OBEDIENCE

How will you follow Jesus?

Luke 14:33 (AMP)“‘So then, any of you who does not forsake (renounce, surrender claim to, give up, say good-bye to) all that he has cannot be My disciple.’”

ENCOUNTER

The invitation to follow Jesus isn’t a simple offer to an easy or more fulfilling life. The challenge of following Jesus is one of difficulty and commitment. It doesn’t require a brief “yes” or “no.” Responding to the invitation to Jesus and following him brings radical implications for our lives.

The word forsake is an interesting word. It is not a word we normally use in our daily vocabulary. It is a word that calls us to a higher level—a higher level of “followership,” a higher level of leadership.

How does your life reflect the forsaking of something in order to pursue Jesus more fully? What has Jesus called you to abandon so you can fully follow him?

ENGAGEMENT

As a Christ follower, you are not invited by Jesus to reflect on his words; he invites you to respond to his words by living in obedience to him. Jesus confronts us with himself: with the life he lived, with radical commitment, with pursuing God’s will in our lives.

Jesus places before us a crazy choice between obedience and disobedience.

In his last words in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:21-29 (MSG), Jesus provides this crazy choice to those listening:

“‘Knowing the correct password—saying “Master, Master,” for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, “Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.” And do you know what I am going to say? “You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.”

“‘These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

“‘But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.’

“When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.”

Where are the places in your life and leadership where it is easy to follow Jesus and obey? Where are the places where you find it difficult, and where you often struggle with disobedience?

EXPERIENCE

Jesus identifies two dangers for those who are trying to follow Christ. The first, as identified by John Stott, is the danger of a merely verbal profession.

We know that we must profess the lordship of Christ with our mouth (Romans 10:9-10), but it must go beyond being just verbal. Jesus calls us to not just confess with our lips, but also to profess with our lives. The vital difference comes in going beyond what we say to what we do.

Where are the places of disconnect between what you say and what you do? It is out of our hearts that we speak. How is what you say a reflection of your heart—both good and bad? How is the way you live a reflection of your heart—both good and bad?

EXPRESSION

The second danger for Christ followers that Stott identifies is the danger of a merely intellectual knowledge.

Two builders go after construction projects. One digs deep and builds on the rock, a solid foundation. The other can’t be bothered with foundations and is content to build on sand. Looking at the effort of both, one might not notice any difference between them because the difference is in the foundation—something that can’t be seen.

Not until the storms of crisis come will reality be revealed.

John Stott writes:

“…the question is not whether we say nice, polite, orthodox, enthusiastic things to or about Jesus; nor whether we hear his words (listening, studying, pondering and memorizing them), but whether we do what we say and do what we know, in other words whether the lordship of Jesus which we profess is one of our life’s major realities.”1

How is the foundation you have built upon a reflection of your willingness to walk in obedience as a follower of Christ? In what ways are you digging deeply as you live your life and as you lead?

What is a significant example of how your leadership foundation has survived a crisis storm because you took the time to build well?

IMPACT

We are called to make radical choices daily between obedience and disobedience. Living a life of purpose, living true to our values and beliefs, and leading out of a deep well of faith come only when we choose to follow the way of Jesus, to go against the prevailing culture and the way of the world.

Where are the places that you struggle with living a countercultural life? How are you inviting others to journey with you in following Jesus so that their lives are a reflection of radical risk in exercising their faith and so that they can point to radical reward because of their faithfulness?

1 John Stott, Dale Larsen, and Sandy Larsen, A Deeper Look at the Sermon on the Mount: Living Out the Way of Jesus (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013), 165.

J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership“To aspire to leadership in God’s kingdom requires us to be willing to pay a price higher than others are willing to pay. The toll of true leadership is heavy, and the more effective the leadership, the higher it goes.”2

2 J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1994), 115

© Copyright 2014 Reformed Church Press; all rights reserved. Permission is granted for use in nonprofit and church settings.

© Copyright 2014 Reformed Church Press; all rights reserved. Permission is granted for use in nonprofit and church settings.