Jesus certainly has the case for the worst earthly self-help speaker to ever walk this planet. From speaking in opposition to worldly treasures to his overall humility while traveling and performing miracles, modern society would not see the way Jesus lived or died as ideal. I fear this is even true inside the Church.
Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?
Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Luke 9:23–25). Tyndale House Publishers.
This is likely the hardest calling Jesus has put on his followers. Take up the cross and give up your life. Jesus was trying to save us for eternity, not make us comfortable in the present. Some of the Disciples (Peter, for example) thought it was their job to protect Jesus—even going as far as cutting a man’s ear off. Jesus knew what eternity holds for us and knew that we would have to surrender ourselves for His Gospel. Paul knew this to.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Romans 12:1–2). (2021). Friendship Press.
The Bible tells us that we are to sacrifice everything we may stand for to trust in and serve God. Nothing should be holding us back from His will. Not money, nor family, nor friends, nor social status, nor shelter, nor food, nor water. Nothing on this earth compares to the goodness of God. Not one thing. Trading God for something he has given you is like throwing your mom out for the Xbox she got you for Christmas—for those wondering, my mom got me two Xboxes for Christmas, and I’ve thrown out neither my mom nor the gaming consoles. The gift is never greater than the giver, and stewardship is not a reason to focus more on the gift than the giver. I’ll discuss that further in future weeks.
When some people talk of their daily cross, they speak of physical afflictions or difficult situations. This is not the cross of which Jesus spoke. Followers of Christ are asked to choose to deal with issues of self-centeredness and self-determination. Accepting Christ and His way requires us to deny ourselves and our way. It is a difficult road to travel, because it is in our nature to save ourselves and to please ourselves. The call to follow Christ involves a willingness to lose ourselves in Him and for Him. Only then can we really save ourselves.
Heer, K. (2007). Luke: A Commentary for Bible Students (p. 142). Wesleyan Publishing House.
How exactly can one lose themselves? You may simply look down and say, “Well, I haven’t lost myself yet.” This is also more than simply “finding Jesus.” Many people found Jesus during his ministry. You can find Jesus by simply downloading the Bible app on your phone; unless your storage is already full, it requires no sacrifice! Even the Muslims find Jesus by thinking of Him as a prophet. Christ called us to deny ourselves and our attachments. The more sanctified we become, the more we lose ourselves.
The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death — we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise God-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.
Bonhoeffer, D. (1959). The Cost of Discipleship. (p. 89). Touchstone.
Bonhoeffer was martyred in a Nazi concentration camp after refusing to bend his knee to the evil that had overtaken his country. This was after choosing to leave the safety of America to go back and help Germany. The amount of conviction to not only surrender your heart, mind, spirit, time, money, skills, possessions, and free-time to serving Christ but to literally die for your faith in a Western country in the 20th century is hard to wrap the mind around. Reading these words from a man who would go on to make that sacrifice can be earth-shattering.
Neither Jesus of Nazareth, nor Paul of Tarsus, nor Dietrich Bonhoeffer of Breslau is saying that every single person who follows Jesus must be martyred. Despite this, all three of them did exactly that.
How you do this can be a personal decision. You may want to look at income, personal spending, saving, and giving. It may be a scheduling issue. Maybe your will often clashes with God’ will for your life. The hardest part is that God wants it all. Tithing ten percent and going to church twice a week isn’t enough. Especially if you make that money solely because it pays more, even though God has called you to do something different. God will still bless and use your giving, but he would prefer if you served him with your entire life. That example will not be a universal truth and is not a call to response for every Christian to be a missionary in North Korea. Some things are easier to do for some than others. You may be giving 20% and going to church twice a week, leading a Sunday school class, and honoring God with your work in the financial sector, while resisting his call to serve as your church’s treasurer.
I’ll leave you with a piece of advice to conclude this post. Everyone should take a spiritual gifts test. I took one recently at giftstests.com. I believe that, to give ourselves as a living sacrifice, we need to understand how God has equipped us. My results were:
- Teaching
- Faith
- Pastor/Shepherd
- Prophecy
- Giving
Unfortunately, it didn’t give me what I was least equipped to do—I have a strong hunch it’s hospitality. If I simply invited people over for dinner every night and never taught, I would not be giving myself to God the way he wants me to. I urge all of you to find out how God wants you to serve sooner rather than later. Then give yourself to Him in that way.
Moments with Emmanuel 