THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

Luke 14:26-33

How important is being a Christian to you?  Do you try to live a righteous life?  Are you careful not to cuss?  Do you pray every day for those living around you?  Do you avoid your old lifestyle, stay away from bars and dance clubs?  Are you striving to pay your tithes, make it to church every Sunday, sing in the choir or serve in some capacity?  I could go on and on listing things that most Christians strive to do or avoid but I think you get the picture.  These are things we associate with being a Christian:  a disciple of Christ.  They are important, for sure, but are not really that important to the Lord.  Remember, He does not look at our actions as much as what motivates our actions (1 Sam. 16:7).

(26) “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters—[yes] and even his own life also—he cannot be My disciple.  Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and come after (follow) Me cannot be My disciple.”

I love how the Amplified Bible states that “hate” is to have “indifference to or relative disregard…in comparison with his attitude toward God”.  The best example we have of this is in Jesus.  When he was speaking to a group of people it was announced to Him that Him mother and brothers were waiting outside to speak to Him.  What was His response?  “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?  And stretching out His hand toward [not only the twelve disciples but all] His adherents, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers.  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!” Matt. 12:48-50.  Now did Jesus actually hate his mother and brothers?  No, but He held His Heavenly Father’s will as supreme and of more importance.

God wants preeminence in our lives.  He wants to be the only focus for our lives.  He has a plan for each of our lives and He knows we cannot and will not follow it unless we are looking to Him for directions (Jeremiah 29:11).  If you really want to be a Christian, a disciple of Christ, then you need to have the motivation to act like one.  You can go around doing all the right things, saying all the right things, and acting the right way but still be going straight to hell.  Remember God looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).

Motivation is the first consideration in being a disciple of Christ but you have to consider just what it will cost you to go through with what motivates you.

(28-30) “For which of you, wishing to build a farm building, does not first sit down and calculate the cost [to see] whether he has sufficient means to finish it?  Otherwise, when he has laid the foundation and is unable to complete [the building], all who see it will begin to mock and jeer at him, Saying, This man began to build and was not able (worth enough) to finish.”

I have observed believers who believed God wanted them to go into full-time missions.  Then they sold all they had to fund their training and then worked hard to raise funds to go to a place they felt called to.  When they arrived there they worked so hard in sometimes severe conditions to share the gospel.  When they came home to the United States on sabbatical they decided to not return because they were “burned-out”.  I have also observed some missionaries who, when they returned on sabbatical, spent their whole time going from church to church not just to raise money but to raise awareness and prayer support for the people they are working with.  Instead of being “burned-out” they were infused with joy, enthusiasm and energy.  What was the difference?  The first type of believers went into the mission field unprepared.  They had not counted what it would cost them emotionally and spiritually.  They had not continued to check in with God as to what HE wanted them to do and where HE wanted them to go.  The second type of believers went knowing there would be hard times and severe conditions but they had a plan ahead of time to keep focused on God for themselves, knowing that if they became weak spiritually they would not be effective witnesses of the Gospel.

 (31-32) “Or what king, going out to engage in conflict with another king, will not first sit down and consider and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand [men] to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  And if he cannot [do so], when the other king is still a great way off, he sends an envoy and asks the terms of peace.”

Being a disciple has a cost, and more often than not the cost is severe.  I shared a story in January from Kyle Idleman’s book “Not a Fan” that shows this more clearly:

 “A few years ago I was pretty deep into some tribal areas of Africa.  One night I finished preaching a message to a crowd of a few dozen people.  I presented the gospel and the invitation of Jesus to follow him.  There were two young men, probably in their twenties, who accepted Christ and committed to follow him.  The following afternoon these two men showed up at the house where we were staying.  They each carried a good sized bag over their shoulder.  I went over and asked the local missionary we were staying with why they were here.  He explained that these two men would no longer be welcomed by their families or in their village.  When I heard that, I was afraid that maybe this was going to be more than they would be willing to go along with.  About that time the missionary said to me, ‘They knew this would happen when they made the decision’.

They were choosing Jesus over their families.  They were choosing Jesus over their own comfort and convenience, and fans don’t do that.”

 

Followers are willing to deny themselves and say, ‘I choose Jesus.  I choose Jesus over my family.  I choose Jesus over money.  I choose Jesus over career goals.  I am his completely.  I choose Jesus over getting drunk.  I choose Jesus over looking at porn.  I choose Jesus over a redecorated house.  I choose Jesus over my freedom.  I choose Jesus over what other people may think of me.’  A follower makes a decision every day to deny himself and choose Jesus…even if it costs everything,” (“not a fan”, pg 145).

(33) “So then, any of you who does not forsake (renounce, surrender claim to, give up, say good-bye to) all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

To follow Christ has its costs, sometimes severe costs, but the joys and fellowship we enjoy with God and other believers far outweigh the costs.  I know that I would never give up all the hard times I went through so far in my life if it meant I would have to give up Jesus.  There is a song I like to sing that says it best:

You may ask me why I serve the Lord.
Is it just for heaven's gain?
Or to walk the mighty streets of gold,
And to hear the angels sing?

Is it just to drink from the fountain
That never will run dry.
Or just to live forever, ever and ever
In the sweet ol' by and by.

But if heaven never was promised to me
Neither God's promise to live eternally
It's been worth just having the Lord in my life.
Living in a world of darkness,
He brought me the light.

If there were never any streets of gold,
Neither a land where we'll never grow old,
It's been worth just having the Lord in my live
Living in a world of darkness
He brought me the light.

He's been my closest friend all through the years.
And every time I cry, He dries my tears.
It's been worth just having the Lord in my life.
Living in a world of darkness,
He brought me the light.

By Andre Crouch
(c) 1973, Bud John Songs, Inc.