⁵⁷As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:57-62 (ESV)

By today’s standard, Jesus would make a lousy evangelist. It seems pastors and churches are dressing-up the gospel and ‘pitching’ salvation like salesmen.

Listen closely to the average evangelistic sermon or witnessing encounter and all you hear is a string benefits that will follow if a person will just pray a specific set of words. Jesus sounds more like the last pathetic soul on the playground hoping to be picked or a lottery ticket than the reigning Son of God.

C’mon, pick him. He really loves you. He’s a nice guy. He can help you out. He can give you more than you’ve ever dreamed. He’ll bless the fool out of you if you’ll just give him a chance.

While the blessings that come from knowing God through Jesus exceed the wildest imaginations, Jesus never used blessings as a carrot to invite men and women to follow him. In fact, he often used the costs associated with following him to test whether a person was truly interested in God’s Kingdom.

In this text from Luke 9, notice what a terrible salesman Jesus is as he interacts with three potential disciples.

He tells the first guy that following him could very well leave him poorer than foxes and birds.

He tells the second guy that following him would mean foregoing the family fortune. (The issue in verses 59-60 was not the imminent burial of his dad, but the eventual burial of his dad at some point in the future. It seems the guy wanted to wait for his inheritance first.)

He tells the third guy that following him would mean a trusting God for provision and not family support.

Sounds like Jesus forgot to tell them the good part. Or maybe he did tell them the good part. That following Jesus is the most difficult yet glorious path in life.