My granddaughter, Addie, joined me on Friday afternoon in browsing in a local bookstore at some of the popular “Christian” titles. Though we saw many interesting and helpful books, I thought that the titles of quite a few proved revealing. See if you agree.
And then one sermon or series by Joel Osteen, the purveyor of pop self-help books under the guise of Christianity, also has to be mentioned, “Discover the Champion in You.”
If I knew little about the Christian faith, which is where most folks seem to be, then I would get the idea from these titles that Christianity is all about me. It is good religious therapy; it’s the way to help me feel good about myself and make the most out of my goals in life. In all fairness, a title doesn’t always accurately convey the contents of a book. There may be some worthwhile things in each of these books. But if their authors want to use the Christian faith and a sprinkling of Bible verses as a means toward self- discovery and self-improvement, then we must say without question, they have misunderstood what Christianity is all about. It’s not about you…or me. It’s not about being successful or having my “best life now.” It’s not about becoming a “better you” or looking great and feeling great. It’s not about repositioning yourself so that you live “life without limits.” It’s not about releasing your potential. It’s about Jesus Christ. It’s about His power to save and to call a people to Himself that will live lives of radical obedience to Him. It’s about repenting of your sins, trusting in Jesus Christ, dying to yourself, carrying your cross, and abandoning yourself wholly to Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ never hesitates to remind His disciples that His kingdom is not about ensuring success or improving self-esteem or making us popular with the world. Christianity, the gospel, and the kingdom of God are about Jesus Christ redeeming a people for Himself to live wholly unto Him. That’s what we’re gathered to consider as we think upon Jesus’ sermon to His disciples as He sent them into the world. We need the same reminders so that we don’t get trapped in the lair of cultural Christianity. How does Jesus Christ instruct us as He sends all of us into the world to bear testimony to His gospel? Notice with me five reminders of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
As Jesus sent the Twelve on their mission into the Galilean region, He looked beyond the immediate ministry. He included it but gave a far-reaching explanation of what His disciples would face through the centuries. In some villages and homes, they would be received. In others, they would be rejected. He sent them—and us—“out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” There would be scourgings, arrests, and testimonies before political officials. There would be betrayals, even within the scope of one’s family. “You will be hated by all because of My name,” Jesus explained; then He exhorted without hesitation, “but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved” (10:22).
It’s not about you but about Jesus Christ accomplishing through You His purpose, shaping your life to His glory. That might involve suffering and trials and even death. Yet that is the call of Christian discipleship. Notice how our Lord explains this.
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.” You are a disciple—a follower or learner of Jesus Christ. He is the Teacher. You are a slave—a servant, one committed to doing his master’s will. He is the Master. As Teacher, you listen to His voice—how He instructs you through His Word, what He demands of you. As Master you follow His commands. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). This is the same teacher/master image rolled into one picture with Christ as our Shepherd.
When we begin to chart the course for our lives or refuse obedience to Christ’s commands or ignore the demands of discipleship in our daily lives, then we’ve shifted positions. We’ve become the teacher and master. That’s the lure of self-centeredness and rebellion. Remember your position: you are a disciple following His teacher, a slave obeying His master.
“It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master.” That’s one of the great understatements of Scripture! Hear the irony in Christ’s tone. “It is enough,” it is sufficient “for the disciple to become like his teacher.” He strikes at the heart of our pride in wanting to elevate ourselves above others. It’s sufficient for you to be like Christ—that’s what He’s declaring. For a disciple to be like his teacher or a slave like his master meant that the inferior had embraced the purpose and life of his superior. In our case, it’s a call to be shaped in the image of Jesus Christ. Recall Paul’s theological explanation of this in Romans 8:29: “For those whom He foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” Predestination is not just the certainty that one is chosen but more so, the certainty that the whole aim of Christ’s redemptive work is that you might be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Our God is not interested in you remaining like you. His purpose through Christ is that you, as a believer, might be conformed to Christ. Such likeness to Christ affects your character—evident by the fruit of the Spirit—the character of Christ manifesting itself in and through you (Gal. 5:22-23). This likeness to Christ affects your relationships, so that like Christ who came not to be served but to serve, you learn what it is to love as Christ loved, forgive as Christ forgives, serve as Christ serves, and bear burdens as Christ bears burdens.
Likeness to Christ calls for detailed knowledge of Him. That’s why we study, read, meditate, memorize, and discuss the Word. We want to know what He has taught us. Likeness to Christ calls for detailed following of Him. That’s why we pay close attention to His commands and instructions.
Jesus lets us know that likeness to Him also calls for suffering joyfully, as He did. “If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!” To be identified with Jesus Christ is the highest commendation men can bestow upon men, even if it is done derisively. “Beelzebul” was a derisive title given to Satan that meant “lord of the flies” or “lord of dung.” It comes from the idea of flies buzzing around garbage heaps and manure piles. Imagine the folly of men calling Jesus Christ such a name! Here the Savior of sinners, who healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, fed the multitudes, restored the skin of lepers, and raised the dead called by men “lord of dung”! To make such a comment demonstrates the ignorance of men and the folly of their hearts. If they did this to Jesus Christ, the same ignorance, blindness, and folly will motivate their derision of His followers. When it happened to the disciples, as Luke records in Acts 5, even though flogged after the condemnation of the Sanhedrin, “they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name” (5:41).
It’s not about you—it’s about Christ shaping you in His image as His followers.
There’s the repetitive note, “do not fear,” by which Jesus Christ calls His disciples to a steady walk even in the face of adversity and opposition. He calls for an open display of your relationship to Him even if it means suffering for His sake. Fear strikes right at the heart of this call to consistent, open following of Christ.
“Therefore do not fear them,” that is, those calling you derisive names, “for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” Here Jesus speaks of the fear of being maligned by others, of being the object of their chatter and hatred, being disdained by them and the object of their jokes, and being ill-thought of even by those whom you try to serve. How does fear operate in this case? John Piper explains, “Fear is what you feel when your greatest values are threatened” [“Even the Hairs of My Head are All Numbered,” p. 6]. The “therefore” of Christ’s command calls for a reordering of these values. Instead of putting stock in the opinions of the world, we place our greatest value upon honoring Christ.
Jesus assures us that truth will ultimately be displayed. Nothing that is concealed will remain concealed. That cuts both ways: the truth of Christ and the wickedness of men. The malicious motives of others will be exposed—and judged by Christ. Vindication will come for the Christian. Christ’s truth will be revealed for its eternal value. So don’t fear; a day of vindication will come.
But what if someone tries to hurt me because I’m a Christian? The fear of personal loss or even death at the hands of gospel opponents can freeze our gospel enthusiasm! But Jesus reminds us, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” As Piper paraphrases it, “Don’t fear! You can only be killed!” [p. 6] There’s something more important than your body and your physical well-being. It’s your soul. Don’t live for the body so that you deny Christ. Fear the one who rules over body and soul for eternity.
That’s what Jesus assures us. Notice His instructions. First, heed Christ’s command. “Do not fear them…do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul…so do not fear.” It’s a matter of choosing obedience in the face of opposition, seeing that the command of Christ carries more weight than the threats of men—eternity matters more than temporal loss. As Peter and the apostles told the Sanhedrin who threatened them if they dared to continue living and speaking in the name of Christ, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Let that be your heartbeat.
Second, keep your earthly mission in view. “What I tell you in the darkness speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” In other words, unlike the cults and secret societies that people align with, we have nothing to hide as Christians. We must not shy away from speaking openly the truths of Christ to the world. Proclaim them upon the housetops, that is, be bold and visible with the Christian message even if you face opposition.
Third, keep the Lord as Judge in perspective. That’s why we are to not fear the one that can only kill the body but not the soul; “but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Think regularly about your soul and eternity. Do not let the world intimidate you into silence or denying Christ. Before the days of the printing press, Sir John Oldcastle titled Lord Cobham in the south of England, was responsible for hand written copies of John Wycliffe’s translation of the Scripture into English. He also saw to it that the Scripture was widely distributed in Canterbury, London, and other areas even though the Catholic Church forbade the English translation and its distribution. He said, “I would sooner risk my life than submit to such unjust decrees as dishonour the everlasting Testament.” In spite of being a friend of the king, Sir John was arrested. The priests attempted to extract a confession and plea for absolution of this offense of distributing the Scriptures. He responded, “I ask not your absolution: it is God’s only that I need.” Though the priests continued their tirade against him, Sir John refused to recant his faith in Christ or commitment to obedience to Christ alone. Consequently, the archbishop condemned him to death. “It is well,” said Sir John; “though you condemn my body, you can do no harm to my soul, by the grace of my eternal God.” Though he temporarily escaped them, he was eventually recaptured and “suspended by chains over a slow fire, and cruelly burned to death” [Merle d’Aubigne, The Reformation in England, vol. 1, 104-105]. He bore up under such time because he did not fear those that could only kill the body.
Fourth, rely upon the Father’s providential governing of the details of our lives. “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Sparrows were food for the poor, sold cheaply in the marketplace. Yet not even a sparrow falls outside God’s sovereign governance. Here believers through the centuries have found the greatest comfort in knowing that our wise Father governs the details of our lives—even when the providence may seem bitter at the time. The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism addresses this clearly.
Question 1. What is thy only comfort in life and death?
Answer. That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ, who, with his precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that, without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation: and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready henceforth to live unto him.
Fifth, meditate upon the Father’s care and love. “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” If God governs even the multitude of sparrows, know that His care for you far surpasses that of these little creatures. As Paul put it in Romans 8:31-32, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Rest in His wise, loving care as you visibly and vocally follow Christ.
Confession implies an agreement or an open solidarity with Christ as He has been revealed in the Scripture, particularly in the gospel. Confession is not just verbal, though it includes that, but it is the agreement of your life and lips with Christ. “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.” Jesus has something more in mind than the mistaken notion that this is relegated to the so-called one-time “profession of faith.” That’s included, for sure, but it involves the whole of one’s life. His saving work in us continues until the day we stand glorified before Him (cf. Rom. 8:26ff). It’s a life of confessing Jesus Christ before men. John Calvin explained it well. “There is no believer whom the Son of God does not require to be his witness. In what place, at what time, with what degree of frequency, in what manner, and to what extent, we ought to profess our faith, cannot easily be determined by a fixed rule; but we must consider the occasion, that not one of us may fail to discharge his duty at the proper time” [Calvin’s Commentaries, XVI, 467].
This call for ongoing confession of Christ confronts the casual Christianity and Christianity-by-convenience so prevalent in our day. It’s what I’ve previously called a cocooned version of Christianity—one that is comfortably packaged and hidden from reality. It’s an invisible Christianity that Christ speaks against. “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” This is not a divine way to extract a solitary “profession of faith.” Instead, it is the reality that Christ’s saving work in us brings us into solidarity with Him, even if that means facing suffering or death for His sake. Ligon Duncan told of meeting a young man on a visit to London as he stood outside the Tower of London. The boy had grown up in a house of atheists but when he was around 14 or 15, he heard a Lutheran pastor proclaim the gospel of Christ, and he came to faith in Christ. He began by confessing Christ before his parents. “That’s fine,” they said, “you’re out.” Kicked out of his home while only a young teenager, he remained steadfast. He made his way to London where he began working as a janitor in a Baptist Church. When Ligon ran into him, the young man was studying for gospel ministry. His confession of Christ cost him dearly but his solidarity with Jesus Christ meant more than the temporal relationships of this life.
Jesus explains that anything less than this life of confession of Christ is not true discipleship. Study the context in Matthew 10:16-23. See how Jesus warned of what His disciples will face. Yet the call of true discipleship is not about you; it’s about Jesus Christ and regular confession of Him as Lord before the world.
Christ addresses a mental posture that some have mistakenly embraced. “Do not think,” He says, or “do not suppose” or “do not presume to think.” “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.” Jesus uses a Hebrew figure of speech known as mashal. It is paradox intended to arrest our thinking, and even change the way we think. So we can hear the Prince of Peace declaring that He came not to bring peace but a sword. He contradicts the soft view of Christianity that presents a dainty version of the Christian life where everything comes up roses. “Well, I just don’t want to think of people opposing Jesus and His followers.” Our Lord debunks this kind of mindset. His shocking words are to change the way we think. Don’t think like that, He commands. Face it—face the reality; the gospel divides. It’s not because of flaws in the gospel but due to the depravity in men. Bishop J.C. Ryle explained, “So long as one man believes, and another remains unbelieving—so long as one is resolved to keep his sins, and another desirous to give them up, the result of the preaching of the Gospel must needs be divisive. For this the Gospel is not to blame, but the heart of man” [Expository Thoughts upon the Gospels, vol. 1, 106].
Jesus Christ calls us to ultimate loyalty to Him even if it means that our family rejects us. John MacArthur told about a young lady that he met at a conference whose family rejected her when she became a believer. She said of her atheistic father, “I can understand why he objects to my decision, because he knows nothing of the gospel and believes all religion is superstition. But you would think he would at least be happy that I am not an alcoholic, drug addict, prostitute, criminal, or a cripple. I have never had such joy in my life, and I have never loved my father so much; yet he has cut me out of his life” [MacArthur’s NT Commentaries: Matthew, vol. II, 231].
How do we bear up even when rejected for the sake of the gospel by those we love? John Piper expressed it well in a letter he sent to young pastors to encourage them to press on even when rejected by others. “I believe with all my heart that the secret of preaching well (living well!) when the guns are pointed, will be whether we have learned to love the taste of the BREAD OF HEAVEN far above the taste of life in this world. “They steadfast love, O Lord, is better than life”” [“The Dangers of Following Jesus,” p. 4]. Let us embrace the life of discipleship given to us by Christ.
What we’ve considered this morning runs contrary to much of the pop-Christianity that we face day after day. But as you’ve noted, unlike pop-Christianity, it’s rooted clearly in the teaching of Jesus Christ—the Author and Finisher of our Faith. Christ came into the world to redeem a people for Himself, who would consequently, live worthy of the gospel in the face of the world. That’s the call of Christ for each of us. It’s not about you—it’s about the honor and glory of Jesus Christ.
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