61 And
another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them
farewell, which are at home at my house.
62 And
Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking
back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:61-62)
Jesus’s words here
seem unexpectedly harsh in response to someone who just wants to say goodbye to
family before leaving to follow Jesus.
Thus, it is a good bet there is a principle He is explaining that we don’t
quite understand.
These verses come in
a context of others who are declaring they’d like to follow Jesus and they are
taught different things about the commitment required, like “The son of man
doesn’t have a place to lay his head” and “Follow me, and let the dead bury
their dead.”
The person in these
verses wanted a chance to say goodbye to family, which seems harmless, if we
assume that he had a good family who wanted the best for him and who were
faithful themselves.
But what if his
family were not good people? What if they were a major obstacle to
this man in following Jesus? In
such a case, it would be better for him to separate himself and not return,
since by going back even once would put himself under much negative pressure to
renounce following Christ.
By asking to return to this family to say farewell, the man was
certainly demonstrating his reluctance to separate himself from them. It showed he wasn’t completely
convinced that his sacrifice would bring him much greater blessings than those
he enjoyed with his family.
Jesus taught a great
principle in response. “No man,
having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of
God.” Just like plowing is work,
it takes a lot of work to be a disciple of Christ. To look back is to wish one didn’t have to plough or to look
back at one’s comfortable house and bed. It is the equivalent of looking back with a sense of
sorrow that one has to leave at all.
And yearning for past sins definitely makes us unfit for the kingdom
of God. To yearn for past
sins and past dear associations that are nevertheless bad influences is as if
one had never converted in the first place. It means one has not really changed their heart and has only
changed their behavior. The
kingdom of God is always an
improvement over sin, not a step backward.
Some converts to the church have literally had to separate
themselves from their families, and thereby they have demonstrated great
bravery, but not all have, and I think there are other ways of applying this
story to us.
Maybe we haven’t had to leave family to convert and stay
faithful, but we have to leave behind all our bad habits and false traditions
and our favorite little sins. When
we are called upon to repent, do we find ourselves wanting to “say goodbye” to
those sins we feel especially attached to with a final binge before we take up
the cross of discipleship?
2 comments:
Oh how true! I see this principle played out in the lives of the "half-actives" here in our branch. Family is more important than the gospel so they often choose family activities over attending church and fulfilling their callings, which leaves us shorthanded and in a pinch when they don't show up on Sunday. I believe many people have their priorities backwards. By putting the Savior and His gospel first in our lives, He can bless us with an eternal family. But if we put family first we miss out because our family can not provide eternal salvation for us. I wish I could find a way to say that to them in a kind and understandable way.
Maybe the kind way is to tell them how much they are needed when they come and how much they are missed when they are gone.
I'm sorry you have such a hard time.
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