How do I tick the Jesus box?

Lieutenant Emma Howan asks us a simple question: Have you ever heard Jesus telling Christians we must 'deny yourself, take up your cross and follow' him?... But, do we have to? What does that mean, really? Come on the journey with us and find out (it ends well, we promise)!

Have you ever entered a competition, signed up to a website or opened a bank account?

If you have, then you will definitely have come across that little box to tick at the bottom that says ‘I’ve read the terms and conditions.’ 

And have you ever been like me and ticked that box... without actually reading those terms and conditions first?

That might be okay with contracts that are small, but if you were signing up for hire purchase, entering into a rental agreement, buying a house or agreeing to a job contract - hopefully you would be more careful to read all the clauses before signing onto something. It pays to know what you are getting yourself into.

The small print

'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.' - Matthew 16:24

The passage we are exploring lays out what it means to be a disciple. It spells out the ‘terms and conditions’ in a sense of what it means to live like Jesus. These are not the sort where we would just tick that little box and go ‘Yep, I’ve read it’ - without first looking at them closely!

We will see that to live like Jesus, we must deny self and imitate Christ. Let's say that again: We will see that to live like Jesus, we must deny self and imitate Christ.

So we know exactly what the cost is going to be.

The context

Israel is buzzing about a man from Galilee. People are amazed! They have seen him perform miracles, news of his healing precedes him and crowds follow him. But there is also a growing opposition against him. Who is this man? By what power does he heal? By whose authority does he perform miracles?

Jesus is travelling with his twelve disciples, who know him better than anyone else. It is to them that he explains how his imminent suffering and death are as guaranteed and necessary as his resurrection and glory. That whole package is what being the Messiah means.

The disciples, though, show a complete lack of understanding. Peter even has the nerve to rebuke Jesus’ statements about his imminent suffering. 'Never would the Messiah suffer, let alone be killed!' Peter protests. They still have an image of a Messiah who smashes political enemies to bring the Jewish people cultural freedom and Jesus must show them a better way.

Deny self

'Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”' - Matthew 16:23

We often talk denying ourselves as giving something up or going without. If you're familiar with The Salvation Army, then just think of denying self in relation to what we call the Self Denial Appeal, where we deny ourselves money in order to give to The Salvation Army’s work. However, in this passage Jesus speaks of denying self - to set aside 'merely human concerns' that interfere with the concerns of God.

To deny self means:

• To deny any kind of self-promoting.
• To cease all types of self-idolising.
• To remove any patterns of self-centredness.
• To discontinue every kind of self-indulgence.

We stop living for ourselves and our concerns. It’s not about my potential, my comfort or even my safety.  To live like Jesus, we must deny self.

Imitate Christ

'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.' - Matthew 16:24

Do you remember the childhood game 'Follow the Leader'? 

A leader is chosen and everyone lines up behind them and has to mimic their actions. Where the leader goes, they go. Where the leader stays, they stay. Several years ago while marching down the street with The Salvation Army’s National Youth Band, we played 'Follow the Leader'.

Each time we reached a corner we would follow the person at the front of our line. We had to follow wherever they went; turn at the point they turned and form back up at the end. I was in a row where our leader would march straight towards someone in the crowd! That then meant that the rest of our line would head straight towards the same person and then turn exactly where our leader had.

When playing follow the leader, you imitate them exactly.

Jesus accepted God’s initiative and control. He accepted Messiahship. Suffering. Rejection. Death. And he calls his disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him.

To those listening to his teaching, this imagery would have communicated danger and sacrifice. Jesus’ listeners would have been very familiar with the sight of condemned people carrying the beam of their own cross to their place of execution. Taking up their cross refers to the great cost of following Jesus. It is being completely willing to surrender everything. This is the utmost in self-denial and submission. This is imitating Christ.

Counting the cost

'Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am.' - Matthew 16:24

'For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?' - Matthew 16:24-26

In these examples, Jesus uses the commercial terms gain and forfeit. He contrasts a profit-now approach with a long term view of downpayment. What use is it to become materially prosperous - having all the things that can be achieved in this life - if at the end, you lose your soul?

Jesus is saying 'What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?' A person who lives for self, who hoards it jealously and selfishly, will lose it. Denying self - death to self - is vital to spiritual life. Imitating Christ means we continue to walk the right path to real, abundant and true life.

A tough road

'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.' - Matthew 16:24

This command requires our total commitment to the mission and purpose of Jesus. We can’t put limits on it. Living like Jesus is offering him a signed blank cheque, whatever the cost.

We can be tempted to seek security elsewhere. To substitute a friendlier, less demanding type of Christianity. What’s holding us back?

• Is it our time?
• Is it our employment?
• Is it our finances?
• Is it our reputation?
• Is it our fear?

Each of us will know what it is that is stopping us from denying self and imitating Christ. What hinders me from giving up my entire life? Does your allegiance lie with Jesus?

Deny self and imitate Christ

'May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.' - 2 Peter 3:18

Living like Jesus is a huge challenge. And if we were to go in our own strength it’d be close to impossible! But we don’t go alone. We go in the strength of the Lord. Let’s declare this together! 

Wherever you are at today, whether it's far from God, or perhaps committing to Christ for the first time - will you read this prayer through with me if you would like to deny yourself, imitate Christ and follow him again?

Father,

We thank you for the word you have brought to us today of living like your son, Jesus. You call us to deny ourselves and to imitate Christ and we recognise that this is not easy. We ask that as we go into our homes, our schools, our workplaces that you would help us to live like Jesus. Help us to release our fear, our homes, our shortcomings, our comforts and our luxuries - let us die to ourselves that we may be alive in Christ.

Amen.
 

 

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by WM Author and Lieutenant Emma Howan

The Salvation Army Timaru Corps