Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Matthew 16:24 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/mat.16.24.NIVUK
Self-denial is an odd little thing. If it were a person, it would no doubt sue people for misrepresenting it, because it has been badly misunderstood for centuries.
Many have understood self-denial as being a form of deprivation: that someone who is self-denying should avoid any earthly desires, including that of food or drink; that they should avoid any earthly comforts; that they should surrender their wealth or even their life.
It’s no wonder that, in our modern, consumerist, ‘Me First’ culture, self-denial is completely unfashionable.
Yet Jesus requires it of us. So we need to know what it truly is.
But it is helpful to know what it isn’t.
It isn’t Lent.
It isn’t fasting.
It isn’t self-flaggelation or other Middle Ages forms of spiritualised self-harm.
It isn’t even sacrificial giving.
It is way, way more than that, and way more challenging.
The word for ‘deny’ means to repudiate – to deny knowing someone, or to lose sight of one’s own self-interests. The word for ‘self’ is the reflexive pronoun, but also means our ‘self’ – the part of us that distinguishes us from everyone else around us and makes us special and different.
So what we are talking about is not so much what we do, but why we do it.
Why?
Because even the highest acts of religion, worship and altruism can be done with entirely the wrong motivation.
Take giving. Jesus tells us not to make a great show and production of our giving and instead to give secretly (Matthew 6:1-3). That way God is glorified, not us.
Take prayer. The reason we are commanded by Jesus to retreat into a room to pray is so that our prayers do not become a performance – all about us and our religiosity: all show and no substance – and not about the God we are praying to (Matthew 6:5-6).
Take fasting and other forms of inward religious observance. Again, Jesus tells us to make a big production of it (Matthew 6:16-18), because we are fasting to God, not to men.
Take worship. The Pharisee spent his time of worship glorifying himself, whereas the tax collector saw himself as he truly was and came only for confession and forgiveness (Luke 18:9-14).
So true self-denial is not done to enhance our reputation. No, it’s done as a sacrifice of worship between us and God, and to be true self-denial, no-one should know about it except God.
Paul wrote to a divided church in Philippi and told them they should follow the thought processes and inner life of Someone who knew all about denying Himself:
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Philippians 2:1-5 NIVUK
Yes, Jesus denied Himself because of the joy that was set before Him, but that joy led Him to deny Himself the short term pleasures of power and position in order to take on poverty and the cross for us.
This is the very essence of self-denial. It is denying yourself short-term gratification to obtain a long-term reward.
And that means doing everything – whether ‘sacred’ or ‘secular’ - with the aim of putting others before yourself.
It means setting aside the attention-seeking, limelight-hungry influencer culture around us, seeing it for the harmful, shallow mess that it is, and seeking to be obedient to the call of Christ.
So yes, self-denial means far more than religious observance or generous deeds. We know that there are many who do these with the wrong intentions. We’ve all seen the electioneering or diplomacy-enhancing aid deliveries, or the fake worship designed to cover a lifetime of sins.
Self-denial means looking out for other people’s interests before our own. Self-denial means seeking God’s purposes before our agenda.
Self-denial means following Christ, instead of taking the lead ourselves.
And it's impossible to follow Christ without it.
Questions
1. How would you define ‘self-denial’? How does your definition match up with the Bible’s?
2. Why is self-denial not about religious observance?
3. How can we ensure that the things we do are really motivated by self-denial?
Comments