No President of the United States was as daring as President Theodore Roosevelt, known more affectionately by some as “Teddy.” Roosevelt’s reckless courage came to full throttle when he rounded up his team of Rough Riders to go to battle in the Spanish-American War of the late 1800’s.

Teddy’s rough riders were carefully selected men from different races, backgrounds, and parts of the world. Some were Indians, some Tennis athletes, some sharpshooters, and others mountain man hunters.

On one evening, one of the riders proposed a toast, to which they all heartily agreed: “To the Officers—may they get killed, wounded, or promoted!”¹

That mentality, that sold-outness to a cause, is the radical mindset of a true follower of Jesus. Rich or poor, healthy or diseased, young or old, killed or spared, Jesus is all.

What is Jesus to you? Is He simply a religious figure? Or have you given your life to His lordship? Is Jesus a religious icon, a God-man you pray to every now and then, or is He your life and breath?

As you chew on that question, consider a story in the gospel of Matthew:

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. Then a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Another of the disciples said to Him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead” (Mat 8:18-22).

These people loved the physical benefits Jesus brought. In verses 14-15, He healed Peter’s mother-in-law by the touch of His hand. In verse 16, he healed all who were sick and cast out demons with the single word. No wonder these people loved Jesus.

But for most of them, their love for Him was conditional. It was an, “I’ll follow you as long as it costs me nothing” kind of love. Jesus was their doctor. Jesus was their pastor. Jesus was their food trailer for free meals. He was like their ATM machine.

Jesus knew all this, and yet it did not stay His hand for a second. He loved them regardless. He was the Prophet whom Isaiah predicted seven centuries before, “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases” (Mat 8:17; see Is 53:4). The unconditional love He shared with the people was a far leap from the benefits-based commitment the people had to Him. And that is seen quickly in the scribe’s zealous profession:

Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go (vs 19).

Comfort Versus Jesus

Many of us would be tempted to respond with, “Great!, Mr. Scribe. Pray this prayer, join our church, and you’re on the right track!” But the Scribe’s profession was not honest. And Jesus knew that.

It usually doesn’t take a psychic to discover that people’s motives in following Jesus are often shallow and self-centered. The scribe couldn’t help but be impressed with the astounding wisdom of Jesus’ teaching, His power to heal diseases, and His authority to exorcise demons with a single word, yes the same word that will some day vanquish the Tempter forever. And for that, he wanted to follow Him. Who in his right mind wouldn’t want to? But the scribe missed the other half. To follow Jesus requires a willingness to forsake physical comfort.

So instead of jumping at the opportunity to lead this scribe in a sinner’s prayer, Christ saw his motives as plain as the nose on his face and said, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (vs 20). In other words, “If you want to follow Me, you’re going to go bedless. You’ll be more homeless than the foxes in the field and the birds of the sky.”

Christ needed to say no more. That’s the last we hear of this scribe. Matthew didn’t need to tell us that this scribe walked off, with a different taste in his mouth. Sleep on the dirt? Live like a bum? That means I have to give up stuff that I love! And what will others think of me?

We often become willing victims of the same kind of reasoning. Our comforts and cozy luxuries look a lot glossier and fun than the Son of God who bled and died on our behalf.

I’m not saying one can’t follow Jesus until he auctions off his possessions, empties his checking account into the hands of the poor, and moves to Africa to preach the gospel. The sacrifice necessary will vary from person to person. We are called to follow Christ at any cost. For the scribe, the cost was a rock for a pillow. For you, the cost may take on a different form. But to think that one can follow Christ with no sacrifice to his own interests is to live in a fantasy world.

When Jesus and your physical comfort both vie for your attention, which do you pick? Persecution for sharing the gospel or worldly acceptance? Integrity in sales or that extra bonus check? Denial of your pet sin or sinful pleasure? Giving the first of your income to your local church or that extra vacation? Turning down a promotion so you have more time to spend with you son, or kissing up to your boss? A Friday evening to minister to the poor or another evening wasted in front of the bube tube? Whatever the cost God has called you to make, can you say, “I’m yours, Jesus. Use me up.”

Brennan Manning’s words are woefully true:

Since the day that Jesus first appeared on the scene, we have developed vast theological systems, organized world-wide churches, filled libraries with brilliant Christological scholarship, engaged in earthshaking controversies and embarked on crusades, reforms, and renewals. Yet there are still precious few of us with sufficient folly to make the mad exchange of everything for Christ; only a remnant with the confidence to risk everything on the gospel of grace; only a minority who stagger about with the delirious joy of the man who found the buried treasure.²

World famous genius and founder of the formula E=MC2, Albert Einstein, wrote a paper on the theory of relativity entitled, “On the Electrodynamics of Bodies in Movement,” later to be published in the Year Book of Physics.

Many physicists know that this paper which contained no references, quoted no authorities, and carried few footnotes, shook the world of physics.   

But what most do not know is that after writing this paper, Einstein collapsed in exhaustion and became sick for two weeks.³ Einstein damaged his health over a paper for physics. How could we not be ten times more willing to expend our comforts to follow our Lord and Savior? 

Family Versus Jesus

Then along comes a disciple. He is called “another of the disciples,” indicating he there is nothing notable about this man other than that he has been following Jesus up to this day. No doubt, he hears Jesus’ response to the scribe and thinks, “I can do that. I wouldn’t mind sleeping under the stars with this mind-blowing teacher with super-powers!” But one thing nags the back of his mind. His father. His father is alive and well, and to leave him now would to miss years of affectionate time. He’s a family man and surely Christ will not look down on the virtue of loving to be with one’s own family! So he drafts his excuse and says,

Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father (vs 21).

Interesting how the scribe calls Jesus, “Teacher,” but the disciple calls him “Lord.” As a teacher himself (Ezra 7:6; Neh 8:1), the scribe was probably impressed with Jesus’ teaching ability. As a follower of Jesus, the disciple used a term synonymous with “Master” or “Leader.”

The scribe was not saying that his father had just died and he needed to attend the funeral. To bury one’s father was an expression meaning that one would live with and care for his father until his father passed away. In other words, “Lord, I’m ready to follow you after, I’ve finished doing something else.”

There is nothing repugnant or base about the disciple’s desire to be with his Dad. John the Baptist himself came to “restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers,” so that God would not “smite the land with a curse” (Mal 4:6; see Luke 1:17). God loves the family and is its Creator. But the disciple had his priorities mixed up. He saw a conflict between being with Dad and following Jesus, so he picked the former.

Jesus’ reply probably offended many watching on, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead” (Matt 8:22). How can a dead man bury a dead man? Christ was talking about two kinds of dead: the first spiritual, the second physical. Let those who are spiritually dead bury the physical dead. Let unbelievers take care of those family ties and inheritances that death often yields, and you come follow me. By calling both the living and the dead, dead, Christ put a finger on the ludicrous trade-in this man was looking for. In effect, this disciple wanted to postpone spiritual life to receive the fleeting benefits that the spiritually dead live for. So much for being a disciple.

As much as one may love his family, the moment he puts family before Christ he commits idolatry, valuing his fellow creatures over the sovereign Creator. Christ knew people’s struggle to idolize one’s own family, and that is why He said, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). Is Christ advocating family hate? Indeed not! But our love for God and our willingness to live and die for Christ should be so intense that by comparison it looks like we hate our own family.

How many of us are like that disciple, calling ourselves followers of Christ, even doing things that you’d expect of a Christ-follower, like church, Bible studies, and tithing, but the moment we are asked to give up something precious to us, we hand Christ a rain check?

The scribe liked Jesus, but he loved his comfort more. The disciple liked Jesus, but he loved his father more. God is not satisfied to be somewhere on your list of important things of your life. He wants to be your all in all. Your life. Your reason for living. Your hope for eternity. And until He is that, we have misunderstood what it really means to follow Jesus.

Are You Expendable?

During World War II, men of special courage were called upon for difficult assignments; often these volunteers did not return. They were called "expendables."⁴

Are you read to be an expendable for Jesus? This means your comfort, your family, your everything comes second to Him alone. Is it worth it? Jesus answers that question:

Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life (Luke 18:29-30).

The rewards come now and later. Yes, it’s worth it.

Endnotes

1. Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan Inc, 1979), 636. 

2. Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel (Sisters: Multnomah Publishers, 2005), 194.

3. Antonina Vallentin, The Drama of Albert Einstein (Garden City: Doubleday & Co., 1954), 46.

4. Michael Richardson, Amazing Faith: The Authorized Biography of Bill Bright (Colorado Springs, WaterBrook Press, 2000), 36.