Considering Christ's Call (Luke 14:25-35)

Normally we think of God being a God of love.  John, the beloved apostle repeats that God is love two times in his first letter. Christ does not communicate that God is love, but that we are called to hate our family and our own lives.  This seems to contradict Moses's calling us to honor our parents.  There are certainly other places we can appeal to Moses to see an apparent contradiction.

We might think that there is a contradiction, but we need to be active listeners of Christ.  Christ’s call to hate family and self challenges the notion of a loving, comfortable kingdom that we so often associate with Christ.  He emphasizes the cross-bearing disciple, who finds identity in Christ and prioritizes heavenly values over worldly ambitions.  Ultimately, Christ’s message is for all, regardless of social status, to evaluate their ambitions in light of the cross and seek God’s will.

The temptation is for people to think that this is a kingdom of earthly glory.  Christ warns against a superficial understanding of discipleship, emphasizing the need to count the cost and understand the potential sacrifices involved.  True discipleship requires a conscious commitment to follow Christ, even if it means losing family, social status, or even our life.  This commitment involves actively seeking to live out the gospel, not for personal gain, but to glorify Christ and find identity in Him alone.  In this sense, we lose our own life because we reprioritize our values in light of the cross while seeking to live as living sacrifices before God.

Christians should conform to Christ’s image, not the other way around. This requires listening to Christ’s words with the wisdom of the Spirit, discerning His ways, and living out His priorities with grace and the Spirit.  Hearing Christ’s words is not just evaluating whether they are Christ’s words, but evaluating one’s life in light of Christ’s wisdom as we walk in the Spirit by faith.