The Price of Following Jesus/‘Worldly Correctness’/“Who is my mother, or my brethren?”

57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.

62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Lk. 9:57-62)

I was first drawn to this scripture by the phrase, “Let the dead bury their dead…” I wondered so much why Jesus would call a grieving family “the dead”.

But before we discuss that, let us see what Jesus said to the first man, the man who told Him, “I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest”.

Jesus told this man, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”

That is incredible, to say the least. The Son of the Most High God had nowhere to lay His head? while even foxes and birds have somewhere to lay down and sleep?! The Kingdom of God is a worldly paradox. That is why Jesus’ words cannot marry with the “Money, come to me now!” gospel or lifestyle that worldly preachers try to propagate today (see the clip in my post “Prosperity Gospel vs Suffering for Christ”). Suffering is the price for following Christ.

Jesus was here telling the man the price to pay for following Him. He was to expect to gain nothing of this world.

“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”

The Apostle Paul knew the price. In his writings, he puts it this way, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (1 Cor. 12:10).

At least, now, we know the price. It is to lose all.

Let us get back to Jesus and the man who wanted to first go bury his father then come follow Jesus. Jesus told the man, “Let the dead bury their dead…”

In African society we highly revere a family that has undergone a death, and we would hardly use such words as Jesus used here in a situation where a family is grieving, even in our imagination. But here Jesus tells a man who wants to go bury his father, “Let the dead bury their dead…”

I will tell you one thing: a man who has nowhere to lay down his head can talk a little differently than a man who owns a private jet. He has that luxury because he has nothing to lose. Jesus certainly made full use of that advantage.

But why, pray, would Jesus call this grieving family “the dead”? Was He irreverent?

No, Jesus was neither being irreverent, nor was He callous. I am sure that He loved this family very much, and it is inconceivable that their grief would not have touched His tender heart. But Jesus always stayed in the context of the heavenly Kingdom, and here He was stating a very important fact concerning what He came to do in the world. Jesus came to bring eternal life into the world. The Word of God teaches that anyone who has not received Jesus into their lives is spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1-3).

In the natural, there is only one thing that we can do with a dead person: bury them. Once someone is well and truly dead, all we can do is bury them, to rise no more.

But – thank God! – in the Kingdom of God, we have another option. We can choose to bring resurrection life to people through preaching the gospel. Jesus opted to work with this option: preach the Kingdom of God and bring resurrection life to the people of God.

You can’t be callous with a dead person. In fact, you can rattle them until their teeth fall off if it will bring them back to life again. The people that Jesus was referring to (this man’s family) were spiritually dead. If He truly loved them, there was only one thing He could do for them: give them eternal life! That is why He told this man, “Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”

What a glorious combination!

Today the modern world has coined a phrase: ‘political correctness’. Many in the world today believe that ‘political correctness’ among worldly leaders is killing civilization as we know it. In the spiritual world, we have an equivalent, though probably unspoken term: ‘worldly correctness’. ‘Worldly correctness’ means we do not want to step on people’s toes with the gospel because we feel we will offend them. I am sure that this attitude on our part will send a lot of people to hell.

A Muslim friend of mine told me that as long as I did not mention Jesus in my discussions with him concerning religion, he would listen to me. I told him, “Whatever I have to tell you begins and ends with Jesus”.

Jesus was not ‘worldly correct’. Jesus had only one aim: to be ‘heavenly correct’. He talked and lived the only life that really matters: the eternal heavenly life. When Jesus therefore told the man “Let the dead bury their dead”, He was stating a spiritual reality of the life that He came to live.

We expend an inordinately large amount of energy and time trying to please and to fit in with the world. But that is not love. Smiling is good, but we cannot smile and expect to save the world. The same goes for intellectual arguments and counter-arguments. If we truly love the world, the only thing of worth that we can give them is to solidly preach to them the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus tells this man, “Go thou and preach the kingdom of God”.

Only the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ can bring true life to people.

Let us have one last glance at this scripture.

If there are “the dead” in this world, then there are also the living. This refers to the church. In this context, I believe  also that Jesus was telling this man to appreciate the church, more than his worldly flesh and blood kith and kin. He was laying upon him the importance of the church vis-à-vis his flesh and blood relations.

This aspect is a challenge to many people in church. Many do not know where to draw the line between their worldly relations and the church.

But Jesus did not have any uncertainties, hesitations or misgivings in this regard. He knew exactly where to draw the line. When His mother and brethren came to fetch Him, the Bible says, “33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? 34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother” Mk. 3:33-35.

That’s pretty tough to swallow. We are called upon to love and care for our own flesh and blood, and even the world in general. But we ought to know where our true inheritance lies. It lies in the church, which is the true Body of Christ. True spiritual brethren are our spiritual inheritance. The church is our “portion”. That is why our true value with God is connected to how much we value His church, the brethren.

Our worldly relationships with our worldly kin should be whittled down to the bare minimum. (In the Spirit, of course, we will be working overtime to get them saved!)

But on the contrary, we should love and devote ourselves to the church with all our heart, with all our mind, and with all our strength. Jesus set the example for us.

[Photo credit: Carol Lanthier]

Becoming a Winner

He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. Jn. 12:25

That little scripture there carries the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus always made sure to put things very clearly so that, as the Bible says in Habbakuk 2:2, “he may run that readeth it.” In other words, even a man running can read and understand Jesus’ words.

There are many churches today with names beginning with “Winners”. “Winners Church”, “Winners Chapel”, Winners everywhere. Some are called “Overcomers’ Church”, etc. And people are flocking into these churches expecting to become winners and overcomers. People are looking to prosper and to become winners in life. Sermons are spun about how we need to become ‘overcomers’ of life’s circumstances, etc.

But do you know who the real winners are in God’s Kingdom? In God’s Kingdom the real winners are the losers. That’s what Jesus said right there. There is no way you can ‘turn’ that scripture to mean anything different from that. You lose, you win. So adorably simple (but don’t expect the flesh to say “Amen” to that!)

That is why the Bible tells us to have “the mind of Christ” (Phil. 2:5). There is a human mind, you see, and it is enmity to God. This human mind simply is not into losing. It is into winning, and it will fight tooth and nail to remain on top. It wants every good thing of this world and it will demand more of this, and more of that, which is an attitude that has to do with the mind of the flesh.

Notice Jesus said, “in this world”. There are people who want to ‘spiritualize’ everything. But the Bible declares there is this world and there is the next. And there are some things you will need to do in this world in order to gain in the next. In fact, there is an attitude that you will need to carry in you in order for you to accept to lose your life in this world. That is why we need to be very careful to make sure we are carrying the right mind, the mind of Christ.

The Bible tells us the mind that Christ had: “6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:6-8).

It is the easiest thing to want to gain “in this world”. And in these winners’ churches we are taught to fight for our rights.

But with God’s Kingdom, it is only about losing“in this world”. You continue losing your rights until you have not a single right left. When you get to the place where you can understand that kind of language, that in itself is an incomparable grace. And when you begin actually walking that road of the cross, your body will try to “kick against the pricks” (Acts 9:5); but your spirit will rejoice because you are walking the same road that Jesus walked. You rejoice in your spirit because you are arriving at the understanding that Paul had when he said, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14).

And for a man who is truly seeking after the heavenly kingdom, what greater honor than to walk the same road that Jesus and the apostles walked? The apostles did not feel honored because they were placed on a worldly pedestal; instead, they felt honored when they were beaten for the gospel’s sake.

“And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:41).

We may not have arrived there yet, but when we get the revelation of the cross in our spirits, we are happy because we are on the right road and walking towards that goal – the goal of losing all.

Do you want to be a winner? Do not go to a church which bears the name “Winners” or “Overcomers” with the belief that you will become a winner. If you really want to become a winner, just stay put where you are and lose your life. In the Spirit there is only one way to becoming a winner, and it is not becoming a member of any ‘winning’ church. It is by losing our lives.

In practical terms losing our lives translates into losing our rights.

[Below: Some fine art in Dar es Salaam]