July 8, Religion, or Folowing Jesus?

Jesus replied, “you must be born again."

John 3:3

Pastor and author Kyle Idleman offers both a clear summary and a sobering application of the impasse Nicodemus faced concerning Jesus:  

“Here is the reality that Nicodemus is about ready to have impressed on him: There is no way to follow Jesus without Him interfering with your life. Following Jesus will cost you something. Following Jesus always cost something. For Nicodemus, it would cost him a powerful position. It would cost him the respect of his co-workers. It would cost him his source of income and livelihood. It would cost him friendships. It would likely cost him some family relationships. This brings up a very telling question: has following Jesus cost you anything? I don’t mean for that to be a rhetorical question. Take a moment and jot down what following Jesus has cost you. How has following Jesus interfered with your life?”[1]

Nicodemus admitted that he understood Jesus’ identity.   He made a decision about Jesus.  But he did not choose to follow Jesus.  Idleman rightly concludes, “many have made a decision to believe in Jesus without making a commitment to follow Jesus.”[2]  And I believe poor expressions of discipleship within the church encourage this false narrative of the Christian faith.  

We are not stirred by the Gospel to point and say, “yes, that is Jesus, I believe in Him.”  We are stirred by the Gospel to abandon every affection, commitment, and desire for the sake of following after Jesus in every area of our lives.  So, are you following Jesus as the Gospel mandates?  And, if you answered in the affirmative, then what is it costing you?  

Someone like Nicodemus might consider that he had gone far enough in His religious commitments.  Yet in the presence of the Christ, the realization that one’s inner man needs an entire spiritual revolution (“must be born again”) speaks to the vitality of the Gospel message, even upon the backdrop of the most noted religiosity.  To be born again represents a fundamental and permanent transformation of the whole man’s thinking, feeling, and acting, made effectual through the quickening of the Spirit of God.  The prospect of a Gentile needing a spiritual rebirth was nothing new to Nicodemus.  But the prospect that he himself was in need of a new birth was indeed incomprehensible.  

So today, understand that Jesus spoke conclusively about one’s need to completely follow after Him.  And no religious accomplishments nor personal attempts at goodness will stand to such scrutiny.  Are we acting upon religious beliefs, or are we truly following Jesus in body, mind, and soul?  

Blessings.

     [1] Kyle Idleman, Not A Fan (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), page 37.

     [2] Idleman, 39.