*The following article was published in the April edition of Reach Out Columbia Magazine. Click here to read part one of this series.
Last month we looked down the sights of
my turkey gun and watched a fiasco unfold. Lured by my very life-like decoy,
a beautiful turkey strutted into my sight, only to be spooked before I could
fire off a shot. Drawing a parallel between fake turkeys and the real thing, I
proposed that many within the church look like true believers, but upon closer
examination, prove to be decoys instead of disciples. We discovered that one of
the characteristics of a true Christian is that he loves rightly, denying
himself and letting God have first place in his life. Today I’d like to look at
two more characteristics of true followers: surrender and obedience.
A
follower of Jesus surrenders completely.
Jesus said if anyone wants to be my
disciple he must deny himself, and take
up his cross. The Christian life is a life of surrender – willfully
yielding and submitting to Jesus.
When entering the highway, we have to
yield to traffic. The cars already on the highway have the right-of-way, so
it’s our responsibility to adjust our speed to the flow of traffic. We’ve all
seen the road rage that occurs when people fail to understand this concept. On
the highway of life, God always has the right-of-way. He’s moving and carrying
out his plan, and it’s our responsibility to adjust ourselves to him. We must
willingly yield ourselves, denying and dying to self.
Jesus is our example. “Father, not my will, but Thy will be done,”
he said in Luke 22:42. Yielding to the will of the Father, Jesus knew the cross
was the only way to purchase our redemption. He was willing to surrender
completely to God, and his surrender led
to his death.
At this point in the gospel Jesus had
not been crucified, so the cross was not yet associated with Christianity.
Nonetheless, the disciples had witnessed crucifixions. They knew there was
nothing sacred or beautiful about the cross; it was a symbol of torture and
execution. They had heard how the Romans lined the road from Capua to Rome with
6,000 crosses. After Herod’s death, there was a revolt in Judea, and Quintilius
was responsible for crucifying over 2,000 Jews in Jerusalem. During the siege
of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the Romans crucified as many as 500 Jews per day over
the course of several months.
The words take up your cross, then, were powerful, life-changing words for
the disciples. They knew that someone carrying a cross – whether friend, foe,
or family member – was a dead man walking. Jesus chose the image of carrying a
cross to illustrate the cost of following him.
A true disciple of Jesus takes up his
cross. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said in his book The
Cost of Discipleship, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
We must realize that willingly yielding and submitting ourselves to Jesus is
what makes us fit to live for him. Until we get to this point, we are more like
a decoy than a disciple.
A
follower of Jesus obeys fully.
Jesus said if anyone wants to be my
disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. The Christian life is a life of obedience – Jesus is
the Master, and we are the servants.
The Apostle Paul began many of his letters by identifying himself as a servant
or bondservant of Christ Jesus. He understood that he was always under the
authority of another. His life was no longer his own. It belonged to the Lord
and was to be lived for his glory and purpose.
Obedience submits to authority. Disobedience
rebels against authority. When we submit to God’s authority, we acknowledge that he is the supreme and
sovereign Ruler of the universe. He is worthy of our honor and glory. It is
fitting, then, that we conduct our lives in accordance with his purpose. When
we disobey him, we rebel against his authority. In essence, we are telling God
that our life belongs to us, and we can live it however we desire. This is
unacceptable for the Christian.
A true disciple of Jesus follows him
wholeheartedly. We must realize that he is Lord and worthy of our total
obedience. Until we get to this point, we are more like a decoy than a
disciple.
The
seriousness of the matter
The exclamation point comes in Luke 14:27,
when Jesus prophesies of his Second Coming. He reminds us of the sobering
reality that everyone who claims his name will one day stand before him and
give an account of his life. On that day, he will separate the decoys from the
disciples.
To call ourselves a Christian is a
serious thing, because it declares to the world that we are willing to love as
Jesus loved, surrender as Jesus surrendered, and obey as Jesus obeyed. Jesus
gave everything to build his church, so we must give everything to be his
church. There is a cost to following Jesus. Are we willing to count the cost?
If we’re not, then we dare not claim his name.
Christian is not just a title we use;
it’s a life we choose. Christ is our life, so if we’re not willing to choose his
life, then let’s refrain from using his title. I encourage you—be a disciple,
not a decoy.
BIO: Brett W. Marlowe is the senior pastor at Green Hill BaptistChurch in West Columbia.. He is a graduate of University of South Carolina and
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He loves being outdoors and spending
time with family and friends. You can follow him on Twitter @brettmarlowe or on
the web at http://www.brettmarlowe.blogspot.com.
