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What does it mean to be a follower of Christ?

Luke 14:25-35 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, (26)

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. (27) "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. (28) "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? (29) "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, (30) saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' (31) "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? (32) "Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. (33) "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. (34) "Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? (35) "It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Ok, wait a minute, "hate his family"? There must be some Greek translation error or something... so I did a search on goooooogle and found this:

clipped from www.apologeticspress.org

Numerous Greek scholars have added their combined years of study to the discussion to testify that the word “hate” (miseo) in Luke 14:26 does not mean “an active abhorrence,” but means “to love less.” E.W. Bullinger, in his monumental work, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, described the word “hate” in Luke 14:26 as hyperbole. He rendered the word as meaning “does not esteem them less than me” (1968, p. 426). W.E. Vine, the eminent Greek scholar, said the word miseo could carry the meaning of “a relative preference for one thing over another.” He listed Luke 14:26 under this particular definition (1940, p. 198). Lastly, A.B. Bruce, in The Expositor’s Greek Testament, stated that “the practical meaning” of the word “hate” in this verse is “love less” (n.d., p. 575).

Ok, that makes more sense.

Luke 9:23-26 And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. (24) "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. (25) "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? (26) "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.


Ok, so Jesus is saying that it will cost you everything to follow Him. And that we must place Him first in our life.

"No, that's not true", you say," remember what Paul said":

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ah... you got me...No, wait a minute, look at the verse before that one:

Rom 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it...

To be a disciple of Christ, is to be in a relationship where we love Him because He first loved us. A relationship where we both surrender everything to Him not expecting anything back in regards to our motivation, and surrender everything to Him fully expecting every good and perfect gift in return based on the knowledge of His loving Character.

Mat 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Notice is doesn't say seek first the kingdom and His righteousness, so that all these things will be added to you.

The difference between "and" and "so that" here is your motivation.
"so that" says I will do what you say if I get what I want
"and" says you are everything to me Lord, take all of me, while still having a confidence that He will provide.

You should see yourself as one who has been made a son, but gives his life as a slave.
He sees you as one who was a slave, whom He has made into His son.

It is no wonder many of the New Testament writers referred to themselves as "a bond-servant of God".

Luke 10:37b "Go and do the same."