Jump Start # 499

Luke 9:61 “And another also said, ’ I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home.” 

  Our passage today is found in a section about discipleship. We don’t use the word ‘disciple’ much any more. It is interesting that the word “Christian” is found only three times in the New Testament and the word “disciple” over a hundred times, yet we predominately use the word Christian more than the word disciple. You never hear of a “disciple” bookstore. Folks say, “Christian” bookstore. People don’t say, “Disciple” college, but rather, “Christian” college. Those uses are odd to begin with. The word “Christian” was only used of people in the N.T.—never institutions, buildings, bookstores, nations or schools. Funny how easy it is to move away from the pure language of the N.T.

  The word disciple is much stronger than just a follower. It carries the idea of an apprentice, someone that is being mentored. In this case, Jesus is showing us how to live. Our passage shows three people want to follow Jesus. The first and third men both say, “I will follow you.” The first man is very emphatic when he says, “I will follow you wherever You go.” Jesus put that man to the test. He said that the Son of man has no place to lay His head. Would he still want to follow?

  Jesus asks the second man to follow. He first sought permission to go and bury his father. Interesting ideas come from that. Possibly another Jump Start will address those.

  The third man, the focus of our passage, volunteered to follow, but he wanted permission to tell those at home goodbye. Jesus’ reply to that is that no one putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom. I’m not much of a farmer, but I do know that if a person is going to plow he best be looking straight ahead. Looking behind will make crooked rows when plowing and in discipleship it leads to divided allegiance.

  When Jesus chose Peter, He told him to put down his nets and follow Him. Permission to go home, wasn’t part of it. Jesus is not being hard core, unloving here. He’s dealing with divided hearts. He knew. This man would get home and a big fuss would be made, and mamma would cry, and dad would try to talk sense into his son and before long the desire to follow would be gone. It wasn’t home that concerned Jesus, it was a divided heart. This comes up often in the gospels.

• A rich young man wanted to follow Jesus. He too, had a problem of divided allegiance. It wasn’t home that was a problem, it was money. Jesus told him to sell all that he had and follow Him. He couldn’t do it.

• On other occasions Jesus said that if a person loved father or mother more than He, then he couldn’t be a disciple. Divided allegiance.

• On another occasion Jesus said that a person cannot serve God and mammon. Divided allegiance.

  Divided hearts— never works. It leads to misery. One of the worst situations is when someone has one foot in Jesus and the other foot in worldliness. What a miserable person that is. They have too much religion to do all the things their friends of the world are doing and they have too much world in them to do all the things the Christians are doing. The feeling of guilt is always with them and they walk a very unhappy life. The solution? Get committed to Jesus! They know that’s what they ought to do, but they just can’t leave the world.

  Divided hearts…divided attention…divided affections…divided priorities. This is no way to live. It’s not the way God wants you to live. These three men in Luke needed to make up their minds. It’s the same thing that you and I must do. We must make up our minds. Are we really going to be serious about Jesus or just pretend. As a preacher, I notice what we call the Easter and Christmas crowd. Those folks come to church services at Easter and Christmas because that’s what “good people do.” The rest of the year, you’ll never see them. Righteous people can’t get enough of church services. They love to sing praises, pray and hear the word of God preached. Divided hearts…or single hearts?

  There are many things that pull our attention. It takes a lot of effort not to be divided. Seek ye first the kingdom of God is the call for the single mind. We understand this in other areas of life. When a parent is really talking to their child, they want their undivided attention. They may have to grab the cell phone out of their hand to get that. Teachers want students attention. We want pilots to have undivided attention. The same goes for surgeons and soldiers. All about us we see the need for people who are focused upon what they are doing.

  The divided heart is distracted. It happens. During worship the mind wanders to what we must do the next day. We day dream. I once used church services as an opportunity to look for dates. I don’t recommend that! The divided heart has a hard time staying focused in prayer. But more than that it has a hard time making up it’s mind which side it’s on. Sin always lurks around the one who has a divided heart. It seems the divided heart takes one step in the right direction and then falls backward two steps. Progress is slow and growth minimal.

  The solution? Make up your mind about Jesus. Do I want Him or not? Do I want to follow Him or not? All the way, not just on Sunday. Am I willing to let Him take over? Paul did. He said it was no longer he who lived, but Christ lives in me. Paul was under new management. His mind was made up.

  How about you? Christ wants you to follow Him. Are you going to do it, or must you go home first and say goodbye?

  Are you ready to give Jesus the keys to your heart? It’s about time, isn’t it?

Roger