Christian Discipleship

Mark 8:34 "When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, 'Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.' "

In Mark chapter 8 Jesus is in Caesarea Philippi with His disciples. As an ancient center of pagan worship, Caesarea Philippi was notorious for its shrines and altars to various gods. In this setting Jesus asks His followers who people say that He is to find out what they know about Him. Peter correctly declares Him to be the Son of God and Jesus commends Him for being full of the Spirit of God, for only the Holy Spirit can reveal that truth to men. After making sure they know that He is God, Jesus then starts talking about His destiny of suffering and death on the cross. In horror Peter rebukes the Lord, after which Jesus tells Peter to "get behind Me, Satan."Jesus rebukes Peter for being self-serving in his words and actions. He then calls everyone together to give them a lecture on what it means to follow the Christ.There are four points in this verse that Jesus makes in regard to discipleship. Anyone desiring to be a follower of Christ has to follow by denying self, taking up his cross and following Jesus.
In order to qualify as a disciple of Christ we must first of all have the desire to follow Christ. This may be obvious, but how many times do we just follow the newest trends, be part of the latest fashions, simply because everyone else is doing it. I venture to say that a majority of the multitude following Jesus really wasn't interested in being a disciple, but rather just saw the commotion around Him and they were interested in the newness of His message and the sensation of His miracles. This kind of following fizzles out quickly and before long scatters when the new becomes old and the teaching gets too hard to emulate. There were followers and then there were those that wanted to come after Jesus and follow His directions. The majority of Christians today are willing to follow Christ up to the point of their own comfort zone, but no further. As long as He does not make them uncomfortable and fits into their own ideas of what life should be like, they will gladly take the Biblical advice. True discipleship, however, will take what God says and live its life accordingly. The disciple worldview will align itself with God's teachings, no matter how difficult or foreign it may seem.
A second point in this verse is to deny self. There is no good in us. As followers of Christ we cannot let our own feelings and desires determine how we think and act. We are called by God to learn and obey His commandments and to act out of self-less love toward God and others. Christ has purchased us on the cross and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20). If we want to claim the benefits of a forgiven and saved life, we have to recognize this new ownership and let God reign on the throne of our lives. God becomes our Lord and His Spirit indwells us to do according to His good pleasures. There is no room for our self and God in our lives. There can only be one master of our hearts. Our lives are no longer about what we want but what He wants, which ultimately leads us to what is best for us anyway. If we have faith and let Him lead us, we will soon reap the benefits of a Spirit lead life full of peace and joy.
Next Jesus talks about taking up our cross. This simply means that we are willing to put to death our own desires and obey God in every area of our lives. Jesus is our great example here in His willingness to carry His own cross down the road to Calvary. He was obedient to the purposes of God, even unto death. He willingly hung on the cross and gave up His Spirit to glorify the Father and in the process was glorified Himself. If we display the same kind of obedience to the will of God, if we are willing to put to death the desires of our own flesh, God will bring His own glory into our lives and we will be blessed by it. The true sign of love of the disciple is obedience to the teachings of the master. Are we willing to die in order to glorify God? Is there any area in our lives that we hold onto and refuse to let go? Do we cling to bad habits out of insecurity and fear? We need to let go and let God. He knows what is best and we are safe in His hands.
Lastly, the mark of a true disciple of Christ is one that follows Him. No matter where He goes, we go. Having determined that we want to be His follower, realized that there is no good in our self, determined to be obedient to Him in every area of our lives, we now go wherever He tells us to go. We follow Him to the ends of the earth in order to do His work. We do not determine where we go in life, but rather daily ask Him where He wants us. Whether He wants us to minister in our home towns or be a proclaimer of the Good News in China, we are willing to go wherever He calls. We are empty vessels in the hands of the Master and as such we simply react to His skillful touch. His purposes are higher than ours and His plans better than anything we can ever come up with.

Application
I desire to be the kind of follower of Christ that displays all of these traits of discipleship. How much I still struggle with denying self and obedience. Today I will deny my self by taking every opportunity to help someone else, no matter what I am doing at the moment.