A Kingdom Of Denial

Read: Luke 9:21-27

[Jesus said,] “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23

IN WORD

“Turn from your selfish ways”—that is, deny yourself. Jesus called this a “must,” and those who take His words seriously have tried to do just that for centuries. We’ve seen flagellants trying to beat themselves into submission, disciplinarians trying to train themselves to be godly, and the privileged taking vows of austerity to divest themselves of attachments. We’ve also seen people with genuine, God-given desires deny that any human desire is worthy of fulfillment. What we haven’t seen—or at least haven’t seen very often—is people who so enjoy investing in others that they neglect their own efforts and interests.

That’s a problem. Every effort to defeat the self is self-defeating, and not in the way intended. When self focuses its efforts on self, the self is only going to get stronger. Flagellants, disciplinarians, vow-takers, and desire-deniers have one thing in common: They are extremely self-focused. And that isn’t self-denial at all.

No, true self-denial is simply a matter of turning your attention toward God and others so often that you hardly notice your own issues. The question of whether your desires are fulfilled or not doesn’t need to be settled; you simply choose not to notice it. Whether you’ve disciplined sin out of your system isn’t an issue you obsess about; it just doesn’t apply because you’re looking elsewhere, not inward. For true followers of Jesus to deny themselves, they need only to look at Him and love His people. That is self-denial. It’s an entirely outward focus.

IN DEED

Don’t spend much energy trying to deny yourself. It won’t work. While denying yourself and taking up your cross is a necessary value of the Kingdom culture, it isn’t one you fulfill by trying. You don’t empty yourself of selfishness by looking at yourself; you empty yourself of selfishness by filling yourself with something else. Let yourself be filled with Jesus, and self will never be a problem.

ADDITIONAL READING: Galatians 5:16

If you take little account of yourself, you will have peace, wherever you live.

ABBA POEMEN