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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Disciples do not establish the conditions of discipleship! This is a fundamental in ANY discipline. The mere fact that a person is a disciple or wants to become a disciple implies that the person is willing to accept the terms of discipleship established by the master/leader of the discipline! How more fundamentally can this be explained?
Jesus saw something amiss in the man who expressed his intentions of becoming His disciple (see yesterday's devotional). The scribe's statements were completely unambiguous, yet something missed the mark. Merely to say, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go,” was not enough (see Matthew 8.19). Unlike us, Jesus was able to see the intentions of the heart and He evidently saw something amiss. What He saw is implied by His response, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Matthew 8.20).
The comments of biblical expositor, John Gill, are quoted here because they seem to be totally appropriate: “One would have thought, that this man desired in good earnest to be a disciple of Christ, were it not for Christ’s answer to him, who knew his heart: from whence it appears, that he, seeing the miracles which Christ wrought, and observing the fame of him among the people, began to think that he would be generally received as the Messiah; and by joining himself to him, promised himself much ease, honour, and wealth. These seem to be the motives, which prevailed upon him to take so sudden and hasty a step; for he did not wait to be called to follow Christ, as the other disciples were, but offers himself to be one; that is, to be one of his intimates, one of his apostles; and besides, he rashly promises to do that, which he knew nothing of, and which in some cases is impossible to be done.”
No matter the discipline, there is a cost of discipleship! Never, ever let this truth escape you! Whether it is math, grammar, geography, sociology, or any other “ology” there is by definition a cost to discipleship. First and foremost, discipleship implies, to one extent or the other, a denial of self; it implies a subjecting of self to the will or dictates of a higher authority or power. Reverting back to the opening statement of this article, “Disciples do not establish the conditions of discipleship!” That was the fallacy of this scribe, and lamentably is the fallacy of many so-called disciples today.
The scribe could not have counted the cost of discipleship because he obviously didn't even know what that cost was! His motives were not aligned with those which were demanded of kingdom citizens and Jesus knew this! Hence came His answer which spoke to the materialistic objectives which moved the scribe to put himself forward as a follower of Jesus. He was lacking the love of the truth and was self deceived into thinking that he had the right to follow Jesus on his own terms.
This fallacy became the scribe's downfall just as surely as it is the downfall of many today. Hundreds, even thousands of books, declare how to be Christ's disciples; they gain fame and notoriety for their authors but who are they to speak for the Master? Let Him speak for Himself! He is capable! Open THE BOOK and read the rest of the story!
Questions:
1. By definition, what is a disciple?
2. Why is it a violation of terms to think that a disciple can establish the conditions of discipleship?
3. Why would the love of the truth be a prerequisite to being a disciple of Jesus?
4. What apparent motives in the scribe moved Jesus to respond as He did?
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