|
 "Then
said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me." (Matt. 16:24)
What
a profound statement! In one short sentence Jesus sums up the
essence of discipleship. Here is the heart of the matter: the
decision, the duty, the denial and the direction — all of
which are fundamental in following Christ. To begin with, note
the conditional aspects of this following. "If" one
follows Christ it is necessary that he do certain things
(the doing of which in no way implies any merited or earned
favor). "If" also implies the necessity of making a
choice. One may or may not decide to follow Christ, but decide
he must. The term "would" (thelo) indicates
volition, an exercise of the will. Many would-be disciples have
simply not made up their minds to be wholehearted followers of
the Lord. Not that they have not changed a few externals; not
that they have not decided to be religious or to "join the
church" — they have just not settled the matter as to
whether Christ will be Lord of their lives. That is the real
decision and making that one also settles hundreds of little
"side" issues so bothersome to so many. No man can be
a faithful follower until this first "if" is decided,
and even then, it is just the beginning.
Accordingly,
deciding "yes" about following Christ means deciding
"no" about serving self — "let him deny
himself" Jesus says. This includes, but is not limited to, putting
away things. It means developing proper attitudes toward self;
learning that ...ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a
price" (1 Cor. 6:19,20). Here
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is the real battleground of the soul; self must be
conquered and controlled if Christ is to be followed (Rom.
7:22,23; 1 Cor. 9:25-27).
Then
every follower must "take up his cross" — this
involves every duty and responsibility in connection with
serving the Lord. As the term "cross of Christ" is
sometimes used in a general way to show all that Christ
has done for sinful man (1 Cor. 1:18; Gal. 6:12), taking up our
cross includes all that we do for the Lord. And, as indicated in
Lk. 14:27, each must bear his "own cross". There can
be no representative involvement. As Christ's cross was
peculiarly His and none other could have done what He did, so it
is with ours. You must bear your cross, you must do the
will of the Father as Jesus did (Jn. 17:4). (It is neither
legalistic nor anti-grace to teach that men MUST do something to
please God — in fact it is unscriptural and anti-scriptural to
teach otherwise!) Without this personal cross-bearing Jesus
says, you "cannot be my disciple". (Lk. 14:26).
Finally,
following Christ involves the matter of direction, as is clearly
suggested in "come after me" and "follow
me". Remember, the initial decision was WHETHER to follow
Christ, not HOW. To do as self pleases and call it
following the Lord violates every fundamental Jesus deals with
in this proclamation. To follow is to live by His word (Matt.
4:4); to do ALL in His name (Col. 3:17); to abide in His
doctrine (2 Jn. 9). "Where He leads me..." Will you?
Dan S. Shipley
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