Following Christ is True Discipleship

FOLLOWING JESUS IS TRUE DISCIPLESHIP

Matthew 4:18-21

One time, Neil Marten, who is a member of the British Parliament, was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. During the course of the visit, the group happened to meet Quintin Hogg or popularly called Lord Hailsham, then Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, wearing all the regalia of his office. Hailsham recognized Marten among the group and cried, "Neil!" Not daring to question or disobey the "command," the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees! Because of his regalia, his clothing that could fit for a king, Lord Hailsham was mistaken as the King of Great Britain! The lesson here is very clear: People are naturally obedient to an earthly king!

But the greatest question one can ask is, “Can we be obedient to the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who is our Lord Jesus Christ?”

            Jesus Christ Himself said that if we love Him, we keep His commands (John 14:15).  Jesus Christ emphasized the expression of following Him, obeying Him, keeping His commands whenever we decided to follow Him.

But why is it difficult follow Christ? Why is it easy to abandon our faith when our allegiance to Jesus Christ is questioned and our comforts are at stake? Simple. Following Jesus Christ means that we need to conform our lives to the will and the precepts of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our text in Matthew 4 illustrates how the first disciples Peter and Andrew, and James and John were called into the ministry. The historical account by Matthew is simple and direct. Jesus Christ called them while they were working on their trade, and immediately they left their trade and followed Jesus Christ. Following Jesus Christ, therefore is a mark of a true discipleship. Indeed, we can never be a disciple of Jesus Christ if we do not follow Him.

            Karl Barth, a Swiss Reformed theologian who is often regarded as the greatest Protestant theologian of the twentieth century, once said of Jesus Christ. “The Word became flesh--and then through theologians it became words again.” God’s people are guilty of reducing Jesus Christ as mere “word” as God’s people do not make this word a living experience in each of their lives.  Believers only listen to the word, but they do not follow the word.

            The kingdom of God needs followers, not pioneers. Jesus Christ needs followers as his disciples. He needs disciples who know how to follow Him and not to dictate their wills upon Him. S. I. McMillen, in his book “None of These Diseases”, tells a story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application blank that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower."

What does it mean then to follow Jesus Christ? There are three insights to learn about following Jesus Christ in this message today.

Following Christ requires self-denial.

Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24). Jesus Christ requires us to carry our cross. The cross on Calvary was the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He carried His own cross for the sins of the world. Not only is the cross the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is also His death. Without His death on the cross of Calvary, then there is no salvation for humankind.

If you were to look at Rembrandt van Rijn’s painting of The Three Crosses, your attention would be drawn first to the center cross on which Jesus died. Then as you would look at the crowd gathered around the foot of that cross, you'd be impressed by the various facial expressions and actions of the people involved in the awful crime of crucifying the Son of God. Finally, your eyes would drift to the edge of the painting and catch sight of another figure, almost hidden in the shadows. Art critics say this is a representation of Rembrandt himself, for he recognized that by his sins he helped nail Jesus to the cross.

Jesus Christ has to carry His cross from Jerusalem to its outskirts to what they called the place of the skulls, or Golgotha. Golgotha is the Aramaic name of the place, while Calvary is the Latin name of the place. Jesus Christ showed to us that in accomplishing God’s plan in people’s lives, He has to undergo the carrying of His cross. The carrying of the cross is a prelude to His death.

So what is our cross to us? Is it our own burden to carry, sometimes throughout our lifetimes. Is it our sacrifices, our disappointments, our pain, what else? How can we get rid of it? Why are we not so comfortable having to carry our cross? Gilbert K. Chesterson once said that the cross can not be defeated, for it is defeat in itself. Charles Spurgeon, on the other hand, said that there are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not cross- bearers here below. That is why carrying our cross means being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. This is called “dying to self.” It’s a call to absolute surrender.

Jesus commanded each one of us to carry our cross. Luke 9:24-25 records, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” In being a disciple, we first deny ourselves, and take up our cross. We first need to die to our selves, and then we count the burdens as a cost for following Jesus Christ.

Does this reality encourage us to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Or do we just want to sit at the back of our comfort zones and not serve Him at all?

Jesus Christ requires us to follow Him. What are the things that we can follow in

Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ loved the world sacrificially that He was willing to give Him life. He came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay.  Following Jesus is easy when life runs smoothly, but our true commitment to Him is revealed during trials. As Jesus Christ assured us that trials will come to His followers, discipleship therefore demands sacrifice, and Jesus Christ never did hide that cost from His disciples.

Following Christ requires listening to His voice.

            Jesus Christ claimed that His sheep listen to His voice, and He knows them, and they follow Him (John 10:27). We are like sheep as Jesus Christ is a great Shepherd. Why does the Scripture call the children of Jesus Christ as sheep? Learning the characteristics of sheep would reveal that they are best known for their strong flocking and following instinct. They would follow one sheep without question. When one sheep moves, the rest will follow, even if it is not a good idea. Sheep also have a poor depth perception, simply described as “three dimensional vision”, especially if they are moving with their heads up. This is why sheep will often stop to examine something more closely. Sheep have difficulty picking out small details, such as an open space created by a partially opened gate. They tend to avoid shadows and sharp contrasts between light and dark. They are reluctant to go where they can't see. Since most of their body is covered with wool or coarse hair, only the sheep's lips and mouth, and maybe their ears, lend themselves well to feeling behavior. This is why electric wires on a fence need to be placed at nose height of the sheep!  Sheep though, have the ability to differentiate feedstuffs and taste may play a role in this behavior. 

Generally, sheep are the dumbest animal because of these inadequacies in their sensory capabilities. Sheep though, have excellent hearing to compensate these inadequacies. They can amplify and pinpoint sound with their ears. This is their best quality!

Shepherds are generally gentle to their sheep.  They in fact, would tend to be sacrificial for the whole band of sheep. The parable of the Good Shepherd illustrated how important one sheep is, that the shepherd is willing to lock up ninety-nine of them to go search for a lost one. Jesus Christ is our Great Shepherd. The Psalmist was inspired by this experience that he wrote Psalm 23.

In Moody’s Anecdotes, Dr. Andrew Bonar shared Dwight Moody how, in the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would often wander off into the rocks and get into places that they couldn't get out of. The grass on these mountains is very sweet and the sheep like it, and they will jump down ten or twelve feet, and then they can't jump back again, and the shepherd hears them bleating in distress. They may be there for days, until they have eaten all the grass. The shepherd will wait until they are so faint they cannot stand, and then they will put a rope around him, and he will go over and pull that sheep up out of the jaws of death. Moody asked Bonar, "Why don't they go down there when the sheep first gets there?" Bonar answered, "Sheep are so very foolish they would dash right over the precipice and be killed if Shepherd go after them!" And that is the way with men; they won't go back to God till they have no friends and have lost everything. If you are a wanderer I tell you that the Good Shepherd will bring you back the moment you have given up trying to save yourself and are willing to let Him save you His own way.

In order to follow the Great Shepherd, we need to dumb down our faith in ourselves and recognize the power of the Great Shepherd. Just like sheep, we need to focus on our best ability, i.e., hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd. We are like sheep that know and follow the voice of the Shepherd. The sheep knows the voice of the shepherd. The sheep follows the voice of the shepherd.  As Jesus Christ is our Shepherd, we as His disciples, should listen to His voice.  And His prompting wants us to love in the same way He loves.

What better way to illustrate this truth than this story told by Carl Ketcherside. He served with and was instrumental in a strict branch of the Restoration Movement. However, the Lord made a lot of changes in his life. In his later years he moved to St. Louis and ministered among the down and out. At this time, Ketcherside began to work with a group of teenagers he described as "a crew of ripped off long haired kids," with a history of drug addiction. He loved them, listened to them, and one by one baptized them into Christ. An affluent member of the church asked, "How are you making out with the hippies--those long haired, sad looking specimens you have been meeting with?" Carl responded, "Those are not specimens, they are children of God. You are talking about my brethren in the Lord." Condescendingly, the other man continued, "They look to me like something the cat dragged in." And Carl replied, "They look to me like someone the shepherd brought home."

Following Christ requires following the examples of others.

            Paul encouraged the disciples to follow his example, as he follows the example of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Following Christ is an ultimate Christian response. Paul illustrated this in his request for a good spiritual role modeling. He asked the believers in Corinth to follow his example because His own example is Jesus Christ. As disciples we do not only have the need for self-denial, we also need to follow other’s example of real Christlikeness (Hebrews 6:12).

Following the lives of others who follow Christ is an inspiration to life. And for believers who desire to mature in the discipleship class of Jesus Christ, being a good role model of faith and virtue is not an option but a command (I John 2:6).

Kyle Idleman, in his book "Not a Fan", wrote: One way fans try to follow Jesus without denying themselves is by compartmentalizing the areas of their lives they don’t want him to have access to. They try to negotiate the terms of the deal. I’ll follow Jesus, but I’m not going to sell my possessions. Don’t ask me to forgive the people who hurt me; they don’t deserve that. Don’t ask me to save sex for marriage; I can’t help my desires. Don’t ask me to give a percentage of my money; I worked hard for that cash. And instead of following Jesus with their financial life, they follow Money magazine. In their relationships, instead of Jesus they follow Oprah. In their sex lives, instead of following Jesus, they follow Cosmopolitan. They follow Jesus, just not with every area of their lives. Here is a challenge to all of us who desires to be a disciple of Jesus. We follow our Master’s lead.

On a wall near the main entrance to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, is a portrait with the following inscription: "James Butler Bonham--no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by the family that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom." No literal portrait of Jesus exists either. But the likeness of Jesus the Son needs to be seen in each one of us! A disciple is one who follows, embraces, copies, reflects and acts like their master.

Are we willing to follow Christ today? If we are, then we are worthy to be called His disciples.