It’s not only accommodation the disciple is willing to give up... Ah! Many are not going to be pleased to hear that. We can’t please men you know. That’s a number one decision. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ Gal 1:10(ESV). Is that good? Did Jesus offend with His words? Remember Jesus was a dinner guest at a Pharisee’s place and rebuked him. One of the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also." And he said, "Woe to you lawyers also!” Lk 11:45, 46(ESV). If we bandy words to cause no ripples, and maintain the sensitivities of those asleep in iniquity we can’t be true to Christ.
Try that today and your financial support will evaporate. The priority of the disciple is neither comfort nor riches; prison and troubles wait for me. But I reckon my own life to be worth nothing to me; I only want to complete my mission and finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do Acts 20:23, 24(GNB). You can’t get very far in ministry without funding you know. Ruth might have stayed back in Moab to raise money for Naomi but chose to be with her when accommodation and feeding were not guaranteed. But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God Ruth 1:16(ESV). Sadly for some, living and living well is the goal and priority. Why should they not live well? Even workers in ministry have rights. True, but rather loose God given rights than be a hindrance to the gospel. But we haven't made use of this right. Instead, we have endured everything in order not to put any obstacle in the way of the Good News about Christ 1Cor 9:12(GNB).
Is your idea of true discipleship a life of deprivation and lack? No, my dear it is neither a life of deprivation or unbroken excess. So it’s somewhere in between? Don’t you get it yet? I know how to live in poverty or prosperity. No matter what the situation, I've learned the secret of how to live when I'm full or when I'm hungry, when I have too much or when I have too little Phil 4:12(GW). It is independent of external circumstances and consistent in all circumstances of life. As a true disciple the one and only priority is to please Jesus, come life or death. Whether we live in the body or move out of it, our goal is to be pleasing to him 2Cor 5:9(GW).
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