Total Commitment

Total Commitment

Read: Luke 18:18-30

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.”

Luke 18:28-30

“If we were willing to learn the meaning of real discipleship . . . the resultant impact on society would be staggering.”

—David Watson

IN WORD A religious leader was recently quoted criticizing a cult for expecting “total commitment” from its followers. The cult’s false doctrines could have been easily exposed and would have made a better target, but the critic didn’t care about doctrine. What rubbed her the wrong way was the level of commitment expected.

Many consider total allegiance a characteristic only of cults, not of Christianity. Our society respects those who dabble in religious belief but reviles those who are wholeheartedly committed—especially if the object of commitment is Christ. It has been observed that in our culture it is respectable to say we are seeking, but arrogant to say we have found. We may be considered naive, unscientific, intolerant of others’ beliefs, imbalanced, or any one of a number of other suspicious complaints. Throughout history, those who have “left everything” to follow Christ have often been considered fools.

IN DEED Have we come to view total commitment as an option? Or worse, is it to be avoided as an unrealistic demand? Where in Scripture does Jesus expect of His disciples anything less than total devotion? Jesus is perfectly clear in His absolute call to discipleship. We are to abandon all that we are to Him.

Lord, grant that we might not be afraid of radical commitment, even if we are ostracized by a world that doesn’t understand it.