I feel afraid for most American Christians, including myself, when I read the following passages:

Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.”

Matthew 10:37, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”

Only way to get around this is to say, “Well, I just won’t go as far as being a disciple then. I will just stop at being a Christian.” In other words, we think being a disciple is a special calling for a few whereas being a Christian is for everyone But Jesus never makes that distinction. Those who are not willing to put discipleship BEFORE their family are not Christians!

Following Christ is more important than taking care of our family – even more so than our lives…

Listen, I struggle with this as much as you do. I’m a father of two girls I’d gladly die for. I love my wife. But I cannot deny that this passage is there. What do we do with this?

I know that at the least, we must wrestle with the implication of what Jesus said. This is a very strong statement made by Him in many different ways to the 1st century Jews whose family values were much stronger than ours.

God first. Family second. Church third? Job fourth? I disagree!

God first in our family.
God first in our church.
God first in our job.
…

PH