Jesus says in Matthew 10:37 39 (NKJV) ...

... “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”  It has been amazing to me as we have preached the portion of the New Testament that is in red (Jesus’ Words) that some have thought possibly we were a bit extreme.  Have we become so comfortable in the American church chasing after the American dream that we feel that Jesus’ words make us so uneasy.

Could it be possible that God would require everything of me?  Would Jesus really ask anyone to give up everything to follow Him?  Would He really expect me to love Him more than father, mother, son, or daughter?  Maybe the question is not whether He might require all of this of us but do we love Him enough to abandon it all if He asked us to do so?  Matthew Henry's Commentary: “A man cannot be Christ's disciple unless he loves Him more than father, and mother, and his own life.”  But, Lord, I have plans laid out and giving up everything does not fit into my future. Our lives have to be swallowed up in His...He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for Christ’s sake will find it!

We find it so strange that in 2014 we could be preaching a message to materialist Americans who are pursuing the American dream to accept Jesus’ offer to lay down our lives.  Maybe we should ask the disciples who (all but one) died a martyr’s death.  Pentecostals love this verse but really do not know what it means:  Acts 1:8 (NKJV) “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." The word there “witnesses” is interpreted “martyrs”.  Bonhoeffer: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die.”  Come on, Life Church, it is time to die!