Matthew records an interesting conversation that took place between Christ and His disciple. In Matthew 16:21-26 Jesus begins laying out more details about His mission to become the sacrifice for our sins. He says that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the religious leaders. He goes on to let them know that He must die. Then He reveals that He will be resurrected.

Peter has his normal extreme response to things and takes it upon himself to rebuke Jesus. (As a side note: Peter was bold but often overreacted or responded without thinking. This was not one of his greater moments). Peter rebuked Jesus just as He was revealing the final stage of His mission for the redemption of mankind.

Jesus responded to Peter in a very extreme rebuke. He tells him to get behind Him and then Jesus calls Peter, Satan! Why would Jesus call His very own disciple, Satan? Well, if Peter had his way,  he would have been a stumbling block or hinderance to the mission Jesus had come to fulfill. Peter was thinking in terms of human concerns and not in eternal things. Peter was more concerned with comfort than he was with fulfilling the mission of redeeming the world.

We are often guilty of the same mission-hindering thinking as Peter. If Jesus were to examine our lives in light of the mission He came to accomplish, would He refer to us as Satan? Do we put our own comforts and conveniences ahead of the mission of preaching the Gospel and making disciples? I would venture to say that we are just as guilty as Peter was. We can become a hinderance to the mission by our lack of willingness to lay down our own comforts and conveniences in order to be more effective in living out the Great Commission. Christian comforts often trump Christ’s commission in our lives.

As followers of Jesus, we are instructed to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus. What do we need to deny in ourselves so that Jesus has full reign over our lives today? Who is He calling you to share your faith with, yet your comfort has been getting in the way of that conversation?

Look for the opportunity to deny yourself today and stop being a hinderance to the mission of making disciples.