Connecting Point: Without Condition

Serving God involves an abandonment to Christ and his leadership. In order to follow Jesus we will always have to make the assessment to either be all in or not, there is no middle ground. In fact, such a commitment may involve sacrifice and suffering. Take for example the very words of Jesus:

“As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’ He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’ But he replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.’ Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God,’”- Luke 9:57-62.

Following Jesus clearly is a life of abandonment. We must keep in mind that while Jesus used specific figures of speech, he was all-in about service to

others. His entire premise is that of putting the Lord first, above everything else. Jesus isn’t saying don’t honor your father or mother. He isn’t saying to be harsh in moments of physical death by abandoning those you love.

True discipleship of wholehearted generosity comes by serving Jesus. Following Jesus was never intended to be like jumping on some bandwagon or getting the most out of this life. I greatly appreciate Pastor Timothy Keller’s viewpoint, “You will never give yourself away to others unless you’ve given yourself away to Christ without condition.” Like Jesus, Keller is straightforward. Some theologians and pastors like to soften what the Gospel is all about, to make it popular or palatable. Doing so is a direct contradiction to what Jesus taught and how he lived.

Do you set pre-conditions for following Jesus? Are you expecting to get the most out of this life as if God is a sugar daddy? I hope not! The conditions for following Jesus are exactly the same as they were in the first century, abandonment of self-serving to a life of sacrifice.

Serving others is indeed part of practicing generosity, but as followers of Jesus we must serve him wholeheartedly. If we treat Jesus like He’s our

supplement, we will miss out on Him being the bread of life. If we expect Jesus to serve us like some assistant, we don’t understand discipleship

whatsoever.

Are you willing to follow Jesus, no matter the cost?