So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (ESV)
Luke 14:33
The Gospels are filled with many hard and difficult sayings of Jesus as he challenges his listeners, and us by extension, to take seriously the call of faithful humble obedience. The questions he asks always penetrate to the root of our heart desires. The statements he makes bring us to a critical decision point where we must either continue along our simple path of understanding or the more challenging in-depth examination of our hearts and minds to better align with the character of God. This statement from Luke 14:33 is one of these more challenging calls to change our basic understanding of discipleship and lean into a deeper relationship with Jesus. The disciple of Jesus has only one Master and Teacher. The disciple of Christ is singularly focused on and in love with the Savior. Jesus does not want me to add him to my already crowded daily checklist. He wants me to be in a loving relationship with him.
What does being in a relationship with Jesus look like in my daily life? It looks like me renouncing all that I have to be his disciple. Does that mean that I must sell all of my possessions in order to be perfect? No, but it does mean that I am willing to be rid of anything in my life that hinders me from following Jesus with my whole heart. Am I willing to do that? I want to be willing. I want to hold onto these possessions in life with a loose grip. I want to offer each and every one of these blessings God has given me as a sacrifice to the Lord. I want to be thankful for the tangible things of this life that God has brought into my purview. Yet, I want none of them to capture my heart.
These material items are needed and a great help to live life but they are also a source of distraction. They can distract me from the One who has provided them. I can too easily lose focus and begin to cherish the gifts themselves instead of the Giver of the gifts. Worse than that, over time I can become jaded in my thinking and begin to believe that I am the one who attained all these things and purchased these items. I can take pride in my intellectual acumen and ability to accumulate wealth and possessions. I let these blessings of God become idols that lead me away from following Jesus.
Jesus is not just talking about material blessings though. He wants us to consider all of our lives including our hearts and minds. He wants us to give over even the desires of our hearts. Jesus doesn’t just want part of me. He is not satisfied with whatever I decide is best to give him. No… Jesus wants every fiber of my being. He wants my every breath. He wants me. He doesn’t want to share me with the world, the flesh, and the enemy. He wants me. He wants me to know him just as deeply and intimately as he knows me.
That’s the message of this statement. It’s a call for me to leave the distractions of this world behind as I humbly cling to the risen Savior. That doesn’t mean I sequester myself away from the world. It means that as I live in this world I do so in a manner that honors Christ. Jesus has supremacy in all things and I too must acknowledge his supremacy in all my life. I must breathe in the Spirit of Christ and I must breathe out the Spirit of Christ. I must acknowledge and understand that the Savior reigns over every aspect of my life. Not just my family, job, and possessions but even my most mundane activities like brushing my teeth and drinking coffee. He is my Lord and Savior. His call is for me to give him all things and in return, He will give me himself. I give up this whole world to gain Christ alone. And in Christ alone… I gain the whole world.