In last week’s post, I shared 5 biblical reasons why you may
want to consider being a disciple of Jesus. These reasons were grounded in the
biblical claim that the things Jesus’s disciples may end up giving up are worth
less than the things they will get in return. This week, I am going to share 5
reasons why you may not want to consider being a disciple of Jesus. These reasons are grounded in hard-to-accept biblical claims related to being a disciple of Jesus.
1. Jesus Won’t Lead You to Easy Street
In our fast-paced, complex world, wouldn’t it be nice, at
least for a little while, to live on Easy Street? If we could find the secret
formula to get to Easy Street, I’m sure most of us would gladly plug in the
correct variables to get there. I’ll admit, in my naivety, I formerly
envisioned that being a disciple of Jesus would get me to Easy Street. But according to
the biblical writers, being a disciple of Jesus is as far from Easy Street as
the sun is from earth. Jesus’s twelve disciples (known as the twelve
apostles) were all imprisoned and killed, simply because they were Jesus’s
disciples. As Jesus once said:
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. – Matthew 7:13-14
2. Jesus Wants All of You
How much are you willing to give your employer? Forty hours
a week? Fifty hours a week? Sixty hours a week? Even if you give your employer
eighty hours a week, that still leaves you with eighty-eight hours a week to
spend however you want. At eighty hours a week, your commitment level to your
employer would be 48 percent. The biblical writers claim that Jesus doesn’t
require a 10 percent, 48 percent, or even a 99 percent commitment out of his
disciples. Instead, they claim that he requires his disciples to be 100 percent
committed to him. That’s a huge commitment!
…[Jesus] turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate [comparatively] his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple…So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. – Luke 14:25-26, 33
3. Jesus Is Not a Means to an End
When I was in grade-school, I saw school as nothing more
than a stepping stone to attain autonomy. Autonomy was the “end” and school was
the “means” by which I planned to get there. According to the biblical authors,
Jesus is not a means to an end. If they are correct, then Jesus cannot be used
as a means to climb the corporate ladder; Jesus cannot be used as a means to
find a spouse; and Jesus cannot be used as a means to get to heaven. Instead,
the biblical writers claim that Jesus is the end; he is the treasure worth
gaining.
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as [sh*t][1], in order that I may gain Christ… – Philippians 3:7-8
4. Jesus Doesn’t Promise to Make You Healthy and Wealthy
Most people on this earth have a desire to enjoy good health
and a sizeable nest egg. People go to great lengths (such as working those
eighty hours a week) in order to enjoy access to the best health care, large
monetary rewards, and luxurious possessions. Some people turn to religion in an
attempt to find health and wealth. But according to the biblical writers, Jesus
didn’t promise to make his disciples healthy and wealthy. Instead, he warned
them against the love of wealth.
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [wealth][2]. – Matthew 6:24
Conversely, the biblical writers did not claim that Jesus’s
disciples would not be healthy or wealthy. Their claim was simply that there is
not a biblical correlation between being a disciple of Jesus and being either
healthy or wealthy or both.
5. Jesus Doesn’t Owe Anyone Anything
In American business, we often use a “you scratch my back
and I’ll scratch yours” approach to getting work done. If someone does
something helpful for someone else, then that person will naturally expect the
other person to return the favor and vice versa. According to the biblical
writers, Jesus doesn’t operate out of this ideology because he doesn’t need
anything from his disciples. If Jesus doesn't need anything, then no one can put Jesus in a place where he owes them anything. As a result, Jesus can never be forced to do anything for his disciples; no one can gain the upper hand on Jesus.
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. – Acts 17:24-25
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Do any of these reasons stop you from becoming a disciple of
Jesus? What additional reasons can you think of that detour people from
becoming disciples of Jesus?
[1]
The Greek word used here is skubalon.
Our English translators were nice when they translated this word as “rubbish”
in the ESV. In the KJV, it is translated “dung” and can mean poop, crap, or
shit. Skubalon is something that is
good for nothing except to be discarded.
[2]
The Greek word used here is mamonas.
Most English Bible translations use the word “money” in this verse, but mamonas has a broader definition than
merely “money”; it can also mean wealth, riches, possessions, or property.
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