Are You a Follower or a Disciple?

It happens too often. I’m cooking something out of my norm for dinner, and I’m in the middle of the recipe instructions when I realize I forgot to buy an essential ingredient. After a mad dash to the store, I remind myself that I should plan ahead before I commit to a new recipe. 

You know, Jesus tells us to do the same thing before we commit to follow Him. In Luke 14, He tells us to “count the cost” or plan ahead for the changes in lifestyle that will come with being a disciple. 

Jesus had many followers, but He only had 12 disciples. Why the disparity?

The word “disciple” actually means “learner” or “pupil.” It carries the expectation of lifelong learning, of a deeper commitment than a follower who is listening from the crowd but not committing to step out of the crowd. A disciple was willing to follow Jesus to the unknown, to the discomforts, and even to the dangers that might lie ahead. 

The followers in the crowd were content to follow Jesus up until a point—until He asked them to do something difficult, to step out of the crowd and become a disciple. Jesus made it clear that He had stringent expectations for His disciples. Matthew 16:24 states, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” 

As a disciple, I must be willing to DENY MYSELF— to humbly submit my will to God, to say no to myself or worldly pleasures in order to say yes to God. I have failed at this many times, but God wants to see that I am amenable and desiring to learn this type of submission in my life. As a disciple, I must be ready to TAKE UP MY CROSS—to be willing to be uncomfortable, be hurt, or even to suffer in order to follow Christ. As a disciple, I must ungrudgingly FOLLOW HIM—to live a lifestyle of daily trust in God to whatever He calls me to do, even if it is requires scary faith. 

Am I really living as a disciple or just a follower? Am I willing to live differently, or would I rather follow Jesus only to a certain point? Do I want to follow just enough to make sure I have some fire insurance but not where I actually talk about Him to others? Am I willing to be viewed as one of “those” Christians, a radical for Christ, or do I leave that kind of Christianity to the “elite” Christians, the “special-ops” units in the church, such as the ministers, elders, or deacons?

Do others see me as a disciple? What about you? Are you in the crowd or have you stepped out? As my beloved pastor, Rob Mullins, recently said, “A convert checks the box; a disciple is all in.” Are you all in for Jesus? He wants you to count the cost, but that cost is nothing compared to the gain you will find in Him. 

In Luke 14:26, Jesus says a curious thing. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” Whaaat? Jesus wants us to hate our family? What does He mean?

Of course Jesus is not asking us to hate our family. He is making a point. In the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day, family was valued above all else. Women who were unable to bear children even lived in disgrace and shame. In this passage, Jesus wasn’t asking them to hate their family, but to evaluate what they valued most, and to put Him even above what they valued most, which was typically family. He was essentially saying, “Value me so much that the gap is so big that it looks like you don’t value your family at all. It looks like you hate them in comparison.” 

I have to ask myself—what things do I value most in life? Do I put Jesus so far above them that it looks like I’m not even interested in those things by comparison? What insights would someone discover about what I value by looking at my calendar and my checkbook? Would they see that I am crazy about Jesus? 

Jesus calls us to count the cost of discipleship because He knows what can happen in our lives when we fully commit all that we know of ourselves to all that we know of Him. If we don’t count the cost, we aren’t prepared for the sacrifice that grows our faith. He wants us to know what we are committing to because it is a deliberate choice of the heart to live in abandonment to Him.

Is Jesus on the fringe of your life or at the center of it? Don’t be content to check the box. Go all in for Jesus! Commit to what He wants to accomplish in and through your life when He is the top priority. What soul satisfaction and limitless joy there is to be found in pursuing Him! 

Missing Out

Did they know what they were missing

As they stood there in the crowd?

They listened to Him teach

With their hearts detached and proud….

Did she know He offered new life

To lift her from disgrace and shame?

She didn’t trust Him with her sorrow,

So she left that day, unchanged. 

There were others who believed His words.

They called Him “Lord” with high regard,

But commitment stopped when Jesus showed

A path austere and hard.

To deny themselves, To submit their will,

To take up a heavy cross,

And trust God with committed faith

To the point of suffering loss?

It seemed too much. So many left,

But as they made their journey home,

Did they realize they’d just passed up

The greatest joy they could have known?

Lord, I don’t want to live like that-

To follow You from the fringe.

I want to live in full abandon where

On You all things will hinge.

I don’t want to say I checked the box

As a convert on heaven’s roll;

I want to live as a disciple

And commit every fiber of my soul.

I’m not content to simply know You.

Lord, be all up in my story!

My soul is satisfied in You.

You bring redemption, joy, and glory! 

c. Bobbie Perkins