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)
Jesus warned that being his disciple is only for those who are willing to pay a price.
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 Jesus tells us to do. Is it any wonder that many of his would be disciples turned back from following him? Let’s look at some of the barriers 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 it our spare time. It is not something we tack on 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 love him more than any other person or thing. Our relatives may misinterpret our dedication to Christ as hatred toward them. Some followers of Christ have suffered the loss of their families. This is a painful test which many fail.
If we cannot put Jesus ahead of family, we will get mired into compromise and disobedience, and our testimony to the family will be ruined.
We can only walk with those with whom we can agree to follow the same path. (Amos 3:3) The only way to overcome this barrier is to steel ourselves against rejection and trust the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to put God ahead of everything else, even family.
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. Everyone who heard these words must have inwardly cringed. No one wanted to be crucified. Why would Jesus link following him with dying on a cross? This was not merely a metaphor. Many of his followers would die painful deaths for their allegiance to Jesus.
We are all inwardly motivated to preserve our lives, sometimes at all costs. The second barrier 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 and we fish for people. Sharing the gospel is potentially a dangerous business, especially in closed countries. 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 death to self, but the smaller day to day choices are 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 Piper
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 third hurdle for every disciple is the financial cost of following Jesus, who is Lord of all, even our money. The rich young man chose not to follow Jesus because he was unwilling to part with his wealth. Wealth 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 gives us and choose to trust God to provide those things 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 intelligently 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 must be willing to pay any and every price in order to follow Jesus. (Read Acts 4:34-37.) What financial cost have you paid to follow Jesus? What other costs have you incurred?
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, often 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 uninformed and 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 happened? 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?
Overcoming this barrier to discipleship requires that we choose up front to keep going when we encounter conflict and resistance – spiritual warfare. Retreat and surrender cannot be an option. Double minded people are unstable and often abandon ship in the midst of a storm. Ask the Holy Spirit to inwardly fortify you to endure warfare.
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, unknown to many, Jesus gets us to sign a blank check. He will choose when, where, and how much the amount will be collected, up to everything we have.
It is one thing to agree to the principle of Jesus’ ownership of everything, but it is quite another to deliberately renounce our “rights” to all 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. Whoa! Did just write that? Yes, I did.
Renunciation does not mean we do not appreciate or get to enjoy what God has given us. It means nothing “owns” 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 our Lord.
Prayer
Jesus, I choose to be your disciple and I embrace the cost. I choose my relationship with you over all my other relationships. I am willing 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 choose to put you ahead of them, no matter how much it hurts to do so. 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 you and sharing the gospel. I choose to carry my cross daily and 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.
