The true mark of Christianity on this earth is not a crown. It’s a cross.
The cross was inconvenient. It was messy. I’m so thankful for the cross because without it we have nothing. But it not only gives everything to us, it requires everything from us.
What does it require? We can sum it up in one word. Discipleship.
Discipleship is inconvenient. It should disrupt your schedule. Throw you off kilter every once in a while. It should mess with your sleep, cause you to miss a meal or two, and lead you to walk away from some things in your life.
Discipleship literally means to become like Christ in everything. Discipleship is messy, not tidy. It doesn’t fit nicely on our calendars like appointments that have a start and stop time.
In Mark chapter 6, we see so much happening. Jesus does some teaching in the synagogue. The twelve disciples go out on a ministry trip. John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, is beheaded. Then they all meet back together and are so busy ministering to the people they don’t even have time to eat.
So Jesus shut the door to take them away to rest. They were exhausted. Hungry. Grieving. I’d say they needed it, wouldn’t you? (You can read it here.)
But before they got to rest, they got delayed by compassion. Jesus saw the crowds, had compassion on them and began to teach them. The disciples thought they were on their way to some R&R, but it turned into a long day of work. It ended in the miracle of feeding the 5,000+ and then finally some rest, but the day definitely didn’t go as planned.
That’s discipleship. They stopped everything in their hungry and tired state to minister because Jesus said to do it. (I just want to make note that He did send them to rest after they cleaned up the leftover food. He’s not against rest. Selah.)
Discipleship requires disciplines. The Church today shies away from the word disciplines like it’s a swear word. “That’s legalism! That’s religion! This is relationship.”
Disciplines are not legalism. Disciplines don’t make you religious. They show you’re a serious, dedicated disciple.
The difference between living a legalistic, religiously disciplined life and the life of a disciple of Jesus is the motive. One does it to earn salvation and one does it out of love birthed in salvation.
The foundation of discipleship is love. It’s personal devotion to the One who gave His all for us. How can we hold anything back from Him?
The very definition of devotion is love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity or cause. Having dedication and earnest attachment to. The synonyms for devotion are: dedication, affection, allegiance, commitment, attentiveness, admiration, adherence.
That last one caught my attention and reminded me of John 14:15. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Jesus connected love to adherence. Not man.
Devotion drives a person to extravagant action. Likewise, our actions reveal our devotion.
Passion looks like sacrifice to those who aren’t in love.
Think back to when you were dating your spouse and the crazy things you did to be together. When Mikel and I were dating/engaged his last year of college, he would drive 12 hours home only to sleep, spend 12 hours with me, sleep and drive 12 hours back to school. People thought he was crazy. All that gas money. You hardly get to even see her. Was it really worth it? It was to us! To them it looked like a sacrifice. To us, it was love.
Okay, now it’s time for a checkup. When was the last time you drove 12 hours to see Jesus? (Not literally, you understand. We could as easily say stayed up late? Got up early? Turned off the tv?) Does your walk with God inconvenience you? Require something of you? Contain the daily disciplines because you just want to be closer to Him?
If not, it may be time for some changes. It may be time to set some things aside so we can pick up our cross and press into a closer walk with Him. And lest you think I’ve arrived, these words of the apostle Paul echo through me daily.
Not that I have already obtained this or been perfected, but I press on if only I might take hold of that for which Messiah Yeshua took hold of me.
Philippians 3:12 (tlv)
There is a crown for the Christian. It’s waiting for us in glory. It’s the evidence of our life in God, a sign of what we did in Him and with Him and for Him on this earth because we picked up our cross to follow Him. It’s what we’ll lay at His feet one day when we stand before Him to be judged. Let’s not get so distracted by the crown that we forget to pick up our cross.
So, are you a disciple?
