The Pretend Problem

Summary

Being a disciple of Jesus is not like choosing how to watch TV, where we can choose between cable, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, or YouTube TV. We live in a culture of choices. We expect the business community, our friends, neighbors, and our church to offer us choices. But the Christian life is nothing like that. Following Jesus is not about picking and choosing, pretending here and being real there. It’s not about our preferences. Jesus only gives us two choices: denial and death. If we are too complacent to deny ourselves, too comfortable to take up our cross, or waiting for a more convenient moment to follow Jesus we cannot be true disciples.