Discipleship Equals Sacrificial Living

Enzo Cortes is active in student ministry and writes at Zoy Sauce Etc. — love the blog name — where this appeared earlier today under the title Peter and Paul: Reflections on the Cost of Discipleship.

For a while, I’ve been reflecting on the life of Peter. Jesus called him when he was doing fine in the seafood industry. Peter left his livelihood to follow Jesus. Matthew 4:18-20 (see parallel in Mark 1:16-18) says:

¹⁸While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

But at the end of his life, as tradition says, he was crucified upside down, because he did not feel worthy to die as Jesus did. (This is fulfillment of the prediction of John 21:18-19). He was called by Jesus, only to be martyred in the end.

So I’m tempted to ask him, “Was it worth it to be a disciple of Jesus?”

I also reflected on the life of the apostle Paul. He was “was advancing in Judaism beyond many of [his] own age among [his] people, so extremely zealous was [he] for the traditions of [his] fathers” (Galatians 1:14). But on his way to Damascus to persecute the believers, God was pleased to reveal his Son to him (v.15). But in the end, Paul was beheaded, as tradition again says.

I ask him as well, “Was it worth it?”

Jesus answers my questions for them. Matthew 10:37-39 says:

³⁷Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Emphasis added)

Mark 10:29-30 says:

²⁹Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, ³⁰who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Emphasis added)

If this is the case, then the rewards of discipleship far outweighs the costs.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”¹ Indeed, the cost of discipleship is great, but the rewards are infinitely greater. Conversely, the cost of non-discipleship is greater, and the loss is infinitely devastating.

Following Jesus is worth it!

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¹Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (London: SCM Press, 1964), 79.

Great News! Tim’s Out of Jail!

Today’s post, from Jon Swanson at the blog, 300 Words a Day, is a reminder of how the Bible never ceases to reveal itself to be a living book, with so many details awaiting our consideration!

That’s really good news, right? That Timothy was released from jail?

Of course,  many people have known that for a really long time. In fact, as long as people have been reading the book of Hebrews, they have known that Timothy is out of jail and is on his way somewhere.

I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. (Hebrews 13:23)

I, on the other hand, did not know that he had been released. Truth be told, I never knew that he had been arrested. I had no idea.

I knew, of course, that when Paul, who had mentored Timothy, wrote one of his instructional letters to Timothy, he reminded Timothy of all that they had been through. Paul said,

You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:10-13)

I knew that, but I had never noticed that Timothy, apparently, had been through the whole process himself.

Why am I making such a big deal of Timothy’s release? A couple reasons.

1. Because I’ve spent some time reading the Bible, talking about it, teaching it. For all I know, I’ve probably taught some or all of Hebrews. And yet, there are things that I just haven’t noticed.

2. Because once noticed, this little observation connects with and fleshes out a picture of Timothy that I hadn’t thought about before.

There is a lot, I’m discovering, that I have to learn about what’s written here…

~  Jon Swanson

 

The persecution and suffering of those who took a stand for Christ wasn’t limited to just Paul and a few others, but perhaps was more common to the entire early church.

God Uses Nobodies

Here is a short devotional from Dwight Wagner at Strengthened By Grace:

I just recently spent some time studying Christ’s call of the twelve disciples. Even the nicknames they are given are suggestive that they were not impressive or extraordinary in many ways.  Then I came across this quote that reminded me again of whom God chooses and whom he uses.

“Grace means God uses nobodies.  Grace also means He makes nobodies into somebodies.  The problem is this:  Our shame screams so loudly and our guilt is so huge, we convince ourselves we’re not useful and we think we cannot measure up.  After all, you may think, I have to be somebody special to be useful or important to God.  But the fact is He does great things through nobodies.  He does some of His best work with those who think they are finished and, humanly speaking, should be.”–Chuck Swindoll