On Denying Oneself

This morning I am reading from Matthew, chapter 16 and it is one of those sections we would prefer not too have in Scripture. Here are the verses - Matthew 16:24-27 NIV:

[24] "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. [25] For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. [26] What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? [27] For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done."

These verses are probably ones we have heard, but not ones that are our favorites, because they speak of denying oneself. Honestly, I don't like doing that and I am pretty sure I am in good company. We tend to like our lives, like the things that bring us pleasure, and like being in control. These words of Jesus are meant to cause us to look at our lives, and see what or who we are consistently choosing to follow. Discipleship is a choice we make, not something that just happens. Jesus is making it very clear that choosing to follow Him will require some amount of self-denial.

The exchange, that He describes, is giving up our own plans and our own control of our life and finding in Him real life, and ultimately eternal life. To firmly understand this we must have eyes that see beyond the here and now, and recognize that there is more to our lives than this present life. That is the hard part for us who grew up with a western mindset, for we don't think of the afterlife and our souls and they aren't a significant theme, unless you like scary movies.

However, the Lord has made it very clear that there is eternal life, and our actions here on earth determine what that life will be, and our souls (that which is in us which is spirit) will definitely live on after our physical bodies pass away. This is not theory, this is truth given to us by the Father through His Son Jesus. We will all be confronted with this reality, whether we believe it is true or not. God's Word does not depend on our belief.

Now again, we must not only look at these verses, for Jesus spoke of the cost of following Him several times, so it is good to look at other verses to gain a fuller understanding of what He is talking about here. Jesus replies to Peter's statement about that which they had given up in following Him in the following verses.

Matthew 19:27-29 NIV
[27] "Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

[28] Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [29] And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."

In Luke's version there is a little more added by Jesus - Luke 18:29-30 NIV:

[29] “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God [30] will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

So, although we may be asked to give up things in this life for the sake of the Kingdom of God, for the sake of following Jesus, we will receive that which more than compensates for what was given up. Again this is always our choice, never something that is forced upon us, but a decision we must choose for ourselves. The Lord makes it clear that we will receive much more than we ever give up, and that should cheer our heart, for the Lord is faithful and infinitely generous.

I think our problem is the level of attachment and ownership we have for our stuff. Whether it is our house, our furnishings, our lifestyle, our friends, our electronics, or our money, we mistakenly think that giving them up means losing part of ourselves. We put too much of our identity into our things, and thus feel like we are losing ourselves, but Jesus makes it clear that whatever we lose for His sake, we will gain much more. In other words, speaking just of our identity, we will have more identity if we follow Him. We will have more to offer others, our life will have more meaning, our joy will be more complete, our peace will be deeper, our hope will be stronger, our sense of identity will be clearer. In other words, if we follow Him, we will be more fully us. I know that is totally paradoxical, but that is essentially what Jesus is saying here. It is in following Jesus that we will be released into that which we were called to be, that which we were created to do, into the very purposes of God for our life, both here and eternally.

One final thought, there are those who try to turn these verses into some sort of spiritual cash machine. They look at these verses and then teach that if you give $100 to the Kingdom of God, that you will receive 100 times as much in return ($10,000). That would be an abuse of the Word, and not truly what the Lord said, nor meant. He is after relationship with us, for the invitation was to follow Him in discipleship. He doesn't want to be our cash ,machine, but rather our Lord and savior. The prosperity gospel, as it is sometimes preached, is really not Jesus' message, for Jesus is talking about denying oneself, and the prosperity gospel is full of oneself. Their focus is how to get more stuff for oneself by pretending to be spiritual. They lay down one thing ($100) and immediately have their hand extended for the return ($10,000). The focus is not relationship with Jesus but rather getting more stuff, as a sign that Jesus loves them. Let me say this simply - Jesus doesn't need to buy friends or followers.

So rolling back to the beginning of today's meditation, I am encouraged to look at my life and consider my choices. Am I consistently choosing to follow Jesus? Am I willing to lay down my stuff to follow Him, should He ask me? Is my life and my stuff more important than following Him? Do I have an eternal mindset, or am I only concerned with the here and now? Am I willing to make my relationship with Him my top priority? Is He my treasure, or is my stuff my treasure?