The Cost of Relationships

The Cost of Relationships

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 Jesus set out to Jerusalem and the crowds were quite sure He was ready to deal with the religious leaders, as well as overthrow the Roman government. Any political consultant of the day would have predicted that Jesus had a very good chance of successfully meeting the interests of the people. The large crowds were following Him and, in all likelihood, they would continue to grow the closer He goes to the city. All of a sudden, Jesus turns around and clearly shares these striking words with those who were following Him. Do these words strike you as odd? Perhaps a little too bold, or even rude? Note with me that Jesus addresses the crowd knowing that many wanted to be His disciple. However, in an effort to articulate the costs associated with being a disciple Jesus sets the bar quite high by challenging the crowd to seriously reconsider the most meaningful relationships. He does not settle for simply asking them to temporarily rearrange their priorities, or be willing to make a small sacrifice if necessary. Jesus demands that those who wish to be His disciples are required to “hate” all of their relationships (father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters). The disciple of Christ must be wiling to part with both the comfort, an apparent value, and prominence gained via those relationships. In Matthew 10:37, Jesus said, “He who loves father or mother...
Are You Entangled ?

Are You Entangled ?

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:4 “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier”.     Thought: In the OT the people of God were a people gathered. They were isolated. In the NT the people of God are a people scattered with the mission of going into the world as an Ambassador. We are to engage with the world around us and demonstrate our commitment to Christ as His Ambassadors.   Reflection 1: All commitments have risks associated with them. One of the risks of being engaged is that we become entangled, taking the power out of our message as we embrace the world’s value system.   Reflection 2: What practical things can we do, as a Follower of Christ, to minimize the risk of becoming entangled while...