The Cost of Discipleship

Introduction

Opening Illustration - New Years: We are officially in the year 2025. One of the habits that is a good habit to develop is to take opportunities like the start of a new year to evaluate how you’re doing in different of life. To take inventory of your habits and your goals, and to try to get an accurate sense of your own reflection. While we are very good at doing this with many areas of our life: our finances, our fitness, our careers; we tend to be not as effective at this in our spiritual life with the Lord.

Personal: And so today, I would like to kick off this new year with a day together to be reflective of how we’re doing. And my hope is that you will be able to use this morning, with the gathering of the saints, to inspire and mobilize you to take new steps in your relationship with God, to deepen your resolve, strengthen your commitment, and make tender your heart and affections for God.

Context: We are continuing our sermon series through the Gospel of Luke. And today we come to yet another difficult passage. Jesus is going to be teaching us about what it means to follow him, to be a disciple of his. And what we’re going to find is that Jesus does not do what most churches do in order to get people in the door and grow their church. He does not lower the barriers to entry and make it as easy as possible to decide to follow him. No Jesus was not familiar with our modern Church Growth Plans. Jesus instead reveals that to follow Jesus is difficult and costly. He raises the bar of discipleship, and beckons us to determine for ourselves, “Are we in, or are we out?”

Luke 14:25–33 ESV

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

I would like to draw out three observations from this text. And then I’m going to try to make today’s message as practical as possible, so that everybody something to go home with and really do some work with God.

Exposition

I A GREAT DISTINCTION: JESUS DRAWS A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THOSE ACCOMPANYING HIM ALONG THE WAY AND THOSE WHO WOULD BE TRUE DISCIPLES

The first idea I want to highlight in this text is that of a Great Distinction. Jesus draws a distinction between those who are “accompanying him” along the way, and those who would be “true disciples.” Verse 25 gives us this context.

Luke 14:25 ESV

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them,

These crowds were following him. They were intrigued by him. There was something about Christ that caused them move towards him. Maybe they had seen the miracles. Or perhaps they had listened to his teaching. Either way, this was a 1st century rabbi’s dream, to accumulate a mass of people who wanted to follow him. But Jesus turns and speaks this entire section to them, to those who are accompanying him. He’s winnowing out those who think they want to follow him.

What Was a Disciple Then: Three times Jesus says “Cannot be my disciples.” What is a disciple? In that culture, the term “disciple” meant something. Prominent religious leaders in Israel would have accumulated disciples. Young men who would have sought out specific masters in order to learn from them and to become like them. Discipleship in one regard, in that day, was a bit like getting an advanced degree at a University where you really liked a particular professor.

His Teachings: The disciple, would typically leave their home, and move to be close to their Master. He would study, and learn all of the rabbi’s teachings in order to think like the rabbi, to be able to teach like that rabbi, and to propagate that rabbi’s teachings around the world.

His Habits: But it wasn’t just the teachings that the students of these rabbis would pick up, it was the rabbi’s habits as well. They would follow their life. They would dress like him. They would eat like him. If the rabbi had a particular way he enunciated words, they would follow those patterns. If the rabbi had particular habits of prayer, or habits of serving people in the community, his disciples would follow him. And so in Israel, even today, it is not uncommon to see a man walking down the street, and simply by the way that man carries himself, you can tell which rabbi he follows.

Not Two Tiered: In the same way, to be a disciple of Christ, that’s you and me, if we call ourselves Christians is to both adhere to Christ’s teachings, and be like Christ. Increasingly we are to pick up his habits, live like him, speak like him, walk like him. Here is the key point from this section. Jesus is not speaking in this passage just to a smaller of group of the truly devoted disciples. This is not a recipe for a two-tiered discipleship plan. This passage outlines for us what it means to follow Jesus, to be his disciple. From the simplest Christian who lived in the backwoods of Israel in the first century, to the world’s most effective international evangelist, to you, and to me, to every follower of Christ, the requirements are the same, the expectations are the same. There is no “accompanying” Jesus along the way. There is becoming a disciple of Christ, or there is rejecting Christ. That is all.

Do People See Jesus: From a most basic level, before we even dig into the firmness of Christ’s words in this passage, I think it would do us well to reflect on the bigger question. Are you a disciple of Jesus? Or are you just “accompanying” Jesus along the way.

Is your life increasingly looking like Christ?

Is the way you talk increasingly looking like Christ as he is presented in Scripture?

Is the way you think about the future increasingly looking like Christ?

Is your heart increasingly beating like Christ?

Is Jesus your rabbi, and are you his disciple?

Jesus draws a distinction between those who accompany him, and those who would be his disciples.

II A GREAT DECISION: JESUS EXHORTS US TO COUNT THE COST FIRST LEST THEY FIND THEY ARE UNABLE TO FINISH THE RACE

The second idea is that of a Great Decision. Jesus exhorts to count the cost before joining him. Jesus teaches us this principle in verses 28-32 where he utilizes two images to make his point. I believe these images are far more than simple illustrations to make Christ’s point, but I think they are symbols for us of the Christian faith.

The Tower: The first symbol is that of a man who set out to build a tower. He had all the intentions in the world when he began of building the tower. He began with great enthusiasm, and great optimism about the venture that lay ahead. But did not count the cost fully. And so after laying the foundation, he did not have the money to pay the workers or buy the materials, and the tower was left incomplete. He had to abandon the project, and seek employement elsewhere. What’s more we read in verses 29-30 of the mocking voice of others who saw him start down a track, and then witnessed was not able to finish the work.

The Christian Faith (Foundation the Gospel): The Christian faith can be rightly thought of as building a tower. No Christian ought to be ever be content with simply laying the foundation. We are a people that want to continue to build layer upon layer, story upon story, on top of that foundation. The foundation is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, crucified for you and for me. His death in our place on the cross underneath the wrath. We are guilty sinners before a Holy God, cut off from God entirely. But God in his mercy has decided to give grace upon grace. By faith in Christ our sins are forgiven, and we are granted life eternal, and the life that is truly life here, as we walk with Christ. That is the foundation.

Build Up: But then on top of that foundation we build an edifice to heaven. Everyone’s tower will look very different. But on top of that foundation we build a beautiful tower laden with jewels from heaven. Each new step of faith will cost you more than you realize, but each new layer will be more wonderful than you could ever imagine.

Breaking from Sin: Perhaps one of those stories that gets laid in that tower is of God’s breaking you from some sin that was hindering your faith and ruining your witness. Oh how you struggled with that sin, and laid it before the throne of grace. And when God finally broke you of that sin, a new ruby floor was laid in your tower. But the cost was significant. There were relationships that could no longer be the same. There were environments you could no longer go to.

Forming Virtue: And then God lays a new layer of persverence and courage in Christ. That was not fully a part of the foundation, but he had to teach it to you. And you learned that resilience in Christ through the fire of persecution and suffering for his name. Perhaps you were slandered for his name’s sake. Perhaps your decision to really be true to Christ cost you dearly with your family. And you know deeply the cost you paid. And yet, in that tower, a hall of emerald was laid that would make the greatest palaces in this world look like huts in the desert.

Many Have Laid: Many have thought the foundation of the gospel had been laid in their life, but because no tower is being built, it is revealing that perhaps the foundation was never actually laid. They’re not progressing in their faith because in reality they are not willing to pay the cost.

Kings at War: The second image Christ uses is of a king going to war against another king. He has 10,000 men but he has not considered that the enemy he goes against has 20,000. He is outmatched 2 to 1. And Christ’s advice, is that that king better not just launch head first into battle without considering whether he can see this through.

Warfare is Expensive: Well the Christian is always at war. The moment a person truly accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they are a declared enemy of every spiritual force that stands agains the living God. Ephesians 6 reminds us of that war.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

On our own, we are outmatched 2 to 1. And the enemy we are against is a ruthless vile tyrant. The battle is one of blood and sweat and tears, and I mean that literally. Every evil deed in this world is caught up in that spiritual battle. The battle is not just over our hearts (though certainly our hearts are what is at stake), but the battle manifests itself in the physical world in the form of real suffering, real heartache, real death, real defiance of God. Wherever wickedness lurks you can be sure a spiritual battle is driving it.

Illustration - Baptizing New Believers in Turkey: When I was in Istanbul, Turkey visiting the Church out there, I’ll never forget a lunch I had with two pastors. The conversation of baptism came up. And in Turkey it costs a person a lot to become a follower of Jesus. Most of them are abandoned by their family. Some of have police follow them around, make threats on them and their family. Some will lose their job when they are discovered to be a Christian. And right or wrong, those pastors have learned that they will not baptize a new believer until they have demonstrated that they are still committed to their faith after three months. Because after three months they will have experienced at least a part of the spirtual warfare that is headed their way.

The Lesson: The lesson is the same from both of these stories. Jesus is looking to the crowd who is accompanying him, and he is warning them of what it is going to mean for their lives. He’s saying that following Christ is going to upend their life and their family. It is going to disrupt the plan. And yes it will be more worth it than you could ever imagine, because the true tower of your life will get laid, and you’ll participate in Christ’s victory over every enemy. But it is costly. Following Christ is not something that is simply tacked onto the American Dream.

Have you determined in your heart that you are willing to pay the cost, because Christ is worth it? If not, then what is going to happen is that

III A GREAT PRICE: THE COST & REWARD OF TRUE DISCIPLE OF CHRIST

The third idea we see in this text is that of a Great Price. In the second idea we saw a great decision, but here the price of what following Jesus may cost us is outlined. All three of these are heavy. But they are heavy, many might consider outrageously so, only if you do not have a full sense of the hope we have in the Gospel. And so with each cost, we’ll consider it’s other side, the reward.

A Every other relationship in our life now becomes secondary to Christ: First, true disciples are willing to forsake even their own family for the cause of Christ.

Luke 14:26 ESV

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Hate?: At first glance this looks like Jesus is teaching us to hate our family, even to hate ourselves. But using the word “hate” this way was a common way of speaking in that day to compare. We see this elsewhere in Scripture. In the story of Jacob and his two wives in the book of Genesis. You may remeber how Jacob “loved” Rachel and “hated” Leah.

Genesis 29:31 ESV

When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

This language, like Christ’s language in our text is simply saying that “he loved Rachel far more than he loved Leah.” And so Jesus is not teaching us to hate our parents, because that would to neglect the clear teachings of Scripture. Rather he is saying that your highest allegiance switches to Christ. He lists seven separate close and important relationships: Father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, our own life. And he says all of those come secondary to the new most important relationship, being a disciple of Christ

Allegiance: If ever there is a question of who you will follow, Christ or your parents, Christ wins. You do that with as much respect and honor as you can, but Christ is king, not your parents. If ever your spouse pits you against Christ somehow, Christ wins. If your brotheres or sisters pit you against Christ, Christ wins. If your own heart leads to do something other than Christ would have you do, Christ wins! The Cost? Hopefully not, but you may find yourself like many other Christians throughout history, who have lost relationships with loved ones, with family, because of their decision to follow Christ.

The Reward: But the reward! You very well may lose family and friendsl; and some of you have. But you gain an entire new family in Christ. Because the Scriptures teach us that in Christ, you are adopted into the family of God.

Romans 8:15 ESV

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Yes, and not only is God now your Father, who loves you as a perfect heavenly Father, but every other follower of Christ who has been adopted into his family, like you, is now your brother and sister. And while we do not share blood from the same earthly parents, we share the blood of Christ, and that is a far deeper blood than we will ever fully realize this side of heaven.

Jesus is calling for total allegiance. The cost is great. But the reward is greater.

Are you in, or are you out?

B Every Other Path We Might Choose Now Becomes Obsolete: Second, Jesus says the cost is that you may suffer for the sake of his kingdom.

Luke 14:27 ESV

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

The cross was a torture device, a tool of suffering. To “bear a cross” is to experience something like what Jesus experienced as he carried his own cross on his shoulders and walked towards Golgotha where he would be crucified. Christ is saying that in the same way he walked a particular path that involved significant suffering, so may the path he puts before you involve significant suffering. It may not, but it may. And if it does, the cost is that we choose the path Christ lays before us, and not another. Carrying our cross comes in so many forms. Every Christian can bear a testimony of the difficult crosses God has compelled them to carry.

The Reward: But the reward! You may suffer in countless ways in this world. But in Christ, thet promise is that the crosses we bear form greater faith, and therefore they are to be embraced.

Romans 5:3–5 ESV

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Suffering in this life causes us to learn how to cling to the promises of God made to us in teh Scriptures. Suffering forms us. It molds us. The Apostle Peter teaches us

1 Peter 1:7 ESV

so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Here is the cost. You are going to suffer for deciding to follow Christ. Perhaps greatly. And can I just say, I suspect it is getting worse, not better for authentic Christians out there. But the reward is greater.

Are you in, or are you out?

C Every other bottom line we might have had now becomes negligible: Third and finally, Jesus says that we must renounce every allegiance to earthly gain for the sake of Christ

Luke 14:33 ESV

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

We live in a world that is dominated by a desire for earthly gain. And I want to be clear, that earning wealth, leaving an inheritance to your children, managing your finances well, are all aspects of wisdom that are taught in Scriptures. I do not believe this passage is teaching us that we must take a vow of poverty to become Christians. But that does not get us off the hook for what these verses from Jesus mean.

Illustration: The Bottom Line: In business, we talk about the bottom line. In my old corporate job, each project came with a price tag. How much was the total sale, and what were the monthlies. As someone who directed a number of other project managers, I could evaluate each individual project, divide up the numbers and see how much money we made on each project. Every person has a bottom line, a way they measure success, and what projects they’ll take on and what they’ll pass by. For many in this world, the bottom line is money and success. For many others the bottom line is family. For many others the bottom line simplicity and ease. As a Christian, we unwaveringly have a new bottom line. One measurement for every decision, and every action in our life. Does this bring honor and glory to Christ. That’s the bottom line. And the truth is that as you increasingly learn to make Christ your bottom line, you will increasingly give up many other things of earthly gain, in order to so.

The Reward: Oh but the reward! The Aposte Paul, after listing many of his accomplishments in this world that he achieved before he knew Christ writes these words.

Philippians 3:8 ESV

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

To gain Christ! That is your reward! To know Christ. To love Christ. To feast on Christ’s goodness. To walk in Christ’s ways. To enjoy Christ in this life. To marvel at Christ’s work. To be an ambassador for Christ. To live in the joy of Christ.

The Cost may feel great at times. But the reward is greater still.

Are you in, or are you out.

Application

I’d like to close this sermon by looking ahead to this new year, and think very practically. This is a wonderful Sunday to renew your commitment to Christ. To look ahead and say, “It is true, Christ has saved me grace through faith, and this life I live is not my own. It is Christ’s. I’m all in. I give myself to this.” Well if that is you today, let me provide a few incredibly simple thoughts for the start of a new year.

Reading Plan: First, the key thing you want to foster in your life, is your relationship with Christ. It must prioritized. I want to challenge every person in this room to commit to a Bible Reading Plan this year, and every year moving forward. My 11 year old daughter is doing a plan that consists of one chapter a day. If she can do it, you can do it. Let me challenge you with this even further. Have a plan to read through the entire Bible every year, for the rest of your life. It’s going to cost you about 20-25 minutes of reading each morning. If you want begin laying those ruby floors in your tower, having a plan for Bible engagement is vital.

Morning, Noon, Night Prayer: Second, I want to challenge your prayer life this year. You have heard me teach on this previously, but I believe this is vital. Develop a habit of morning, noon, and night prayer. I developed this from the prophet Daniel, who when the culture around him had proven how godless they were, signing a requirement of worshiping a false god into law. We read of Daniel

Daniel 6:10 ESV

When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

I wanto challenge you to pray three times a day. Once in the morning along with your Bible Reading, before your day begins. One in the middle of the day as a reset to focus in on Christ for the second half of your day. And once at night, to give thanks to God for all his provision in that day. You can structure it as you like, I use the Psalms to guide my three times a day. But develop this habit.

What to Cut Out: Third and finally, what needs to go? If we are speaking about forming new better habits that will lead us closer to Christ, that will fix our eyes on Christ more with greater rigor each day, what habits are currently hindering you from that? Is it too much technology? Is too much alcohol? Is it bad habits online? Or bad habits with certain friends? Looking to a new year, a chance to reset our minds on Christ, what can you cut out, in order to make room for the Spirit of God in new ways in your life.

Closing Remark: Jesus raised the bar of discipleship, and he beckons us to determine for ourselves, “Are we in, or are we out?”