Followers of Jesus will face many obstacles on their discipleship journey.
Jesus warned that being his disciple is only for those who are willing to pay a price.
You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.Matthew 7:13-14 (NLT)
Because we are born with a sin nature and are inherently self-centered, we all tend to take the easy way, just as water seeks the path of least resistance. Very few embrace the difficult path by choice, but that is exactly what following Jesus requires. Is it any wonder that many of his would be disciples turn back from following him then and now? Let’s look at some of the obstacles to following Jesus that are listed in Luke’s gospel and see how we might overcome them.
Pressures from Family
If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26 (NLT)
One of the first hurdles every follower of Christ likely will face is the conflict between following Jesus and pleasing his or her family. Being a disciple is not something we do in our spare time. It is not something we add to our lives without fundamentally altering everything else.
Following Jesus is more like gutting a home and totally remodeling it than simply rearranging the furniture.
Following Jesus means that we choose to love him more than any other person or thing. Our relatives may misinterpret our dedication to Christ as hatred toward them. Jealousy and resentment may lead some in our families to demand that we choose between them and the Lord. Making this choice is a painful test which some fail to pass.
If we cannot put Jesus ahead of family, we may get mired into compromise and disobedience, which can dilute the power of our testimony.
We can only walk with those who agree to follow the path of obedience to Christ.
Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction? Amos 3:3 (NLT)
A good way to overcome this obstacle is to ask God to protect our hearts from the pain of rejection and trust the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to put God ahead of everything else, even family, if necessary.
Putting Our Own Interests First
And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27 (NLT)
A cross was an horrible instrument of torture and death that served to remind people not to rebel against Rome. Everyone who heard our Lord’s words must have inwardly cringed. No one ever wanted to be crucified. Why would Jesus link following him with such a horrid death? Today, we use this term metaphorically, but to his early disciples, this was a real possibility. Many of his followers died painful deaths for maintaining ther allegiance to Jesus.
We are naturally motivated to preserve our lives. The second obstacle to discipleship is overcoming the impulse or habit to put ourselves first without regard for God’s will or the best interests of others. Being a disciple means we follow Jesus wherever he may lead. Evangelism is potentially a dangerous business, especially in countries that prohibit sharing the gospel. But even here in the USA people may suffer for their declared allegiance to Christ and his teachings. Following Christ means we choose to embrace our Lord and the gospel, no matter what the personal cost. God has a vested interest in enlarging his family, which happens when the gospel is shared and believed.
People who do not yet know Christ have a desperate need to hear the gospel, which trumps our desire for self-preservation. Jesus calls his followers to put their self interests behind his and those they serve, trusting that God will take care of them. Following Jesus may require us to make choices that may not always seem to be in our own best interests. In these cases we must choose Christ’s interests over our own.
These choices can involve to whom we relate , where we live, whom we marry, what job we take, how we spend our money and time, and possibly even whether we live or die. Martyrs make the choice to remain steadfast to Jesus at the cost of their own lives. This is the ultimate form of death to self, but the smaller day to day choices are usually what challenge most of us.
The ability to put others first and trust God to take care of us is a true test of faith. Overcoming the barrier of self-interest can be done with God’s help. We must trust the Holy Spirit to do this deep work in our hearts.
Paying the Cost
The third hurdle for every disciple is the financial cost of following Jesus, who is Lord of all, even our money.
But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ 31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. Luke 14:28-33 (NLT)
The rich young man chose to walk away from following Jesus because he was unwilling to part with his wealth. Money represents different things to different people. It can be our ticket to comfort and material things. For others it provides security. Still others imagine that it provides power, recognition, and esteem.
Parting with our money means we are willing to let go of what it can provide for us and choose to trust God to provide everything we need instead.
The rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-24) did not realize he loved money more than God. He was surprised that Jesus’ offer of a place in his discipleship band carried such a heavy price tag – giving away all his wealth. When faced with having to make a choice between keeping his money or following Christ, he chose the former, to his own detriment and sadness. Jesus does not want us to be caught by surprise as was the young ruler, but to wisely consider the cost of discipleship prior to launching out on our journey with him.
Jesus claims the right to all we have because he is our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. If he demands that we give it all away to please him, we must do that. The cost of discipleship is more than monetary, however. Following Jesus will cost us our time, energy, freedom, family relationships, and may even impinge on our health. We are called to be willing to pay any and every price in order to follow Jesus. (Read Acts 4:34-37.) Overcoming this barrier requires that we honestly face our relationship with money and choose to put God first, trusting the Holy Spirit to develop faith in us that God is our ultimate Provider.
The Willingness to Endure Conflict
Anyone who chooses to follow Jesus will experience resistance and conflict. Spiritual warfare comes from the devil and from people who have a worldly perspective and are thus, perhaps unwittingly, aligned with Satan. Our enemy seeks to harass, intimidate, demoralize, and stop the work of God.
The more important our call and role is in God’s kingdom, the more intense the warfare we should expect.
God does not want us to be surprised by this, nor does he want us to surrender. God has made his children more than conquerors, but it takes courage and perseverance to overcome the enemy.
Spiritual warfare does not always show up the way we might expect. Suddenly everything may seem to start “going wrong.” Appliances or automobiles break. Loved ones get sick. Strife erupts. Discouragement pays a visit. Unless we are alert, we may be well on our way to losing the battle without even knowing that we are under attack. Disciples need to be alert and determined to acknowledge and praise God in all things because we truly believe Romans 8:28. Once we understand that we are in warfare, it actually gets easier to make a stand.
We cannot afford to be ignorant or oblivious to the devil’s tactics. (Read Ephesians 6:10-18.) What was the most costly conflict you have endured thus far that came as a result of being a disciple of Jesus? Were you surprised when it confronted you? Had you already made up your mind to push through it, or did you have to regroup? Have any loved ones suffered as a result of your commitment to Jesus? How is this different from personal suffering?
If we want to overcome this obstacle to discipleship, we should ask the Holy Spirit in advance to prepare and strengthen us to keep going when we encounter conflict and resistance. Retreat and surrender are not an option for a true disciple.
Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 (NLT)
Giving Up Everything
The last instruction Jesus gave to his followers was to renounce everything they owned. When we declare allegiance to Christ at water baptism, we sign a blank check and give it to the Lord. He gets to choose when, where, and how much will be the amount he asks us to pay, up to everything we have.
It is one thing to agree in principle that Jesus owns everything, but it is quite another to give up all that we own.
Renunciation makes it official. All we have belongs to Jesus and every good gift comes from God. He allows us to use it as he sees fit, and we should be ready to dispose of it at a moment’s notice. I assure you that this is not my idea, but the Lord’s.
God is generous and wants us to enjoy what God has put in our hands, but he does not want anything to “own” us but God.
This is not necessarily a one and done proposition. We will probably need to continually disentangle ourselves from the pull of what we have until the day we let go of it all at death. He does not require the same things at the same time from everyone. We cannot compare ourselves to others in this matter. Ours is to faithfully follow the Lord on the particular path he has for us.
Prayer
Jesus, I choose to be your disciple and, with your help, I embrace the cost. I put my relationship with you over all my other relationships. I am prepared to be rejected by people who may misunderstand or hate my loyalty to you. My desire is for my family and friends to walk together with me on this journey of faith, but, if need be, I will choose to put you ahead of them, no matter how much it hurts. Lord, forgive me for loving myself more than I love you. I purpose to put you first from now on. Help me to boldly embrace any persecution or suffering which may accompany boldly witnessing to others and sharing the gospel. I ask you to help me choose to put your will over mine whenever there is a conflict. Lord, I give you my finances. All I have came from you and belongs to you, and I give it back to you. Help me to never back away from any cost associated with following you, even if it means death. Help me never to retreat or surrender to the attacks from Satan and those who serve him. I renounce everything I have – my relationships, my choices, my money, my right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, my comfort, my time, my peace – so that I can please you. I know that you will give me back more than I can ever give you. I totally depend on your grace and Holy Spirit to enable me to follow you as a disciple. Allow me to be an encourager to all those who call on your name. Amen.
