What if following Jesus means more than we sometimes realize?
I've been thinking a lot lately about what it really means to follow Jesus. Not just to believe in Him, go to church, or try to be a good person, but to actually live the way He taught us to live. I think those of us who have been Christians for a long time can sometimes fall into a routine without even realizing it. We go to church, read our Bibles, pray, and try to make good decisions. Those are all important things, but I wonder how often we stop to ask ourselves whether our relationship with Jesus is really changing the way we think, what we value, and how we see the people around us.
That's one of the reasons I want to spend some time studying the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. It's probably one of the most familiar sections of Jesus' teaching, even among people who aren't Christians. Most people have heard phrases like "turn the other cheek," "love your enemies," or "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." But I think there's a danger in how familiar those teachings have become. We hear them so often that we can lose sight of just how challenging they really are, especially when we start thinking about what it would look like to consistently put them into practice.
As I've been reading through these chapters, what stands out to me is that Jesus isn't simply giving people a list of rules to follow. He's challenging their entire understanding of what it means to live a righteous life. He's talking about the things people value, the attitudes they carry, the way they treat others, and even the reasons they do good things in the first place. He's describing a way of living that looks very different from the culture around us, and the more I think about it, the more I realize that His words aren't just challenging to the world we live in today. They're challenging to me personally.
Understanding the World Jesus Was Speaking To
I think it helps to understand a little about the world Jesus was speaking to when He delivered this sermon. The Jewish people were living under Roman rule, and many were longing for God to fulfill His promises of deliverance. There were political tensions, economic struggles, religious divisions, and plenty of reasons for people to be frustrated with the world around them. In many ways, that probably sounds familiar to us. The circumstances are certainly different, but the desire for things to change, for justice to be done, and for life to be better is something people in every generation can understand.
Jesus had begun preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and Matthew tells us that large crowds were following Him. When He went up on the mountain and began teaching His disciples, with the crowds also listening, He started describing what life in God's kingdom looks like. And what's interesting is what He didn't begin with. He didn't start by talking about political power, military strength, wealth, or the kind of influence people usually associate with a kingdom. Instead, He began talking about people who were poor in spirit, those who mourned, the meek, the merciful, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
I think that's an important place to begin because it immediately challenges the way we tend to measure success and importance. We live in a world that celebrates confidence, independence, wealth, influence, and achievement. We admire people who seem to have everything figured out and who have managed to build successful lives for themselves. But Jesus begins by describing people who recognize their need for God. He's showing us that the values of His kingdom aren't necessarily the values that our culture teaches us to admire, and if we're going to follow Him, we have to be willing to question some of the things we've learned to consider important.
A Different Understanding of What It Means to Be Blessed
The opening section of the Sermon on the Mount is what we call the Beatitudes, found in Matthew 5:3–12. Jesus makes several statements that seem almost backward when you first hear them. He says the poor in spirit are blessed, those who mourn are blessed, the meek are blessed, and those who are persecuted for righteousness are blessed. When we hear the word "blessed," we often think of good things happening in our lives. We talk about being blessed when we get a promotion, buy a house, have a healthy family, or experience some kind of success. There's nothing wrong with being thankful for those things, but Jesus is talking about something that goes much deeper than having favorable circumstances.
He's describing people who recognize their dependence on God, who desire righteousness, who show mercy, and who seek peace. He's also giving hope to people who are grieving or suffering because of their faithfulness to Him. That doesn't mean suffering is enjoyable or that being poor automatically makes someone righteous. It means that God's favor and the hope of His kingdom aren't measured by the same standards the world uses. The person with the most money isn't necessarily the most blessed, and the person whose life seems to be falling apart hasn't been forgotten by God. Jesus is asking us to reconsider how we understand what really matters.
I think this becomes especially important when we start comparing ourselves to other people. It's easy to look at someone else's success and feel like we're falling behind, or to look at someone else's struggles and assume they've made poor decisions. But Jesus reminds us that there are things far more important than outward appearances or circumstances. Humility, mercy, a desire for righteousness, and a willingness to pursue peace are qualities that matter deeply to God, even when they don't earn much recognition from the world around us.
Being Salt and Light Without Making It About Ourselves
Immediately after the Beatitudes, Jesus tells His followers that they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. I've heard plenty of lessons about what it means to be salt and light, and I think we often focus on the idea that Christians are supposed to stand out from the world. That's certainly part of the teaching, but I think it's important to pay attention to what Jesus actually says about why our light should shine. In Matthew 5:16, He tells His followers to let people see their good works so that they will give glory to their Father in heaven. The point isn't to draw attention to how good we are. It's to help people see something of God's character through the way we live.
That distinction matters because I think Christians can sometimes become so concerned with making sure people know what we believe that we forget to consider what they're actually seeing in us. We want to defend our faith, stand up for what we believe is right, and make sure our convictions are understood. Those things can have their place, but Jesus calls us to demonstrate our faith through the way we live. When someone encounters us, are they seeing kindness, honesty, humility, and compassion? Or are they simply walking away with a better understanding of what we oppose?
I don't think Jesus was calling His followers to be different just for the sake of being different. He was calling them to live in a way that would point people toward God. That means our faith shouldn't be something that only shows up when we're discussing religion or attending church. It should influence the decisions we make, the relationships we build, and the way we respond to the people around us. And if our goal is to bring glory to God rather than recognition to ourselves, that should change the way we approach all of those things.
Why Jesus Goes Beyond Following the Rules
As Jesus continues through Matthew chapter 5, He begins addressing commands that His listeners would have known very well. He explains that He hasn't come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them, and then He starts showing how deeply God's standards of righteousness reach into our lives. The people knew they weren't supposed to murder, but Jesus challenges them to examine their anger and contempt toward others. They knew adultery was wrong, but Jesus addresses lustful intentions of the heart. He also speaks about marriage, honesty, retaliation, and the way we treat our enemies.
What I find interesting about this section is that Jesus keeps moving the conversation beyond outward behavior and into the attitudes and motivations behind it. I think that's something religious people can struggle with because it's relatively easy to create a list of things we believe Christians should and shouldn't do. We can look at that list, check the boxes, and feel pretty good about ourselves. But Jesus makes it clear that righteousness isn't simply about avoiding certain actions. It also involves what's happening inside us, even when nobody else can see it.
For example, I might be able to say that I've never physically harmed someone, but that doesn't mean I've never held onto anger or resentment. I might believe I'm an honest person because I don't tell outright lies, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm always as truthful and trustworthy as I should be. And I might consider myself a loving person because I treat my family and friends well, but what happens when I'm dealing with someone who has hurt me or treated me unfairly? Jesus is challenging us to examine those deeper questions, and I think that's part of what makes this sermon so difficult to read honestly. It's much easier to measure our outward behavior than it is to confront what's going on in our hearts.
Loving People Who Are Difficult to Love
One of the most challenging teachings in the entire sermon comes near the end of Matthew chapter 5, when Jesus tells His followers to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. I think we sometimes forget how radical those words would have sounded to the people hearing them. These were Jewish people living under Roman occupation, in a society where injustice, mistreatment, and hostility were very real. And Jesus was telling them to love their enemies, not merely to avoid retaliating against them.
He goes on to explain that God shows kindness to both the righteous and the unrighteous, and He asks what makes His followers different if they only love people who love them in return. That's a question I think we need to take seriously because, for most of us, loving people who treat us well isn't particularly difficult. It's when someone hurts us, insults us, takes advantage of us, or behaves in a way we strongly disagree with that following Jesus becomes much more challenging.
Now, I don't believe Jesus is saying that loving someone means approving of everything they do or allowing them to continue harming others. There are times when love requires us to confront wrongdoing, establish boundaries, or protect someone from being hurt. But even in those situations, Jesus challenges us not to let hatred, revenge, or contempt become the driving force behind our actions. He calls us to reflect the character of our heavenly Father, who shows kindness even to people who don't honor Him.
I know that's easier to talk about than it is to practice. My natural reaction when someone treats me badly isn't to respond with patience or kindness, and I suspect I'm not alone in that. But I think that's exactly why this teaching matters so much. Jesus isn't asking us to do what comes naturally. He's calling us to learn a different way of responding, one that reflects His character rather than simply mirroring the behavior of the people around us.
When Our Faith Becomes a Performance
When we move into Matthew chapter 6, Jesus begins addressing something that I think is particularly relevant for those of us who have been involved in church for a long time. He talks about giving to people in need, praying, and fasting. These were all familiar religious practices, and Jesus doesn't tell people to stop doing them. Instead, He challenges the reasons they're doing them. He describes people who want others to notice how generous they are, how devoted they are to prayer, or how much they're sacrificing through fasting.
I think this is an important warning because it's possible to do something that looks completely right on the outside while having the wrong motivation on the inside. We can serve in church because we genuinely want to help people, or because we enjoy being recognized for our service. We can talk about our faith because we want others to know Jesus, or because we want people to admire how knowledgeable or devoted we are. Sometimes the difference between those motivations isn't obvious to anyone else, and if we're not careful, it may not even be obvious to us.
This is something I think about when it comes to Cross Culture as well. My hope is that these articles and videos will help people think more seriously about Jesus and what it means to follow Him. But I also recognize that whenever we share something publicly, there's a temptation to start caring too much about how it's received, how many people see it, or what people think of us. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting a message to reach people, but I do think we need to keep examining our motives. Jesus reminds us that God sees what other people don't, and our private relationship with Him matters just as much as the faith we demonstrate publicly.
Prayer, Priorities, and Learning to Trust God
In the middle of this discussion about religious practices, Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray. What we commonly call the Lord's Prayer, found in Matthew 6:9–13, is remarkably simple. Jesus teaches His followers to approach God as their Father, honor His name, seek His kingdom and will, and trust Him with their daily needs. He also teaches them to ask for forgiveness and protection from temptation and evil. There's no attempt to impress anyone with complicated religious language, and I think that's worth remembering when we consider what prayer is supposed to be.
One thing that stands out to me is that Jesus teaches us to pray for God's kingdom and will before asking Him to provide for our needs. I know it's easy for my prayers to become focused primarily on the things I want God to do for me. I ask Him to help with problems, provide opportunities, protect my family, and make difficult situations work out. And there's nothing wrong with bringing those things to God. Jesus teaches us to ask for what we need. But prayer is also an opportunity to recognize that God's plans and priorities are greater than our own, and that following Him means being willing to submit our desires to His will.
Later in Matthew 6, Jesus begins talking about money, possessions, and the things we spend our lives pursuing. He warns against storing up treasures on earth as our ultimate security and tells His followers that they cannot serve both God and money. I don't think He's saying that having money or possessions is inherently wrong, but He is warning us about the influence those things can have over our hearts. We live in a culture that constantly encourages us to want more, and it can be difficult to recognize when our desire for financial security or a comfortable life has started to control our decisions.
Jesus says that where our treasure is, our heart will be also, and I think that's one of those statements that deserves more than a passing thought. We can say that God is the most important part of our lives, but what do our decisions reveal about what we truly value? How much of our time and energy is spent pursuing things that won't last, and how much is spent on the things Jesus says actually matter? Those aren't questions I ask because I think money or success is bad. They're questions I think we need to consider because it's remarkably easy to let good things become more important than they should be.
Jesus follows this discussion with His teaching about worry in Matthew 6:25–34. He points to the birds and the flowers as reminders of God's care for His creation, and then He tells His followers to seek first God's kingdom and righteousness. I think it's important to understand that Jesus isn't saying faithful Christians will never experience anxiety, hardship, or uncertainty. He's challenging us not to let our concerns about material needs become the controlling focus of our lives. We still have responsibilities, and we still need to make wise decisions, but we're called to approach those responsibilities with trust in our heavenly Father rather than allowing our worry about tomorrow to determine everything we do today.
Examining Ourselves Before We Judge Others
Matthew chapter 7 begins with one of Jesus' most frequently quoted teachings: "Judge not, that you be not judged." Sometimes people use those words as though Jesus were saying Christians should never recognize wrongdoing or make moral judgments of any kind. But when you read the surrounding verses, you see that He's addressing something more specific. He describes a person trying to remove a speck from someone else's eye while ignoring a log in their own, and He tells that person to deal with their own problem first so they can see clearly enough to help someone else.
I think that's a powerful illustration of something most of us struggle with from time to time. We can be remarkably good at recognizing problems in other people while finding ways to justify those same problems in ourselves. We notice someone else's pride but overlook our own. We criticize another person's anger while convincing ourselves that our frustration is completely justified. And sometimes we become so focused on what other people need to change that we stop paying attention to the areas where we still need to grow.
Jesus isn't telling us that we should never help someone recognize something that's wrong. In fact, His illustration assumes that after dealing with our own problems, we may be able to help someone else. But He is challenging the attitude we bring into those situations. There's a difference between approaching someone with genuine concern and humility and approaching them with a sense of superiority. And I think the more honestly we recognize our own need for God's grace, the more patient and compassionate we should become when dealing with other people.
A little later in the chapter, Jesus gives what we call the Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them." It's such a simple statement that I think we can overlook how much it asks of us. Jesus isn't merely telling us to avoid treating people badly. He's telling us to take the initiative in treating them well, even when doing so requires us to set aside our own preferences or consider a perspective different from our own.
I think about how often we want other people to be patient with us when we make mistakes, but struggle to extend that same patience when someone else makes one. We want people to listen to us, give us the benefit of the doubt, and understand our circumstances, but we don't always offer those same things in return. Jesus gives us a simple standard for evaluating the way we treat people, and I think we'd all benefit from applying it more consistently.
The Difference Between Knowing About Jesus and Following Him
As Jesus begins bringing the sermon to a close, His words become especially serious. In Matthew 7:13–23, He talks about the narrow gate, warns His followers about false prophets, and makes a statement that I think every Christian should consider carefully. He says that not everyone who calls Him "Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, and He describes people who claim to have done remarkable things in His name but are ultimately rejected because He never knew them.
That's a difficult passage, especially for those of us who have spent most of our lives around Christianity. It's easy to become comfortable with our religious routines and assume that because we believe the right things, attend church, and participate in religious activities, everything must be fine. But Jesus warns us that outward religious activity and impressive spiritual claims aren't substitutes for genuinely belonging to Him and doing the Father's will. We can know a great deal about Christianity without allowing His teaching to change the way we live.
I don't think Jesus gives this warning so that sincere believers will spend their lives in constant fear, but I do think He intends for us to take our relationship with Him seriously. We should be willing to examine whether our faith is something that genuinely shapes our lives or whether it’s just something we've become comfortable identifying with. And that examination needs to go beyond what other people can see. It should include our motives, our priorities, and the areas of our lives where we may still be resisting what Jesus has taught us.
Jesus ends the sermon with a story about two builders. One builds his house on rock, and the other builds on sand. When the rain falls, the floods come, and the winds blow, the house built on rock stands while the house built on sand falls. Jesus explains that the wise builder represents someone who hears His words and puts them into practice, while the foolish builder represents someone who hears those same words but doesn't act on them.
I think that's a fitting way to end the sermon because it brings everything back to the question of what we're actually doing with what Jesus taught us. We can read these chapters, agree with every word, and admire the wisdom of His teaching, but if we're not making an effort to live by those words, what have we really accomplished? It's one thing to agree that we should love our enemies, but it's another thing to show kindness to someone who has hurt us. It's one thing to believe we shouldn't be hypocritical, but it's another thing to honestly confront our own shortcomings. And it's one thing to say God's kingdom should come first, but it's another thing to make decisions that demonstrate we actually believe that.
Why I Want to Spend More Time on These Teachings
The more I think about the Sermon on the Mount, the more convinced I become that these three chapters deserve more attention than we sometimes give them. There's so much here that challenges the way we naturally think and respond to the world around us, and I don't want to approach this study as someone who has all the answers or who has figured out how to live these teachings perfectly. I haven't. There are things Jesus says in these chapters that I struggle with, attitudes I need to work on, priorities I need to reconsider, and situations where I know I could do a better job of reflecting His character.
But I also believe that's part of what following Jesus is supposed to look like. We should be willing to keep learning, keep growing, and keep allowing His words to challenge us, even when they're uncomfortable. And that's really the heart behind Cross Culture. I believe that if we're followers of Jesus, our lives should reflect the values of His kingdom rather than simply adopting the values of whatever culture we happen to live in. That doesn't mean withdrawing from the world or looking down on people who don't believe what we believe. In fact, the Sermon on the Mount should challenge us to become more humble, more merciful, more patient, and more willing to love people who are difficult to love.
Over the next several weeks, I'm going to be working through the Sermon on the Mount and taking a closer look at these teachings, including their historical context and what they mean for our lives today. My hope is that this series won't just be an opportunity to learn more about what Jesus said, but an opportunity for all of us, myself included, to take an honest look at how we're living and where we still need to grow.
Because I think the real question isn't whether we agree with the Sermon on the Mount. It's whether we're willing to let it change us.
And that's where I want to start.