One message you rarely hear preached in church these days is “Forsake All.” In fact, most Christians today have probably never even heard that Jesus preached it, much less that He said forsaking everything is required to be His disciple.
But He did. And in this post, I’ll show you why that message is essential to what it truly means to follow Christ — despite the modern church’s near-total silence on the subject.
A Disciple Is a Christian
Let’s start with something simple but crucial: a disciple and a Christian are the same thing.
As Acts 11:26 tells us, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.”
That means whenever you read about disciples in the Gospels or elsewhere in the New Testament, you are reading about Christians. Without that understanding, much of what Jesus taught will never make sense — or seem relevant — to believers today.
What Jesus Actually Said
Back to the main point: Jesus taught in Luke 14:33 that no one can be His disciple — that is, a Christian — unless they forsake all they have.
“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
— Luke 14:33 (KJV)
Notice that Jesus uses the same “whosoever” here that we love to quote in John 3:16. It’s the same open invitation — but also the same all-encompassing condition.
Christians love the ‘whosoever’ in John 3:16, but totally ignore it in Luke 14:33.
If Jesus truly meant what He said (and I believe He does), then this verse forces us to examine whether our faith rests on the foundation He laid — or one of our own making.
Taking Jesus Literally
The most common modern argument is that Jesus wasn’t speaking literally — that He only meant we should be willing to give up everything if God asks us to.
But that interpretation is a dangerous deception. It’s convenient, it’s popular, but it’s not biblical.
In the Gospels, we see the disciples take Jesus at His word:
- Peter and Andrew “left their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:20)
- James and John did the same, leaving their boat and their father behind. (Matthew 4:22; Luke 5:11)
- Matthew (Levi) left his tax booth — his entire livelihood — to follow Jesus. (Luke 5:28)
And in the Book of Acts, believers continued this literal obedience:
“All that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”
— Acts 2:44–45
Clearly, the early church understood Jesus’ command literally. Anything less is inconsistent with both the apostles’ example and the life of the early believers.
Why This Teaching Is Ignored
So why is this teaching so often dismissed today?
One word: convenience.
Nobody wants to let go of their possessions, status, or comfort. So a doctrine that says, “You don’t really have to forsake anything to follow Christ,” is convenient — and therefore extremely popular. But it isn’t the truth.
Examples from the Old Testament
This principle isn’t new. The call to forsake all runs throughout Scripture.
Abraham was told to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. (Genesis 22:1–2)
He didn’t argue that God was speaking metaphorically or that “obedience in his heart” was good enough. He obeyed literally — and God stopped him only at the last moment. (Genesis 22:11–12)
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced a similar test. (Daniel 3:1–30)
They didn’t simply “refuse to bow in their hearts.” They literally stood tall when everyone else bowed — and were thrown into the fire for it. God saved them, but only after they had already decided to obey, no matter the cost.
True obedience is rarely convenient. But it is always worth it.
Counting the Cost
That’s why Jesus said, “Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)
Following Him has a cost — but what we gain far outweighs what we give up.
“There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time… and in the age to come eternal life.”
— Mark 10:29–30
Like the man who sold all he had to buy the field with hidden treasure (Matthew 13:44), we’re being offered the deal of a lifetime. Only a fool would turn it down. (Matthew 7:24–27)
The Bottom Line
If you take nothing else from this article, take this:
You cannot be a Christian without forsaking all that you have.
No amount of argument or justification will change that when you stand before Jesus. So count the cost now — and choose to follow Him fully. Tomorrow may be too late.
God bless you as you seek to follow Jesus not just in word, but in deed and in truth.
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