October 13, 2013
The “Un-Disciple”
Luke 9:57-62 NOT EDITED
SIS—Undiscipleship does not reflect a complete
commitment to Christ and will not glorify God nor build His Kingdom.
In 1967, 7UP
brought the phrase UNCOLA into the national vernacular. The UNCOLA campaign set
7UP apart from its competition and became part of a counter cultural that
symbolized being true to yourself and challenging the status quo. 7UP wanted to capture the young, hip
anti-establishment crowd. It was a bold
statement of a new attitude and set of values.
Not everyone
switched of course and cola drinks still flood the markets. The soft drink market generates about $300
billion annually, thought the trend indicates continuing sales may go flat.
the 7UP campaign
was a unique way to set itself apart from the crowded cola market by
highlighting what it “isn’t,” rather than what it “is.” It is cool and hip to be the “un” cola.
Well, I’m not
really sure how this came to make me think of what it means to follow Jesus,
but it did. In Luke 9, Jesus introduces
us to the concept of the “Un-disciple.”
Unlike the positive vibe 7UP generated with the term “un-cola,” the idea
of an “un-disciple” indicates a discipleship that lacks fizz and falls
flat. Jesus condemns “un-discipleship”
by presenting it in three different aspects:
the “Un-counted cost,” the “Un-buried corpse,” and the “Un-forsaken
influences.” These all add up to a flat,
fizzless, fruitless, false disciple.
Let’s read this
passage together: Luke 9:57-62.
I’m afraid that
most church-goers that consider themselves Christian disciples exhibit more of
the characteristics of “un-discipleship.”
This is not a pleasant thought that gives us warm fuzzies, but if Jesus
saw a need to discuss this issue with His original disciples, we’d be wise to
take a look at it also.
First, Jesus points
out that an “Un-disciple” has a problem with
1. The “Un-counted Cost” (57-58)
57 As they were traveling on the
road someone said to Him, “I will follow
You wherever You go!” 58 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and
birds of the sky have nests, but the Son
of Man has no place to lay His head.”
Years ago, the
beloved preacher and scholar William Barclay said of this passage: “It may
well be that we [the church] have done great harm to the [Kingdom of God] by
letting people think that church membership need not make so very much
difference [in a person’s life.” In
other words, church membership need not cost very much in regard to one’s time
or treasures, or deepest affections.
Jesus accomplished
the greatest miracle that will ever take place in the universe: He died to make salvation “free” for all who
will simply bow down and love Him. That
really need not be so big a challenge—to love Jesus that is—for never has there
been, nor will there ever be, a man in history more deserving of our love. Jesus reached down from heaven and snatched
us as a “branch out of the fire.” He
paid the awful price for our sin so that there is nothing left to pay. Because of Jesus, salvation is free.
This is a great
miracle—the greatest miracle! But, I’m
afraid that we as His followers have succeeded in performing an equally great
miracle of sorts. Jesus made salvation
free. We, the Church, have made it “cheap.”
A “would-be
follower” of Jesus had just boldly declared, “Jesus, I’ll follow You
anywhere!” Jesus then turns and looks this “would-be” follower in the
eye and says, “First, count the cost.”
Jesus was a master
at thinning out a crowd. Here we have a “would-be,
enthusiastic volunteer” and Jesus seems to let all the air out of the
perspective disciple’s balloon. Jesus
declared, “Following me will cost you everything.
You won’t even have a hole to crawl into like a fox, or a warm nest like
a bird.” What was Jesus
thinking? Jesus was indeed, “thinking.”
He realized that that temporary
enthusiasm is no substitute for thoughtful commitment. Jesus drew crowds everywhere He went—huge crowds! The Lord realized, however, that simply being
part of the “crowd” is not the same as being one of the “committed.”
We live in a nation
that has grown quite soft. We live in a
culture that seeks immediate gratification.
We get impatient if our computer search takes more than a couple
seconds. We simply do not like to be
inconvenienced in any way. This attitude
has seeped into church. Maybe I should
say, “poured into the church.” People can
get caught up in an emotional moment in church, especially at a particularly
vulnerable time in life. They embrace the church in a fit of enthusiasm but
when the first sign of commitment pops up, they are out the door.
Jesus described
these type of “un-disciples” in a parable:
Mat.
13 20 The one who received the seed
that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it
with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time.
When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
Now Jesus wasn’t
being harsh or derogatory in any way.
Jesus was being brutally honest.
Following Him means “carrying one’s cross.” The cross is an instrument of death. The cross represents sacrifice, even ultimate
sacrifice. An “Un-disciple” fails to
count the cost, fall away, and be in worst shape than if he or she had never
started. Hebrews warns us of the dangers
of “un-discipleship” that fails to count the cost:
Heb.
6 4 For it is impossible to renew to
repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift,
became companions with the Holy Spirit, 5 tasted
God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, 6 and who
have fallen away, because, to their own
harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt.
It’s not that these
“un-disciples” lose their salvation, but that they never had it in the first
place because their decision to join with Jesus was an emotional decision, not
a spiritual one. They fail to count the
cost.
True disciples have
to be good “accountants.” Accountants
are masters at working with numbers, analyzing costs, and projecting profits.
Businesses rely on accountants to guide them in tracking numbers. A good accountant is indispensable to a
successful business. Accountants know how to “count the costs.” By the way, do
you know what an accountant really is? An accountant is someone who solves a
problem you didn’t know you had in a way you don’t understand. My friends
who are accountants know that is true!
It is a good thing
to follow Jesus. In fact, it is the best
thing. It is an eternal thing. But, you must count the cost. The first issue Jesus discusses in regard to
the “Un-disciple” is the “Un-counted Cost.”
2. The Unburied Corpse (59-60)
59 Then He said to another, “Follow
Me.” “Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.” 60 But
He told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news
of the kingdom of God.”
Zombies are all the
rage these days. Zombie movies have
become quite popular and a zombie even plays the lead in a Sprint cell phone
commercial. Seems being “un-dead” is not
a hindrance to fame and fortune—at least not in Hollywood. It is another matter altogether when it comes
to being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
There is more to
this passage than might being lying close to the surface. Surely, Jesus was not suggesting that we
should leave dead bodies unburied.
Neither was Jesus suggesting we should be disrespectful of our loved
ones who have died. Again, Jesus is not
be harsh or derogatory at all. Jesus is
being brutally honest.
What Jesus is
really pointing to is “urgency” and priority.
Now, if we assume that the man’s father had really died and this was
just not an excuse, then the man’s reason for delaying his obedience to Jesus
seems most reasonable. In Jewish custom
in the Middle East, as in many cultures, the most important duty a son can
perform for a parent is a proper burial. For a Jew, this goes directly to
obedience to the “Fifth Commandment”: “Honor
your father and mother” (Ex. 20:12).
Now some scholars
suggest that this is just an empty excuse, and the father is not really
dead. Other scholars feel this request
is genuine, but not well-founded because the father is not even ill. The man is actually saying, “When I no longer have duties at home after
my father dies I will follow you.”
Regardless of which
point of view you take, the application is the same: delayed
obedience is disobedience. Let me
say that again, “delayed obedience is
disobedience.”
Jesus used a very important
custom in the Middle East—filial duty—to demonstrate the high cost of following
Him. For a true disciple, following
Jesus is “top priority.” For the “Un-disciple”
following Jesus is a matter of fitting Him into one’s schedule. For the “Un-disciple,” following Jesus is one
duty among many other duties.
I fully understand
that the reality of life dictates that we juggle many competing issues in
life. We have personal issues. We have family issues. We have issues at work. A hundred different voices all clamor for our
time and energy like a gaggle of geese.
We can hardly hear ourselves think for all the noise around us. We are like juggler in the circus trying to
keep all the balls in the air, or like the juggler trying to keep all the
plates spinning so none come crashing down.
Have you ever seen
a “plate spinner.” The juggler has about
five to seven polls. On top of the first
pole the juggler starts a plate spinning.
Then he starts another plate spinning on a second poll, and yet another
on the third poll. Then he goes back and
gives the first, second and third a spin while he spins a plate on the
fourth. Then he goes back and spins the
first, second and third again while he puts a plate on the fifth. Then he spins the fourth again while he puts a
plate on the sixth, and goes back to spin the first and second that have almost
stopped, then the third and fourth, while he puts a plate on the seventh. All the while he is running back and forth
frantically trying to keep all the plates spinning. If he misses a plate for too long it comes
crashing to the floor in a hundred pieces.
Life is like
that. Most the time there is a big pile
of broken china at our feet as we try to keep all the plates of life spinning.
We all know the
problem. People die and need
buried. Children cry and need
carried. Couples fall in love and need
married. We get it. Life demands a lot from us. But, here’s the deal. If you are an “Un-disciple,” every time
another voice calls, you ignore the call of Jesus upon your life. When Jesus is not “top priority,” He often
falls at the bottom of one’s list of “things to do.”
Let me remind you
that life is like a river. If you don’t
jump in with both feet at some point in that river, the opportunity will be
gone forever. A true disciple follows
Jesus, daily. Jesus reminds us,
Luke
9:23 Take up your cross daily and follow me
An “Un-disciple”
always looks to tomorrow to obey the Lord’s call upon his or her life. We cannot serve God tomorrow. Tomorrow is only a mental construct, and idea. For, by the time tomorrow comes, today will
be yesterday—the opportunity will be gone.
Paul speaks to this in Ephesians 5:15-16:
15 Pay careful attention, then, to
how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— 16 making the
most of the time.
The word for time
here does not refer to chronological time—as the passing of seconds on a watch—but
of “strategic time” (kairos) which refers to an “opportunity.”
Just recently, Eastman Kodak Company filed for
bankruptcy. In this age of digital
cameras nobody is really surprised that a company known for “celluloid film
processing” is becoming a dinosaur. Here’s
something many people do not know: the
first digital camera was invented by a Kodak engineer, Steven Sasson, in
1975. [SHOW PIC]. Kodak resisted the digital idea fervently, in
favor of the tried and true “celluloid film camera.” Kodak is going the way of the dinosaur
because the company did not seize the day, or carpe diem, as they say in Latin.
They missed the opportunity of a lifetime by delaying the entry into the
digital market. Here’s the real
kicker: Kodak amassed about 1000 patents
for digital cameras. Today, almost all
digital cameras rely on those inventive patents.
The second “Un-disciple”
had issues with “Un-buried corpses.” The
problem was “delayed obedience” which leads to missed opportunities and
outright failure as a disciple of Jesus.
Obedience to Jesus requires “urgency and immediacy.”
“Un-disciples” have
“un-counted costs” and “un-buried corpses,” as well as
3. Un-forsaken Influences (61-62)
61 Another also said, “I will follow
You, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.” 62 But
Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit
for the kingdom of God.”
This “Un-disciple”
might seem to have the same issue as the one with the “un-buried corpse” but I
think the matter is quite different. With
the “Un-buried corpse” we are talking about legitimate life issues. We were talking about choosing the “best from
among the good.” This is not the case
with the third “Un-disciple.” In fact, I
think it is quite the opposite: he is
choosing the worst among the bad.
His family
represents “his old ways.” It represents
what he is comfortable with. It could
represent status quo. It represents bad habits of the former
life. Think of this man’s statement in
light of Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 4:
22 You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful
desires; 23 you are being renewed in the spirit
of your minds; 24 you put on the new self, the one
created according to God’s likeness in
righteousness and purity of the truth.
The essence of
Christianity is “change”—eternal change that is both and event and a
process. Our transformation to true
disciples of Jesus takes place in a moment in time when we accept the free gift
of eternal life provided for us by the sacrificial death of the Lord on the
cross. Paul describes this instantaneous
transformation:
2Cor
5 17 Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; old things
have passed away, and look, new
things have come.
This is salvation
as an “event.” There is also the matter
of the “process” of salvation, or what theologians call, sanctification—the process
of becoming holy. That’s what Paul
describes as “taking off the old man of
sin and putting on the new man of salvation.”
It is a wardrobe change, so to speak.
The third “un-disciple”
was still wanting the “old garment” of sin.
He wanted his “old” friends and desired his “old” ways. You might say, “he was stuck in his ways,”
much like Freddy the Frog I spoke about last week that was stuck in a rut. We’ve all heard the definition of a “rut.” It is a “grave
with both ends knocked out!” Our old
life is a life of death, like living in an eternal grave.
The focus in regard
to this “un-disciple,” like the other two, is not to be harsh or critical, but
to simply be honest. One simply cannot
follow Jesus and keep looking back over one’s shoulder, longing for the things
of the world. One cannot keep one foot
on the dock and one foot on the boat and then be surprised when one gets
wet!
Any farmer knows—and
I know because I’ve known several farmers—the only way to plow a straight
furrow in a field is to pick a point across the field and focus on it. If you try to plow by looking back over your
shoulder, your furrows will be as crooked as a dog’s hind leg (something I’ve
heard many farmer types describe).
One cannot be a
true disciple by “overcoming bad habits!”
This sounds strange to many people because many people believe that this
is the “goal of Christianity”—to overcome bad habits. No, the goal of Christianity is to establish “new
habits.” When one establishes new
habits, old habits just die from malnutrition.
This is what Paul meant when he said,
Gal5 16 I say then, walk by the
Spirit and you
will not [indeed, cannot]carry out the desire of the flesh.
will not [indeed, cannot]carry out the desire of the flesh.
“Un-disciples” fail
because they fail to forsake the old influences of the flesh—the sin
nature. “Un-disciples” feed the old man
and he overcomes the new man. In fact,
the “new man” never comes to life at all in an “Un-disciple” that still loves
the “old ways.”
With a true
disciple, as Paul said, “everything becomes new!” There is a discernible, measurable,
on-going transformation that all can see.
It’s like a farmer who visited a big city with his wife and son for the
first time. The wife was off shopping in
some fancy shop, and the farmer and his son were waiting patiently in the lobby
of their fancy hotel. The little boy was
mesmerized by all the wonderful sights.
He was trying to take it all in.
The farmer was not so impressed.
He was just reading the paper mostly oblivious to all that was going on
around him. One of the most fascinating
sights for the little boy was the elevator in the lobby. They were on the first floor so they never
went on the elevator. The little boys
eyes were as big as saucers watching the shiny doors open and close. People would get in, the doors would shut,
and in a few minutes they would open again and new people would come out. The little boy tugged on his daddy’s shirt
and said, “Daddy, look at this neat
thing,” referring to the elevator.
The Dad took a glance at the elevator.
The shiny doors opened and an elderly woman stepped on. She was grey-haired and a bit unsteady on her
feet, wearing a thick overcoat. The doors
closed. A few minutes later, the shiny
doors opened. Out of the elevator
stepped a stunning, tall, blonde-haired lady.
The farmer’s eyes got as big as saucers and stammering he said to his
son, “Quick! son. Let’s go get Momma and have her ride that
thing!”
Discipleship is all
about transformation. “Un-disciples”
long for the old ways of the flesh. True
disciples “put on the new man of faith.”
7UP thought they
were really onto something when they came up with the idea of the “Uncola.” That was something really special. It
represented something new, good, and wholesome.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work the same way with “Un-disciples.” Undiscipleship
does not reflect a complete commitment to Christ and will not glorify God nor
build His Kingdom.
Drink
the Uncola if you will but don’t be
an “Undisciple.”
an “Undisciple.”
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