Why Surrender?

“He’s a Christian, but not too Christian.” This is often said as a compliment. We think of surrendering all to Christ as a bit extreme. Isn’t it possible to fulfill our Christian duty without becoming a radical? In our reading Jesus spells out the non-negotiable conditions of discipleship: we must love Jesus more than anything, even our families; take up and carry crosses, as well as then relinquish everything to him. That’s quite a demand. But it is clearly essential in order to be a true disciple of Christ.

Why is this command to “renounce all” necessary? Author Nancy Leigh DeMoss points out that “to call him Lord means to say yes: to his will, his word, and his ways. We cannot call him Lord and then proceed to run our own lives.”

It is impossible for us to fully obey him while trying to hold things back from him and attempting to remain in control of our own lives. Surrendering everything to him is absolutely necessary. It is also entirely reasonable. When we think of Christ, who he is and what he did for us, total surrender is the only logical response to his love and mercy.

Isaac Watts expressed this well in his hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross:

Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.