**Continuing the series on salvation, I would like to share a passage from the book Called
In my experience, the extent of discipleship I’ve been presented with goes something like this:
- Accept Jesus and ask him into your heart.
- Don’t do bad things now.
- Withdraw from culture.
- Hang out with Christians.
- Go to church.
- Read your Bible and pray.
- Be happy that you are saved and not going to Hell.
- Tell other people about how happy they can be if they follow these seven steps
Is it just me, or is this a lame life? Where is the passion? Where is the adventure? Where is the abundant life that Jesus promised? No wonder we’re bored. The Jesus we’ve been presented with asks for way too little. No one wants to devote his life to something that requires nothing of him. As the saying goes, “people figure if id don’t ask much, then it ain’t worth much.”
What about the Jesus who says something like this?
- I want your whole life – everything – including your heart, soul, mind and strength.
- I want you to become like me.
- I want to transform you and then have you transform culture.
- I want you to be in the world as I was.
- I want you to be the church, the incarnation of me.
- I want you to embody the word to others.
- I am giving you abundant life now and will do so throughout eternity.
- Be my hands and feet in this world and see people as people, not projects to convert.
The reason the world rejects Jesus is not because He asks too much. The Jesus we present asks too little. Jesus tells us that if we’re going to be His disciples, we must be ready and willing to die. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? No wonder few people want to talk about the cost of discipleship. No wonder there is so much confusion. Our understanding of discipleship has been watered down.
Many of us are caught up with our own agendas, desires and plans. Why wouldn’t we be? We’ve been told to accept Jesus. He comes to us. He knocks at the door of our hearts. He’s waiting for us…isn’t He?
The Jesus I see in Scripture says, “follow me.” We don’t put Jesus in our pocket as some kind of trinket that grants our wishes and wards off evil, bad weather, and police who pull us over for speeding. Discipleship is much larger, much grander.
Thanks to Kanye West we learned that “Jesus Walks with Me.” As with his 2004 song, so went the need for following Jesus. The version of the video I saw had Kanye leading the way with Jesus following him around. The Jesus in the video looked like a poor imitation of the plastic Burger King guy in those old TV commercials. He was aloof and detached, hardly a picture of the Son of God or Lord of lords. Has the call of Jesus been reduced to a pseudo allegiance of merely allowing Jesus to intersect our lives on rare occasions while following us as we lead the way?
Kanye is hardly to blame. I think we have bought into a new Jesus who allows us to live our lives any way we desire. Things rarely get difficult because Jesus never calls us to do anything. There is no following Him. He’s the one who follows us. He’s our personal genie who answers our every desire. He helps us win our fantasy football league or gives us the right answers on our final exams.
I’ve been in churches where you might think Jesus has some kind of codependent complex. It’s as if He can’t go on with life if we don’t receive Him. We’re made to feel guilty if we don’t ask Him into our hearts. It’s as if Jesus is in a pitiful state, sitting by the telephone waiting for us to call. He’s made out to be a desperate reality show contestant who can’t exist without us.
Where did we learn to view salvation like this? In the Scriptures I see a Jesus who says something like:
- Look, if you’re not willing to count the cost ahead of time, then don’t bother coming to me.
- I love you beyond words, but you’re going to have to carry a cross here. I’ll help you carry it, but discipleship takes effort.
- I’m not offering you a cheap ticket out of hell. It cost me everything and so I want all of you. It’s free for you, but in a way it will cost you everything. I’m offering abundant life, here and now, and for all eternity. But you’re going to have to die to yourself every day.
Jesus has great compassion. He cares for us and loves us so much. But we do Christianity no favor by lowering the bar on discipleship. When we present an accommodating, no-commitment version of discipleship, we’re altering the gospel. That is part of the reason that there is so much confusion about discipleship. Discipleship is the reason why we’re left on earth. Discipleship is the crux of the Great Commission. And discipleship is the issue perplexing the church today.
I believe there are a few out there willing to cut through the confusion. Jesus said, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Maybe you’re one of those “few.” Are you willing to fulfill the Great Commission and make disciples? If you’re not sure you are a disciple, are you willing to explore what it means to truly be one? It’s time we return to a biblical understanding of what it means to be an authentic disciple. Somehow it seems as though its meaning has ben lost along the way. And strangely, it seems as though many of us have gotten lost along the way as well.
