Moving Forward: The Cost of Following Jesus

Introduction

We are in a season of miracles. I've witnessed people receiving miracles not just here, but online around the world. Some of you have testimonies of bills being paid, raises at work, apartment approvals, and so much more. This is a season of miracles, and it's not stopping just because June is ending.

Today, I want to share a message that should become your declaration for the rest of this year: Anywhere But Backwards.

The Physical Design for Forward Movement

Let me start with something fascinating. A group of college friends from Connecticut once asked an intriguing question: "Why is it harder for humans to walk or run backwards?" Their research revealed something profound.

It is easier to run or walk forward rather than backwards because of the distinct muscle patterns in our legs, body, and arms. The stretch-release tendons in our feet provide better speed and functionality only when moving forward. From an evolutionary perspective, the human body's multidirectional bipedal locomotion would be very difficult to manage if moving backwards.

Here's what really got me: the human knees are designed to move in the same direction as the binocular vision provided by our eyes. Your eyes are on your face, always looking forward. So your knees respond to what your eyes see. Your human neck does not provide a 180-degree turn to look directly behind without turning your whole torso. The body follows where the head goes.

The legs and knees are made to go in one direction efficiently: forward. While humans can move in reverse, the human body was not intended to do this over long periods of time.

God's Engineering for Forward Movement

Not only is it not good for you to go backwards, not only is it not safe—God did not even engineer your body for backwards. God intentionally crafted your body so that forward movement would be your primary movement.

Let this be your declaration: I am not going backwards. The only time you'll catch me going backwards will be to briefly gain victory over something I might have missed.

You were not made to go backwards. Your car was made to go backwards, but only with the direction of your eyes facing front—which is why that mirror is called a rear view mirror. Without a rear view mirror, you can't move backwards safely.

I'm telling you that some of you have been in trouble because you've been moving backwards and you have no rearview mirror. You can't even see the trouble you're getting yourself back into.

The Spirit of the Rocking Chair

Then what happens? You come to church and you get the spirit of the rocking chair. You hear a good message. You get some good worship. Your body starts moving, but you ain't going nowhere. The spirit of the rocking chair makes you confuse movement for progress.

I need a rocking chair with wheels so that when I'm tired of going backwards and forward, I can make some progress. You're not meant to go backwards.

If you are going to follow Jesus, you need to know he is not going backwards. So my question to you is: if you are and he's not, who are you following?

The Vision of God's Back

In the book of Genesis, Moses has an encounter with God and they develop a very special relationship. One day Moses has a conversation with God on the mountain and says, "God, it would be really cool if you let me see your face."

God replies, "Not yet, because no man can see my face and live. But I'll let you see my backside."

What God is telling Moses is this: the season you're in right now, what you need is my back. Because as long as you see my back, it means you're following me.

God's back was so vast that as he passed by Moses, Moses started declaring the creation account. His backside gave him so much information that God was saying, "You're not ready to see me in the front. As long as you can see my back, that tells me you're following me."

Matthew 8:18-22 — The Cost of Following Jesus

The Context: Jesus Creates Separation

After Jesus goes on a radical healing spree—healing Peter's mother-in-law and then everyone brought to him—crowds gather around him. The more he heals, the larger the crowd becomes. Because of this, Jesus does something significant: he gives orders to cross to the other side of the lake.

Jesus intentionally creates tension by creating separation. I know you thought Jesus wanted everybody to follow him. And he does, but he only wants people who are willing, ready, and about that life to follow him. Everyone in the room isn't about that life. As soon as something hits you, you'll stop coming to church. As soon as something hits your life, you'll stop giving. As soon as stuff hits your life, you'll stop serving.

Jesus creates this separation because he wanted to see how people respond when he asks them to do something, not just when he does something for them.

He grabs all of them and says, "I know you believe. I know you've been rocking with me for a real long time. But what I'm about to ask y'all is really going to be hard for everybody. Let's cross to the other side of the lake."

If you think they're just traveling a few miles, you miss the point. He's actually asking them to travel to another country—the Decapolis—filled with Romans and Gentiles. He's asking them to leave Jewish territory and go to the territory of Gentiles. He's asking them to do something their culture says they shouldn't do.

Point One: Following Jesus Will Cost You Your Comfort

This required the disciples to get out of their comfort zone.

If you're going to follow Jesus, you need to know it's going to cost you some comfort. If you're still comfortable, I don't know if you're following.

If you're comfortable in your current situation, you might think God wants you to stay where you are. So what he has to do is shake up your life. You think he's shaking it up because you did something wrong. Actually, he's shaking it up because it's time for graduation.

Your agitation is an indication that you are close to graduation. It's when a friendship just doesn't serve you anymore. It's when a relationship was cool last year, but something about you shifted. It's when you're on your job making twenty dollars an hour and thinking, "That was good while it lasted."

God shakes up everything just to get you to move.

If you're hard-headed like me, God has to come down from heaven, tap you on your shoulder, and say, "This is me." I'm so afraid of missing the mark, so afraid of being out of his will. But while I'm waiting on him to send a word, sometimes he sends a scripture. Sometimes he sends a prophetic word. Sometimes he sends a person.

Don't be the person on top of the church waiting to get rescued from the flood when he sent a canoe, a boat, and a ship.

Some of you can't move because you're carrying dead weight. You need to put that down.

Point Two: Following Jesus Will Cost You Your Plans

The disciples never planned to go to the Decapolis. But following Jesus means they had to shift their plans.

The mystery of life will always be your plans versus God's purpose.

I know you have a plan. You have it written down. You know exactly what you're going to do and how it's going to be done. But what do you do when your plans don't line up with what he planned?

Your plan has to account for fluctuation. Does your plan have a plan for when the plans have to change?

God is the only one I know who will bless you without your permission but also change the plan without your knowledge. Have you ever made plans with somebody? You knew exactly where you were going, what you were doing tonight. You had the outfit for it, the lip gloss for it, the right shoes on—everything was perfect. And you called and they said, "My bad. Plans changed."

What do you do when you're not dressed appropriately for where the plans have changed to?

Point Three: Following Jesus Will Cost You Your Friends

In verse 19, Matthew records: "A teacher of the law came to him and said, 'Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.'"

This teacher was associated with the Pharisees—scribes who were responsible for plotting to kill Jesus. Yet he comes to Jesus and proclaims, "Teacher." This is significant.

When you follow Jesus, it's going to cost you some friends.

If your phone's still ringing every weekend, if people are still calling you to hang out, if people are still inviting you places, I don't know if you're following the Jesus I serve. When I really started following Jesus, I drew a line in the sand, and my friends started saying, "Don't call Brandon. You know he ain't going."

But I submit to you: the reason they're still calling you is because they know you're still going. Have you called him teacher yet? Do they know that you call him teacher?

The moment he said "teacher," all the other Pharisees were like, "Oh really?" Your friends will fall off when you truly see him. Not as the Sunday go-to, not as Jesus the rescue mission person, not as a virtual Santa Claus dropping blessings—but as Lord, which means he controls everything about you.

We can't date without asking Lord. We can't take a job without asking Lord. You want to be my friend? Let me ask Lord. He runs everything. And when that happens, the people you were connected to will disassociate themselves.

I understand that friends are important, but I want to challenge you: get yourself some godly friends. I pray you have standards for your friendships—not just for people you date, but for people you do life with. That is important.

We have to make sure we are being countercultural because the world is doing its best to be countercultural against us. There should be a difference.

Point Four: Following Jesus Will Cost You Your Comfort

In verse 20, Jesus replies: "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

He's figuratively saying, "Are you willing to be homeless rocking with me?" He's literally saying, "Are you willing to be inconvenienced rocking with me?"

Following Jesus will cost you your cool.

If you're like me, you want five-star accommodations. If you're like me, it doesn't matter what you're driving—we will valet. If you're like me, I walk into a hotel and if it's not right, I'm walking out.

If you're like me, I like convenience. I'm broke, but I'm going to pay for this valet parking. I don't care if I'm in a Toyota Corolla—valet. If you're like me, you can't afford eighteen hundred a month for a one-bedroom, but you won't live anywhere without your amenities. You need shopping and restaurants all within walking distance.

What Jesus is doing is breaking them from all they're used to. He's saying, "Rocking with me, there will be no five-star accommodations. Rocking with me, there will be no valet. Rocking with me, we're not doing what everybody else is doing. I ain't even got a place to stay. Are you still following?"

The Second Disciple: The Cost of Delayed Obedience

Then another disciple approaches him. This is what I came here to say.

Another disciple approaches him and has a very legitimate reasoning for not being able to go right now. He says, "Jesus, I'm down to go, man. I feel you, Holy Spirit. I'm down to go, but I do have this one thing that I really need to take care of."

Obedience is always time-sensitive. Delayed obedience is still disobedience.

Jesus the one who has infinite empathy, Jesus the one who is accommodating, Jesus the one who is kind, Jesus whose love conquers all—tells him this: "Let the dead bury their own dead."

It is Jewish tradition and law for the eldest son to make all of the burial arrangements for their father. Jesus is Jewish. He knows this. And he still spiritually forbids him.

But wait—he doesn't forbid him to bury his father. What he really forbids him to do is go back.

He's not really talking about his dad. He's saying, "If your dad was where we were going, perhaps this wouldn't be an issue. But the fact is, I'm saying we're going here. And in order for you to do that, you got to go back."

I don't know what your burial experience looks like. I don't know what your legitimate reasoning for not going now is. But I do know this: the God you serve—you know the one you were just yelling hallelujah to, doing all that jumping and screaming and lifting your hands—that one says, "Let the dead bury their own dead."

I am not discounting the legitimacy of the concern, but I am saying this is more important.

He doesn't just say, "Let the dead bury their dead." He starts the statement off by saying, "Follow me."

Your response to me needing to take care of my business is: follow me.

Here's what Jesus was really saying: Following me is the best thing you could do. Following me means that you trust me—that your father's burial will be taken care of.

Every legitimate excuse you can come up with, he's saying, "Follow me and all that is going to be taken care of."

I don't know who I'm preaching to this morning, but I need somebody in this room to declare: "I got some stuff. I got some reasons. I got some issues. I got some circumstances. I got actually some legitimate stuff as to why it's just not the right time. But I'll go anywhere but backwards."

Point Five: Following Jesus Will Cost You Your Life

Here's my last point: If you're going to follow Jesus, you probably should know this. It'll cost you your life.

Salvation is free, but it costs you everything.

My prayer for everybody under the sound of my voice is that you look at all that you have to go back to and you weigh it against all that you have to look forward to. Make a grown man or grown woman decision that says either that's worth more than he is, or he's worth more than that is.

I'm not here to tell you what decision you should make. You need to make a decision.

I'm not going back to that. I'm not going back to him. I'm not going back to her. I'm not going back to them. Anywhere but backwards.

When Backwards Becomes Clear

If you can still go backwards, it's because backwards ain't been bad enough for you.

But when you got an ugly backwards, when you got a backwards that almost cost you your life, when you got a backwards that almost gave you a disease, when you got a backwards that almost took you out, when you got a backwards that almost made you lose your mind—then you probably will say, "Oh, I'll go anywhere but backwards."

If you can still go backwards, it's because backwards is still good to you.

But what this disciple was doing was good. And what do you do when he's asking you to leave a good thing? What do you do when he asks you to walk away from the most money you've made in your life? What do you do when you're with a good man, but he ain't a God man? What do you do when she's great for you, but she just ain't got it? What do you do when he asks you to leave something good?

That's when the tension is at its greatest, and he's looking to see who will still choose him.

My Personal Journey: From Backwards to Forward

I don't know who you are. I don't know where you are. But I'm going to be honest with you.

I'm 41 years old. My mom left me when I was 13. Didn't see her again until I was 26 or 27. Never had a father. Grew up selling dope. Been shot before. Been stabbed before. I almost lost my life plenty of times. Had my firstborn son when I was 18. That changed my life, and I still kept going backwards.

Stared down the barrel of a 357 Magnum and still went backwards. Got in all kinds of trouble because of friends I hung with, and still went backwards.

It wasn't until my backwards was bad enough. It wasn't until I started believing that my forward would be better. When I started believing that there was more for me, when I started believing there were better friends for me, when I started believing there were better situations for me—I just thought about it. It makes logical sense. Whether I love him or not, forward just sounds better.

And I've been going forward ever since. Tripping going forward. Stumbling but going forward. Crawling but going forward. I don't care what happens. I'll do whatever I gotta do not to go backwards.

For the first time in my life, I don't have nothing pulling me backwards.

You're in this room and you're like, "Yep, I keep going backwards. That's me. I'm caught up in this soul tie and it keeps me going backwards. I'm struggling with people-pleasing and it keeps me going backwards. I'm struggling with rejection and it keeps me going backwards. I'm really emotionally immature and that keeps me going backwards. They said they loved me and that keeps me going backwards. But at least he never put his hands on me and that keeps me going backwards."

But I want to tell you: on the other side of this lake, what he has in front of you is way better than anything you can experience going backwards.

A Sacred Moment of Reflection

I'm not going to do a traditional altar call today. But what I do want to do is sit here for a minute for you to think about your backwards. I want you to really consider your backwards. This is a sacred moment. If you don't have to leave, don't leave. Don't move.

I want you to sit and some of us need to sit in our backwards and ask yourself hard questions. Is it worth it though?

Some of y'all, it's just a mindset. Is it worth it?

I'm going to be honest with y'all. The first Sunday I got here, I hadn't preached in over two years. Part of the reason was because I allowed a season to steal my confidence. I'm not preaching to you what I read. I'm preaching to you what I'm living.

I allowed that season to just drain everything I thought I was. I could have sworn God called me. But you couldn't have been calling me and this be my life. Maybe I'm tripping. It was my mindset.

I needed to tell myself: seasons don't get to dictate the word of God over my life.

I was telling your pastor LA yesterday, "Man, I knew I shouldn't have done this. This has messed me up because the thing I said I never wanted to do again—this whole month God is saying, 'You sure about that?'"

I'm only sharing this to help you understand: I'm walking it out. It ain't done yet. It ain't finished yet. I'm still tripping—like really tripping. I'll be tripping. I'm still falling, but I'm falling forward. I'm struggling forward. Whatever I do, I've made a commitment to myself not to go back—not even back to that old mindset.

The Prophetic Word: This Ain't the Season to Be Safe

I want to give you something that one of my brothers said to me the other night, and it's been tearing my spirit up. I want to give it to you as a prophetic word. He said this:

"This ain't the season to be safe."

You're trying to play it safe. This ain't the season for safe. This is the season to risk it all. This is the season to throw your whole self at it. This is the season to give it all you got.

You gotta stop thinking about what you've been thinking about doing and start doing it.

The steps of a righteous man are ordered by God. Somebody in here got to leave out of here and take a step. We ain't playing it safe no more. We're going out to that house. That house. We probably ain't going to get approved the first time around. So, tell me what I need to do. Bump your credit score up a hundred more points. Bet. I'll be back.

We ain't playing it safe no more.

Prophetic Words and Specific Callings

The Lord showed me some things this morning at 3 o'clock.

There are a few of you in here. You settled for the job that you have. And the spirit of the Lord wanted me to prophesy to you today. Not that you're going to get a better job—here's the prophetic word: You will not get a better job until you start seeing yourself as worth it.

There's somebody in here who needs to fill out the application again. That's you. Fill it out again. It's in the room—it's for you to fill out again. And this time, don't put God in a box of how he's going to do it. Just know he's going to do it.

You've been scared because you're afraid of rejection, so you don't like to hear no. But I hear the Lord saying, "Fill it out again."

There's somebody in here. It's unforgiveness from a father and it's unforgiveness of a father that you're making your spouse pay for. You see him like he's your dad. Don't be afraid. I know what I see. I want to tell you, daughter: he's not your dad. And he is not what your dad did to you. He's a man and he's flawed and he has issues and he's not perfect. But do not hold him to an unrealistic standard and make him pay for what your dad did.

Last but not least, you're in this room and you've been holding a seed. You heard the Lord say, "Give a certain amount," a couple of weeks ago, and you told yourself it wasn't God. Where you at? I know what I hear today. I want you to be obedient and give that seed.

Here's why: God is not concerned about the money or the amount. This is a test of your obedience. Do you trust me with what's not yours anyway?

To the young lady who asked me for my cash app last week—I don't know your name, but I kept seeing your face all week. And I want you to hear me say this publicly: You don't know what that seed did for my family. Your payment will be an anointing to walk in the things that you keep questioning God about.

Closing Prayer and Worship

Father, I pray as we seal this moment. I pray that the sermon worked. I pray that you did what you wanted to do. I pray that hearts were open, hearts were touched, ears were inclined, and I pray that there was a seed planted. Now, Father, I pray for a harvest and fruit that will look like anywhere but backwards.

We're not going to clap. We're not going to hide behind claps. I want you to open up your mouth and just thank God.

Here's what we're thanking God for: We're thanking God that he did not give us over to our backwards. You know who you are. He should have left you in your backwards and that backwards would have eaten you up. You better worship your God for not leaving you backwards.

All of the stuff you got in—this wasn't even stuff he put you in. You put yourself there. Thank you, God, for not giving me over to my backwards.