Pass the Salt Please.

25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, "This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. 34 "Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" Luke 14

There are two ways to follow Jesus, according to his terms or according to ours. Following him by his terms requires absolute obedience; ours requires obedience, but it's an unauthentic, false, and dominating type of obedience. The former can only be done as an individual, the latter can be done as part of a crowd. In this passage Jesus, as usual, is with a crowd. They are following him, but they are not followers, not the majority of them. They are part of a crowd, so most of them just do as the crowd does. Therefore, they will rejoice when a miracle is performed and they will shout "Hosanna!" But they will just as soon cry out "Crucify him!" Jesus, knowing that it is impossible to follow him as part of a crowd turns to them and essentially individualizes the crowd.

"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."

He tells them something that would immediately make each person think about their own situation, their own family, their own financial status, and their own social standing in the community. From this day forward even if they decided to continue following Jesus around as part of a crowd they would know that their following isn't that of the disciples variety, but rather a cheap imitation that only leads one to humiliation and bondage (vs. 28-32).

Two-thousand years later it seems like Western Christians have re-invented a method of following Jesus without following him. Now when a person wants to become a Christian they are simply asked to "repeat after me." Then having said a prayer they leave without every considering whether they are willing to exalt Jesus to a level that nothing and nobody else in their life rivals. And so they leave thinking themselves to be disciples, but having never considered the cost.

The requirements of Jesus are clear, he is Lord of everything, or discipleship is impossible. Not impossible because he will stop you, but impossible because a person isn't able to declare Jesus as Lord while also having your wife and wallet on an equal level as him.

This type of service can only be nominal and deceptive at best, kind of like salt that has lost its flavor. It still looks like salt, even up close, but when cast out onto the ice, or in a wound, or on food, it is wildly ineffective and utterly useless. Jesus asked "how can its saltiness be restored?" I think I would say, "with humans this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

The only hope we have as a declining community of believers is to return to the words of Christ, and begin to ask ourselves if we are even able to become disciples. If we are then, with God's help, lay everything you value on the altar that belongs to Christ. If you cannot then don't fake it. Why engage in futility?

I don't intend to sound prophetic, but this is the way to recovery and renewal for the Western Church. It's not in clever programs or cool worship services. It will be as a result of people taking discipleship seriously by choosing to serve and love Christ over everything else. This might begin with a decline, but growth oftentimes does.

Let anyone with ears to hear listen!