Following Jesus is not easy. It’s incredible, life-giving, and so much more!! But “easy” it is not.
Warden* lives in a place where being a Christian is nearly impossible. The reason I say nearly is because Warden is there. If it weren’t for him, my only conclusion would be that Christianity is truly impossible in his country. Warden faces daily challenges and dangers. In the last 6 months, Warden has narrowly escaped multiple terrorist attacks. For a time, this spring, it felt like every week Warden would report about how he had barely escaped death. Multiple times he shared about how a bomb blew up just a few hundred yards from his house, or how a government task force broke into his home looking for anything that they would deem a threat (including Bibles). Warden and believers like him daily face the reality that following Jesus is not easy. That biblical truth is up-close and in their face constantly.
Growth Comes When Following Jesus is Not Easy
Of course, not every believer experiences the same level of difficulty as our brothers and sisters around the world. That is a deeply profound reality of the Body of Christ. As I sit in my relatively safe, suburban home, free to worship Jesus however I want, my brothers and sisters globally struggle for even the most basic rights. They are sometimes tortured and killed for lack of the religious freedom I often take for granted. Here we are in the same family, yet they suffer.
In light of all this, you may assume that it would be a high priority for these brothers and sisters living in persecution to escape to freer and safer places. However, this would be a bad assumption. If you were to interview them, you would quickly discover that many don’t wish away the difficulties they face. Instead, they take note of all the growth they have experienced and the miracles they have seen as a result. They know following Jesus is not easy.
I will never forget one interview I watched with a believer from one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a Christian. The believer was asked, “How can Christians in the west pray for you? Perhaps for an end to persecution?” The believer responded with a smile, “What do you mean pray for us? We are praying for you, that you would experience the same kind of persecution as us, so that you could see the same kind of growth as us.”
I’ll never forget that.
These believers know what it means to really follow Jesus. They understand the extravagant cost. They know that following Jesus is not easy. Yet they have seen the goodness of our God! Indeed, they pray for us to see the same, even through trials and persecution.
Following Jesus is Not Easy, For Anyone
One of the most surprising things about a blog like this one is that as some of you read the paragraphs above you consciously or perhaps subconsciously drew the conclusion that, for some, Christianity is hard and, for some, Christianity is easy. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that would be the wrong conclusion. I think a far more biblical conclusion would be, that, for some, following Jesus is hard, and for others, it is really intensely, almost impossibly, hard. Based on my reading of the New Testament, if you haven’t experienced some level of difficulty in following Jesus, you probably are not following Him.
Not all of us face the difficulties of our brothers and sisters around the world with daily persecution. That doesn’t mean, though, that following Jesus is easy for the rest of us.
Before going any further, let’s take a look at the Scriptures.
Check out 2 Timothy 3:12, “In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Paul doesn’t mince words here. If you actually want to follow Jesus and do the things He did, you are going to face pushback. It’s a Scriptural guarantee—following Jesus is not easy.
Or take a look at Mark 8:34, “Then He called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.’” If you actually want to follow Jesus, He says that you need to die to yourself (take up your cross) and follow Him. Jesus made it His priority to go to some of the worst places the ancient world had to offer. Those are the places He wants us to follow Him to. Places where difficulty is a guarantee and personal sacrifice is required.
The Scripture continues right after in Mark 8:35: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me and for the Gospel will save it.” Yep, you heard that right, “lose your life for His sake.” And Jesus is not only talking about literally dying. He is talking about the daily process of taking up our cross (dying to self). Let me tell you, dying for Jesus may seem hard, but that’s a price you only have to pay one time. Daily dying to yourself? That’s at least as hard, if not harder. It’s a daily cost. Easy for a little while, much more challenging in the long haul.
Here are a few other Scriptures worth reading on this topic, but they all basically say the same thing:
All these passages have one core message: Following Jesus comes at a cost. Following Jesus is not easy.
Salvation is Free + Following Jesus Costs You Everything
Now, let me clarify so I don’t cause confusion. I am not saying you are earning your salvation. You should not try to earn your salvation by doing good works. You can’t. The Bible is clear. Salvation is a free gift from God apart from works of the law. We are not talking about salvation here. We are talking about what it means to follow Jesus.
Some may argue that you can’t separate these. I would say you have to get them in the right order. FIRST you are saved by grace, then Jesus says, if you want to follow me, it’s going to cost you everything.
Here’s the point, we look at our brothers and sisters around the world and say, “Oh wow, for them following Jesus is so hard,”—AND IT IS! Unfortunately, we then make the false assumption that it must be easy for the rest of us to follow Jesus. That’s just not the case.
The Bible is clear. Following Jesus comes at a cost. It is one of the worst lies of modern Christianity that following Jesus is easy. Following Jesus is not easy. It’s incredible, life-giving, and so much more!! But ‘easy’ is not an applicable word.
What Following Jesus Really Looks Like
If you are really following Jesus, that means that you are daily dying to yourself. That means that you are:
- Loving the unlovable
- Forgiving those who don’t deserve it
- Serving your enemies
- Living out real generosity
- Working hard even when you don’t get paid enough
- Meeting the real needs of those around you
- Earnestly seeking after the Lord by spending time with him
- Fleeing from youthful lusts
- Abandoning sin and making war against the sin in your life
- Sharing the Gospel with others even if it is uncomfortable
- Radically loving your kids
- Sacrificially loving your spouse even if they don’t love you back
- Finding joy in trials
- And so much more…
Don’t fall for the lie. The truth is, following Jesus is not easy. And if it is, you’re probably not actually following Him. Following Jesus comes at a cost.
BUT for anyone willing to pay that cost, Jesus is no liar. You will find life. It is at the edge of yourself, when you have nothing left except for Jesus, that you will find real contentment. It is there that Jesus will prove to you that HE is all you have ever needed. It is there that you may have the audacity to pray that others experience persecution. It is there that you see the miracles of God!
Following Jesus is not easy, but Jesus is certainly worthy of it!
If you want to take a next step in your walk with Jesus, check out our video series Multiplying Movements on the Forge App (TheForgeApp.com). You may also enjoy reading the book Mudrunner, which is full of stories of believers who have put their lives on the line for the sake of the Good News.
To all who say “Yes” to all that Jesus is, know this: He was with you when you said yes to salvation. He is with you now as you say yes to surrender. He will never leave you or forsake you!
*Name changed to protect security.
