Dishonest Conversion
There is a serious issue in the church today as it pertains to our relationship to the world. Instead of giving the good news as it is and understanding that for those who are perishing it will be the stench of death (2 Corinthians 2:16), many are trying to find way to soften the demands of the faith and make it more appealing to those who are only interested in nominal commitment.
This is a problem because believing in Jesus isn’t easy. Not that faith is irrational or requires a certain degree of intellect to be capable of understanding. However, the commitment that is required of believers is greater than most are willing to give.
Consider these parables:
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
Luke 14:28-32
How many people aren’t counting the cost? If we’re honest, most probably aren’t and that’s by dishonest design. While Jesus was forthright with the demands of following him, many now hope to sucker people into the faith with a message of easy belief and figure (at worse) all the demands can be sprung upon people later.
Loyalty to Household
A Christian is called to be very serious about caring for his own household. In fact, God has great condemnation for those who do not provide for his family.
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 Timothy 5:8
Yet even this serious loyalty to family must pale in comparison to your loyalty to Christ. So much so that it could be counted as relative hatred!
“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 14:26
Even Your Life
Not only does this verse speak of devotion to Christ that overshadows that of a family, but it must even exceed our care for our own life. In a world where survival is considered the most basic concern for all mankind, Jesus tells us that this will not be the chief concern of those who would follow him.
This is not the only instance where you will find this reality expressed either. As he explained to his disciples that he would suffer death for his people, he had this to say:
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
John 12:25
This isn’t an easy hatred for ones own life, where a person believes their life isn’t worthy of them. Instead, this is a love for Christ so serious that we count him worthy even of our very selves.
Not Just In Death
While those willing to die for Christ demonstrate a portion of this commitment, to sacrifice one’s life for him is lifelong.
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:27
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2
The offering of our lives to Christ is not a footnote on a life lived for self. Instead it is a lifetime commitment to the renewing of our minds and seeking the will of God rather than our own desires.
Be Honest!
If we’re going to follow Christ, we ought to learn from his example. It ultimately serves nobody to advertise an easy faith designed to make people’s lives easier or consequence free. Instead, we must be honest that the faith is a hard faith which is capable of saving people from their own sin.
We need to be honest even when, like Christ with the rich young ruler (Matthew 19), it means admitting the cost to those who will walk away rather than pay it.
This isn’t works righteousness. The commitment we have to Christ is a result of our belief in him rather than what saves. However, a trust that is not complete in Christ is not the faith once delivered to his church.
