We all come to specific points of choice in our lives. The choices or decisions we make at these points will make a life altering difference in our futures. It is as if we have come to a fork in the road and must go to the right or the left. Does it matter which way? Some may say no. But it does matter, and the lives of countless people testify to that fact. No doubt we are all familiar with the lines written by Robert Frost in The Road Not Taken:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
My wife’s grandfather, who was a lawyer in Florida, represented a new food company as they were getting started. They told him that they would pay him either in cash or in stock. Not knowing whether they would pan out, he chose the cash. He got his money and they got started. They called the company Winn-Dixie. He should have chosen the stock!
Whether you are choosing a stock, a college, a mate, or a career, the choice can be life-changing — for good or for bad. In any event, the choice is important enough to warrent serious, thoughtful consideration. Certainly it is too important to be made at halftime.
Choosing a god is like that. You see, the choice you make regarding whether you believe in God or follow a god of your own making is potentially more life-altering than any other choice you may make. You should choose carefully.
Have you made that choice? Did you choose to be a Christian? Do you know what that choice requires of you? Do you know what being a Christian really means? C. S. Lewis correctly observed that we are in danger of trivializing the word "Christian" to the point where it is a useless word. He discovered that many people use the word "Christian" simply to mean someone who is good, much as the word "gentleman" is used. "Gentleman" originally meant "one who had a coat of arms and some landed property." It was an objective term. To call someone a "gentleman" was not to compliment him, but simply to state a fact. That person could be a rude and offensive person and still be a gentleman. Of course, there were some who came along and said that a gentleman ought to act in a certain manner befitting his title. And so "gentleman" came to mean "a nice person, someone with courteous behavior, a polite person." Instead of an objective statement of fact, it became a subjective statement of opinion. So the term "Christian" has come to mean, in the view of many, "a person who is good, who tries to do right, who tries to follow a Christian ethic." But the term "Christian" does not mean that at all. A Christian is one who follows Christ, one who accepts Christ and His teachings and attempts to live by His Word. We find that the term "Christian" was first applied to the followers of Jesus in Acts 11:26 where it says, And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. So the term "Christians" was applied to the disciples. To be a Christian is to be a disciple of Christ.
Now, a disciple is more than someone who accepts, intellectually, the teachings of Christ. A disciple is one who follows Christ, practically, in the everyday affairs of life.
In John chapter 6, we find an interesting account of various people who wanted to follow Jesus. Years ago, I heard Stuart Briscoe label these people, "The Curious, the Convinced, and the Committed." I would like to use his labels to help us evaluate whether we have really made the vital choice to actually follow Jesus.
After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). And a great multitude was following Him, because they were seeing the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. (vv. 1-2)
Here we have the company of the curious. Our text said that a great multitude was following Him. But it is important for us to notice why they were following Him. The Scripture says that it was because they saw the signs he performed. In other words, they followed because of the miraculous works. Simply put, they were curious. "Have you heard, Jesus is coming to town? He is a great healer. He performs miracles. He is by the edge of the sea. Let’s go out to see Him. Maybe He’ll perform a miracle for us." The company of the curious come to Jesus because of what He may do for them. Perhaps they would benefit from a miracle or two. Perhaps they could be healed or blessed somehow.
We have these same people today: those who want the blessing without true commitment. These were the people who followed Jesus only because it pays. As long as it’s convenient, as long as the blessings keep coming, as long as they are on the mountain top, as long as no hard work is required, as long as no deep commitment is required, these people are with you. You can get a crowd when you pass out blessings. But as you will see, this crowd later left Him when He started talking about commitment. As long as the free food was flowing, they were there. They made it to the covered dish, but they didn’t stay for the real stuff. You can get a crowd when you promise everybody a good time, everything for free. But you really can’t get commitment from the curious.
When therefore the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, "This is of a truth the Prophet who is to come into the world." Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. (vv. 14-15)
Here are those who go beyond the curious. They dig deeper. They are the company of the convinced. Their curiosity causes them to dig for deeper truths. They’re more open, but not much more. They become intellectually convinced. In verse 14, they declared, This is of a truth the Prophet who is to come. Their curiosity led them to believe in Him, to become convinced in Him, that He was the Messiah. Now that is all well and good, but there is one fundamental flaw in their thinking. They want Him to be the Messiah, but they want Him to be their Messiah. They want a Messiah to do their bidding.
Notice what it says in verse 15. It says that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king. Jesus perceived this, and so He withdrew Himself from them. Their intention was to set up the earthly kingdom of God, with Jesus as the earthly king. But that is what they wanted. That is not what Jesus wanted. They wanted the Crown without the Cross. They wanted victory without sacrifice. But the Cross was in God’s plan. Jesus knew at this time He was going to the Cross, but they had other plans for him.
Notice that they didn’t consult Jesus about their plans. The very fact that they were going to take Him by force indicates that they knew this wasn’t His plan. It’s incredible to think that they could truly believe that He was the Messiah, and yet, be so callous to His will. Yet, there are those today who are equally as callous. Professing that they believe in the Lordship of Christ, they turn a deaf ear to His commands. They want the kingdom as they perceive it. They want the victory, but on their terms. This is a picture of the convinced, yet uncommitted. Is it a picture of you?
How do we know that they wanted the Crown without the Cross? Well, we can tell from their reaction recorded in the latter part of this chapter. Jesus began to talk about being the Bread of Life, the Bread which comes down out of heaven. And then He gives them a hard saying. He says that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have eternal life. Of course, He was talking about going to the Cross, and their commitment to Him. But this was too much for them to bear. Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this said, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?" (v. 60)
They were convinced, and yet they were not ready to make a commitment to Him. They were not ready to bear up under difficult circumstances. They were not ready to make any sacrifices whatsoever. And when the going got rough, what did they do? As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him any more (v. 66). When the going got rough, they got going. They left Him. They would have nothing to do with difficulty.
Many react to the Cross the same way today. The Cross was and is still a stumbling block to many. Christ’s Cross is an offense to some, in regard to salvation, because they are unwilling to renounce their own good works as insufficient for salvation. The Cross is an offense because of pride. The Cross stands as a reminder that all of our efforts, however notable, however good, are simply insufficient for salvation. You cannot save yourself by good works, nor can you earn salvation. Our merits are not adequate and we must admit that we are sinners. The Cross stands to remind us of our sin and inadequacy.
The Cross reveals God’s hatred of sin and His judgement upon it. For us to come to Christ, we must come to the foot of the Cross. We must renounce our sin and trust completely in Christ’s finished work on that Cross to purchase our salvation. We must trust Christ’s work instead of ours. For many, their pride will not let them do that. But we can’t come in pride. We must come in humility. We must come as a little child, recognizing we have nothing to give, but all to receive.
But then the Cross is also a principle of life for believers. You see, the Cross is not only an event in history, the Cross is a principle for living our daily lives. Jesus said that we must take up our cross daily and follow Him. What he was referring to was a daily dying to self, a daily renunciation of the self life and a daily dependance upon His life. This, too becomes an obstacle. It means I must submit daily to His will, not mine. It means I must follow Him. It means that when I confess Him as Lord, I must be willing to do what He says. I must be willing to order my life around His priorities and not my own agenda. It means I must die daily. But alas, many are convinced but are not committed. And so the Cross becomes an offense and a stumbling block to them. Is the Cross a stumbling block to you?
As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him any more. Jesus said therefore to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God. (vv. 66-69)
We have seen the company of the curious, willing only to follow because of what they could get in return. And we have seen the company of the convinced, wanting to believe in Jesus, but wanting Him on their own terms. Now we come to the company of the committed. These have taken another step, an all-important step into commitment. They have not only seen the truth and intellectually apprehended it, they have staked their lives on it and burned their bridges behind them. You see, it’s one thing to know the truth. It’s quite another to act on it. But we must not only be willing to act on it, we must in fact act on it.
They acted on their faith. And their action was indeed a result of their faith. They had faith in Jesus. They didn’t simply have faith in what Jesus could do for them. Nor did they have faith in their idea of Jesus. Rather, they had faith in Him. They had faith in Him as the only Savior, and as the only Lord.
In verse 68, Simon Peter said that there was nowhere else to go because He was the one who had the words of eternal life. Here is their faith in Him as Saviour. Eternal life could only come through Him, and they had come to realize that. Jesus Himself said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by Me. This was a truth they had come to realize. Eternal life was only to be found in Jesus’ words. He was their Savior and they were sticking with Him. And that’s still true today. There is, as the Scripture says, no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. If we would be saved, it must be through Christ.
Again, in verse 69, Peter says, that they not only believe, but have come to know that Jesus is the Holy one of God. This is another way of saying that Jesus is Lord. To be the Holy One of God is to be the Lord of all. And we must not only believe that Jesus is Savior, we must believe that He is Lord as well. This was not a superficial commitment, but was a commitment which affected their lives. When a person is truly committed to Christ, his or her behavior will reflect that commitment. One of the early Marters of the Church said, "If a man’s religion won’t take him to church, it is doubtful if it will take him to heaven." What was meant was that for faith to be real, for commitment to be genuine, it will change the way you act.
It troubles me when I meet those who profess to be Christians and yet do not seem to care about the things of God. When I meet supposed believers who take their responsibilities so lightly that they are just as willing to neglect them as they are to fulfill them, I have great difficulty understanding it. When we understand that the martyrs of the early church were willing to give even their lives for the faith, it makes you wonder what’s going on.
It seems to me that what’s going on is that we have many professing Christians who are simply among the curious. Many others are among the convinced, but neither of these two groups are among the committed. But the reality is that only the committed are truly Christians. You see, a Christian is not someone who is nice. A Christian is someone who is committed to Christ in practice.
The company of the curious, the company of the convinced, and the company of the committed. Where do you find yourself? And we must see that there are two truths by which we are to judge ourselves. The first is found in that phrase of Christ’s, Come unto me. Have we come to Him in faith, trusting in His work for us, trusting in His love for us, trusting in His care for us? Have we come to Him to be in unbroken fellowship with Him on a daily basis? The second truth is found in Christ’s words, Follow me. Not only must we come to Him, we must obey Him. We must follow Him. Two tests — our relationship with Him, and our obedience to Him. They determine whether we have really made the right choice.
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