Have you ever signed a contract without looking at the terms of the contract?
Before we sign a contract, we familiarize ourselves with the requirements of a contract, particularly if it involves money. We want to make sure what we are getting and what it is going to cost us.
Did you know there are terms to discipleship? Jesus has requirements to be his disciple. Like a contract, Jesus provides the exact criteria for us to be his disciples.
Then he said to them all, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23.
Do you meet his discipleship requirements?
Requirement 1: Deny yourself.
What does Jesus mean by denying yourself?
Denying yourself is quite simple. Amazingly, we have extraordinary difficulty in following it.
One of the best illustrations of self-denial comes from a 17th century advisor to princes. Niccolò Machiavelli wrote the following about servants.
“When a servant is thinking more of his own interest than of yours, and seeking inwardly of his own profits and everything, such a man will never make a good servant, nor will you ever be able to trust him: because he who has the state of another in his hands ought never to think of himself, but always of his prince.”
If we take this definition and reapply Christian principles to it, it will read like this:
If a Christian places his personal gains in front of God’s purposes, then he is not serving the Lord as he should and, in so, is not a good disciple. Therefore, God cannot place in him trust, nor insight, into his kingdom. This makes the disciple ineffective. As a disciple of Christ, there can be no personal aim. All must be for the glory of God and God alone. Otherwise, the disciple becomes blinded, or his vision hazed.
If we apply this definition to the denying of self, we see that as a disciple of Christ, all must be for the glory of God.
The first requirement we must meet is to deny ourselves.
Requirement 2: Take up your cross daily.
What does it mean to take up your cross daily?
Let’s understand what it does not mean. Jesus did not say take up your cross on special occasions. Jesus did not say monthly. He did not say weekly or only on Sunday. Jesus said daily.
Sunday is not the day to get your cup filled. Sunday is not the day to bear your cross. Sunday is not the day to bow before Christ. Every day is the day for these.
Taking up your cross meant far more than bearing a burden. In Jesus’ day, to tell someone to take up their cross meant to die for what you believed in.
Jesus wasn’t the first person to die on a cross. Crucifixion was a common practice. Forcing the person to be crucified to carry their cross was common as well.
When Jesus taught taking up your cross was a requirement to discipleship, his listeners knew what that meant. While we may not understand the demand as a call to martyrdom, we understand commitment.
Requirement 3: Follow Jesus.
Jesus taught to be his disciple; we must follow him. Following Jesus sounds easy. Yet we have a problem following Jesus. We like to control our lives.
Following Jesus simply means to do what Jesus taught and to follow his example. That’s it.
Three requirements:
- Deny yourself.
- Take up your cross.
- Follow Jesus.
How do you measure up? Do you meet the requirements of discipleship?
Originally preached in 1999. Outlined only. Edited and revised for publication here.