Post by TaQuilla on Dec 18, 2006 9:53:40 GMT -5
"What exactly is a follower of Christ, and how do we know if we truly fit the bill?"
In Matthew 16:21-24 Jesus had just finished telling his disciples about the upcoming crucifixion, when Peter takes him aside and rebukes him saying "Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!" Jesus in return, calls Peter "Satan" and a "stumbling block" that does not have in mind the things of God. Now, Peter as well as everyone else who knew him, obviously considered himself a follower of Christ. After all, Jesus had just called him the "rock, on which He would build His church" (Matt 16:18). But in verse 21 Jesus sets the record straight, that even Peter was not yet a true follower. Sure he'd hung around Jesus for quite some time, and had even "confessed with his mouth that Jesus is Lord" (Rom 10:9) just 7 verses prior. Jesus knew that it would not be until later, after Peter had been baptized w/the Holy Spirit, that this being "the Rock...that the gates of Hades will not overcome" would come to pass. But before this precious baptism would occur, there were precise requirements for "following" Jesus, that had to take place among the disciples (and us).
In Mat. 16:24 Jesus said "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." It is so easy for us to glance over this verse, and still be content w/ our spirituality. But if we look deeply, we should ask ourselves if we are really following Him. Lets break down these steps one by one (using Bible Concordance and Dictionary) to get a clearer view of what He expects from His followers.
1.) The very first step given is to desire to come after Him. This goes deeper than just the urge to go to church once a week because it makes us feel good, or because it's what our parents did. The faith of our parents/peers/spouse, can only bring us so far, and this is where the Lord shows us it must end. We need to truly desire, wish for, long for, want to follow Him for ourselves, not just going with the flow. In other words, if our heart isn't in it, then don't even bother, we are not doing Him any favors by showing up to church/bible study, etc. half hearted. That is being "lukewarm", and He will "spit us out" (Rev. 3:16). That does not sound like fun to me.
But, just as the faith of others will only lead us so far, even when we are filled with a whole-hearted desire for following Him, we are only at the beginning of our journey. Wanting to follow Him, is not enough. We must then,
2.) "Deny yourself". What does it really mean to deny yourself? To deny means to declare untrue, refuse to believe; reject;refuse to recognize; decline to grant;restrain oneself from pleasure. Wow! That's a mouthful. But really think on it. This means that so much of what we feel, think, or were even taught to think must be rejected. There are parts of us, whether we want to let go or not, that we need to refuse to even recognize. There are pleasures of this life, that though society thinks of them as reputable & good, that we will need to restrain from doing, regardless of the cost. How do we know which things to deny? Well, these things could be addictions that the Lord Himself has told us personally that we need to forgo because they take too much time/focus away from Him (i.e. alcohol, drugs, certain foods, spending, possessions, telephone, work, sleep, TV, worldly education, caffeine, etc...). But even if we don't feel that we hear him speaking to us about a specific thing, there is a better way to find out directly from Him what He wants. Heb. 4:12,13 = The Word of God. We must use it to "uncover" the parts of our lives that do not glorify Him. After declaring our own thoughts untrue, we will find ourselves in the midst of persecution on all sides, co-workers/friends/family, will begin to make us feel foolish about our choices. At this point, we can cave in, because we can't take the feeling of "not fitting in" or losing close friends, OR we can move forward to step
3)Take up your cross. To take up, lift up, carry our cross, is a tough thing to do. This means to face trials, afflictions, torture, torment and crucifixion for the beliefs that we have. If we have done steps 1 & 2 correctly, then this means that we will face these trials everywhere, possibly even at church. Jesus was rebuked by those considered to be the highest in the Church, the Pharisees and Sadducee's. The same will be true for the "true" followers of Christ. Jesus warned us about the "lukewarm" people in the body of Christ for a reason. Let us not allow these lukewarm Christians jeopardize our walk. We are now free to
4) Follow Him. This means to go after; pursue; adhere to; comply with, OBEY; be attentive to (His Word); subscribe to the teachings of (no matter how popular); be a servant of Him recognizing that His position is higher than ours. Can we honestly say that we do this? Do we sometimes feel that our position on certain issues takes precedence over His? Do we overlook parts of the Bible/teachings of Jesus/things that He and His disciples did, and say that they don't apply to us, just because we don't want to do it? Do we find ourselves explaining away certain parts of the Bible that don't appeal to us...often? Do we find ourselves so wrapped up in the teachings of man, that we hardly open our Bible/pray to find out how God really feels about it? If so, then it's time to back track through the steps, and see where we fell out of line.
Jesus gave his disciples a precise formula for being his follower, and in following this formula we too, can be assured that we are true followers of the Messiah.
Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Mat. 16:25-26
In Matthew 16:21-24 Jesus had just finished telling his disciples about the upcoming crucifixion, when Peter takes him aside and rebukes him saying "Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!" Jesus in return, calls Peter "Satan" and a "stumbling block" that does not have in mind the things of God. Now, Peter as well as everyone else who knew him, obviously considered himself a follower of Christ. After all, Jesus had just called him the "rock, on which He would build His church" (Matt 16:18). But in verse 21 Jesus sets the record straight, that even Peter was not yet a true follower. Sure he'd hung around Jesus for quite some time, and had even "confessed with his mouth that Jesus is Lord" (Rom 10:9) just 7 verses prior. Jesus knew that it would not be until later, after Peter had been baptized w/the Holy Spirit, that this being "the Rock...that the gates of Hades will not overcome" would come to pass. But before this precious baptism would occur, there were precise requirements for "following" Jesus, that had to take place among the disciples (and us).
In Mat. 16:24 Jesus said "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." It is so easy for us to glance over this verse, and still be content w/ our spirituality. But if we look deeply, we should ask ourselves if we are really following Him. Lets break down these steps one by one (using Bible Concordance and Dictionary) to get a clearer view of what He expects from His followers.
1.) The very first step given is to desire to come after Him. This goes deeper than just the urge to go to church once a week because it makes us feel good, or because it's what our parents did. The faith of our parents/peers/spouse, can only bring us so far, and this is where the Lord shows us it must end. We need to truly desire, wish for, long for, want to follow Him for ourselves, not just going with the flow. In other words, if our heart isn't in it, then don't even bother, we are not doing Him any favors by showing up to church/bible study, etc. half hearted. That is being "lukewarm", and He will "spit us out" (Rev. 3:16). That does not sound like fun to me.
But, just as the faith of others will only lead us so far, even when we are filled with a whole-hearted desire for following Him, we are only at the beginning of our journey. Wanting to follow Him, is not enough. We must then,
2.) "Deny yourself". What does it really mean to deny yourself? To deny means to declare untrue, refuse to believe; reject;refuse to recognize; decline to grant;restrain oneself from pleasure. Wow! That's a mouthful. But really think on it. This means that so much of what we feel, think, or were even taught to think must be rejected. There are parts of us, whether we want to let go or not, that we need to refuse to even recognize. There are pleasures of this life, that though society thinks of them as reputable & good, that we will need to restrain from doing, regardless of the cost. How do we know which things to deny? Well, these things could be addictions that the Lord Himself has told us personally that we need to forgo because they take too much time/focus away from Him (i.e. alcohol, drugs, certain foods, spending, possessions, telephone, work, sleep, TV, worldly education, caffeine, etc...). But even if we don't feel that we hear him speaking to us about a specific thing, there is a better way to find out directly from Him what He wants. Heb. 4:12,13 = The Word of God. We must use it to "uncover" the parts of our lives that do not glorify Him. After declaring our own thoughts untrue, we will find ourselves in the midst of persecution on all sides, co-workers/friends/family, will begin to make us feel foolish about our choices. At this point, we can cave in, because we can't take the feeling of "not fitting in" or losing close friends, OR we can move forward to step
3)Take up your cross. To take up, lift up, carry our cross, is a tough thing to do. This means to face trials, afflictions, torture, torment and crucifixion for the beliefs that we have. If we have done steps 1 & 2 correctly, then this means that we will face these trials everywhere, possibly even at church. Jesus was rebuked by those considered to be the highest in the Church, the Pharisees and Sadducee's. The same will be true for the "true" followers of Christ. Jesus warned us about the "lukewarm" people in the body of Christ for a reason. Let us not allow these lukewarm Christians jeopardize our walk. We are now free to
4) Follow Him. This means to go after; pursue; adhere to; comply with, OBEY; be attentive to (His Word); subscribe to the teachings of (no matter how popular); be a servant of Him recognizing that His position is higher than ours. Can we honestly say that we do this? Do we sometimes feel that our position on certain issues takes precedence over His? Do we overlook parts of the Bible/teachings of Jesus/things that He and His disciples did, and say that they don't apply to us, just because we don't want to do it? Do we find ourselves explaining away certain parts of the Bible that don't appeal to us...often? Do we find ourselves so wrapped up in the teachings of man, that we hardly open our Bible/pray to find out how God really feels about it? If so, then it's time to back track through the steps, and see where we fell out of line.
Jesus gave his disciples a precise formula for being his follower, and in following this formula we too, can be assured that we are true followers of the Messiah.
Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Mat. 16:25-26