I Follow Jesus (Up To A Point)

"I follow Jesus up to a point."

"Could that point by any chance be--the cross?"

"That's right. I follow Him to the cross, but not on the cross. I'm not getting myself crucified."

"Then I don't believe you're a disciple. You're an admirer of Jesus, but not a disciple of His. I think you ought to go back to the church you belong to, and tell them you're an admirer, not a disciple."

--TAKEN FROM Mere Discipleship by Lee C. Camp

In the minds of those who follow Jesus "up to a point," church means holding on to certain "right" or "sound" doctrines, or worshiping in the correct way, or having the "right" things preached. Jesus is admired, even extolled and praised. Jesus is taken as my Savior, forgiving me of my sins, so I need not feel bad about myself; "Jesus" may give me "meaning in life;" "Jesus" may give me "authenticity."

"Whatever the case, this mode of Christian faith does not embrace Jesus as a Master whom we are to follow, and certainly not to follow to the cross. Filled with such admirers, "church" becomes a community concerned to "do church right." "Church" subsequently has little to do with discipleship, with faithfulness, with such transformation that obedience to the Lord is truly enabled."

"This way of thinking about "church" can, of course, take a variety of shapes and forms: there are those who set forth a set of "marks of the church" or "doctrines" to which one must hold. If one holds the correct doctrines, and worships in the right way, or baptizes in the right way, or does not participate in a certain list of activities deemed immoral, then one may, after all, be allowed entrance to heaven."

"Obedience" is indeed required--there may be a very rigorous personal moral code that supposedly determines one's standing before God. But such obedience required may have little connection to the coming of the kingdom of God that challenges the systems and commitments and institutions of this world that stand in rebellion to the will of God."

--LEE C. CAMP, "What Disciples Believe: The Church," in Mere Discipleship, pp. 111-112.

"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, and 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 him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks 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 to hear, let him hear" (Luke 14:25-35).

In the west, we have removed "bearing one's cross" from its original context of death by a Roman cross. While what we misinterpret Jesus to mean (disease, bad relationships, misfortune, etc.) are very serious in nature, misinterpreting Jesus changes His original intent and, consequently, the purpose for which He intended His doctrine in His kingdom (Rev. 22:18).