Further Reflection on "Encountering"
Sunday, January 17, 2021
There are many who believe that they can be just a ‘normal’ christian and not becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. They might not say it but likely think in their mind/heart, “That’s not for me” and settle with “lukewarm” or “nominal” Christians whose goals are not doing many bad things, land a good job or build a good career, and going to church when convenient or when they don’t have any exciting events on the weekends, and then retirement, then going to heaven. Well, this sounds like a good plan if that was what Jesus described and prescribed. In fact, many believers believe this is what being a Christian, a Christ’s follower means. People can believe anything that they want. And everyone can be wise in their own eyes and this is the definition of foolishness according to God’s Word (cf. Proverbs 26:12; Isaiah 5:21).
When a large crowd followed Jesus, afterJesus stated that the ‘invited” will not taste His banquet (cf. Luke 14:12-24), he went on to say this radical calling (Luke 14:26-33) which likely turned the big crowd away and whoever can take His word will be His disciples. Now when you pause and think about Jesus’ calling, it does not seem to be that radical but quite commonsensical. For example, you can see it in our everyday life/works. Corporations/companies (metaphoric paraphrase) more or less look for people who dedicate their life for the company’s goals, “If you want to work for this great/wonderful company and does not ‘hate’ other competitors, you cannot work for this company. And whoever does not work hard (more than 8 hours or job description) and sacrifice your personal/family time for work cannot be promoted to management level…So therefore, any one of you who does not devote your time and talents (renouncing all that you have) for this company, you cannot be employees of this great company.” Got the point? Jesus used two metaphors to explain His calling. (1) Being disciples of Jesus is like building a tower. Wise builders need to calculate the cost and resources required for the project. Foolish ones will be mocked for the unfinished works. (2) Being disciples of Jesus (who is the King of all kings) is like encountering another king in war. Followers/‘warriors/soldiers’ of Jesus Christ either love Him and hate other kings or hate Jesus and love other kings. There is no neutral ground. And both ‘builders’ and ‘followers/warriors/soldiers’ are required to devote ‘everything’ (i.e. mind/heart, time, talents, resources, etc) for the ‘project’ and ‘mission’ of following Jesus Christ.
Imagine this! When people heard Jesus’ calling to be His disciples, many perhaps thought that this is too much and asked, “Do I have an alternative option?” Well, I think Jesus did give an option by saying, “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 14:34-35). This possibly means, in its context, Christ’s followers are good, but if followers do not follow Christ, how can they be restored? They are of no use for even earthly things, let alone be useful for the Kingdom of God! In other words, Christians are good, but if Christians have lost ‘Christ’, how do ‘ians” be impactful, even for the ‘manure’!
Now I trust every believer wants to be Jesus’ disciples. But for various reasons, many were introduced or told that the whole point of salvation is to escape hell and go to heaven by simply saying a sinners’ prayer (nothing wrong with the prayer but perhaps with the one who unintentionally ‘discounted’ the Gospel and did not lay out the cost of following Christ) and carry on with their life and just wait for heaven. Maybe they never heard Jesus’ radical calling to be His disciples in every aspect of their life, i.e. work, home, school, etc. They perhaps never heard/saw that a janitor can be Jesus’ disciples in his/her workplace; a school teacher; a manager; a housewife; a businessman/woman; and virtually any Christ’s followers regardless of their job/career/industry (that does not contradict with Biblical ethics) can be Jesus’ disciples. But how? Pray to the Lord and simply ask, “Lord, here I am. Please use me for your Kingdom.” And stay open to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and let renouncing everything you have by devoting everything you got, i.e. heart/mind/time/talents/resources for king Jesus and His mission—bring the lost sheep/coins/sons/daughter back to God the Father (cf. Luke 15:1-32).
May salt remain salty. May Christians continue to be Christ’s followers. And may Disciples stay ‘disciplined’ in their walk (heart, mind, talents, time, etc) with King Jesus. May His church be filled Disciples who know, believe, live out the call of being disciples of Jesus, and carry out His mission.
In King Jesus,
—
Pastor Lap
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