What is the cost of being a disciple of Jesus?

Luke 14:25-35

“Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, “This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.” Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple. Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.’”

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I’m heading out of town tomorrow for work. Anytime I travel, I plan accordingly. If I’m going on vacation for a few days, it’s a totally different preparation than if I’m traveling for work. If I’m heading to the beach, my packing will look totally different than if I’m headed to the snowy mountains. I take a lot into consideration when planning my trip. I check the the weather, schedule, restaurants in the area, and most of all, my budget. Planning ahead comes more naturally to some than others (I’m a planner…like big-time). But hands-down, planning ahead can and will change your trip. Doing the work beforehand so that you can enjoy the time you’re on the trip makes a big difference. Counting the cost ahead of time is essential.

In this passage, Jesus points out how important it is for someone to count the cost of being His disciple before following Him. It’s crazy how directly this passage applies to us today in 2023 as much as it did when Jesus said it to a group of followers thousands of years ago. Being a disciple of Jesus today demands a lot in this present life. And if we don’t count the cost of following Jesus, we may just fall away when trials come our way and miss out on so much of the life abundant that Jesus wants for His disciples. Earlier in Luke, Jesus instructs us to aim for the narrow door and to approach life with humility. Here, He encourages us to reflect on the price of staying focused on that narrow door and being humble in our current life. As Jesus’ disciples, what are the implications of this for both the present and the future?

When Jesus starts talking in this passage, it’s somewhat concerning. I can only imagine the wide eyes of the people who heard it firsthand. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, and even his own life — he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26) Does Jesus mean I have to hate my family to become His disciple? Is it necessary for me to hate myself to enter heaven? No, this is not exactly what He means here, but the truth of the message is not too far off. In fact, Jesus made a similar statement earlier in Luke, which is relevant to this: “Do you think that I came here to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three. They will be divided, father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:51-53) Jesus is saying that to be His disciple, you have to check your priorities. He is telling you to ask yourself that if a conflict arises between doing what your spouse asks you to do or following His teachings, who should take precedence? Similarly, if your own desires seem to go against His teachings, what should you do? Though using the term “hate” in this passage may be extreme, Jesus’ point is that He and His Word must be given the highest priority if you are His disciple, even above your deepest emotions and closest relationships.

Living as a disciple of Jesus will automatically conflict with the world, which can result in clashing with those who view life from a worldly perspective — including ourselves at times. Being a disciple of Jesus is challenging, which is why Jesus says, “whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” This should make it clear that being a disciple of Jesus will not be the comfortable way to live. This doesn’t mean that every moment of a disciple’s life will be miserable, but it does mean that we should be ready to “consider it a great joy…whenever you experience various trials.” (James 1:2) It’s quite the opposite of a miserable life because even if in the midst of trial and hardship, a disciple of Jesus has reason for hope and joy. Jesus emphasizes the importance of counting the cost to be His disciple in this passage. He uses a couple of powerful analogies to illustrate this point. First, He uses the example of a builder who needs to count the cost and make sure he has everything he needs in order to complete a project. Then, He uses the example of a king who needs to count the cost and make sure he has everything he needs in order to achieve victory in battle. In a similar way, we must count the cost of becoming a disciple of Jesus. Blindly following the traditions of man and churches is foolish without you yourself counting the cost. You must know what you are committing to when you follow Jesus.

Consider the analogies. If someone starts building a tower but doesn’t have enough resources to complete it, that person will be left with an unfinished tower and the embarrassment of not being able to complete it. “All the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’” (Luke 14:29-30) I wonder how many people have been turned away from Jesus because when they looked at the “unfinished tower” of someone who claimed to be His disciple, they thought, “Why would I want to be a part of this group of people that has built their foundation but stopped building any further?” Similarly, if a king doesn’t carefully assess the situation at hand, he may lose many men in battle, his authority as king, and even his kingdom. By not counting the cost, we tend to create more damage than what was there before. Life as a disciple of Jesus is the same way. If someone claims to be a disciple of Jesus but becomes stifled by the trials of this life, that person can do more damage for God’s Kingdom than good. Or if someone claims to be a disciple of Jesus but lives a life unchanged by God and His Word, that person is like the king who took on a battle he could not handle. Life with Jesus is the narrow way for a reason, but if you count and understand the cost, then you know that it is worth it one hundred fold.

That’s what makes Jesus’ final analogy so powerful. The example of salt illustrates a powerful point. Salt is good and can be used in many different ways, but if salt loses its flavor, it becomes truly useless. In Jesus’ time, salt was highly valued as a preservative, especially before the invention of refrigeration. But if the salt lost its ability to preserve or flavor food, it was deemed useless and couldn’t even be used as a fertilizer. Spoiled food and animal poop at that point was more valuable than salt that lost its flavor or saltiness. Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus refers to His disciples as the “salt of the earth.” If you claim to be Jesus’ disciple yet live a life without fruit of a relationship with Jesus, then you are like salt that has lost its saltiness and flavor. (Insert the wideyed emoji) 

Counting the cost of being a disciple of Jesus is crucial. Choosing to follow Jesus is not choosing the easy and smooth life. Instead, it often requires going against the grain in a culture that is obsessed with self, self-pleasing and self-glorification. In that light, choosing to follow Jesus is choosing the harder way to live; it’s choosing to deny self! This is where having an eternal perspective is so important. The choice to follow Jesus may lead to a more difficult life of bearing your own cross here and now, but it leads to eternal life with Christ after this momentary life passes away. And in the end, a life with Jesus here, even through difficulty, will be 100% more fulfilling than any life this world could ever offer you. This is a theme in the book of Luke. It’s not easy to have an eternal perspective; to choose the narrow path; to choose to be last in this life to be first in heaven; and to live a life of humility in serving and following Jesus each and every day.

Now, are you or I able to accomplish this on our own? Absolutely not. That’s the crazy part about life in Christ. Even if we respond to Jesus’ call to become His disciple, we still fully rely on Him and His character in order to be able to be faithful in our walk. Without the grace of God, we would abandon the mission, live unfulfilled lives, and walk away from the foundation we built. However, with God’s grace, we can recognize the importance of “building our tower” day after day and we can work on completing it until the day that we die. With God’s grace, we can understand the battle taking place in our lives and fight until the end. With God’s grace, we can appreciate the significance of being “salt” in a world that needs hope and continue to spread His love with His help. With God’s grace, we can recognize the significance of Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. He counted the ultimate cost and chose to pay it; a burden none of us could ever bear. Not only that, but even now He is our High Priest who is able to empathize with all our weaknesses. He counted the cost, paid the price, and continues to sustain us. When we feel like the cost to follow Him is too great, let us remember the cost paid to even give us the opportunity to follow Him. Only through His work and forgiveness can we become His disciples. No matter what the world would ever say about who you are, Jesus thought enough of you to die on the cross for your sins. That’s pretty incredible.

So I ask, is it worth it? Is it worth standing through trials and difficulties to follow Jesus? The answer is unequivocally “yes!” His goodness, boundless love and everlasting peace are not just for a moment, but for every moment as you walk with Him. The cost to follow is great, but the reward that follows is so much greater. As a disciple of Jesus, you will face trials, burdensome conflicts and temptation to walk away. However, you will never walk alone as Jesus promises to never leave nor forsake you. Rather than pursuing the fleeting pleasures of this world, we look forward to an everlasting joy that our Messiah and Savior has promised us. Yes, the cost to be Jesus’ disciple is great, but it is without a doubt, worth it.

Here’s the other part of it though. As believers, we need to stand by each other and spur each other on in being disciples of Jesus. None of us have to face the trials of this life alone. Instead, we should come alongside each other and carry each other’s burdens as well as express our need for help when we’re the ones who need it. When we do this, we can encourage one another in holding on to the eternal perspective and everlasting promises that our Savior has given us. We can forgive as we’ve been forgiven and be each other’s strength in weakness. So let us keep moving forward as disciples of Jesus, regardless of the cost, because we are moving forward with our Savior and with each other today, tomorrow, and forever.

June 2022 Newsletter

Good morning friends!
 
The first online update for Off the Wall Discipleship (OTW) North Carolina is finally here! So many of you have been here from the inception, and I am excited that many more have joined me in the journey.  I am tremendously grateful for your love, support, and encouragement over this past year. It has been a challenging process to really get rolling, but I'm excited that we have finally turned a corner to begin this ministry in Lexington, NC. I plan to write a monthly update; you can also stay up-to-date with OTW through my social media accounts. You can find me @trent_santos on Instagram and TrentandSyd Santos on Facebook (make sure you also follow the new OTW NC instagram page @otwdiscipleshipnc). Read on to hear the latest about the ministry and life (it will take about five minutes), or if you just want the bullet points scroll to the bottom.
 

June 2022 was an exciting month for OTW NC! During June 19-25, we hosted a two-night event called IMPACT Lexington.

On Tuesday - Don, Executive Director of OTW, and Terri, Director of Discipleship, drove to NC. We had an informative meeting and dinner at our house with several couples from our church community group where Don, Terri, and I shared about the ministry. It was so cool to have 10 people in our house all with at least one thing in common: a goal and vision to see God's Kingdom expanded through the discipleship of young adults. We enjoyed several hours together. Afterwards, I sent a text to the men thanking them for their time and encouragement, and one of them responded: “Man, I truly believe it was more of an encouragement to us than it was to you. Thanks for allowing us to be a part of it. Love you all and so glad God allowed our paths to cross. Good things are coming!” I was humbled by all of their love and support, and am grateful to the Lord for spreading my vision.

On Wednesday - We had an informative lunch meeting with several Lexington area leaders to introduce OTW NC to the Lexington community. The Lord brought two great connections through this meeting! I met a local youth pastor and a city councilman. Both have a heart and passion for young adults. I was super thankful to have met these men and look forward to seeing what happens with these connections in the future!

On Thursday - IMPACT Lexington officially began with an informal gathering at a local coffee shop. This part of the event targeted 18-25 year olds, and approximately 20 people attended. We were able to do a “living room” style gathering, which allowed us to spend quality time together. Jeff Kaufman led our worship session, and Travis Troyer shared a message from the Word. These two men are also OTW Ohio staff members. I was also able to share a message. Overall, it was a sweet time together. I was excited about two particular connections the Lord orchestrated. One connection was a new believer from my church community group. Over the past month, he and I have had some pretty deep conversations as he continues to grow in his knowledge of God and His Word. He is hungry to keep growing in his faith and has expressed a desire for a discipleship relationship. I’m looking forward to the Lord developing that relationship. Another connection was a young man I had met last fall at the gym. Over time, we've become fairly close and I have walked with him through some pretty big “life stuff.” It was super exciting to see him join us for some fellowship and connect with a few other young adults who are walking with the Lord.
 
On Friday - This part of IMPACT Lexington targeted the community and was designed to introduce OTW NC to the Lexington community members. It was an outdoor worship concert at our local amphitheater led by Branch Music (part of OTW Music in Ohio). We had a bounce house, Sunset Slush, and the Pour Folk Pizza food truck at the event. There was a small turnout, but the Lord encouraged me with the particular people he brought to the event.  Two of the young men that attended Thursday night’s event also came to this event. The Lord also brought a sweet local businesswoman and her three grandchildren to the event. She literally heard the worship music from her office, and grabbed her three grandchildren and headed over. She was super encouraged by the night and is spreading the word about OTW in the community. I loved getting to meet this sweet lady and look forward to reconnecting with her. My OTW teammates, my community group friends, and other area friends/business owners also attended this event, and we had an amazing time worshipping the Lord together. This event showed me that I have an awesome support team in my corner rooting for me and helping me. So many of them stepped up and put this event together. I'm so thankful for this opportunity and the community God has developed for me and this ministry.

Now, it's July (which is so hard to believe). My main goals over this summer month are:
1) To increase our monthly support. We have a handful of donors already, but we need more. I am hoping and praying the Lord will bring us to 100% support by the end of the year. My specific goal for July is to raise $1,000 in monthly commitments.
2) To continue building relationships with young adults and ministers in the area. I plan to start a weekly gathering for young adults by September. Building more connections will be vital to this part of my ministry.

In family news, Sydney has a break from law school through the end of August. Even though she is working during this time for an internship for school, it still has been SO nice to have her home with no homework in the evenings. It also seems like she'll have an opportunity to work from home quite a bit. The boys of this house are thrilled to have mommy around a little more than usual during this time. As far as school goes, Sydney has officially completed her first year of law school and she, of course, is doing amazing. I'm so proud of her and all she continues to accomplish through this process.

Ezra graduated Kindergarten in May and did great. Asher finished his first year of preschool. These sweet boys keep us on our toes all the time, but they are getting to such a sweet of age of playing together all the time and enjoying each others' company (most of the time). The most exciting thing was praying with Ezra on June 6th for Jesus to be His Lord and Savior! Wow…it was amazing to sit and listen as he asked questions, and we walked through Romans together. So thankful for the Lord giving Ezra a soft heart to respond to His call. The discipleship in our home continues!

I am doing well. Working on getting this ministry rolling keeps me quite busy. June was so fun as I worked on IMPACT Lexington. It felt like I had to shake off the rust a little bit since it had been quite a while since my last event. It was super fun though and felt good to be preaching some as well. Looking forward to continuing to build the ministry so that those opportunities become more regular. I also have continued to run my side business called Santos Athletics. I have met some awesome people through that and have seen the business grow some this year. I trust the Lord to continue to bless it as He sees fit.
 
JUNE 2022 BULLET POINTS

• IMPACT Lexington was great. The connections were meaningful and intentional. It was a great launching point for OTW NC. Pray that the Lord will continue to get our name out in the Lexington community.

• I will be digging deeper into intentional discipleship relationships with a couple of young men. Pray for us as we grow in these relationships together. I am looking forward to God growing their faith, knowledge, and service of Jesus Christ.

• We will continue working towards being fully funded for this ministry by December 2022. Pray for me as I amp up raising support during July and August. We are specifically aiming to raise $1,000 in monthly commitments this month!

• The Santos family is doing well! Everyone is on a summer break from school which has been really nice. We are enjoying our time together.

Thank you so much for taking some time to read our first update. One thing I know for sure is that I cannot and will not be successful in ministry without the continued prayer support from you. So as you think through everything you've read here today, would you be willing to choose one or two things to be praying for us about? You don't know how much that means to us. Until the next one!

Trent Santos

Director of NC, Off the Wall Discipleship

(336) 596-1695

@trent_santos

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*Off The Wall Discipleship is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit and relies on the support of individuals and churches for funding. Our biggest need is monthly supporters to sustain the ministry and help us budget accordingly, but we are grateful for any donation God leads you toward.

Dear Graduate (Class of 2020)

The end of your senior year is quickly approaching. You should be in the thick of your last [normal] semester of high school or college. You’ve worked so hard to get to this point, and soon you’ll have an important piece of paper certifying that you’ve done everything required of you. You should be buying what you need for your senior prom. You should be struggling through very real “senioritis.” You should be getting ready for graduation. Sadly, however, most of that has been interrupted, postponed, or even cancelled. Before I get into anything too deep, I just want to acknowledge something: this situation seriously stinks for you! There, I said it. Maybe you’ve thought it, but it felt selfish to say it aloud. I’ll do it for you. And I want to also say, it’s perfectly ok to feel that way. The disappointment you’re facing is one that really no one has specifically felt before. Thankfully, there is a Creator who knew that this would happen. In fact, He knew how you would feel today and that you would read this. With that in mind, I want to encourage you to think about a few things regarding this interruption to what should be an exciting season in your life.

#1 - Definition of Graduation

One big piece of your senior year that may (or may not) be interrupted is your Commencement Ceremony or Graduation. This is pessimal because graduation is something most people eagerly await. But, what does it really mean to graduate, and what are we celebrating? If you look the word “graduation” up, you’ll find something like: “the ceremony of conferring degrees or diplomas, as at a college or school.” Meaning, literally, that a graduation is a ceremony where you are gifted your certificate of completion. Another way to think of it is as “recognition.” Thus, while our current circumstances may impede the ceremony and public recognition from happening, it will not stop you from reaching the end-goal and receiving your diploma. This is good! This will also be a lesson for future you, one that you would normally learn later in life. But, due to current circumstances, you are being forced to learn it now. Here it is:

Often in life, the things that are worth your hard work and effort will offer little to no public recognition.

We grow up having eighth grade graduation and high school graduation. We have end-of-year awards. We get certificates for honor roll. We get trophies and medals in sports and other competitions. Then for a lot of people, once you’re out of high school and/or college, those awards suddenly stop. This is the point in life where your internal value of doing your best drives your every day accomplishments and goals, rather than your desire to be praised and recognized. Your work ethic is one of the few things you can take with you from high school and/or college that will continue to benefit you throughout life. Therefore, don’t let this current situation cause you to lose the motivation to work hard. Instead, work even harder than usual so that when this school year ends — whatever that might look like, when the time comes — you can sign off knowing that you did your very best.

#2 - Definition of Pioneer

I have used the word “pioneer” to describe your generation for some time now. Your generation is super unique — even more now than before. This begs the question, what does it mean to be a pioneer? A quick search on dictionary.com says that to pioneer means “to be the first to open or prepare (a way, settlement, etc.)” and “to take part in the beginnings of” something. You are the first generation to have grown up fully in the “digital age.” Most likely, there is not a day that you remember not having access to internet, email, social media, and even smartphones. You are pioneers. Now, you have become the first generation to experience the effects of a global pandemic to the point of shutting down your schools and ending your entire school career electronically. Again, you are pioneers.

It may seem like the best thing to do right now is to watch those older than you and see how they would respond to the current situation you’re in. But in reality, no one in recent history has done this before! The campaign going around on social media of posting your throwback senior pictures out of solidarity to class of 2020 is completely counterproductive and proves my point. We haven’t dealt with this specific circumstance before, and therefore, don’t know how to respond.

My call to action for you, then, is to own this! First of all, understand that it is okay for you to not know exactly how to respond to this current situation. The truth is, no one does. Second of all, be pioneers! You show us what it looks like to be a senior in high school or college right now. You show us that even though your normal has been interrupted, you can still handle yourself with grace and pride for all that you have done. The canvas is blank right now, and that should be exciting to you. Paint the picture. You’ll be in history books one day. What will my grandchildren read about how you responded to this situation?

#3 - Recognize Idols and Get Rid of Them

This time of staying at home has probably done for you what it has done for me: it has made you realize how much your brain craves distraction (I’ll have more on that in a later article). In church language, a lot of times we refer to things that distract us from having our hearts set on Jesus as idols. This season of forcibly having a more open schedule (or at the very least, more time at home) is a great time to “reflect and detect.” Reflect on your own life and how you spend your time, then detect the habits you have that are unhealthy and distracting.

I’ll speak for myself here. My iPhone is an idol in my life. I have seen that more during this season than ever before. A phrase I’ve been using recently is “I want my phone to be a tool instead of a distraction.” This season really opened my eyes to that reality in my life, and I’m now taking steps to remedy it. What about you? How are you spending your time? What distracting habits exist in your life that you want to replace with something better? Now is the perfect time to make that change. Your routine is already interrupted which means you’re having to “build a new normal.” Therefore, I want to challenge you to build a normal that eliminates at least one idol and replaces it with something new and constructive. Just one! Is it to build in an hour of screen-free time during the day? Is it to spend 20 minutes reading the Bible in the morning? Whatever it may be, do it now. It’s the perfect time.

If you think you can just wait until things go back to “normal” to make the change, you’re mistaken. It will be much more difficult to create change when that occurs because you’ll be craving the old, familiar routine so much. That’s why you have to make the change now during a season where interruption is normal. Trust me. You’ll be glad you did.

#4 - Trust in the Lord

A couple verses from the Bible that have been really important to me in my life are Proverbs 3:5-6.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

I’ve preached numerous times on this passage. I’ve also experienced this many times in my own life. There are three distinct steps that you can and should take for one incredible outcome. If you’ll trust in the Lord, lean not on yourself, and acknowledge Him, then He will direct your paths. In preaching, I would call this a conditional promise from God. This means that His promise to direct your paths hinges on your willingness to do the things listed before. The difficulty is that the things that this passage encourages us to do is explicitly against what our current culture tells us to do. We live in this world that’s all about self. You’re told to believe in yourself, look out for yourself, take care of yourself, etc. But here’s the problem with that: your self is treacherous! The Bible makes it clear that mankind is not good apart from God (Romans 3). For this reason, trusting in self is a dangerous thing to do.

In our current situation, this is doubly true. If I was trusting in myself during this pandemic, I would be an anxious mess. If I was leaning on my own understanding during this time, I wouldn’t understand anything! If I was refusing to acknowledge God during these trying times, I would be filled with bitterness. And worst of all, I would be without direction. Instead, we must make the effort to do what this passage tells us to do. What might it look like for you to trust in the Lord right now with ALL of your heart? What might it look like for you to trust Him more than you trust yourself? What might it look like for you to be willing to acknowledge God even in the midst of a trying time? I don’t know exactly what it would like for your life specifically, but I do know this: God will direct your paths as a result. And that’s what I want. Especially during a time like this, I want God to be directing my steps. Therefore, I will do my best to trust in the Lord with all my heart and not lean on my own understanding. I will acknowledge Him in all my ways and ask Him to be faithful to direct my paths. The future is full of unknowns right now, but I rest in knowing that my Creator holds my next step.

#5 - Pray

That’s it? Yep…pray. If you are a Jesus-follower then you know (or should know) how monumental prayer is. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we now have the ability — no, the great priestly privilege — to approach our precious Father in prayer. Not only that, but we know from Romans 8 that all three persons of our triune God are involved when we pray. In a very real way, we are experiencing a miracle each time we speak to God. But instead, often, our first response in a time of crisis is to talk to other people way more and way before we talk to God. It seems crazy even as I’m writing it, but I have the same tendency. I’m quick to join groups on Facebook to discuss our situation, I’m quick to ask others what they think and how this is affecting them, and then after all of that, I’ll pray. What a silly thing to do!

No person is going to cause this semester to make any more sense for you. No person is going to be able to take away your anxiety and give you a peace that is unexplainable. No person is going to be able to, from one day to the next, change your circumstances. But there is a God who wants to hear from you and is ready to change you for the better as you continue to seek him through this season. This whole season would be such a waste if we came out of it the exact same as when it started. We should grow through this and become more like Christ, but we have to work toward that. And if we’re not willing to be spending time with God being honest with our feelings, asking Him to help us mature and understand His ways that are higher than ours, then we’re going to miss it.

Are you feeling fearful of the current situation? That’s okay, but go to God about it! He can take your fear and replace it with peace (Philippians 4:6-7). You won’t get there without Him. That’s a fact. Realize the gift you have in your relationship with God, and talk to Him about everything!

In conclusion, graduate, let me bless you with words from Scripture:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you PEACE.”

I don’t know what graduation will look like this year. I don’t know what your next six months will look like. But I know this: there is a God who knows every hair on your head, who loves you and desires to have an intimate love relationship with you today. If this is something you already know and have experienced, then lean into that. Trust Him in a new way. If this is something that seems foreign to you or leads you to more questions, contact me at trent@richfork.com or on any social media @trent_santos.

Let me be one of the first to honor you, commend you, and congratulate you on reaching this stage in your life. Well done, Class of 2020. Now go be pioneers and change the world!

The Year Easter Became About Jesus

The year 2020 entered with a bang. Not only were New Year Resolutions flying around, but it was also the start of a new DECADE! People were ready to reset, make some changes, and make this year — even this decade — the best ever.

Then, a global pandemic…

I don’t have to go into detail about how the four words above this paragraph not only changed many of our lives, but they changed the world. None of us expected to live through something in 2020 that will be in every history book from this moment. Our kids and grandkids will be tested in history class one day on their knowledge of the events that are unfolding before us today. Everyone’s routine has been interrupted, many people have lost their jobs, and some have even lost their lives. This is and will continue to be one of the most trying times in many of our lives.

Last weekend was Easter weekend, a time celebrated by many around the world, and also a time for Christians of all ages and denominations to be united in the celebration of the resurrection of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. This holiday carries with it family traditions; some that have been uninterrupted for decades. Uninterrupted until now. For people who work in a church like myself, Easter weekend is one of the biggest and busiest weekends of the year. Rivaled only by Christmas, we gear up at church knowing that many will be hearing a message that they only hear once or twice a year. On the other side of that coin, many families that are not regular attenders of a local church will still — even if only for the sake of tradition — attend an Easter service. None of that was allowed to happen this past weekend. It was strange not getting up and stressfully dressing my two young children in their special Easter outfits. We didn’t struggle to get into a car to make it on time for a church service. We didn’t have a giant family lunch. We didn’t go to an Easter egg hunt. We didn’t go out to eat. Nothing. This Easter, all familiar, albeit distracting, traditions were forcibly set aside, leaving nothing but Jesus. We couldn’t count on the presentation of flashy lights coupled with a great band at a church service. We couldn’t count on a convicting message from a gifted speaker. It was up to us in our individual homes. And we were set up perfectly to bring the focus back to Jesus.

The only thing remaining was the story of Jesus. The story of God taking on the form of a man. In the Bible, we are encouraged to imitate Jesus and what He did to give us the story of Easter. In Philippians 2, it says that we should have a mind like the one that Jesus had. He was (and still is) God, but He didn’t think of Himself more highly than anyone else. In fact, He did the opposite. Jesus didn’t desire to be famous, and He didn’t come here looking to be served. Rather, He came to serve man. He had the attitude of a servant. And being found in appearance as a man, though being fully God at the same time, He humbled Himself willing to die for us. He gave Himself over to an excruciating death because He had the eternal Kingdom at the front of His mind. Because of His willingness to be obedient to God to that extent, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names. Therefore, if we believe this to be true and have called upon the name of the Lord, then we are called to be light bearers in this world. And we are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling! That is the story of Easter. And that story remains true even when the world and the traditions with which we’ve surrounded the “holiday” seem to be out of sorts.

If you could use one word to describe the current feeling in the world with all that is going on, what would it be? One that quickly comes to mind for me is “dark.” The world just seems dark. When I walk into a coffee shop, where I normally am inclined to hang around for an extended period socializing with the baristas and other people there, and find that there is Plexiglas between me and the barista, no one allowed to be sitting at the tables, tape marking the safe distance I can stand from the next person in line, the world seems like a dark place. The answer to “how are you” is no longer automatically “good.” There is fear in the eyes of people that you see at the grocery store. The world is dark right now. But the message of Jesus — the message of Easter — is a message of hope. There was no darker day than the day Jesus was crucified. In fact, quite literally, the world was dark for a period of time during that terrible event. As the man who had never done anything wrong breathed His last breath, the world darkened. But there was a light coming that would chase away even the darkest darkness. Jesus’ resurrection is a beacon of light and hope that changed the world forever. That’s what I celebrated last weekend even though I did it in my pajamas with my little family. My current circumstances have not changed my Easter.

Now here we are, a couple thousand years after the first Easter, and the world is at one of its darkest hours. What will we, the people of God, the messengers of hope, the recipients of salvation, do about it? Are we going to bunk up and be silent and fearful of what is happening around us? Or will we lean into the hope we have in the light of Christ and spread that to as many people as possible? I know right now we can’t physically be walking around spreading hope, but it’s 2020. There’s Facebook, Instagram, and many other ways you can be using your life to be a light to those who need it. We can give into a spirit of fear and choose to live in the darkness of this world right now, or we can choose to be different. If I can smile at someone today, I’m going to do it. If I can text or call someone today for the sole purpose of checking on them and see how they’re doing, I’m going to do it. If someone who is living in a dark world can be encouraged by the light that I carry within me, then I’m going to spread it. Let’s go be different. Let’s go be light. Let’s go be Jesus.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.