The 2 Keys pt4

(Opening story- Warren Mountain at Camp Classen- how do people respond to challenges)

Outside of the Bible, the two greatest teachers on the subject of discipleship I have ever encountered are Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Dallas Willard. They could not be more different. Bonhoeffer’s book The Cost of Discipleship was formed in the crucible of the Nazi occupation of Germany, which he as a pastor resisted to the point of giving his own life as a martyr to the faith in a concentration camp.

Dallas Willard’s take on discipleship was formed in the crucible of academia- in the ivory tower of USC, one of the most secular universities in the US, this quiet Southern Baptist was the respected chair of the philosophy department, and wrote about what it meant to follow Jesus on the daily while surrounded by people who denied the existence of God.

Both men agreed on one thing in particular- discipleship is needed, but it is hard, and few people choose to do hard things. Even when they realize what Jesus has done for them, most shy away from the real challenge of the Christian faith- relinquishing one’s hold on their own life to the extent that their desires pass away and are replaced by what Jesus wants.

That may see extreme- and truly in our day and age, we do not often talk about the Christian life as involving sacrifice. In fact, we live in an age where the hard parts of following Jesus are ignored, explained away, or outright denied even as Jesus Himself spoke them. And as a result, when we go thru the kind of challenge and crucible that Bonhoeffer or Willard endured, we often collapse, rather than stand. Sadly, we often do not see the need for discipleship until our own faith has begin to fail.

Jesus KNEW this!!! It was not a surprise to Him that people would question or challenge to what extent they must truly be radicalized to follow Him, so He made it clear to a crowd that was following Him, and that passage is what we are going to examine today, as we conclude this series and really examine what it means to be a disciple.

(Read Luke 14:25-33)

Dang. With these words I would leave too. So let’s look at this passage. What is Jesus calling us to?

A love so radical, it looks like we hate everyone else. (v26) Jesus is saying a disciple has fidelity. We love Him above everyone else. That does not mean we do not love anyone else, but it does mean if our love for another begins to cause us to be unfaithful to Jesus’ commands, we follow Him first. He takes precedence.

Luke Comments

A person who commits himself or herself to Christ will develop a greater love for both neighbor and family, although at times loving and following Christ may be seen as renunciation, rejection, or hate if the family does not share the same commitment to Christ.

Luke Context

Clearly Jesus, who summarized all God’s commandments as loving God and one’s neighbor (10:27–28), could not here have been demanding blind, raging hatred of one’s family. The confusion is due to Jesus’ use of a Semitic idiom. To love one person more than another is described in OT language as “loving one and hating another” (cf. Gen 29:30–31, RSV

2. A love so consuming, we die to ourselves and are willing to lay down our lives. (v27) Jesus is looking for people who are done living for themselves. When He saves us, He is assuming control. We are no longer in charge. We don’t get to dictate the terms or the plans. We are now fully His- He has “bought us with a price” (1 Cor 6:20) - so we are no longer our own- and when we consider how high that price was it makes sense.

3. A love so complete, that we have evaluated all the costs and are still committed to the road ahead (v28-32)- Jesus uses 2 depictions here- a builder and a king at war. Both have much to lose if they do not figure out the cost ahead of time. Jesus is not trying to fool us. He is being up front. Following Him will cost you everything. To really commit to Jesus, means to walk away from everything to trust Him for everything. That is the life of a disciple. We run into a lot of trouble here, because we want to have the BENEFITS of following Jesus- just like the builder wants the tower or the king wants victory- without the cost. That’s not an option. When we are disciples, the costs are part of the process. We are losing while gaining.

Luke Comments

Do not promise to follow Jesus unless you understand the “cost” and are willing to “pay” it. This does not imply that salvation must be earned. Rather the point being made is that God’s grace can only be received by those who, in repenting, place him above everything else

4. A love so committed, nothing is off the table. (v33) When we are disciples, there are no sacred cows. We put it all on the table. Why? That is how Jesus saved us. Total sacrifice (Gospel presentation here) Jesus is not asking us to do anything He has not already done.

This is why discipleship is so rare. There are going to be moments where Jesus really questions our fidelity. Do we really believe what He says? Do we really trust Him? Will we really be humbled by Him? Will we really be committed to obeying Him?

When you are being discipled these are questions that hit you all the time. Your whole life is being examined. But the end result, is a faith that is able to truly deal with what life hits you with, without losing your faith.

What is keeping you from being a disciple? From being discipled? From discipling others?