part way in and discovers he cannot complete the task he started. Humanly speaking, people who start an endeavor without looking ahead to the rest of that endeavor are foolish, and they should be ashamed if they discover part way in that they were never really willing to do what it would take to complete the task.

In effect Jesus said, “Before you happily join with me, think through what it entails.” In short, I think he is saying in this section, “To be my disciple, I must have ultimate authority in your life. You must give up everything else. The claim that anything else has on your life must be broken.”

Of course God doesn’t take all of these things away from us usually. Job’s experience is not what most experience. But I expect that everyone will experience significant sacrifice in following. God is God. As such, He sees things differently than we do, and He has different priorities than we do. When our values and our priorities are different from God's, then we must be willing to let go of what we claim and follow His way instead.

In effect, everything we have must shift from ownership to borrowing. I don’t have a right to keep anything that I have before God. Everything is something that he lets me manage for a time, but it isn’t mine, and I shouldn’t complain if he takes it away.

Immediately after this challenging statement, Jesus talks about useless salt, salt without taste that is now pointless. The natural connection is that someone who claims to be a follower of Christ who has not given up everything is like salt without saltiness. That person, in some sense, is useless to God as a disciple of Christ.

It is startling to think that many if not most of the people in the crowd were useless as disciples. Of course, Jesus was seeking to turn them into disciples. He wanted them to be those who counted the cost. But as they were, they were like salt without saltiness. They would hang out with Jesus until it got hard, or until it cost them too much, or until something more interesting or satisfying came along.

So what do I still claim ownership to? Whatever it is, I need to confess my attachment to it to God, and ask Him to give me the courage to give it to Him. Do I trust Him enough for that?

Certainly I am a product of my culture in that I want my opportunity for self-fulfillment. I want to be able to do what I think I am most gifted to do, what I most love to do. Do I love God more than my own self-fulfillment? That is a painful thing to hand to God and say, “Even if that never comes, I will still serve you.” For some it might be staying in an unfulfilling marriage because of God’s command to do so. For others it might be leaving an inappropriate or unhealthy relationship. For some it might be sacrificing to meet the needs of someone in their care or someone they encounter. For some it might be giving up their own possessions to serve others. For some it might be truly being a servant who is unappreciated and unrewarded.

Whatever it is, Jesus says, “You cannot be my disciple if you do not renounce all that you have.”

And of course, this is obvious! It cannot be otherwise! Jesus is God. If I don't recognize Him as God, how can I be one of His? To marry someone, we vow to renounce all others, to be committed to this one person alone in marriage. God demands the same thing: If I say He is God and I am His disciple, how can put limits on His authority? As soon as I say that, I say that He isn't my God. If I say, "I'll follow you unless you cross this boundary or demand this of me," He is no longer my God.

Father, forgive me for being so weak in the face of sacrifice. Please be patient with me. Please change me so that I am willing and able to give up all. Teach me to see that the choice is between being with you, and having something else. Teach me to say with the Psalmist, “Apart from you I have no good thing.” (Psalm 16:2)

What gives me the courage to proceed is that I fully believe that there is nothing that is worth having if it means not being with God. But when we step back from submitting to God as God, we are useless in His hands, like salt that is good for nothing but to be thrown out.

What also gives the courage to proceed is that I fully believe that God is truly good. Those who sacrifice to follow Him will eventually be richly rewarded with the fellowship of being with Him! And that is what means more than anything else.