Questions We Ask Ourselves

Introduction

You know, every once in a while, my kids will come to me and they’ll ask me a question like, Dad, do I have to go to school? Whenever my son asks me a question like that, when a dad gets a question like that, it tells him that there’s more to that question than just a search for information. It’s not like when they come up and say, Dad, do you know where the cereal is? When a kid asks, Dad, do I have to go to school? Really, that question provides a window into that child’s heart and tells us something about their attitude. My son asks me, Dad, do I really have to go to school? What he’s really saying is, Dad, I don’t want to go to school.

And my heart’s not into it. Or maybe I’m having a problem there, and I really wish there was some way around it. Dad, do I have to go to school? That’s really what’s behind that question. Sometimes the questions we ask open the windows of our soul and say something to others about what’s going on in there. Say something to others about our attitude, about the condition of our hearts. And if that is true, it does make me wonder sometimes about the questions that we Christians ask in our spiritual lives. And what those questions say as they open the windows of our soul and what they reveal about our attitude. I wonder. What does it say about our attitude when a Christian asks? Do I have to go to every service?

I mean, isn’t it just enough to come on Sunday morning? Do we really have to come back tonight? And Wednesday night? And then every night of a gospel meeting? Especially those ones that last for a whole week? Does God really expect, am I required to come to every service?

Does a question like that say something about our attitude? Do I have to give? And if so, how much do I have to give? Do I have to marry a Christian? Does God really require that? What if I meet someone out here that I fall in love with and they’re not a Christian? Do I have to marry a Christian? Does God require that of me? Do I have to tell other people about Jesus? Is it required? Will I not make it to heaven if I’m not faithful to talk to my neighbor or my coworker about Jesus Christ? Do I have to do that? Do I have to read the Bible every day? And pray? Every day? Is that essential? Do I have to hang out with other Christians?

I mean, other than coming to assemblies like this, do we have to do we have to do things with Christians outside of the assembly? Do I have to go to group meetings? Is God going to hold that against me? Will I go before him in the day of judgment? Say, well, you had everything else done, but you didn’t go to group meetings, so he won’t make it. Do I have to go? I wonder. Do questions like that? Open the windows of our soul and say something about our attitude? I suspect that often they do.

I suspect that when someone says, Do I have to go to every church service? What he’s not asking is for more opportunity. What he’s really saying is, I don’t want to go. And I don’t get anything out of it. And I sure wish there was a way to get around that sense of obligation I feel to do that. Or when someone says, How much do I have to give? Rather than I’m doubtful most of the time, that is a search to be more generous. But it’s usually saying I really don’t want to give, and what I’d like to do is just give the minimum and do something else with the rest.

Sometimes the questions we ask are saying something about our commitment to Jesus Christ or the lack of it. And demonstrating that our greatest need is not really so much the answer to questions like these, but for a change in my heart.

Really made that commitment, like the song we just sang, talked about. A lot of these questions wind up answering themselves. I’m fearful that one of the greatest problems in our time is that we’re living in a time where people have been sold on cheap discipleship. That we have failed to understand the radical commitment that Christians make to Jesus Christ. And if we did understand it, we wouldn’t have some of the problems and struggles that we have. I’d like you to spend some time with me this morning thinking about the kind of commitment that a Christian makes to Jesus Christ. We’re going to call it a radical commitment because I think at least that’s the way many in the world would perceive it. I want you to consider with me some radical things that the Bible says about the kind of commitment we make to Jesus when we sign on to be a Christian.

And I want us to see this morning that how when we truly make that decision, how it will answer some of our struggles. In fact, I want to submit to you, folks, that if we would get really committed about the business of serving Jesus, it would simplify our lives. Because it would answer once and for all some of the struggles that we have. Open your Bibles with me, if you will, this morning to John chapter 8 and verse 31. I want you to consider with me four passages that say something to us about the commitment Christians make to Jesus that I think help define our relationship with Him and help us understand what it’s all about. And the first one I want you to consider with me is here in John chapter 8 and verse 31.

1. Truly Disciples: Learning From and Becoming Like Jesus

In fact, what I really want you to do is focus in with me on one particular word that Jesus would use in this passage to describe his followers. In John 8 and verse 31, Jesus said, if you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine. I want you to think with me this morning about that word disciple. It is a word in the Gospels that is used more than 200 times to describe followers of Jesus. Yet it is not a word, I think, that we typically use to describe ourselves. And yet that’s what we are. Acts 11 and verse 26 says the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. If we’re a Christian, we’ve been called to be a disciple of Jesus. Folks, I would submit to you that that term disciple is a term that is loaded with meaning and significance, that it is saying something, something radical about the commitment a Christian makes to Jesus.

It’s a term with which we need to become very familiar. The term disciple is a term that literally means a student, a learner. A disciple, in a sense, is what these young people are when they go off to school on Monday morning and sit at the feet of a teacher and listen to his or to her instruction. Fundamentally, that’s what a disciple is. He’s a student. And that tells us something basic about our relationship with Jesus Christ. It kind of defines how that relationship works. He’s the teacher, and we’re the students, and our job is to sit at his feet and learn from him. In fact, that’s the call of Jesus in Matthew 11 and verse 28. Matthew 11 and 28, Jesus says, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, listen, and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. That’s his appeal to us. To come and sit at his feet and learn from him. That’s the commitment we make when we decide to be a Christian. That Jesus will forever be our teacher, and we will forever be his student. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? Even looking back at John chapter 8 and verse 31, we see that there’s more to it than just the kind of teacher-student relationship typically that we think of.

Same word is not above his teacher, but everyone, after he has been fully trained, listen to this, will be like his teacher.

Therein is the ultimate objective of a true disciple. To be like his teacher. W. Vine, the Greek scholar, commenting on this word, said that a disciple was not only a pupil, not just a student, he says, but an adherent. Hence they are spoken of as imitators of their teacher. Linsky says that a disciple is one who has imbibed the spirit of his teacher. When I sign on to this great adventure to be a Christian, my passion in life is to become what Jesus is. To be like him in every action and every thought and every reaction, everything I do in life. I want to do what I know the Lord would do. That becomes the goal of the disciple. And you know, over and over again, the scriptures emphasize that principle.

2. Our First Responsibility Is to Him

In 1 Corinthians 11 and 1, Paul would say, Be imitators of me, just as I am of Christ. In Philippians 2 and 5, he would say, have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. When someone says I’m a Christian, he says, I’m the person who has made it my ambition, the defining goal of my life, the task of being like Jesus. And let me tell you something, folks. When we understand that and sign on and commit to that principle, that’s life altering. And it answers some questions. There’s another passage I’d like for you to look with me at and consider this morning. Turn in your Bibles, if you will, to Luke chapter 9. And I want to look there at verses 57 through 62.

And notice something else that Jesus would say to us about this commitment we make to him. Luke chapter 9. Read with me starting in verse 57. It says, and as they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. And he said to another, Follow me. But he said, Permit me first to go and bury my father. But he said to him, Allow the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God. And another said to him, I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me to go say goodbye to those at home.

But Jesus said to him, No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Little disturbing.

Is he honestly objecting to a man’s desire to attend his father’s funeral? Is he honestly objecting to a man’s desire before he leaves to go and say goodbye to the people he loves? What in the world is Jesus trying to say? I think the answer is found in a little phrase that appears in two of the responses of two of the three would-be disciples mentioned here. The first is in verse 59, where Jesus called upon a man to follow him, and he says, Permit me first. Just underline that in your Bible. There’s the key. And again in verse 61, it says, and another said, also, I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me. Underline that. There’s the problem. Jesus is trying to teach these would-be disciples a lesson about priorities.

You know, we usually don’t struggle with priorities when it comes to a choice between something, something obviously important, and something obviously unimportant, right? For example, let’s say yesterday afternoon, and let’s just make this hit home. Right in the middle of the Gator game, you get a telephone call, or for the Seminole game to the other part of the congregation. You get a call, that someone says, there’s been an accident and your child has been injured, and they’re taking him to the emergency room. Now come on. None of us would honestly stop and think, should I stay and watch the game? Or go to the emergency room. And I know some of you are big football fans, but you know, that’s an easy choice, isn’t it?

Choices about priorities are always easy when they involve things that are obviously unimportant and things that obviously are. But what if? What if, as you left to come to services this evening, your spouse said, Look, if you go tonight, I won’t be here when you get home. I’m sick of you spending all your time with those people at church and making them more important than me. And if you go to church tonight, my bags will be packed and I’ll be out the door before you get back. What would you do then? Or if you began to examine your life and discover that your job, which is your means for supporting your wife and children, was beginning to prevent you from being the kind of servant in the kingdom that you needed to be, what choice would you make then?

What Jesus is trying to teach these would-be disciples, and what he’s trying to teach us is that even when it comes to life’s most important responsibility, our first responsibility is to him.

And he wanted to teach Bible class. But he worked a swing shift on his job. And for those of you who don’t know what a swing shift is, what that in essence meant is he never knew when he was going to be working. He might be off at every service for one week, and he may not be able to be in another service for two or three weeks. He just never knew. And because of that, really, we couldn’t use him as a teacher. But a position came open that for him was a significant demotion, a significant cut and pay, and far less prestigious.

But if he took it, he would work eight to five, Monday through Friday. He could be at every service and he could teach Bible class. And he took that job. And I think he followed the principle of Luke 9. What disturbs me, folks, is not that there are probably not a lot of Christians who would do that, but that there are probably a lot of us who wouldn’t even really think of that as being an option. It’s part of this radical commitment that we make when we become a Christian. It’s what Jesus was trying to say to these would-be disciples here in Luke chapter 9, that our first priority, even when you stack up life’s most important things, is to him. And anything less is too little.

Someone has rightly said that if he’s not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all. And I tell you, we need to stop and appreciate the radical commitment to which passages like this call us.

3. Love Him Most and Give Up All Possessions

Turn over, if you will, to Luke chapter 14. And look there at verses 25 and 26. Luke chapter 14, verse 25 says, Now great multitudes were going along with 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, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. And we read that verse and we think that just can’t be so. Jesus is saying that I have to hate the people who mean the most to me, or I can’t be his disciple? How can that be? Obviously, Jesus cannot be telling us to hate our parents and spouse and children in the sense that we would despise them and desire their heart.

We all recognize that to say that would contradict what the Bible elsewhere teaches about those relationships. Which raises the question, what then is his point? I think what Jesus is trying to emphasize is the greatness of a disciple’s love for God. That even when it comes to life’s most precious, intimate, loving relationships like the love you have for your spouse or the love you feel for your children, even when it comes to those relationships and the love that exists there, Jesus is saying that true disciples love him more. And you know what? That’s not even right. That doesn’t even capture the gist of the verse. Because what he’s saying, it’s not that just we just that we love Jesus more, it’s not just that he’s at the top of the heap.

What he’s saying is that we love him far more than even life’s most precious relationships. In fact, so much more that it’s like the gap between love and hate. And I tell you, when we love Jesus Christ like that, that helps us to decide what to do when mom and dad come visit from out of town and they’re upset because we’re going to get up and go to church on Sunday. We know who comes first then. One more verse I want you to think about before we leave this subject. Look with me at Luke chapter 14 and verse 33. And now he’s going to take a shot at materialistic America. Verse 33, Jesus says, So therefore, no one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all of his own possessions.

Well, now he hits Americans where we live, doesn’t he? We live in a culture where people are measured by what they have. Measured by the size of their house and their bank account. And in a culture like ours, Jesus would say, What I want you to do is I want you to give it all up. Doesn’t that mean a disciple can’t own anything? Obviously not. Clearly, there were New Testament Christians that owned things. Paul talked to some of them in writing to Timothy, some that were quite wealthy, in fact. And he doesn’t say you can’t have it. But what he does say in this passage is you can’t own it. Jesus is trying to say that when we become disciples, his disciples, ownership of our possessions changes hands.

These things aren’t mine anymore. They belong to someone else. They belong to the Lord. And my goal in life becomes to use them to his glory. Everything I have, myself included, is put at the disposal of Jesus Christ to use as he sees fit for the good of his kingdom. Fortunately, fortunately, the Lord doesn’t actually come to us like he came to the rich young ruler. Remember that story? And said, let’s put the principle of Luke 14, 33 to the test. And he said to the rich young ruler, go sell everything you have and give the money to the poor and come follow me, and you’ll have treasure in heaven. I wonder, brethren. I wonder if he came to you and I today in prosperous America and he said, David, I want you to do that.

4. A Radical Commitment That Changes People’s Lives

I wonder what I would do. Are you beginning to get a sense, folks, that there’s far more to being a Christian than just showing up for a few services every week? Jesus is calling upon us to make a radical commitment to him. And I would add, secondly, this morning, that it is a radical commitment that changes people’s lives. I tell you, to these early Christians, these were not just grand lofty principles that folks were to sit around and kind of ponder about. They were life altering commitments. And you look at the early Christians, and it did alter their lives. For many, it fundamentally altered the course of their lives. I tell you, these early Christians, some of them lived unbelievably corrupt lives. Over in 1 Corinthians chapter 6.

And verse 9, Paul would talk about some of the corruption that existed among these folks before they became Christians. In 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 9, he says, Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers shall inherit the kingdom of God. Look at verse 11. He says, And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. He said, That’s what you were. That’s how you lived. Before you did this. And it changed them.

Their lives completely took on a new direction. In fact, in writing to the Ephesians in Ephesians 4 and verse 22, Paul would describe it as the putting off of an old self and the putting on of a whole new man. It radically changed their lives. And talk about radical change. Think about the guy who was writing about this. What a change he underwent. From the most avid of persecutors of God’s people to the one of the greatest preachers of God’s people. What a change took place in Paul’s life. Why? Because of a commitment that he made. It altered the course of their lives. It set them out on a mission. The early Christians could not keep to themselves the wonderful news about the salvation available in Jesus.

And they were busy sharing that message with whoever would listen. And the early church was vibrant and growing and alive because Christians were busy preaching the word. Even when they suffered for it. They kept preaching the word. Acts 8 and verse 4 tells us. That those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose in connection with Stephen. What did they do? Went and timidly hid in the corner somewhere.

How do you go out and preach Christ when people are being killed for preaching Christ? Because they’d made a commitment. That before everything else, yes, even their own life, Jesus Christ was their first responsibility. Some of them suffered tremendously for that decision. Look over, if you will, for a minute to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. I’ve always been over so overwhelmed with what Paul would write in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians, starting in verse 23 about what he suffered. 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 23, he says, Are they servants of Christ? I speak as if insane. I more so. In far more labors and far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked.

A night and the day I’ve spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journey on frequent journeys and dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren. I have been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights and hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things. There is daily pressure upon me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? And who is led into sin without my intense concern? Listen to what he’s suffering. You know what’s amazing about that? In a later passage, Paul would describe all of this as the light affliction that he had to endure.

Why’d you do it?

Because of that. Because he’d made a commitment to put Jesus Christ before everything else. And his work and his mission before everything else. What I’m trying to get us to see this morning is that this decision to follow Jesus, once settled in our hearts, is life ultimate. Should be.

5. Questions That Get Answered and Never Asked Again

Been convinced that if they’ll just come to most of the services and they’ll refrain from the really big sins, don’t kill anybody. That’s really all the Lord wants. And if we’re thinking that way, we miss the spirit of the song that Basil just let us in. It’s not just about that. I fear at times that we have not begun to appreciate the depth of commitment that goes with the claim to be a Christian, and that if we did, we wouldn’t wrestle with some of the things that we wrestle with. Folks, when your heart is right, when I possess this kind of commitment to Jesus, I’m going to tell you something. There are some questions that get answered and never asked again. When someone’s really committed to Jesus Christ, he doesn’t ask, do I have to go to every service?

When you think about what we’re here to do to worship God, to be instructed in His will, to have others encourage us to do that. To someone whose number one priority is Jesus Christ and His kingdom, nothing else could possibly be of greater importance than those kinds of things. To someone whose highest ambition in life is to be like Jesus, he isn’t going to want to do anything else. When I read passages like 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and think of all that suffered, Paul suffered for the cause, and then we ponder and then think about and ponder how we act as though we have been inconvenienced when we have to go to a service every night, the week of a meeting. Brethren, I am ashamed. Doesn’t that draw into question the depth of our commitment?

Does it say something about the shallowness of it?

You see, just asking the question may well be opening the windows of my soul and revealing something that is not good. When someone is truly committed to being a disciple of Jesus, he won’t find himself asking, do I have to teach other people about that? You see, a true disciple, remember, more than anything else, wants to be just like Jesus. And folks, you can’t read the gospels without being impressed that Jesus was a soul winner. Of all the things that we would imitate about his life, how could we miss that one? And beyond that, he tells us to go win souls. That’s what he’s commissioned his disciples to do. And as someone whose highest ambition is life is to put Jesus first and to do what he wants me to do more than anything else, how can I not win souls?

But you know, more simple than that, how can we not tell people something so wonderful? If we will call a friend on the phone to tell him about the great shoe cell at Walmart, come on. Just asking the question. He is opening the window of my heart and saying something that isn’t good. Someone who’s truly committed to being a disciple of Jesus won’t find himself asking, do I have to do things with other Christians?

Can you imagine Jesus saying that? If he were here among us saying, Do I really have to hang out with these people outside the assembly? And then enough just come here and do these things. Can we for a moment fathoming our Lord even thinking that way?

We can’t. Can you imagine Jesus saying, I’m too busy to go to a group meeting? As those who want most to be like Jesus and to please him with our lives, how can we not desire to be with people who encourage us to do that? That’s not something we have to be made to do. That’s something we want to do. And if we don’t, something’s not right. When I’ve made a commitment to Jesus Christ, I don’t ask the question, do I have to marry a Christian? When it’s my ambition in life to be like Jesus, why would I choose a spouse who doesn’t share that same passion? And who’s going to pull me away, not closer to him?

Can I gripe a little about a pet peeve? When I’m truly committed to being a disciple of Jesus Christ, I’m not going to find myself arguing with other Christians over whether or not it’s appropriate to go to R-rated movies.

I won’t argue about that because I know Jesus wouldn’t go see a movie like that. And more than anything else, I want to be like Jesus. And that there are Christians in our time who justify seeing movies with raw language and violence and nudity. When brethren, we know in our hearts, the Lord wouldn’t find that fit viewing. He wouldn’t go to it. And we’d be embarrassed to have him with us if we were watching it. When we know that and we still go, something’s wrong with our commitment.

We don’t have that kind of commitment that loves him first and puts him first. In fact, that’s just a principle that, when properly applied, is going to solve a whole lot of stuff. Ask yourself, would Jesus do it?

How many times would that stop us in our tracks? True disciples. Don’t ask, do I have to read the Bible? Do I have to pray? They want to do that. And if I don’t, something’s wrong. In fact, brethren, let me go back to what I said to you at the beginning. Making a real once-for-all commitment to Jesus simplifies things. It makes it easier. Because so many of the things that give us trouble and make us struggle and wrestle, they’re answered by that commitment. You see, so often, at the very heart of so many of our struggles as Christians is just that. It’s our hearts. We’ve not really made up our minds. We’ve not really decided once for all, who is it that I’m serving with my life?

6. Choose for Yourselves Today Whom You Will Serve

And accepted all the implications that go with that decision. I’m fearful that too many of us are trying to live life with a foot in the kingdom and yet one foot still dragging behind in the world. And as a result, we’re constantly being pulled in two competing directions and wrestling with things that when committed, we ought not wrestle with. Turn back with me, if you will, to Joshua chapter 24.

We’re not the first to wrestle with the need to make that decision. Even this great generation of Israelites who in great faith went up and conquered the promised land, unlike their predecessors. Even this great generation of Israelites, as they began to settle the land, had to be called upon by their leader to make a decision. In Joshua 24 and verse 14, Joshua says, Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your father served beyond the river and Egypt and serve the Lord. And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served, which are beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you’re living, but as for me and my house will serve the Lord.

Joshua said, You folks have got to make a decision. Who’s it going to be? You’re going to serve these idols or are you going to serve the Lord? You know, often we read those two verses and we stop. But there’s a lot more to the story. We do well to read the rest of the chapter. Because in verses 16, 17, and 18, the people respond. Look at the end of verse 18. We will also serve the Lord, for he is our God. We’ll do it. We choose God. Joshua’s not ready to accept their answer yet. It says then Joshua said to the people, verse 9, you will not be able to serve the Lord. For he is a holy God. He is a jealous God, and he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and he will harm and consume you after he has done good to you. And the people said to Joshua, no, but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua said to the people, you are witnesses against yourself that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. They said, We choose God. And he said, It’s not going to be easy. They say, That’s okay. We choose God. He says, Okay. Let’s get to the application. Verse 23. If that’s your choice, now therefore put away the foreign gods which are in your midst. And incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel. He said, okay, if that’s your choice, here’s where we start.

You’ve still got idols in the camp. Get rid of it. If your choice is really for God, you choose him and you serve him first. It wasn’t enough to speak the words. They had to live the life consistent with the choice. It is not enough for us, brethren, just to say, oh no, I choose God. Do we? Do we choose him like he says he needs to be chosen? Where we become his disciple, that the goal in our life, the greatest ambition, what we want more than anything, is to be just like Jesus. Where our first responsibility of all the important things I have to do is to him, where my love for him exceeds even the most precious relationships in this life, where everything I own has changed possessions, it’s his now and used to his glory.

Is that the commitment we’ve made?

Conclusion

If we did, we wouldn’t ask some of the questions we sometimes ask. Take out your song books and turn to the number that Basil has selected as the invitation song. And I would challenge you as we sing that song in just a moment to ponder the choice that it calls for us to make. Maybe there are some in our audience who have never even once chosen Jesus to be his servant. Listen, we don’t want to pull any punches about what the Lord is calling you to do. The song Basil led us before the sermon, I surrender all. That’s the call of the Lord. Someone says, why would you do that? Why would you give up everything? Surrender all to Jesus because you need him. Without him, there is no salvation.

Because you’re better off with him. Life is never as good as it is lived with Christ. And because he’s our only hope beyond this life. But for that, he calls for our complete surrender to his will. Will you do that today? Or maybe there’s one in this audience that is a Christian, but you realize that’s not been my commitment. And there needs to be today a rededication, a new true commitment to be his disciples. We want to urge you to repent of that past neglect and determine to live for him this morning. If we can help you do that, let us know. Come as together we stand as we stand in sin.