Mike Focht 12/26/2025
What is enough for a disciple? It is a penetrating question. We don’t often ask this question, if we even think to ask it at all. And though we may not ask it ourselves, the truth is we all come to places of discontent in our walk with Christ. We come to places where we feel like we have had enough. Moses came to that place. Elijah came to that place. Jeremiah came to that place. Even if we haven’t reached the place of quitting like Moses, Elijah, and Jeremiah, we have all faced this issue to some extent.
Many godly men and women follow Christ, but circumstances, loss, physical pain, betrayal, or lingering weariness have brought them to the place where they wonder what they are doing. When a disciple of Jesus finds themselves in a state of discontent, how can they measure realistic expectations? What is enough for a disciple? We know that we don’t get heaven on the way to heaven, but we would all like a bit less hardship and tribulation, and if we were honest with ourselves, we even tend to feel like we have earned it.
Here is where the question becomes relevant. If I cannot answer what is enough to make a disciple content, how will I know if my expectations are legitimate or false? False expectations have caused many prospective disciples to turn back. We all have certain unspoken expectations about how God should allow our lives to work out. We have expectations concerning our personal health, finances, homes, spouses, children, friendships, ministries, churches, etc. It is easy to say in our hearts: God, I am doing my part, so I expect you to do yours too. That is much more difficult to say out loud because we immediately notice the issue. Expectations.
So what should a disciple expect? What should be enough to walk with Christ in godliness and contentment? Jesus tells us what we need to hear: It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master (Mt. 10:25). What was enough for Jesus Christ? His Father’s pleasure. His Father’s will. His Father’s glory. What was enough for the apostles as they followed Christ? What kept them in the path of the Son of Man who called anyone willing to deny themselves to take up their cross and follow Him?
The answer is simple. The disciples fled from Jesus Christ and abandoned Him until the Spirit of Christ arrived and began living out the life of Christ in them and through them. After the promise of the Holy Spirit, we find the early disciples in the book of Acts were not shocked or dismayed in the face of rejection, hardship, slander, loss, nowhere to lay their head, misunderstanding, persecution, and even unjust death sentences and martyrdom. Why? A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. Those early disciples also knew that beyond the worst that this life could do was the best that heaven had to give. Beyond their death was Jesus Christ, and their resurrection would be just like His. Beyond what seemed like too much, was an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. It was enough for them to be like their Teacher.
In the light of the word of Jesus Christ and the example of the apostles before us, may we honestly ask ourselves this question again: What is enough for me as a disciple? Are we satisfied in being like our Teacher?