Would you be willing to obey Jesus if it meant a literal cross or having to be removed from your family? Though the circumstances these Christians lived in were more extreme than ours, our commitment to Christ is not supposed to be any less extreme than theirs. The cross they were asked to take up is the one that we are asked to take up as well. Thanks for joining us today for the Summit Life podcast with JD Greer. We'll jump into the teaching in just a moment.
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So buckle your seatbelt. This is going to be quite the ride. He titled today's message, Take Up the Cross. Luke chapter 14. If you got your Bible this weekend, and I hope that you do have a Bible, I want to talk with you this weekend about Jesus' staggering invitation to follow him and then ask you to consider whether or not you have actually responded to it.
As I have been telling you now for several weeks, at the end, at the end of this message, I'm going to ask every single one of you who is willing to commit. Or to recommit to being a disciple. Not talking to just a handful of you or those of you that are new to church. I'm gonna ask everybody, whether you've been a member here for four minutes or 40 years, that you take a moment to recommit to what it means to be a disciple. But what I'm gonna do now is I'm gonna spend the next 30 minutes.
30, 35 minutes trying to talk you out of making that commitment. Seriously, because that's what I believe Jesus does here at the end of Luke 14 in the passage we're about to look at. Verse 25, Jesus looks around. And he sees great crowds following him, which is encouraging for any preacher, right? At this point in his ministry, his message is catching on.
His reputation for miracles gathers crowds everywhere that he goes. His approval rating is off the charts. He is trending on Twitter. His stock is soaring, however, you want to think about it. Verse 26: Jesus looks at this immense crowd and says, Verse 26: if anybody comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, Hate his wife, hate his children, hate his brothers and his sisters.
Yes, even hate his own life.
Well, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Verse 33, jump down there. And any one of you who does not renounce. All that he has.
Cannot be my disciple. If you underline stuff in your Bible, by the way, underline those words: renounce all that he has. all that he has, then star the word all above it, everything. Nothing is excluded, absolutely nothing is excluded from Jesus' rule over our lives.
Now, y'all, I have to imagine that Jesus' disciples were pretty bewildered at this. They had been enjoying the big crowds following Jesus. And they were like, Jesus, you can't gain momentum for a movement telling people they're required to hate their parents and their children and their brothers and sisters to follow you. That's not how you rally the troops, Jesus. That's not how you get people on the Jesus bus.
Nobody's going to buy into Team Jesus when you tell them they got to renounce even loyalty to their families. But y'all, here's the thing. Jesus wasn't trying to sell anything. He's not trying to build a mega church. Quite simply, he has an offer of salvation more valuable than anything else on earth.
And it's only given on his terms.
So here's my question for you this weekend. What do you think it means to be Jesus' follower? Do you really believe what he says here? I ask that. Because we have in America in general and in the South in particular.
We have adopted a reduced version of Christianity. For us, becoming a Christian means embracing a certain creed. Adopting a set of morals, praying a prayer, then commencing on a set of religious practices. For Jesus, however, becoming his follower was something so radical, so total. That by comparison, every other commitment, every other commitment in our lives compared to it.
Would look like hate. By the way, I know that statement, hate your father or mother, throws some of you. You're like, well, I thought it was God's will for us to love our families. Yes, you know, lay down our lives like Christ loves the church, be devoted to our kids. Yes.
But Jesus is speaking comparatively. He is saying that he deserves a loyalty that is so strong that in comparison to it, every other relationship, every other loyalty, even our most intimate ones, are going to seem like hate. Think of it like this. If you have a pet, I imagine that you love that pet. Unless that pet is a cat and then you are just waiting out the time for it to die so you can get a real pet, like a dog or a gerbil or a hermit crab, anything, right?
But for any other pet, I'm just kidding, but for any other pet, You love that pet and you are committed to that pet on some level. In fact, I know for a fact some of you spend a great deal of money. I know some of you that have flown across country to go get your pet. But I would imagine that as committed as you are to that pet, your love for your pet pales in comparison to your love for your children or your spouse or a best friend or a parent. By the way, if you're having to sit there and think about that right now, that's not good.
But for most of you, if you had some situation where you had to choose between the well-being of your pet or the life of your child, it's not really a choice at all, is it? Yes, you are committed to your pet, but compared to the intensity of your commitment to your child, your commitment to your pet would seem like hate. That is the loyalty that Jesus both deserves and demands. Our loyalty to him has to be so strong that in comparison to him, every other relationship in our lives, even our most intimate ones, are going to seem like hate, period. Full stop.
And if you are not willing to give him that, Jesus says. Then you had no business following him. Verse 27: Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the costs? whether he's got enough to complete it.
You don't want to get into a project, get halfway done. And then not be able to finish it, that's embarrassing. Got some half-shell of a building out there that everybody walks by and says, Well, look, that guy, he started, but he went bankrupt. He couldn't finish it. Verse 29: Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to mock him.
Say Miss Mann. What a fool began to build and was not even able to finish. Before you come to Jesus, Jesus is saying, before you come to me. You got to think, am I ready to go all the way with him? Because you see, coming to Jesus is not something you do just because it makes you feel good.
Or because it adds some missing piece in your life or gets you out of a jam. You got to ask yourself if you're ready to go the full distance with him. You see, back then and today. A lot of people are initially attracted to Jesus because of what he can do for them. He can provide relief from your burdens.
He can grant you forgiveness of sins. He can take you to heaven. He can give you help in your marriage and your family. And you're like, well, that's worthy of some level of devotion, but here's the thing. At some point.
If you are serious about following Jesus, obedience to him is going to cost you. At some point, obedience to him is going to take you 180 degrees opposite of the direction that you think you want to go. Following him is not going to make life easier. It is going to make life harder. It is not going to lead you to fields of ease and abundance.
It's going to lead you to paths of difficulty. The question is, are you ready to follow him then? Notice, notice that Jesus said following him means taking up a cross. He didn't say, take up my teachings and follow me. He didn't say, take up my moral code and follow me, or take up my liturgical calendar and follow me, or take up this warm and fuzzy God blanket and follow me.
He said, take up my cross and follow me. Take up your cross and follow me. What did Jesus mean by take up your cross? What did he mean?
Well, we realized that for that first audience listening to Jesus, the cross was not like it is for many of us.
Some sentimental piece of jewelry or a pretty symbol of their faith. In fact, at the time, the cross was not a religious symbol at all. The cross was an instrument of torture and execution. They would have been very familiar with it because they'd seen it thrust in their faces as a tool of oppression. It'd be like today, some politician saying, Come join my campaign.
Strap yourselves to your electric chair and let's go. By the way, For the first Christians who heard these words, Saying take up your cross was not poetic or metaphorical language at all. It was quite literal. Christianity was birthed into a context where Christians were often put onto crosses. for choosing to follow Jesus, Nero.
Nero, who was likely Caesar when Luke was writing this stuff down. Nero, we know, falsely blamed Christians for the great fire of Rome and then used that as a pretext to hunt them down. And then feed them to the lions, and others he would tie to poles and set them on fire to illuminate his gardens at night. Following Nero was a ruler named Vespasian who ruled between 69 and 70 AD, right in the middle of this early church era. He was the one who sent Roman troops into Jerusalem to desecrate the temple.
He then took thousands of Jews, many of whom would have been those first Christians that got saved in the first chapters of Acts. Many of them the ones that would have been in Jesus' first audience here. And he hung them up on crosses or along the road to Jerusalem for miles. Then there was Domitian, Domitian, who took persecution to even new levels. It was, in a word, demonic.
For example, he knew that Christians would not bow the knee to the emperor, so Domitian would show up in a town like Ephesus unannounced, and he would demand that everyone be assembled at the amphitheater and commanded to worship him, and whoever did not worship him would be hauled immediately into the Colosseum, them and their families, and be fed to the lions. He put Christians into cages with wild animals for sport. That's the context into which this call to take up your cross was first heard. For them, following Jesus might mean that they lost every other relationship and they had to be more committed to Jesus than their own lives. By the way, that was not just unique to the early church either.
Throughout time and history and even places today around the world, people often have to make that same choice. John Bunyan, who lived in England in the 17th century. Who wrote the best-selling book of all time, except for the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress? Was told in the 17th century that he could not preach the gospel, a gospel that differed from the official state religion. Which was not preaching the gospel.
Well, he j he refused, so they But he went right on preaching, so they put him in prison. They told him that they would let him go if he would swear on the Bible. that he would not preach anymore. But he said, I can't do that. And so he remained in prison voluntarily.
And he said in his journal, he said, it tore my heart out. Because I had this family that was already poor. They were already so poor, and he had a blind daughter. And he said, just the thought of her and how much suffering my obedience to Christ was costing them. In fact, let me just quote you from his journal here: the parting with my wife and poor children.
Has often been to me in this place like the pulling of flesh from my bones. I'm aware of the many hardships, miseries, and Once that my poor family meets with because of my imprisonment, especially my poor blind child. Who lays nearer to my heart than anything else on earth? The thought of what my precious blind one is going through shatters my heart into pieces. But yet I must venture all with God.
Though I feel like a man pulling down his house upon the head of his wife and his children, yet I must do it. I must do it. I must obey Christ.
Now, the circumstances of these believers might have been different. We live in a different era, thank God. But just because our time period is different doesn't mean our commitment to the Lordship of Christ can be any less.
So the question is, what about you? Would you be willing to obey Jesus if it meant a literal cross or having to be removed from your family? Though the circumstances these Christians lived in were more extreme than ours, our commitment to Christ is not supposed to be any less extreme than theirs. The cross they were asked to take up is the one that we are asked to take up as well. So let's just ask this weekend, this morning.
What exactly does take up your cross mean for us?
Well, in context, I would say it means two things. Number one. I would say total self-surrender. And number two, I'm going to explain its personal embrace of the Great Commission. Total self-surrender, personal embrace of the Great Commission.
Let me look at those one at a time. Number one, total self-surrender. Total self-surrender. A person on a cross has given up total control of their lives. They are literally under arrest.
They are bound hand and foot, totally powerless to the will of their captor. You could think of them as good as already dead. They're not making plans for the future. They've got no plans. All their plans died when they got tied to a cross.
To pick up our cross means a total surrender of our will to Jesus, a forfeiting of anything that we thought we wanted, anything we desire, or anything we believe apart from what Jesus wants. Does that describe your relationship with Jesus? Have you brought all your beliefs captives to his teaching? I ask that because I talk to a lot of people who would say that Jesus is Lord. But then, for whatever reason, seem to feel the freedom to decide for themselves what they want to believe about homosexuality or gender.
Or sex in general. And if something in the Bible offends them or it makes them uncomfortable, they seem to have no problem saying, well, I just don't really believe that right now. And I just want to say back to them, I'm like, I don't think you understand what lordship means. If Jesus is Lord, I believe what he says because he says it. Whether I disagree with it or not, or even if I'm angered by it, that's kind of irrelevant.
Y'all, listen, you understand this, right? I've been a Christian for 25-some years. I've done all the study in theology. I've priested it for a number of years. There's a lot of things in this book I still am confused by, and some of them I'm offended by and angered by.
And the question I have to ask myself is, is he Lord or not?
Now, I remember hearing a story one time about Billy Graham, who was in, when he was in college, a professor of his, just trying to explain that certain parts of the Bible were outdated and some of the morals were regressive and all these things. And Billy Graham said it just threw my faith into turmoil. He said, I took a long walk through the woods by myself. He said, I wasn't sure what my future was going to be like. And he said, there was this fateful moment where I came to, there's an old stump there.
He says, I took my Bible, I got down on my knees, and I put it down in front and said, God, there's so much in this I don't understand.
So much in it, I'm not sure how to explain. But I believe that this book was authored by you. I believe that Jesus is Lord. And I'm going to accept this and build my life on it being your word, even if. Even if there's things I don't understand or that offend me.
He said, that was a point of demarcation in my life. I've had lots of questions since, he said, but my life has been built on the understanding that Jesus is Lord, and therefore I bring every thought captive under his direction. Have you brought your will, your decisions captive to his direction? A lot of times we ask that here by saying, Have you given Jesus a blank check of your life? And I've explained to you that my dilemma is when I first started to use that analogy 20 years ago, everybody nodded their head.
Now there's a whole bunch of millennials in Gen Z who are like, What are you talking about? I actually brought one. Just because this is like I went to the museum and I pulled out. Remember this thing? It's a check.
And yes, I marked out my bank account.
So don't freeze frame and try to zoom in close there. This is a blank check. It's got my signature on it. Which authorizes you to take whatever money out of my account that's there. Then the place is blank, what it's for, and the amount is blank.
Back in the old days, you'd hand this to somebody if you weren't quite sure how much money you owed them. And if you trusted them, then you give this to them and say, just fill it out later. I've already got my signature on it. But if you guys that are as old as I am, remember this, there was always that gut check moment. When you're like, do I really trust my brother-in-law?
Is he who he says he is? Right? Can I trust this guy? Because they literally had access. You had just said yes to whatever they were going to ask for.
When you come to Jesus, that's essentially what it is. Like, I don't even know the question yet. The answer is yes. Wherever you tell me to go, whatever you tell me to do, that's what I'm going to do. What I prefer, what most people prefer to give to Jesus is this.
It's a gift card. And so you're beginning your walk with Jesus, and you're like, oh, I'm ready, you know, and this is your first initial act, right? And what you think it means to grow in Christ. Is that you upgrade your gift card? I'm not just giving him $5 a hearty.
I brought another one. This is Angus Barton. That's a nicer gift card. And you're like, I've gone, this is early stuff.
Now I'm going to this. But here's the dilemma. Both of these have a fixed amount. This one's worth $5, and this one's worth, I don't know, let's say $100. But the point is, when I have exhausted this gift card.
The person that gave it to me has no more obligation to me. This was a very generous gift, but it was a limited gift. And a lot of people are like that with Jesus. They're like, I'm growing in Christ, I'm giving you more expensive gift cards. And Jesus is like, both are equally worthless to me.
Because what I demand, what I want. All that I can, I will take. There's a blank check.
So keep your Angus Bard gift cards and keep them home. Let me take you to another place really quickly where Jesus talks about this. Luke chapter 9, verse 57. Gia Luke records this teaching of Jesus twice. Then I'll ask you a few more questions along the way.
Okay, I'm gonna walk you through this passage. Luke 9:57, as they were going along the road, somebody said to him, I'll follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, Well, foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man. Has nowhere to lay his head.
Okay, like I said, in those days, a lot of people followed Jesus because of what he could do for them. He could do miracles. He could heal the sick. He calm storms, multiplies food. His teachings brought them comfort all to one about the...
The father and the prodigal son just brings me to tears. And then there's a thing about him knowing how many hairs I got in my head, and not a sparrow fall. Oh, that just makes me feel so awesome. And then there was a lot of religious students who followed Jesus because it was a way of beefing up their resume. You see, in those days, if you wanted to gain credibility as a teacher, you attach yourself to other famous teachers.
So a lot of people were following Jesus for that reason. Today, today, many people come to Jesus because they know that He can help their marriages, He can bless their finances, He can relieve their burdens, sometimes even heal their body. He can help them be successful. And yes, listen to me. He can do all of those things.
But here's the question. What if obedience to Jesus leads you away from all of those things? What if it leads you to a place where you don't even have a place to lay your head down? Write this down. Are you following Jesus for comfort or for a cross?
So here's a question for you. Are there any limits to your obedience? Is there any place where you would say, I will not, I cannot walk away from that? More practically, is there anything that he's told you to stop doing? That you're still doing.
Some relationship you're in, some habits. Is there anything that he has told you to start doing? That you're not doing yet. Think tithing, think generosity, think getting baptized, think obedience to some call, maybe engaging in some ministry. It could be as simple as joining the church.
A follower of Jesus has forsaken all that Jesus has forbidden and commenced all that Jesus commandeth. It's like I just said, you got to put your life down as a blank check and say, Lord Jesus, all that I have, all that I am, all that I ever hoped to be. I give.
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So, would you consider joining us with your gift today? Call us at 866-335-5220. That's 866-335-5220 or visit jdgreer.com to start your partnership with us today. My oldest daughter is seventeen. My Second daughter is 15, about turned 16, and so we're in those driver's ed years.
And I'm not sure if they do driver's dead the same. I'm assuming they do. I didn't actually get a look inside the car, but when I took Driver's Dead, it was a really cheap little car, didn't have much power in it, but it was like a normal car, except for one thing. And that was in the passenger seat where the driver's ed instructor sat, there was a brake. That's still how they do it.
It's just one break. That's all it was, just one break. And so we drive around and Who was in charge of the car?
Well, I was mostly. Except for Whenever my driver's ed instructor wanted to veto what I was about to do, because I don't know, it was about to be dangerous or something. And so I was kind of in charge of the car, but anytime that man wanted, he just pressed on that brake. We'd come to a stop. Override.
Veto. No, you cannot do that. Question, I think, for many of us when it comes to Jesus is: I'd say for the majority of you, you put Jesus in the driver's seat of your car. The question is, who owns the brake pedal? There's still a brake pedal.
So still like, yes, yeah, I'm going to follow you. I'm going to let you influence, but there's a few places where I'm like, nope, put the brake on. Any limits to your obedience? Luke 9:61, yet another said, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those in my home. Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
Now, again, that seems a little harsh, doesn't it? No, but this was not just a let me run home and tell my mom that I'm not going to be home for dinner so they don't turn in a missing person report on my behalf. Verse 62 shows you that there was hesitation. Sinful hesitation. Here is the question for you: Are you delaying any area of obedience?
You're in high school, college, and you're thinking, well, when I get older, I'll follow Jesus fully. After I get settled in my career, when I'm out of this situation. Jesus could not say it more clearly. You cannot have me and delayed obedience. It's either full surrender or no surrender.
Let me use marriage as an example. Imagine after dating Veronica, my wife, for a while. I'd said to her, Hey, I want to marry you. There is no other girl I want to grow old with. But I am also having fun right now playing the field.
So here's the deal: let's get married so I can have you locked down for life because I don't want to lose you. And I know a girl like you that if I don't lock you down, you're going to get taken up by somebody else. And so I want to lock you down. But I don't want to live together at first because I'd like to have my nights free to keep, you know, doing what I do and play in the field. I'll settle down with you when I'm older.
Of course, she's not going to respond positively to that. To have somebody as special as Veronica, I had to give myself fully to her. Here's the point. Many people think they already belong to Jesus. Because you're like, well I prayed the prayer I accepted Christ when I was 12.
But they think following him fully is going to happen only later. And what I'll tell you is: nope, just as Veronica would not have put up with two years of our marriage with me where I just ignored her, Jesus will not have followers who do not submit to following him fully immediately. When Jesus commands you to do something, are you the kind of person who asks questions like, Is it safe? How much will it cost? What will these people think?
What is it going to do to my relationships at school? What is it going to mean for my college life? What's it going to mean for my bank account? For a true follower of Jesus, there are no such questions. There are no hesitations.
What Jesus commands, you do.
So take up your cross means total self-surrender. It means death to any control you claim over your life. That also means number two. A personal embrace of the Great Commission. A personal embrace of the Great Commission is not just passive surrender, Jesus is after.
As if you come to a point where you say, okay. I'll obey any commands that you give me. You speak to me audibly from heaven. I'm submitted to do that. And then you just go on about your life.
The cross, think about it, was Jesus' instrument of world salvation.
So to take up the cross meant actively, proactively devoting your life to his mission. I point this out because a lot of people think becoming a Christian simply means obeying the Ten Commandments and then going on with your usual life and career goals unless God appears to you in a burning bush or a bowl of Cheerios or something. But that is not true. Following Jesus means accepting his mission as your own. And pursue it.
It's like I said a few weeks ago, there is no such thing as a follower of Jesus who is not devoted to the mission. No such thing. Let me give you two very practical questions here. Number one, have you embraced the Great Commission? Have you personally embraced the Great Commission?
What is the Great Commission? Number of places in the Bible spell it out. Let me just highlight one for you. 2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Y'all, people talk about finding the will of God.
I got good news for you this morning, it's not lost. It's right there. The Lord is not willing that any should perish, and He wants to use you to bring them to repentance. What is God's will for my life? It is God's will to use you to bring people around you to faith in Christ.
Do you know what God's word says about the lost? Second Thessalonians seven, one verses seven through nine. when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels and flaming fire. He will inflict vengeance on those who do not know God. And on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction.
away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might. Revelation 20:15, and if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, Anyone from any place on earth of any background. He was thrown into the lake of fire. How could you and I believe that gospel and do nothing? Listen, yes, God did not make all of us the same, and He's got lots of roles for us in the body of Christ.
You're not all supposed to be like me doing what I do full-time. By the way, Some of you are. And I pray that God raises up lots of men and women for full-time ministry from this church. But we don't all have the role that I have, but all of us, regardless of our role, have got one thing in common. And that is, it is our personal responsibility to tell the people in our lives about Jesus.
The cross demands something of us. If you believe that, it has to change your priorities. The story I. Always think of it. It's like a story I heard years ago about a man who was a true story of a guy that was driving outside of Los Angeles about 20 years ago when there was an earthquake.
Seemed like a pretty severe earthquake, but it didn't seem to the man like it had done it that much damage. He pulled his car off the side of the road, went out the earthquake. Earthquake was over. He pulled the car back on the road and started to cross one of those big bridges that goes over those bodies of water out there. And so he said he's just driving along.
And going across this bridge, just minutes after this earthquake is done, he notices the taillights of the car in front of him just disappear.
So he stopped his car and he got out and Looked, and he said to his horror, he saw that one of the sections, evidently in the earthquake, of this bridge, had just fallen out, and he'd seen the car just plunge off into the water below.
So the man turns around, and there's other cars coming down this bridge, so he starts to wave. Try to get their attention.
Now it's 3:30 in the morning outside of Los Angeles, and there's a guy on the side of the road waving his arms. They said he watched. He said, not one, not two, not three. He said, I watched four cars drive right by me at 55, 60 miles an hour, all of them plunging to the death below. He said, and I saw a bus coming across the bridge, and I just made up my mind: if this bus goes off this bridge, it's going to have to take me with it.
So I stood right there in the middle. He says, I took my shirt off and I was waving my arms. And that bus was flashing his lights and honking his horn, and I just wouldn't move. I stood there. Bus driver gets out.
He's cussing and yelling. And I show him. I show him about the bridge. And so, of course, the bus driver took his bridge and. And parked it there, you know, so he cut off access, so people couldn't keep doing that.
When I think about that story, the question I hear is: is that an abnormal reaction? Think about you. If you had been the first person there, would you have done something similar? I would think so. I can't see you, you know, saying, Well, I'm just going to stand here on the side of the road and try to show people by my example.
What the right thing to do here is here. No, you would say hey. People are about to die. And I see something they don't see. Would you have cared that they thought you were a little bit out of your mind?
No! Because you would say, I see something they don't see that demands something. How could you and I understand what the Bible says about eternity? And about people without Jesus, and just say, I'm just gonna go on about my life. This just doesn't make sense.
Have you embraced the Great Commission as your own? Following Jesus means reassessing your talents. And your resources in light of the Great Commission. We challenge all of our students here to put the mission of God first and where they pursue their career. We challenge them to give at least the first two years.
after they graduate college. To go and explore a career. Just in tandem with somewhere we're planting a church where we're like, you got to get a job somewhere. Why not get a job in a place where God's doing something strategic? But see, that kind of thinking is not just for students.
You, at whatever age, need to reassess your gifts. Why did God give you the talents that He gave you? Why did he give you the resources that he gave you? Are you using those for the great commission only when life to live will soon be passed? Only what's done for Christ will last.
Follow me, Jesus said. I'll make you a fisher of men. Not follow me and I'll make a handful of you, fishers of men. That's what he has for you. There's no such thing as a follower of Jesus who is not devoted to the mission.
Here's a second. Practical question on this one. Are you obeying his command to care for the poor? Let me do this quickly. Jesus said repeatedly throughout the book of Luke, That if we do not act on behalf of the poor, Our faith is not real.
Jesus came to set the captive free and to relieve the burden of the suffering. If we're not doing that, We cannot call ourselves his followers. In fact, Luke 16. Jesus describes a rich, religious man who had everything right. Unfortunately, we're not going to be able to get into this story in this series, I don't think.
But this man believes all the right things. He lived by all the right morals. He was super involved in religion. He was on every committee there was in the synagogue. But he ignored the suffering of the people around him.
It's not my responsibility, he said. I didn't steal from them. Everything I've gotten, I've earned. Honestly. One of the most shocking twists in any of Jesus' stories: that uber-religious man ended up in hell.
His lack of engagement with the poor was the indication that his faith was not real. By the way, that story is not a fluke. Proverbs 21, 13. Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. Look at that.
You pray, you go to church faithfully, but you shut your ears to the poor. And so when you pray, it doesn't matter. Proverbs 28, 27, whoever gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes from them will get many accursed. You will be cursed by God. You say you're a disciple.
But have you asked, how is my life supposed to lift others up and how is it supposed to relieve suffering around me? Are you thinking about your career only in terms of how it can help you accomplish your goals? How it can gain for you the house you've always wanted, the vacations you want, the retirements you want. Where have you asked how God is supposed to use your talents, your resources to lift up others? Or let me say it like this: Is the trajectory of your life going toward human suffering or away from it?
Many of us are using our privileges and our ability to make money to isolate ourselves from human suffering. Jesus said, My followers will go toward it. Here's the bottom line. When Jesus called people to follow him, he did not mince words. He said, take up your cross, hate your father and mother, renounce everything.
It was almost like he wanted to turn people away. But of course that was not his goal. He wanted us to count the cost. He wanted us to think about exactly what he was asking. And not attempt to use Jesus as just a fire escape or a divine genie to help us through our problems.
And that's what I want today, also. I want you to carefully count the cost. Because praying a prayer or raising your hand or getting baptized or getting involved in a small group, none of those things is the essence of discipleship. Total surrender and a personal embrace of the Great Commission is. That what you're ready for?
That what you committed to? If your answer to that is yes, Does your life demonstrate that kind of radical obedience now in every area? You willing to stand where he tells you to stand, even if it's unpopular and you got to stand alone? Are you willing to testify to Jesus and say you belong to Him and that He's the most important thing in your life, even if others make fun of that? You willing to be generous where he tells you to be generous, to go where he tells you to go, do what he tells you to do?
Don't tell me you're ready to go all the way with Jesus if you're not obeying him in the areas where he's already spoken. Yo, why do so many so-called Christians? Stop following Jesus when it gets hard. John R.W. Stott, one of the great Christian leaders, Billy Graham's friend from previous generation.
The Christian landscape. is strewn with the wreckage. Of derelict half-built towers, the ruins of those who began to build and were unable to finish. for thousands of people still ignore Christ's warning. and undertake to follow him without first pausing to reflect on the cost of doing so.
The result is the great scandal of Christendom today, so-called nominal Christianity. Christians get somewhat involved. Enough to be respectable, but not enough to be. Uncomfortable. Their religion is a great soft cushion that protects them from the hard unpleasantness of life.
But doesn't transform their lives in radical ways. No wonder. Cynics dismiss religion. as escapism. Friend, I need you to choose.
nominal Christianity or real Christianity. I need you to choose Jesus as a comforter. or Jesus as a cross. And so today I'm going to ask you to make a very simple decision in that direction. I'm going to ask you to recommit to the five essential identities of a follower of Jesus, but before.
I'll walk you through that. I want to speak one. One last word of truth into you, okay? Listen. The context.
into which Jesus made these demands of discipleship. To renounce everything and to... Becomes so dedicated to Jesus that compared to your commitment to Him, every other relationship would seem like hate. The context. was in response to his incredible offer to us.
You see, the verse is leading right up to Luke 14:25. You can read it later. Jesus had compared the offer of salvation to this wealthy, powerful king who threw this gigantic feast and invited a bunch of honored guests. Shockingly, however, A lot of these guests started to make excuses for why they couldn't come. And these excuses range from the lame to the absurd.
Well, I just bought a piece of property. I need to go out, check it out. Or I just got married, and my wife and I really want some alone time.
So the king says to his messenger, he's like, all right.
Well, if these people won't come, then I want you to go out to the ghettos. Go find the poor and the homeless and the diseased, those who are living in ditches and under bridges. And I want you to tell them to come. The whole point of the story is how absurd it would be to turn down an offer like that from the king, especially if you were one of the homeless and the diseased. Friend, do you realize what you're being offered?
What excuse could possibly justify rejection or even hesitation? In the face of so great an offer. And so I would say to you: yes, the demands of Jesus are severe. But do you know what Jesus offers to you? He that has the Son, 1 John 5:12, he that has the Son has life.
Whoever does not have the son will never see life. Eternal life, eternal adoption into the family of God, forgiveness, the power of resurrection and work in you to heal and restore you, both you and those around you. His presence inside you that will never leave you or forsake you. A divine inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, a home and an eternity of joy, of delight and blessedness with the family of God and God's presence. For right now, the promise that a sovereign, good, heavenly Father watches over you so carefully and so tenderly that He knows when even a hair falls from your head and then pledges to work all things in your life for good.
That He will lead you beside still waters of fulfillment and make your cup of joy overflow even in the midst of pain. And that in His presence, even in the presence of your enemies, He'll prepare for you a feast of satisfaction. That goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. They'll literally stalk you. You couldn't get away from them if you tried.
And then you'll dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's a God who, in your worst moments, And your worst moments didn't despise you. but had mercy on you and came after you. And then even after you spurned him, He kept coming. He never gave up.
He never looked away. He loved you faithfully and consistently, even in your worst moments. He loves you right now. He is pursuing you no matter what a mess you've made of your life. No one's love for you has ever been as constant or consistent or as fervent as his.
He's a Jesus who promised to bear this discipleship burden with you, who will forgive and support and restore you when you struggle even to get out of bed in the morning, much less live successfully as a disciple. Who has promised to walk with you and sustain you and pick you up when you fall in light of all that? What possible excuse could you have to stay away? What reason could you manufacture? that could justify even the slightest hesitation.
Thanks for listening today. This month, when you support Summit Life, we'll send you a copy of our 2026 Summit Life Daily Planner. You'll find a place to plan the events of the day, but also a daily Bible reading plan featuring one Old Testament and one New Testament reading each day. Reserve your copy right now at jdgreer.com. We'll see you next time.
Today's program was produced and sponsored by JD Greer Ministries. Yeah.
