Jesus wants you to hate your family?

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:25–27)
 
I have been reading through the entire Bible this year while listening to a daily podcast called The Bible Recap. Many others in our church also follow this plan, as this podcast does a great job of providing insight into the daily Bible reading. At times, Tara Leigh Cobble, the host of The Bible Recap, will begin her narration with a warning that the day’s subject matter might not be suitable for young ears. But sometimes, as I found out earlier this week, it’s the passages you might not expect that actually should come with the warning!

My 14-year-old and I were in the car listening to the daily Bible reading, when we came to Luke 14:25-26. In this passage, Jesus turns to the crowd and say, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” Talk about an awkward moment to share with your son! To those unfamiliar with the nuances of the original Biblical languages, the plain reading of this passage seems to be clear:  true followers of Jesus will hate their family!

Of course, such an interpretation would clearly contradict the second greatest commandment, which according to Jesus in Matthew 22:39 is to “love your neighbor as yourself.” What Jesus is doing in Luke 14 is using a cultural idiom to communicate that your devotion to Him should be such a priority that, by comparison, you will hate everything and everyone else in your life. A more understandable translation would therefore be something like this: “If you want to truly follow me, then you must have a hatred for anything or anyone that attempts to steal your primary allegiance away from me.” After all, there is nothing or no one else in this world that can bring you life to the fullest and save you from sin, death, and the worries of this world like Jesus can.

What would it look like to take this perspective on your life? What would happen if you asked God to give you a hatred towards anyone that demanded your allegiance, and a revulsion for anything that sought to steal your attention away from Him? Think of Jesus in Matthew 16:23, responding to Peter’s comment that he doesn’t need to be killed by the religious leaders: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

What are those people, objects, or causes in your life that, like your family, might not be bad things, but threaten to steal your primary allegiance and attention away from Jesus? What would it look like to ask God to give you a Luke 14:25-27 mindset towards your phone, towards politics, towards material things, and yes, even towards your family? I pray that your love for Jesus might be so central to your life that, by comparison, you will hate everything else.