As a disciple of Christ, shouldn’t we be bold and brave as a lion? Courageous like our leader? The problem with Christianity today is: they are not disciples. They are believers, but believers only. A disciple is one who is a follower and a learner…actively! If we are disciples of Christ, we should be bold, brave and courageous for him! It seems today, that believers are bold, brave and courageous about what they think, what they believe and what they feel. In other words, themselves. We should not be more courageous for our preferences than His preferences. Instead of self-identifications and self-diagnoses, we should be self identifying as the servant of Jesus Christ.
If a believer (Christian) is to draw only on personal preferences, and cues they take from the world, then they should not identify themselves as a disciple. When speaking to disciples or about being a disciple, Jesus frequently used ‘slave language.’ In every case when the word ‘servant’ is used by Christ, He evokes the word doulos, meaning slave. He used it to define the reality of what it means to follow Him. Discipleship, like slavery, entails a life of total self-denial, a humility toward others, a wholehearted devotion to our Savior alone, a willingness to obey His every command, an eagerness to serve Him, and a motivation that comes from knowing He is pleased.
A statement like “take up your cross and follow me” is slave language. Jesus used these in Matthew 10.38— “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” and in 16.24— “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” These are the words of a supreme calling to serve, and not to be served. It is preference-less. It is literally a crucifixion, which is a slave’s public death. Today, we have no public dying to one’s self and to their cares of this world. There is no public surrendering of one’s self, no accountability. Instead, we have a diving-in publicly on social media for all to see how we think, feel, and prefer one over another. Instead of a slave-like mentality toward meekness and humility; we have showboating, dares, and fleshly commentary about all things…self.
In fact, social media has allowed christians to say and think their worst in an open, unashamed forum. Even when they speak christian-speak, there is no accountability in their life for personally carrying-out said speech in real-life. Jesus said (in principle) this is a trait of fake-following in Luke 6.46— “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Social media has encouraged people to talk a big game while not demonstrating accountability to their actual obedience. The consequences are bearing a negative fruit strain, a lack of responsibility to what one says, and an irreverence for truth-applied. Are these the makings of a disciple of Jesus? The local-visible-autonomous church is the accountability necessary for a Christian to experience what it means to be a Disciple of Jesus. A place where you are intimately encouraged and equally, yet even more gently, called-out for walking out of step with the Spirit.
To repeat from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus said in 14.26-27,33— “ If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple; So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” We see the antithesis of this passage plastered all over social media by Christians, even encouraged with ‘like’ and ‘emoji symbols’. Our Christianity has become ‘christianese’ and desperately needs to be REAL. Maybe it’s time we divorce ourselves from the world, afresh. Maybe it’s time we divorce ourselves from this world religion self-disguised as “Christianity”. This world has become a “master” to some of us, and we need to make it stop. Consider what Jesus said in Luke 16.13— “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Where to start? Glad you asked! The answer is simply…LOVE. The question every believer should be asking themselves is: Which do I love more…Jesus, or myself? He said in John 14.15, 21— “If ye love me, keep my commandments. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”
I want more of Jesus and less of me. I want to know He ‘likes’, ‘loves’, and ‘thumbs up’ what I do, MORE than what people think.