Have you ever wondered how to follow Jesus? Does it feel like a mystery? Does it feel difficult? The good news is, it is not a mystery. In fact, Jesus tells us exactly how to do it. The other news is, it’s not that easy. Is this bad news? No! Difficult things aren’t inherently bad. Difficult things are often the most important things.
Jesus tells us how to follow him in Mark 8:34-38, which reads, “34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Jesus’ two main points here are clear: deny yourself and take up your cross. Because of Jesus’ great love for us, it’s easy to fall into what Argentinian pastor Juan Luis Ortiz terms “The Gospel of Me.” With this mindset, all a person has to do is repeat a prayer, get baptized, and head to church on Sundays, as long as it doesn’t interfere with soccer, family outings, sleep schedules, or anything else that might be appealing. This gospel is about people focusing on themselves and feeling like they don’t have to do anything. Jesus lives for them, but they don’t have to live for Jesus.
Yet Jesus himself says something different. He supports me (and you!), but he doesn’t support “The Gospel of Me.” When we become Christians, before we can count our blessings, we need to count the costs. And the costs are denying yourself and taking up your cross.
Denying ourselves has two meanings, both of which are clear in scripture. The first has to do with greed and materialism, because as Mark 36-37 says, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” This does not mean that ambition is bad. If you work hard and get into a great college- go! If you’re an excellent employee and get promoted- celebrate! If you have an opportunity to go on vacation- enjoy! But this does mean that you should not find your worth in material goods, or that your life should be defined by obtaining things.
The second meaning of denying yourself has to do with making little of yourself so that you can make much of God. In Mark 14, Peter infamously denies Jesus three times. Peter preserves the peace by disassociating himself from Jesus. He hides his relationship with Jesus for the sake of his own comfort and safety. But Jesus says, deny yourself. What Peter did to me, do to yourself. Remember, Jesus never disassociates himself with us. No matter how cruel or how wrong we sometimes are, he is always there. We should never be embarrassed to associate ourselves with him.
And lastly, you must take up your cross. Christ was not a victim to the cross. He chose the cross for ungodly sinners who lived as enemies of God. This is what makes Christ’s disciples different. We are called to love our enemies. We are called to willingly sacrifice to glorify God. Another way to say take up your cross is to say, I’m willing to make sacrifices to bring others closer to God.
In today’s culture, it is easy to think you need the best car and the bigger house. It’s easy to say that you oppose someone on the other end of the political spectrum. It is easy to stay silent when someone talks poorly about Christianity. But instead of giving in, or instead of getting mad, what if we show love? What if we invite them to find who we’ve found? This is how we deny ourselves and take up our cross. This is how we follow Jesus!
Practical Tips
Jesus tells us exactly how to follow him, and we can do it!
To follow Jesus, we must avoid “The Gospel of Me” mentality.
Jesus wants us to deny ourselves, including with material possessions and with pride.
Jesus wants us to take up our cross, which means sacrificing so others may know him.
Remember that God deserves the very best of us and the very best from us!
