Episode Transcript
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Josh.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: And I'm Gabriel.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: And today on reading the gospel, we are studying the event, counting the cost of discipleship. This is found in Luke, chapter 14, and we'll be reading from verse 25 through 35.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Now, great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
For which of you, desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost? Whether he has enough to complete it. Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock it, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish, or what.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: King going out to encounter another king in war will not sit down first and deliberate? Whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him, who comes against him with 20,000, and if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation to ask for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good. But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears, let him hear.
So this event here starts out with a very shocking statement. If anyone comes to me and does not hate and goes through this list, are we called to hate our parents, ourselves, our brothers, our sisters?
It's Jesus words.
[00:02:38] Speaker B: I will answer your question by referring to a parallel passage that is in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter ten, when exactly the same idea is communicated with a slightly different concept. Matthew 1037. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
I think this is the last event of a long chapter. Luke, chapter 14, about priorities.
And Jesus starts soft. And when he gets to the end of the chapter, he is very sharp and very direct.
So if we really want to follow Jesus Christ, it's not enough to come to him, but we have to make a very drastic decision of putting him first. In a language used by Orientals in that time, it's about hating Matthew that translates that into a similar language is loving more.
[00:03:49] Speaker A: And Jesus in other places talks about the importance of upholding the commandments. And one of the commandments is honor your father and mother. Yes, so Jesus here is not going back. He's not abolishing that commandment. He's not saying, we now live in a new era where we're supposed to hate. Like you said, this is a shocking statement made to get a point across where Jesus in Matthew said, unless you love me more, well, love me more is kind of subjective, relative. It's relative. And in doing this, am I loving Jesus more or know here he's drawing the line in the sand. He's using this strong language to make so there's not going to be any question.
Jesus has to come first. And in the home, when there's conflict with my faith and my family, I have to stand for Jesus. In my life. When there's conflict with my desires and Jesus, I have to stand with Jesus.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: And I like to unpack a little bit more verse 26, because this is the pattern on which a previous story was built. Verse 26. If anyone comes to me and doesn't set his or her priorities right, the end of the verse said, he cannot be my disciple. So to come to Jesus is very important, but it is also very important to follow him.
So the story that was built on this pattern is the story of the rich young ruler. He came to Jesus the right person at the right time to ask the right question, what should I do to inherit the kingdom of God? But he was not ready to follow Jesus Christ because he was not ready to set his priorities straight. Jesus told him something very drastic. You go home, you sell everything you have, and he was one of the top three richest people in Jerusalem that time. And after that, you come and follow me.
I see the same drastic requirement, very high standard set by Jesus Christ for his inner circle of disciples, for those who were sent first as the first batch of apostles.
If you come to Jesus Christ, you have to set your priorities straight.
And I like the way you put it. To avoid this relativism or subjectivism, you better say you have to hate this in order to love that. That means a clear cut separation between who is the most important in your life.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: And this is so critical because as christians, if we are not 100% for God, we give Christ a bad name.
When we go out there claiming to be christians and take advantage of others, use others. When we're out there looking out for ourself, when we're doing things that are not christlike in the name of Christ, we do more harm than good.
I think it's critical that we have these strong languages so that we know just how much God takes our actions, how serious they are to God. We're not saved by being good by our works.
Our works are a result of salvation, that we should have good works in our lives. If we're saved, there should be changes happening, and we shouldn't be walking away from God and choosing to do our own thing.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: Yes, as we discussed in the previous episode, we accept the invitation to the wedding. And as a result of that, our priorities will be aligned. Our calendar will be changed. We have to buy other clothes. We have to plan it differently.
Other priorities are being aligned or in line with accepting this new invitation.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: So what does this passage tell us about God?
[00:08:28] Speaker B: Well, when I read this, and I read it multiple times recently, I thought about the first commandment when God revealed himself. The first commandment says, you shall not have other gods beside me. Our God is a God of everything or nothing.
Our God is not a God of a divided heart or split priorities or after thoughts relationship with him.
When God invites us to follow him, he wants us to do it completely.
So sometimes our God is getting to the point when he's presenting a very clear cut requirement or invitation, and this is one of them.
[00:09:18] Speaker A: For me, I see God as systematic.
Jesus, before he goes back to heaven, he charges his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them all things. So today there's a debate that I hear constantly, when do we baptize someone? How much knowledge do they need? What should they know? And this idea of, there's an army coming, you want to count the cost. You want to know what it means.
I think there's wisdom in that, that we want people to know what it means to be a follower of Christ, not just jump in, say, yeah, I'm going to follow Christ. I'm ready. But to know what is God really calling us to do? What is he calling us to be? It doesn't mean we need to be perfect, but we need that understanding. And so I see that in God. He's a God that has set systems in place.
[00:10:16] Speaker B: I like how Jesus Christ introduced this in verse 28. For which of you desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost?
Sitting down, analyzing. Following Christ should not be just an emotional decision, which later down the road, we may realize that is transient.
It is primarily a cognitive decision that is anchored in our emotions, that encompasses the whole life, that elevates us to a new standard, a new position, resets our priorities.
Following God is sitting down first, analyzing or counting the cost to be sure that we can finish the race.
[00:11:17] Speaker A: So how is this passage speaking to you today? And what are you going to do about it?
[00:11:23] Speaker B: Sit down.
Count the cost.
Counting the cost. What does it mean? You have to envision the tower being already built and fulfilling its purpose.
In the same way, I had to have an idea about my spiritual journey. I may not know all the details. I don't know what Satan is going to throw at me tomorrow, but I know the main steps of the journey because they are made by Jesus Christ ahead of me. This is why we study his life. This is why we read the gospel, because that gives us an idea of our way forward, our spiritual journey on the way Everlasting.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: For me, it's the last two verses that are speaking to me. And the salt is good. But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
He then says, it's no good. You throw it out. It's not good for the garden. It's not good for the manure pit, anything like that. But he's asking a question. Salt is good. But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
The person who's asking this question is the miracle worker. He's the one who heals the blind. He's the one who restores the lame. He's the one who can make the salt in our life tasteful again for me, as I read this, if I find myself slipping away, that I'm finding, well, I like these things more than God, or I'm not ready to fully commit to him. If I find that my saltiness is losing its taste, I can come back to God and ask him to restore that taste. I think of David. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation and renew a right spirit within me.
When we fall as a Christian, we're not done. We don't have to look at these passages and say, well, I cannot be God's disciple. I'm lost. There's no hope. We can come back and ask for restoration.
[00:13:40] Speaker B: And I like how these verses conclude the whole chapters about priorities.
At first sight, these two verses, 34 and 35 don't have a direct connection with priorities, but in fact they do.
The salt and giving taste with its saltiness is about purpose.
God has created us for a purpose. And when we feel that we are slipping away or God is revealing that to us, what should we do? We should pause and analyze our priorities.
Our priorities should be aligned or in line with the purpose. God has created us for a purpose, and we cannot enjoy life until we start fulfilling that purpose.
And as we realize that we are not doing that. We should pause. We should analyze our priorities, reset them. Hate something. Love the Lord, put him number one and the saltiness would come back and the purpose for which God has created us will be fulfilled.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: Let us pray. Father God, we want to be salty. We want to be on fire for you. We want to be someone that others desire to be around because they see something different.
Father, we want you to be first in our lives.
We desire all these things. And so we ask that you will come into our lives and you will change who we are.
That we can get to places, Father, where we will choose you above anyone else. So please work in us and do that work each and every day in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
