We cannot sit on two chairs.

We are constantly faced with a choice. A guy can flirt with multiple girls, but he can only date one. Young people can seemingly indefinitely prolong their youth by traveling and partying, but at some point, they must choose a path of stability and settle down. We can consider whether to enter marriage or consecrated life, but it is not okay to spend years deciding or wondering if we can’t somehow combine the two. Everyone has to choose.

Jesus asks us to choose by giving something up when he strictly says: “Whoever does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” What do we have? Some possessions, love, relationships, hobbies, favorite music, and food. When we lose all that, what will we have left in life?

On the other hand, God still asks people to be creative: “Be fruitful, fill the earth.” Our relationships and possessions are the work of our creativity. If God tells us to be creative, He certainly doesn’t want us to lose it all. Using God’s gifts is a means of building God’s kingdom.

What are we to throw away if we are to forsake? Let us throw away everything that hinders living in communion with God. We are to be disciples of Jesus, that is, to imitate his lifestyle. Giving up everything we have is primarily a matter of inner attitude, not what we see on the outside. Even a poor person, a consecrated person, or a priest can be dependent on something, even though there are outward limitations in such a life. A rich person can be inwardly free if he knows how to handle his possessions.

“To renounce all that we have is in the first place a matter of inner attitude, not of what we see outwardly.”
It is sometimes necessary to take the command to renounce literally. St. Francis of Assisi is a typical example. The wealthy heir of a rich father, according to biographers, one day decides to divest himself of some of his possessions and share. He does a foolish thing for which most would have no understanding. He doesn’t do it for sensationalism; he doesn’t need to attract attention forcefully.

He feels inward that if he doesn’t do it, he will not be free inwardly and will not be able to follow Christ in simplicity as he would like. His story, the lifestyle he has chosen, and his authentic spiritual life in the following years prove that the foolish beginning of his mission was not a pose or a publicity stunt but a call to freedom to live fully for Christ.

This example needs to be seriously contemplated. We are not to sit on two stools. We are to be disciples of Jesus and eliminate what keeps us from fulfilling our mission. There are situations when we need to act. Someone may be bound by the house or apartment in which they live. Its size, its furnishings, its memories. They need to leave it, give it up, sell it, and move out, so they can break free and start anew.

Another is considering quitting smoking or drinking alcohol, yet can’t seem to get rid of cigarette packs or bottles. Some want to have fun. Music, movies, streaming stations, computer games. Time guzzlers. Isn’t it better to find the power, cancel the subscription, or sell the hardware?

If we can take such steps, we will gain a lot. Not only free time but especially the inner freedom to do good, something new and significant that will help in our spiritual and human maturation, in our relationships. We will stop sitting on two chairs. We become disciples of Jesus. We can get our priorities in life in order. Carry our cross and yet not destroy ourselves.

So let us choose. Let us not want to rest our hearts on the earth when heaven is so broad and deep and offers so much more. Let my chair be communion with Christ. Until we firmly choose to sit on it, we will not be ready to imitate him and become his disciples.

This is our mission. Renunciation is how we purify ourselves, our plans, and our intentions to understand what is essential in our lives.