LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Nov. 7: Make following Christ the focus of your ministry_110104

Posted: 10/29/04

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Nov. 7

Make following Christ the focus of your ministry

Luke 9:51-10:42

By Pakon Chan

Chinese Baptist Church, Arlington

Previously in the conversations of the disciples (Luke 9:57), an argument broke out among them, “as to which of them would be the greatest” (v. 46). They wanted to strive for the prominent position in this band of followers.

This concern may not have come from a bad motivation. They might just have wanted to settle some arguments as to who would be the leader if Jesus were not among them. After all, they needed a leader to take care of things when Jesus was absent. Jesus did not rebuke their behavior but took this opportunity to teach them the true meaning of leadership in God's kingdom (Mark 9:33-37).

It was natural for anyone who wanted to follow Jesus to find out where he would go, since they were concerned about the leadership position in the group. From Jesus' answer, we may infer the motivation behind that statement (Luke 9:57). They wanted to find out if Jesus could give them a promising future as a follower.

A Chinese saying states, “A good and intelligent bird will look for a right tree to make its nest.” People select their master or teacher with a similar criteria. No one wants to follow an unworthy master his entire life. In ancient Chinese culture, once a person picked a master, they would follow that master for the rest of their life.

Likewise, a good master also will set criteria to select his disciples. In the Greek and Asian cultures, some scholars or philosophers would set barriers to repulse prospective disciples with enormous demands. The purpose of this was to test them and acquire the most worthy ones.

Motivations for following Jesus

Jesus responded to his disciples with criteria his followers should meet. Jesus told them that they should not follow him with any selfish and materialistic reasons. If any one wanted to follow him for material goods, Jesus had nothing to offer–he himself didn't even have a place to stay permanently.

Jesus also told his followers to place him as the highest priority. A son was responsible for burying his father in the Jewish tradition. Most likely, the father of the son in this passage had died and been buried, and now he was waiting a year to rebury the deceased's bones.

We may have a lot of different responsibilities, but when compared with our Lord, he should always be the top priority. This is the true meaning of claiming Jesus as our Lord.

The third criterion for following Christ is concentration with determination. Many things distract us from our mission. When we say we are following Jesus, we are following his footsteps in serving in the kingdom of God. Following Jesus is synonymous with serving him and God's kingdom.

Jesus requires his servants to possess keen focus and great determination. We need to keep our eyes on the path of the plow to keep its furrow from becoming crooked. Once we set out on our journey, we should not look back until we reach the goal Jesus has set for us (Philippians 3:13-14).

Concentrating on the mission

After having said these things, Jesus “appointed 72 others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go” (Luke 10:1). It was the time to put what they had learned into practice.

A servant of Jesus should not have clutter from material things, for he has enough things to worry about in his ministry and should not add anything not directly related to it (v. 4). After all, he should know the Lord will provide what he needs, and he will rely only on God for his survival.

A servant of Jesus will concentrate on the task, and will not be idle and chitchat with a passer-by (v. 4). Elisha told Gehazi: “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer,” (2 Kings 4:29). Gehazi had a very important mission to save a dead child. He had no time to lose, so he could not greet or talk to anyone on his way to that woman's house. Likewise, Jesus instructed his servants not to spend time with less important things, for he had commissioned the most important task to them.

A servant of Jesus will be content with whatever is given by others as support and love gifts. We do not work for reward or money, so we should not complain about anything given or even nothing given by others in return for our service. When we receive, we receive with no apology–God intends us to receive material support from whom we serve (v. 7).

Handling rejection and pride

When we are rejected as we share the gospel, we are not rejected personally. Actually, people are rejecting God (v. 16). We should not take any rejection personally. Even though we are rejected, we still need to share the gospel, for we were sent solely for this purpose, and we need to fulfill this responsibility (v. 11).

If we are successful in our ministry, we should not be proud. We should not misunderstand our ability or power to make ministry successful. The only thing we should rejoice in is our names are written in heaven (v. 20). A servant should always be humble, and let God have the glory.

Discussion questions

What motivates you to serve in church?

Do you understand that when you follow Jesus you are appointed for service?