“Investment Shows Commitment”

Monday, October 21, 2019

BIBLE READING: Luke 14

“Shark Tank” is a reality TV show where entrepreneurs try to convince multi-millionaire tycoons to invest in their businesses. A recent episode featured two very different contestants. The first left his six-figure corporate job and invested all his savings into making his business profitable. The second built his business as a “side-hustle” while maintaining his day job. Both contestants had great business ideas; but in the end the first contestant was offered a lucrative deal because of his personal commitment to the business. As one investor noted, “Investment shows commitment.”

The second contestant was passionate about his business… but at the end of the day it was just something he did for money. But the first contestant invested everything he had in his business, and it became who he was.

If we’re honest sometimes we treat our faith like a "side-hustle". We want our faith to grow and so we make choices that allow for that. But there are other “important things” that demand our attention and affection: family, jobs, etc. Luke 14 is a gut check to our spiritual commitment. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own [family], and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple …any one of you who does not renounce all that the has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14.26, 33).

Jesus is calling for us to be “all-in” with an understanding of what is most valuable. There is a reason he juxtaposes our family relationships with being his disciple. If you’re a parent, you know the time, energy, money and love you invest, especially in your children because they mean something to you. His point is that the things we value most are the things that cost us the most. Not just our money, but our time and energy.

Jesus is not suggesting we live destitute or cast those we love to the side. He is teaching that if our affections are divided, we cannot truly follow him. Much like the second contestant, our faith maybe be something we do, but it will never be who we are.

What have you invested to grow your relationship with God? What does it cost you to be a disciple?

If someone were to take away your bible or not allow you to pray, would that alter your routine? If it was illegal to speak to others about your faith or to serve in the name of Jesus, would that affect your daily activities? If you could never see your family again because of your faith in Jesus would that change your commitment?

You may want to follow Jesus, but does it drive your choices, relationships and lifestyle? Satan wants us to think it’s ok to have our interests divided. But Jesus expects us to narrow our focus because where there is little investment, there is little commitment.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6.21)

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