"Follow Me" - Living as a disciple of Christ
Jesus told each of the twelve disciples as he called them, "Follow Me."
“The root word for disciple is manthano, which means: to learn, or be taught; to learn by practice or experience, acquire a custom or habit; to ascertain, be informed; to understand, or comprehend.1 To be a disciple of Christ is to learn of Him, be taught by Him, learn by practice or experience, and to assist in spreading His doctrine around the world.” 2
In an article called “Disciple of Christ – A True Christian” the author notes that we are a disciple when we make God Sovereign in our lives. We acknowledge that we do not have any ownership rights but only management responsibilities as a steward of God's property (ourselves, our health, money, time, etc.). 3
In Mark 10:28 Peter proclaims, "We left everything and followed you." In Luke 14:26-27, Jesus says, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."
Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary defines hate in this context as regard to preference for one thing over the other, the claims of one person or thing relative to those of another. It notes Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
One must be willing to renounce any claims and acknowledge that God owns it all. This includes renouncing claims others have in one's life over God's direction. If you are choosing to follow Christ, you cannot prefer anyone to God, including your own spouse, mother or father. One cannot be a disciple of Christ if one is living for the approval of man.
As the Enhanced Strong's Lexicon notes “cannot,” dynamai, means that one is not able. If one is holding onto any claims in the world, such as the approval of man, one is not at the same time able to put Jesus first and be a disciple -the two face in opposite directions.
Time and time again in Mark, Jesus confronts living for the approval of man. When Jesus' family came to get him, Jesus told them that those who do the will of God were his mothers, sisters and brothers (Mark 3:33).
He tells his disciples and those coming to hear him in Luke 6:26, “There's trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests -look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.”
He also confronts the Pharisees over and over again about their living for their approval of man. In Luke 16:18 He says to them, “You are masters at making yourselves look good in front of others, but God knows what's behind the appearance.”
“Not to us but to Your name be the glory” sings in the background.
Whenever we prefer man, we will do and say what we believe will obtain the person's approval rather than listening to God. So what about when we are listening to and following someone who is a strong Christian, devotedly following Christ and we admire them for this?
I believe the difference is if we are following the person or if they are an example to us in following Christ. Paul confronts the Corinthian church when they began to develop sects based upon who baptized them, saying that they were followers of Paul, Apollos or Christ. Paul said to them, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptize in the name of Paul?”
While we may admire someone for the walk they have with Christ, we cross a line when we move from letting their walk inspire us, moving us toward God and teaching us how to be more devoted and committed to Christ versus following after the person's approval. We cannot choose their approval over God's in our heart and still be following Christ wholeheartedly (remaining a disciple of Christ).
“The goal of discipleship is to make us like Christ. 'A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master' (Matt. 10:24, 25).”.4
In Matthew 20:28, Jesus said about Himself, “He came to serve, not be served – and then give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.” What happens is that we can begin to see our lives, our resources and all the things that God has blessed us with, not as a generous gift to be grateful for but as something we are entitled to. When we feel entitled to what has been freely given to us, we grip hold of it to protect it.
“You give and take away, my heart will choose to say blessed be your name” sings in the background.
In Luke 17:33 Jesus says, “If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms.”
My pastor spoke this past weekend on being a steward with our lives and resources. On the Message Tool website this week it asks, “If everything you have and everything you are really is God’s and not yours, in what specific ways does that challenge and confront you?”
We make decisions based upon how we view those things we have been given. When we view them as ours, we spend our resources protecting what we have. When we view what we have as a gift from God, we are genuinely grateful and free to give it away extravagantly.
In Luke 11:41, Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Turn both your pockets and your hearts inside out and give generously to the poor then your lives will be clean, not just your dishes and your hands.”
Jesus asks, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:28-33)
As a disciple of Christ, God asks that we would give up everything and renounce all. We need to consider the cost of following Him will drastically change the way we do life. As Hayford and Rosenberger write, “The call to discipleship brought dramatic changes to the disciples’ lives. As Jesus taught them the principles of the kingdom of God, their relationship with God changed.” 5
When our eyes are on Him, we realize that nothing we can posses in this world is anywhere near worth what we have in Him.
“You are everything I want, You are everything I need, I want you to be my one consuming passion, everything my heart desires, Lord, I want it all to be for You, Jesus. Be my Magnificent Obsession.”
Hayford and Rosenberger also note, “It is Christ who enables us to achieve the goals He sets for us in life and in service to Him.”6 Not only do we need to count the cost and be willing to leave everything to follow Christ, but God has also counted the cost as He has invited us into this opportunity.
As I look upon Him, my heart easily says yes to following Him and letting go of my grip on things in the world. However, my actions seem to go in the wrong direction. I say yes in my heart and then grip hold of my job, my resources, my life, my health habits, and the approval of man. Sometimes I feel completely hopeless and think that God has got to be completely exhasperated with me by now. However, would He ask me to consider following Him as a disciple without first deliberating if He was able to make me one?
When the disciples asked Jesus, “Then who has any chance at all?” He answered them, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”
It is not in self-effort that I can leave everything to follow Christ. It is only by my willingness and God's working in my life. In Luke 10:20, Jesus tells the disciples not to rejoice that they have authority over the enemy, but celebrate “God's authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you -that's the agenda for rejoicing.”
Lord, I thank you that You have counted the cost and so I have great Hope. I am far from leaving everything behind to follow you but I long to live completely for You. Please free me from those things that grip my heart. Show me how to live as everything belongs to You. I am deeply grieved at the thought of being the servant who is not found doing Your will when You return (Luke 12:47-48).
"There is a supernatural power
In this mighty river's flow
It can bring the dead to life
And it can fill an empty soul
And give a heart the only thing
Worth living and worth dying for, yeah
But we will never know the awesome power
Of the grace of God
Until we let our selves get swept away
Into this holy flood
So if you'll take my hand
We'll close our eyes and count to three
And take the leap of faith
Come on let's go”
Steven Curtis Chapman, Dive
1. The Analytical Greek Lexicon: New Testament, 257.
2. Hayford, J. W., & Rosenberger, H. (1997, c1994). Appointed to Leadership : God's Principles for Spiritual Leaders. Spirit-Filled Life Kingdom Dynamics Study Guides. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
3. Http://www.allaboutfollowingjesus.org/disciple-of-Christ.htm
4. Hayford, J. W., & Rosenberger, H. (1997, c1994). Appointed to Leadership : God's Principles for Spiritual Leaders. Spirit-Filled Life Kingdom Dynamics Study Guides. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
5. Hayford, J. W., & Rosenberger, H. (1997, c1994). Appointed to Leadership : God's Principles for Spiritual Leaders. Spirit-Filled Life Kingdom Dynamics Study Guides. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
6. Hayford, J. W., & Rosenberger, H. (1997, c1994). Appointed to Leadership : God's Principles for Spiritual Leaders. Spirit-Filled Life Kingdom Dynamics Study Guides. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
“The root word for disciple is manthano, which means: to learn, or be taught; to learn by practice or experience, acquire a custom or habit; to ascertain, be informed; to understand, or comprehend.1 To be a disciple of Christ is to learn of Him, be taught by Him, learn by practice or experience, and to assist in spreading His doctrine around the world.” 2
In an article called “Disciple of Christ – A True Christian” the author notes that we are a disciple when we make God Sovereign in our lives. We acknowledge that we do not have any ownership rights but only management responsibilities as a steward of God's property (ourselves, our health, money, time, etc.). 3
In Mark 10:28 Peter proclaims, "We left everything and followed you." In Luke 14:26-27, Jesus says, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."
Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary defines hate in this context as regard to preference for one thing over the other, the claims of one person or thing relative to those of another. It notes Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
One must be willing to renounce any claims and acknowledge that God owns it all. This includes renouncing claims others have in one's life over God's direction. If you are choosing to follow Christ, you cannot prefer anyone to God, including your own spouse, mother or father. One cannot be a disciple of Christ if one is living for the approval of man.
As the Enhanced Strong's Lexicon notes “cannot,” dynamai, means that one is not able. If one is holding onto any claims in the world, such as the approval of man, one is not at the same time able to put Jesus first and be a disciple -the two face in opposite directions.
Time and time again in Mark, Jesus confronts living for the approval of man. When Jesus' family came to get him, Jesus told them that those who do the will of God were his mothers, sisters and brothers (Mark 3:33).
He tells his disciples and those coming to hear him in Luke 6:26, “There's trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests -look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.”
He also confronts the Pharisees over and over again about their living for their approval of man. In Luke 16:18 He says to them, “You are masters at making yourselves look good in front of others, but God knows what's behind the appearance.”
“Not to us but to Your name be the glory” sings in the background.
Whenever we prefer man, we will do and say what we believe will obtain the person's approval rather than listening to God. So what about when we are listening to and following someone who is a strong Christian, devotedly following Christ and we admire them for this?
I believe the difference is if we are following the person or if they are an example to us in following Christ. Paul confronts the Corinthian church when they began to develop sects based upon who baptized them, saying that they were followers of Paul, Apollos or Christ. Paul said to them, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptize in the name of Paul?”
While we may admire someone for the walk they have with Christ, we cross a line when we move from letting their walk inspire us, moving us toward God and teaching us how to be more devoted and committed to Christ versus following after the person's approval. We cannot choose their approval over God's in our heart and still be following Christ wholeheartedly (remaining a disciple of Christ).
“The goal of discipleship is to make us like Christ. 'A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master' (Matt. 10:24, 25).”.4
In Matthew 20:28, Jesus said about Himself, “He came to serve, not be served – and then give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.” What happens is that we can begin to see our lives, our resources and all the things that God has blessed us with, not as a generous gift to be grateful for but as something we are entitled to. When we feel entitled to what has been freely given to us, we grip hold of it to protect it.
“You give and take away, my heart will choose to say blessed be your name” sings in the background.
In Luke 17:33 Jesus says, “If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms.”
My pastor spoke this past weekend on being a steward with our lives and resources. On the Message Tool website this week it asks, “If everything you have and everything you are really is God’s and not yours, in what specific ways does that challenge and confront you?”
We make decisions based upon how we view those things we have been given. When we view them as ours, we spend our resources protecting what we have. When we view what we have as a gift from God, we are genuinely grateful and free to give it away extravagantly.
In Luke 11:41, Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Turn both your pockets and your hearts inside out and give generously to the poor then your lives will be clean, not just your dishes and your hands.”
Jesus asks, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:28-33)
As a disciple of Christ, God asks that we would give up everything and renounce all. We need to consider the cost of following Him will drastically change the way we do life. As Hayford and Rosenberger write, “The call to discipleship brought dramatic changes to the disciples’ lives. As Jesus taught them the principles of the kingdom of God, their relationship with God changed.” 5
When our eyes are on Him, we realize that nothing we can posses in this world is anywhere near worth what we have in Him.
“You are everything I want, You are everything I need, I want you to be my one consuming passion, everything my heart desires, Lord, I want it all to be for You, Jesus. Be my Magnificent Obsession.”
Hayford and Rosenberger also note, “It is Christ who enables us to achieve the goals He sets for us in life and in service to Him.”6 Not only do we need to count the cost and be willing to leave everything to follow Christ, but God has also counted the cost as He has invited us into this opportunity.
As I look upon Him, my heart easily says yes to following Him and letting go of my grip on things in the world. However, my actions seem to go in the wrong direction. I say yes in my heart and then grip hold of my job, my resources, my life, my health habits, and the approval of man. Sometimes I feel completely hopeless and think that God has got to be completely exhasperated with me by now. However, would He ask me to consider following Him as a disciple without first deliberating if He was able to make me one?
When the disciples asked Jesus, “Then who has any chance at all?” He answered them, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”
It is not in self-effort that I can leave everything to follow Christ. It is only by my willingness and God's working in my life. In Luke 10:20, Jesus tells the disciples not to rejoice that they have authority over the enemy, but celebrate “God's authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you -that's the agenda for rejoicing.”
Lord, I thank you that You have counted the cost and so I have great Hope. I am far from leaving everything behind to follow you but I long to live completely for You. Please free me from those things that grip my heart. Show me how to live as everything belongs to You. I am deeply grieved at the thought of being the servant who is not found doing Your will when You return (Luke 12:47-48).
"There is a supernatural power
In this mighty river's flow
It can bring the dead to life
And it can fill an empty soul
And give a heart the only thing
Worth living and worth dying for, yeah
But we will never know the awesome power
Of the grace of God
Until we let our selves get swept away
Into this holy flood
So if you'll take my hand
We'll close our eyes and count to three
And take the leap of faith
Come on let's go”
Steven Curtis Chapman, Dive
1. The Analytical Greek Lexicon: New Testament, 257.
2. Hayford, J. W., & Rosenberger, H. (1997, c1994). Appointed to Leadership : God's Principles for Spiritual Leaders. Spirit-Filled Life Kingdom Dynamics Study Guides. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
3. Http://www.allaboutfollowingjesus.org/disciple-of-Christ.htm
4. Hayford, J. W., & Rosenberger, H. (1997, c1994). Appointed to Leadership : God's Principles for Spiritual Leaders. Spirit-Filled Life Kingdom Dynamics Study Guides. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
5. Hayford, J. W., & Rosenberger, H. (1997, c1994). Appointed to Leadership : God's Principles for Spiritual Leaders. Spirit-Filled Life Kingdom Dynamics Study Guides. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
6. Hayford, J. W., & Rosenberger, H. (1997, c1994). Appointed to Leadership : God's Principles for Spiritual Leaders. Spirit-Filled Life Kingdom Dynamics Study Guides. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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