Conditions of Discipleship

Descipleship

25Now large crowds were going along with Him, and He turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who are watching it will begin to ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This person began to build, and was not able to finish!’ 31Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to face the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32Otherwise, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and requests terms of peace. 33So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

– Luke 14:25-33

28And he left everything behind, and got up and began following Him.

29And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.

– Luke 5:28-29

12

1Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

– Romans 12:1
(NASB® © 2020)
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Discipleship is not a walk in the park. It requires the complete dedication of the one who wants to follow the Lord.

When the Lord Jesus saw many people following Him, He turned around and taught them about the three “conditions” of discipleship. In doing so, He made it clear that He wanted unreserved devotion. He knew that many people followed Him with half-heartedness and only in search of miracles – hence this exhortation: “Don’t do things half-heartedly! Be fully devoted!”

What are the three conditions of discipleship?

  1. Clear priorities:

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). The parallel verse from Mt. 10:37 makes it clear that it is about giving the Lord first place. He is not satisfied with second place in my heart. So the moment anything in my life (relationships, possessions, abilities, goals, desires, etc.) is more important to me than the Lord, I am not a disciple. Elijah called out to the people: “How long will you falter between two opinions?” (1 Kings 18:21) – and elsewhere, the Lord says: “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24).

  1. The fellowship of His sufferings:

“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27). Someone who carried a cross at that time was practically already dead to the people. He no longer had any standing in this world. Disciples of Jesus on the side of their Master are therefore naturally rejected. As the Lord Himself makes clear to us (John 15:18-20; cf. 2 Timothy 3:12). So if I am a friend of the world, do not live a life separate from the world, behave like the world, and receive its applause, I am not a disciple in this moment. By the way, we are not alone in our rejection: we share the rejection of our Lord (Phil. 3:10).

  1. The complete renunciation of everything:

“So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33). Renounce everything – is this to be understood literally? In individual cases – as biblical and church-historical examples show – this can certainly be the case. The calling of Levi helps us here: “So he left all, rose up and followed Him” (Luke 5:28). The seemingly illogical sequence (first leave, then get up) shows us that it’s about surrender. Levi still kept his house, but he made it available to the Lord (cf. Lk. 5:29). This is about seeing ourselves as stewards. All that we have belongs to the Lord as we conserve it for Him.

High standards. So high, they seem unattainable. But the Lord never lowers His “100%” standards. Instead, He gives us the strength to achieve them.

So, what motivates us to put such radical teachings into practice? Our love for Him. Never compulsion, legalism, or lukewarm involuntariness (cf. Rom. 12:1). Because He has loved us, we are able to love Him back. “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18).

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