Like, Share, Subscribe and Follow? (Mark 8:34)
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. “
- Mark 8:34
There are many YouTube channels, Facebook pages, and groups that I like and follow. But for the majority of these groups - if not all of them, I do not spare a thought about them at any given time unless I am on social media. Even then, only if they happen to pop up on my feed.
For most of my life growing up, that is how I was as a “Christian”. I subscribed to a particular church mainly because my parents were already followers there. I grew to like it and eventually subscribed to it of my own accord. I barely spoke about my allegiance to this church, let alone about the gospel outside the church fence unless it popped up in conversations.
I have met many other Christians with similar backgrounds. Even more, on a regular basis, I meet many “Christians” who have merely subscribed in a way that allows you to still get on with your way of life even when it is contrary to what you claim to follow. In other words, “Christians” who, if their lives were examined were to be found following themselves, their motives, desires, thoughts, goals, dreams, and philosophies more than anyone or anything else's. But this is not what Christianity is, or what being a Christian is about.
At the heart of Christianity is Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. And being a Christian is about being his disciple (a follower or a pupil of his word). "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." (Mark 8:34). Before we talk about being a Christian, one may ask, why would anyone want to be one?
The Greatest Influencer
We follow or unfollow people on social media mainly because of their influence on us. Outside social media, we admire and talk well about the people who influence us to be better people. Those whom we choose not to follow or admire, probably do not have much influence on us at all. But the same cannot be said about Jesus.
Jesus, in a sense, “influences” both those who follow him and those who do not. Those who follow him, know something about Him that makes them desire and act on their desire to follow Him. They know He is the Messiah (the one chosen by God), sent to set people free from the bondage of sin (Luke 4:17–21; John 4:25–26; John 8:31–36). On the other hand, those who choose not to listen to him and believe his word, whether they know it or not, still have their future influenced by him. “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” (John 15:22). In other words, there are no gray areas; whether you accept the invitation or not, whether you block Jesus or not, in one way or another, your life is affected by him, now and into eternity. You accept him and follow him and you save your soul or ignore, reject and deny him and lose your soul (Mark 8:35-38).
So, this begs the important question of why not follow Jesus and save your soul instead of rejecting him?
One may ask, how does one follow Jesus now that we do not have access to his physical body as did his first followers? I am glad you asked. There are two crucial things for a true follower of Jesus: self-denial and cross embracing.
Deny yourself for the sake of Jesus
Parents often deny their kids certain things based on the knowledge of the future results. “I told you so” is what you often hear when they have been proved right. In other words, there is at least a level of knowledge about the things denied. We must know ourselves first before we deny ourselves.
In a previous chapter in Mark’s gospel, Jesus had already given a lesson on what is wrong with us (you and me). It is not just that we are sexually immoral, or that we are thieves, or that we tell lies, or that we are greedy or envy, the problem is the human heart - “for it is from within, out of a person's heart that… these evils come… and defile a person” (Mark 7:21-23). It must be on the basis of this knowledge that we must deny ourselves. The knowledge that left to ourselves in the world, we are without hope of a better future for things are bound to get worse. But they do not have to, Jesus offers us something better.
When I vowed myself to my wife at the altar, I was saying yes to her alone and no to all others who may have given me the chance. To say yes to something is to say no to the other, otherwise there needn't be yes or no. To follow Jesus, we must not only say no to ourselves but also yes to the way of the cross.
The language of picking our cross was at times the practice in the church I grew up in. Wearing the crucifix, using it to pray for people and poke at things and people with when you pray for them. Far from that the cross here speaks of the kind of the death Jesus was going to die. Jesus died the most shameful and excruciating death on the cross. But we must get this right, he did not die because he was rejected by God or did anything to deserve it. The opposite is true; the kind of death he died was his Father's design that Peter and the rest of the disciples did not have in mind (Mark 8:31-33; Luke 22:42).
If we want to follow Jesus, we must have this in mind, that Jesus died this kind of death in accordance with God's will, pleasure, wisdom, knowledge and riches of His grace all to the glory of his glorious name (Ephesians 1:3-14). Thus, to deny ourselves is to find hope only in this plan of salvation that displays God's power. Indeed, it is the power of God to those who are being saved and foolishness in the eyes of those who will not follow Jesus (1 Cor 1:18).
Once we have a true knowledge of ourselves, the condition of our hearts, and know something of the kingdom of God regarding its King, who wore a crown of thorns, then we are in a good place to follow Jesus.
Following Jesus
There are often two groups of people who say they are following Jesus. The first are those who just like Jesus. They like some of his teachings and are happy to apply them as much as far as it suits them. They will deny their time and energy and money to try and be good people. They will go to church, and spare something to the poor every once in a while. Or you get the extremes, who deny themselves even the good pleasures God has given us in the name of his son. They fast, they abstain and do all sorts of self-denial but without embracing the way of the cross, a kind of suffering that leads to glory. This is the crew that often ends up being worse than where they were before their claim of encounter with Jesus. For they are occupied with all religiosity and not the mission of God, in making disciples through the gospel message (Matthew 12:45).
The second is this; people who may be true Christians, who have in the first place taken up their cross and chosen to follow Jesus, can end up being caught up in everything else but the daily business of taking up the cross. They take up Bible studies, lead church service, be in the church music band and be elders and pastors in the church but without much fruit in their lives. The reason for their fruitlessness is missing the “daily” part of taking up your cross. This has to do with the small, daily things in life as well. It is about choosing Jesus daily, learning from him, leaning on him, and doing what he says in all of life, not just when it suits us or when others can see it. It is embracing the cost every day. It is not just being teachers, leaders, and front people. It is also accepting discipline and accountability. It is not just showing up to church on time on Sunday morning. It is also about showing up prepared to serve and to hear God speak through His word. It is not just talking about reading the Bible daily. It is actually giving up sleep, or a TV series, gym time, or anything to make room for it.
True followers of Jesus do not just like the cross without also subscribing. Following Jesus is unlike anything we know on social media terms. We do not follow Jesus and many other influencers out there. We do not follow Jesus while pursuing our heart’s desires. True followers do not add on Jesus, they hang solely on him. He is their only hope in life and death. True followers give up their lives, hopes, and dreams for the sake of the Kingdom. Following the One who gave up his glory that he may gain them to share with him in his glory even through the cross. There is no better love than that nor a better life than one lived in light of that.
