Living by Faith in a World Full of Fear
The Fear of Commitment
Luke 14:25-33
This morning if you have your Bible I invite you turn to Luke 14:25. As a part of this “Living by Faith in a World Full of Fear” series, I want to talk to you today about fear of commitment. It seems that for many, their greatest fear is the fear of commitment.
It is expressed in the fear of committing to marriage, the fear of committing to relationships, the importance of commitment to children and we certainly experience it in the commitment to church and God.
But ultimately it reduces down to our commitment to Christ. So that is where we will focus today
If you have your Bible, turn to Luke 14. Notice there in verse 25 we discover that great multitudes were following Him
That is largely due to the miracles He has performed. Think about when He fed the 5,000. After that the crowds dramatically increased because here was the possibility of free food. People will always come for free food. If you give away free food, you are always going to have a crowd. So they were coming for the free food.
And yet when Jesus began to teach hard teachings, John records that from that time, many people turned away and didn’t follow Him any longer. At the moment He began to talk about commitment, the crowds thinned out.
We have a similar situation here in Luke’s gospel.
Luke 14:25-35
I want to draw your attention to the phrase in verses 26, 27 and 33, "he cannot be my disciple." He doesn't say it will be difficult for him to be my disciple, He doesn't say it will be rather hard to be my disciples. He doesn’t even say they will be unfaithful disciples. He says it is impossible to be a disciple of Jesus. He cannot be my disciple.
There is a lot of debate these days about what good has been done or not done by our military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Aside from the military and political and humanitarian aspects of that, we do know that it has opened the way, for the very first time, for the gospel to be preached in that region. And as a result of that many Muslims are now hearing about the love of God and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That is wonderful, but it has come at a heavy cost.
On March 15, 2004, five missionaries representing the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention were on a mission of mercy.
They were traveling by car to conduct relief efforts in Masul, Iraq when their vehicle was suddenly attacked by automatic weapon fire and rocket propelled grenades. The car was blasted apart as gunmen unleashed the barrage. Three of the missionaries were killed at the scene.
David McDonald, despite being severely wounded, helped his wife Nikki, who was shot at least 20 times, get to a hospital where she was rushed in to surgery. When she awakened some weeks later, she learned that her husband had not survived the attack. He died while being transported by helicopter to a United States Military Hospital in Baghdad.
In addition to her 28-year-old husband David, Larry Elliott, 60, and his wife Jean, 58, of Carrie, North Carolina and Karen Watson, 38, of Bakersfield, CA were also dead.
Christians around the world launched a prayer vigil for her that she might live. And she did, although she wears the scars from that attack. But she doesn’t center on her scars or her injuries. Instead she focuses today on the need in Iraq for missionaries to take the gospel to the troubled nations. When sharing her testimony, Nikki says, "My Jesus also wore scars upon His body from the violence He endured. How can I stand back and say it is too hard to serve Him."
She says I can't help but think that if we truly focused on Christ and pursue Him and delight in Him, if we burn in our hearts for Christ and focus on who He is, truly we will hear His call to go to people like the Iraqis and take the gospel to them. The Lord of the Harvest will have a field full of missionaries filled with the love of Christ to make His glory known among these people.
She said I pray that we will recklessly abandon our lives of ease and receive Christ and think about those who need Him, that our hearts would so be penetrated and our lives would be so full of Him that the world would see Christ and be glorified among the nations in our lives.”
This is the kind of commitment that Jesus was talking about when He said that you must forsake all, you must take up the cross, you must deny yourself and if you do not do this, you cannot be my disciples.
That’s quite a contrast to what we experience most of the time in modern Christianity. We are living in a time, especially those of us in America, when it is very, very difficult to make that kind of commitment. We are living in a time when people question the wisdom of going to difficult fields and worry about the safety of our children, rather than being willing to forsake all and follow Him.
And the result of that is a great fear of commitment.
It was also true in Jesus time. But Jesus minced no words; Jesus didn't have fine print in the contract. Jesus, up front, told people to count the cost. And the truth of the matter is it will cost all that you have to follow Christ. The Bible teaches that salvation is free but it is not cheap. It costs God His Son to make it available. It cost Jesus His life, every drop of His blood. And it will cost you, your all to live it out.
Why is it that we are afraid of committing our life to Christ? From this text let me give you some possible reasons. For some, there is a fear of
1. The Love Required
Verse 26
You must understand, we're talking about extreme discipleship here. Now Jesus is making a point by using the negative, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his family, his own life and give up his possessions, he can't be My disciple.
That seems so strange to our ears; almost unscriptural. Jesus taught us to love our families and even illustrated our love for our wives with His love for the church.
And most of the time when we invite someone to Christ we expect it will help their family situation. What is going on here?
What we have here is a unique way in which the Jewish people used the terms love and hate to express preference. For instance in Malachi 1:1 and 2, and it's repeated in Romans 9:13, God says, "Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated."
It's not talking about the fact that God had some emotional hatred for Esau. It simply means that God gave His promise through Jacob and not through Esau. It is simply a way to define preference. It was also used by the Jews to indicate more or less love for someone.
Maybe the best illustration of that is in the 29th chapter of Genesis where the Bible talks about Jacob and his two wives, Rachel and Leah. Now by the way, polygamy was always a sin and it was always unwise and it always brought grief and certainly you see that with Jacob.
If you look up verse 31 of Genesis 29 in most translations, you will find, "Now, the Lord saw that Leah was unloved". But that is a bad translation. The old King James has it right when it uses the word “hated”. That’s what’s in the Hebrew.
But the key to understanding the verse is found in understanding the use of the word as a Jew. It's a preference, not some kind of emotional animosity. It simply means Jacob had two wives and he liked one better than the other one.
We hear Jesus use this same technique when He said, ”No man can serve two masters. He'll love one and hate the other.” He’ll have a preference.
Therefore, if you have two that you love and they come into conflict, somebody is going to get treated better than the other.
Therefore when Jesus says what He does here in Luke 14, He is simply establishing the fact that you can’t prefer anyone or anything above Him and call yourself His disciple.
When you come to Christ and you want to be His disciple, you will love Him to the degree that it makes all other loves and all other loyalties subordinate.
And if your family comes into conflict with the Lord, your love for the Lord dictates what you do. We cannot serve two masters. It is not that we hate them. It is that we prefer Christ and His demands over them.
This is the demand for following Christ and being His disciple. I’ve known people who refused to get right with God because they were living in sin with someone who was not their husband or wife.
I’ve seen people who loved their sin more than the Savior Who died for them, and the point Jesus is making is if you're not willing to put a sword in that relationship or any other relationship and to deny the thing your heart craves, then you're not worthy to be My disciple.
You can’t come to Christ and say, “I want to be saved but I'm not giving up my homosexuality” or “I’m not giving up my adultery” or “I'm not giving up my family”. I'm not giving up this, I'm not giving up that.”
That’s not Christianity. Christianity is the end of you and your demands and rights and privileges and preferences
The Lord may not take everything. He won't take, necessarily, those things that are good and those things that are virtuous. But we must surrender those things that are wicked and evil. But He demands that we lay it all on the table. He may take it; He may not. He may take your possessions; He may not.
But the point is it doesn't matter to you because you understand the value of what you have to give up and the value of what you're receiving and you are confessing Him as Lord and choosing Him. Anything less than that, Jesus said, you can't be My disciple.
And I think there is a great fear of this passion that is required. All of these people were following Him because of miracles, following Him because it was a popular thing to do, following Him because it was the easy thing to do, following Him because it was the right thing to do and what they could get out of Him and He said, “Wait a minute, you are following me for the wrong reason. I want you to follow me because you love me. You have a passion for me. Follow me because of who I am, not because of all these other things. Be sure you are following me for the right reason.”
When Heather Mercer and Dana Curry went to Afghanistan, the Taliban arrested them. They spent 128 days in a Taliban prison. They were about to be executed when the American marines came and rescued them from that prison. And just before they went there as relief workers all of their relatives discouraged them from going.
Some of them thought they were crazy. All of them were concerned. The people they loved most said don't go. Don't go to that deprived, desert land, to those poor people. Don't risk your life; don't go that place where that cruel regime reigns, where you are not going to be safe. If you want to help people, go somewhere else, but don't go there.
But those two Baptist girls chose to go there because that is where God called them. And they had a passion for Jesus and that is where Jesus led them. Their passion for Jesus had to be greater than their passion for their loved ones. Their loved ones said don't go but Jesus gave them a higher calling and they had to obey Jesus rather than those who loved them on this earth.
Do you have that kind of passion to follow Jesus? You see there is a passion required. And some people cannot be His disciple because they fear that superior passion.
Then there is the fear of
2. The Lifestyle Required
verse 27
What does it mean to bear His cross? It doesn't mean the cross of sin; only Jesus could bear that cross. You and I could never bear the cross of sin. We are sinners. It took a sinless substitute to bear the cross of sin. Only Christ could bear that cross so he is not talking about that cross.
What does it mean to bear the cross? Contrary to public opinion, it’s not talking about a burden in life such as a sickness or relationship. Rather it is talking about identification.
The cross in Bible times was an instrument of death.
When we take up our cross and follow Him or bear the cross, it means we are identifying with Jesus' death in our life.
It is saying as far as my will is concerned, I am dead. When Jesus died, my “self” died. My will died. Now the only will I have is His will. Now the only plans I have are His plans.
When a person was on a cross, he made no decisions, he had no plans to carry out, he didn’t get a vote in the matter, he couldn't go anywhere. He was out of the picture.
When you take up your cross it means your plans are dead, your future is dead. The only future you have is His future, the only plans you have are His plans. What is the mark of a disciple? It is cross bearing. It is considering yourself dead to self and identifying with Christ on the cross.
Years ago S.B. Gordon said this, "in every life there is a throne and a cross. If Jesus is not on the throne, He is on the cross. If self is on the throne, Jesus is on the cross. But if Jesus is on the throne, then self is on the cross." In your life this morning either self is on the throne controlling your life or Jesus is on the throne. Which is it?
Some people fear making a commitment to Christ because they don't want to give up control of their life. But Jesus said, if you want to be my disciple, there is a denial that is required.
Paul said you are not your own you are bought with a price. You belong to God. It is no longer your will, it is His; no longer your hands, but His; no longer your heart, but His; no longer your feet, but His.
Therefore, you have no decision to make when Sunday morning comes around about where you will be.
There is no decision to make about how you will live your life. You must present you r body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.
We deny self and submit to the Lord.
Now listen, this gets pretty intense at this point. That means the goal of my life is to be obedience to God 100% of the time. That is what it means to bear your cross. To do less is to not bear the cross and come after Him.
You may be saying, “But how do I accomplish that?”
You must develop the attitude and conduct of a disciple.
Look at Colossians 3:9
It doesn't happen one time at an altar. It is a continual process. God is renewing you moment by moment, day by day. That is what it means to take up your cross and be a disciple.
Let me just list a few disciplines to help us evaluate our cross bearing. This is not an exhaustive list, but I promise if you do these you’ll be exhausted. If you want to develop as a disciple, then
- Spend some time with God every day
John 8:31-32
The word disciple is the word used most often in the New Testament for a follower of Jesus. Jesus was interested not in converts, but disciples. And the idea of a disciple is to reproduce the conduct and character of the teacher.
So if you want to know what God thinks and how He acts and what He expects, then you’ve got to spend some time with Him. And if you think about it, it really shouldn’t be that hard to carve out a little time and energy to spend with the one who gave His lfie for you.
Secondly, if you want to develop as a disciple,
- pray
I first put down “learn to pray”, but then I changed it because I don’t think God wants us to merely learn how to pray; I think He want us to pray.
John 15:7-8
Listen! God wants to answer your prayers. One of the keys to having prayers answered is found in developing as a disciple so you can know His will and ask in agreement with it.
Then, number three, if you want to develop as a disciple,
- Give
Luke 14:33
Remember the rich young ruler in Mark 10 who would not follow Jesus because Jesus said unless you sell everything you have and give it all to the poor and follow Me, you will never inherit eternal life."
Jesus was testing him because he loved riches more than he loved anything else. Jesus said you have to be willing to give it up. That was the one thing keeping him from trusting in God. He trusted money more than He trusted God.
Listen, if you can’t trust God enough to give up a portion of your income in tithes and offerings, you can’t be a disciple.
Then to grow as a disciple, we need to learn the value of
- fellowship
John 13:34-35
Does anyone need me to explain that one? It is so obvious, it hardly needs comment. No wonder the church struggles to reach converts sometime considering the way we treat one another. There is so much damaged and broken fellowship in the church it becomes extremely unattractive to those we are seeking to reach.
Some of the meanest, confrontational, hard-to-get along with folks I’ve ever met, I’ve met in church. And I’ve met some folks who weren’t preachers also! I know it goes both ways. But should it not be said of us that we love one another and help each other through the rough patches of life?
Someone has rightly observed that Baptists are the only folks they know who stand in a circle to form a firing squad!
Jesus said, if you want people to know that you are My disciples, then love one another.
Then, growing disciples of Christ will be
- sharing their faith
The last earthly instruction Jesus gave to the disciples was when He said, “And you shall be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem and all Judea, in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." Disciples witness on a regular basis.
Outside of prayer, there may not be anything the church knows more about and does less of than evangelism and witnessing. Most of the time we are so self-absorbed and inwardly turned we never even think about it.
We encounter people everyday who will spend eternity somewhere and never even think about sharing our faith. That’s why Jesus said to be His disciple we would have to deny self and take up the cross.
When was the last time you inconvenienced yourself just so someone could know about Jesus? Most of you, including the majority of our Sunday School teachers and deacons can’t carve out one hour a month to come to a visitation night at the church.
And yet we won’t to call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ!
There’s one more thing that will develop you as a disciple and that is
- worship
Hebrews 10:25
Now I’ve given you six basics of the Christian experience. Do you know what those are? They are the practices of disciples.
Are they convenient and easy? No. Are they logical and expedient? No. They will wake you up earlier than you want to get up; they will rearrange your schedule and lifestyle; they will inconvenience you and mess up your day. But these are a part of flowing Jesus.
And Jesus said if you do not forsake all you have, if you do not take up the cross, then you cannot be my disciple.
Why do people fear commitment? Because they fear the love require; they fear the lifestyle required and they fear the.
3. The Longevity Required
Verses 28-30
Now here is the image He presents. A man begins to build a building. He lays the foundation and many months and years go by and people come by and they see the foundation and a little bit of building and the building is never built. And you say, look at this guy he just never had the money to finish. Have you ever seen a building like that? Isn't it sad?
It is sad to see someone start a building program and it gets half way up or a third of the way up and they never finish it. Don't you hate to see that? And you just wonder, why in the world did they start the thing if they couldn't finish it?
Well, what is he talking about? The emphasis here is on finishing. He is saying if you are going to begin the Christian life be sure that you trust God enough to finish it. The emphasis is on finishing. Oh you may have started the Christian life with all the excitement and enthusiasm in the world but how are you going to finish?
I know a lot of men who began in the ministry with a lot of flash, a great testimony. You know from the prison to the pulpit. You can't even find them today. You don't know where they are. Many believers start out with a boom and then they fizzle out. I’ve known some in the ministry that went up like a coket and came down like a rock.
You see God is interested in building a tower. He is interested in building a life. He begins that building with salvation. I Corinthians 3:11 says, "And no other foundation can a man lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ." Faith in Jesus is the foundation, but that is not the end, that is the beginning. And then He says you must build upon this foundation. Not wood, hay and stubble, but with good materials. That is serving God that is discipleship.
Then he continues that building with sanctification. That’s what we were talking about a moment ago with those disciplines of life. We are growing in Christ-likeness.
What about all those people who start and they fell by the way, were they saved and then lost it? No, chances are they were never saved to begin with. If they were, they are disobedient children and need to return to the Lord. But if they are saved, it is impossible to lose that salvation.
But a lot of people who profess salvation don’t possess salvation. You can’t lose something you never had to begin with. Listen: you and I don't have the resources to finish. If there is no presence and power of God in your life you’re not equipped to finish.
Paul said, “I have kept the faith”. God has the resources. And we have to trust God that He that has begun a good work in us will still perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. That is what God's Word says.
So we begin with salvation; we continue in sanctification, and then one day we finish with glorification.
One of these days, it will al be over for this life, and I will move on to glory to be with and like my Lord and Savior. In doing that, I will appear at the judgment seat of Christ. Some people say well I am saved by grace what difference does it make about my works?
Well, your works are important because it will determine how you will enjoy heaven. Not everybody is going to enjoy heaven the same. Not everybody is going to have the capacity to enjoy heaven the same. We are going to be judged as we stand before Jesus by the life that we have built.
And I want you to know because of that, every second counts. Every bible study is important. Every opportunity for service deserves to be honored. Every song I sing, dollar I give, witness I share, sermon I preach, attitude I have, resonse I give will be evaluated in light of my Lord and Savior and how much I loved and served Him.
Therefore, there can never be any coasting, there can never be any slacking, and there can never be any letting down. And some people just flat fear making that kind of commitment for the long haul.
But I want you to know if will be a disciple it matters how you finish. Billy Sunday said, "stopping at third base adds no more to the score than striking out." Don't stop now. Don't quit on the church, don't quit on God, don't slack up and don't back down. God is interested in you building a tower, building a life. No matter where you are in the process it is important.
Finally, Jesus says there is a fear of
4. The Lowliness Required
Verse 31-33
Here he talks about two kings. One king is a strong king, the other king is a weaker king and he says the weaker king is smart because he recognizes that the stronger king is bigger than he is, has more men than he does so he goes out and makes peace with the strong king and he surrenders to the strong king.
Now I believe he is saying that the strong king is God and the weak king is you and I. And he says that you and I need to surrender our pride, surrender the control of our lives to the strong king. The strong king is Jesus. And that is hard on us. It is hard for us to surrender our pride and recognize that Jesus is King of our lives. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And to follow Him there is the surrender of our pride that is involved.
In fact the one primary reason many people will never become a disciple of Christ is because they don’t want to surrender their pride. They want to run their own life. They don't want God to be in control. They don't want God to call the shots. They want to run things themselves. They think they can run their life better than God can run their life.
Now in Jesus’ time a surrendering king could be made a slave of the opposing king. So it required a great humility for a king to go out to another king and surrender and bow down before him. He didn't know what that other king would make him do. But Jesus said you cannot be my disciple unless you are willing to give control of your life to me. You must make me your king.
Why no commitment? Jesus said, some are afraid of the love required; some fear the lifestyle required; for some, it is the longevity required; and for some it is the lowliness required. And Jesus asks no less of us today than He asked of them then. And He said if you are not willing to take up the cross and follow me daily, you cannot be my disciples.
You might be a member of the church, but you cannot be my disciple.
You can have your name on the roll, but you cannot be my disciple. You can be in Sunday School, you can sit in the pew, but you cannot be my disciple.
How many today really want to be His disciple? How many today want to meet the challenge? How many want to rise up and say in a culture of fear, I want to be different? I want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I want to stand out, I want to be different. I want to be His disciple.
Let's pray.
