“Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.” Luke 9:23-26
Being a Christian in an increasingly secularized culture such as ours presents rapidly changing challenges to our primary task of taking the gospel to the world. The adversaries of the Christ will use a wide range of tactics to thwart these efforts. Often, they view us as superstitious, backwards, anti-scientific, ignorant bumpkins who are desperately grasping for anything to avoid facing the harsh realities of life in a pointless world originating from mindless chance and natural processes. Most often, those who do so will simply dismiss us and work to convince others to do the same. Others have a more hostile attitude towards our convictions and our efforts to share them and may try to intimidate us or those who desire to hear the gospel. You could likely imagine a host of other ways our opponents may seek to shut down our essential work in the kingdom.
Not only do these seek to stifle the spread of Christianity through our primary commission, but they also work to strip away the faith and faithfulness of those of us who already have come to saving faith. These kinds of attacks have generated fear, doubt, and resentment in the hearts of many, leading them to abandon the Lord and His church. For this, we must fortify our faith to stand in the day of testing by such forces (Ephesians 6:10-18). There is entirely too much at stake for our souls and those we seek to convince of the gospel truth to allow anything to suppress our pursuit of kingdom living.
As is the case with any challenging situation, we must know that it is worth the effort, stress, strain, heartache, etc. if we are to stand strong when in distress. This is precisely what Jesus impressed upon those who would follow Him in Luke 9:23-26 above. The statements made highlight the all-encompassing and surpassing value of the gospel. It is of greater importance than any other thing, including our own lives (9:4-25). It is this mindset that empowers people to do all manner of seemingly impossible things. Those who risk their lives in service to others (military, police, fire, search and rescue, etc.) know the dangers inherent to their chosen lines of service. Yet, they do it anyway because they reckon that service to the greater good outweighs their desire for self-preservation.
This must be our attitude if we are to be successful in our mission. Jesus had just revealed to the disciples that He “…MUST suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day” (Luke 9:22). He could successfully complete His mission in no other way (Matthew 26:36-46; Hebrews 5:7-9). The harsh reality of life in a fallen world can only be conquered if we live unashamed of Jesus and His words, even to the point of giving our very lives if necessary. Will we be ashamed of Jesus and His words when facing pressure to be silent, or will we deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Him?