Following Jesus in an authentic Biblical way brings us face to face with some of the toughest questions in life. When we choose to abandon what Christianity has come to represent and instead follow Jesus with all of our heart at any cost, we will find ourselves walking a very lonely path. It is far easier to say a simple prayer and attend church an hour each week than it is to forsake everything you have and pursue Christ with relentless passion. Being a follower of Jesus will rarely gain you popularity, wealth or respect. Jesus warned us that we will be despised by our own families, persecuted and even killed (Matthew 10:16-26; Matthew 24:9). For those of us in the West, these can seem to be extreme and foreign concepts. Meanwhile, every day in countries around the world, people are ripped from their homes, tortured and put into prisons with squalid living conditions for the rest of their lives. These people understand what it means to give everything for Jesus.
