The most common way for Jesus’ followers to address themselves and each other today is using the term, Christian. The word Christian is used three times in the New Testament to refer to the people of God (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). While there is nothing wrong with referring to ourselves as Christians, the term used most often to refer to followers of Jesus in the New Testament is the word “disciple.” The word translated disciple (mathētēs) means one who engages in learning through instruction from another. A disciple is a pupil, an apprentice, a student or a learner of someone else. One technical definition for the Greek term most often translated “disciple” is “one who is rather constantly associated with someone who has a pedagogical [teaching] reputation or particular set of views.”
If we are disciples of Jesus, we are students of His life. We are those who are modeling our lives after His and following in His steps. Jesus taught in great detail about discipleship and what is expected of those who would come after Him (See the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5–7.). Jesus publicly taught the crowd, and then He went into greater depth and detail with His disciples on certain topics while He enjoyed private time with them away from the masses (Matthew 13:36–43; Luke 8:9–15). On one occasion in Luke 14:25–33, Jesus gave an extensive description of what it meant to be His disciple. As Jesus’ fame and popularity grew in and around Palestine, many people wanted to follow Him but did not know for what they were signing up (cf., Luke 9:57–62). Jesus took the time to plainly describe what it means to be a follower of Him. He did not want His disciples to be confused, then or now, about how difficult, demanding and challenging it is to be His disciple. However, we should keep in mind that while discipleship is costly, it ultimately leads to a crown of victory (2 Timothy 4:8). As we seek to follow Jesus today, we should reflect on His words shared with those first followers and examine our lives to be sure we measure up. Where we need to make adjustments and improvements, let us not hesitate to do so, and where we are walking in line with His teachings, let us press on.
Faith Above Family
Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “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.” (Luke 14:25–26)
As the crowd followed Jesus, He made it a point to tell them that no one who is unwilling to hate his family and even his own life is worthy to be His disciple. The idea that Jesus was driving here is that our allegiance to Him is to be above every relationship in the world. When Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God,” that is exactly what He meant (Matthew 6:33). The New Testament teaches children to honor their parents (Ephesians 6:1–3). Parents are to love their children (Ephesians 6:4; Titus 2:4–5). Husbands and wives are to cherish and respect each other (Ephesians 5:22–32). Still, all those relationships are to be subordinate to our relationship to Jesus Christ. In a culture where family relationships meant everything, Jesus’ words would have pierced the hearts of His listeners.
We should think soberly about these words as well. We must never allow what our family members think about our faith, their views about the importance of Christianity, or lack thereof, to deter us from giving Jesus our all. Anyone who is incapable of following Jesus without the approval of his loved ones is not fit to be His disciple.
If we love our family more than we love Jesus or even equal to our love for Jesus, we are ill–equipped to be genuine followers of the One who left all to die for us (Philippians 2:5–8). Discipleship means Jesus first, and everyone else comes in line after Him. We should appreciate that when we put Jesus first, we are then in the best position to love our family members best. Nevertheless, if we try to love our family members more than we love the God who gave them to us, we will never love them as well as we could. Through faithfulness to Jesus, we learn how to cherish and properly engage in every other relationship we have on earth. Jesus’ first lesson about discipleship, on this occasion, was to place one’s faith above family. Fidelity to Jesus supersedes familial relationships.
Follow Him
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:27)
Discipleship involves bearing the cross and following Jesus. We all would greatly benefit from studying the Gospel accounts closely and grasping what it meant for Jesus to bear the cross He bore. Jesus was hated, mistreated, lied about and maligned as He headed to Calvary (Isaiah 53; 1 Peter 2:21–25). Bearing our cross and following Jesus may not lead to physical death or crucifixion, but it will mean that our will is put to death as we desire to do God’s will (Matthew 26:39). We will suffer persecution to one degree or another (Matthew 5:10–12; 2 Timothy 3:12). Coming after Jesus involves taking the hard road and living in a way different from everyone else. If our lives do not mirror the amazing life we read of Jesus living in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we are not following closely enough. We will never be sinless as He was (1 John 1:8, 1:10), but we can be faithful (1 Corinthians 4:1–2; Revelation 2:10).
