>>Jesus was never a salesman. From the beginning he said you have to leave everything behind for him. That doesn't mean we literally do, but should it become necessary, we should be very willing to part with the things dearest to us in order to remain faithful and unashamed of him.<<
Amen.
the best explanation I have is from the gospel of John. After Christ finished ministering to them that he was the Bread of Life, and all that came with it, many of the disciples grumbled and said "this is a hard life, who can live up to it". They turned and left, and Christ let them go.
He didn't run after them shouting, "WAIT! COME BACK! We're going to install a pool table and ping-pong table next week! What? You don't like the psalms? Well, we can sing something different if you want! What didn't you like about what I said - I'll change it!"
No, he simply let them go, turned to the 12 and said, "Are you going to leave as well?" The reply was, "Where else will we go?"
They knew he had the truth, they knew the way was going to be tough, they knew it wasn't "needs-sensitive", but they stayed, because giving up the world and following Christ was their mission.
Exactly. And in the story about the rich man who said he had followed all the commandments concerning others but then Jesus said - ok, now give up everything you own and follow Me, when he turned away, Jesus did not say - oh, wait, you can keep those if they make you more comfortable and make it easier for you to listen to what I have to say. Jesus didn't cater to anyone's preconceived ideas of what they wanted to hear. If they didn't like it, He let them walk away.