Friday, October 1, 2010

An explanation of Luke 14:26


“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26)

@PWL- To follow the Christ as a disciple (i.e. to follow him around and/or spread the gospel as a wandering teacher) one's family must be left behind. One's commitment is to the teaching, not to prior attachments to those who are very likely worldly-minded.

This path is not for the average follower- a disciple gave their life to the Christ and his teaching. They weren't weekend adherents.  Just look at the Jedi knights in the Star Wars films- if you are committed to such an arduous task you must leave your prior attachments behind to focus on the job at hand.

Clearly, you don't need to literally "hate" everything that came before, such as your family, but effectively you "hate" worldliness and this is what most lives are based around (achieving a life of material comfort, personal pleasure and social status). Without feeling an antipathy for the worldly life one is unlikely to ever become a disciple of someone as unworldly and demanding as Jesus was/is.

From a deeper perspective, the demands of following the Christ are the demands of tuning into the spirit within and living according to its dictates.  Following the spirit is not a path for someone interested in their social standing as spirit may require actions from us that result in a loss of social "face".  If we care what the world thinks of us then we will not be free to follow spirit and therefore will be unavailable to work on behalf of the living Christ.

Sharka Todd

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