Part 1: Cross-Bearing

Introduction

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran pastor and theologian during WWII, wrote a book entitled The Cost of Discipleship. As the title indicates, the book is about what being a disciple of Jesus really costs. Living in the time of the rise of Adolf Hitler and seeing the atrocities of the Third Reich, Bonhoeffer was surely one who understood the cost to be a disciple of Jesus.

What led Bonhoeffer to write this text was the state of the German church that allowed Hitler to come to power. The German church had become, as the book of James would say, a faith without works. The German church had a faith that was dead, which is no faith at all.

The German church, the place where the Protestant Reformation had begun and where Martin Luther declared the important doctrine of justification by grace through faith, had become dead. It had come to believe in what I call “won and done” Christianity: now that we have been won to Christ, we are done. We do not have to do anything.

This is what Bonhoeffer termed “cheap grace.” In one place in the book, he described it this way:

“The Christian life comes to mean nothing more than living in the world and as the world, in being no different from the world, in fact, in being prohibited from being different from the world for the sake of grace. The upshot of it all is that my only duty as a Christian is to leave the world for an hour or so on a Sunday morning and go to church to be assured that my sins are all forgiven” (51).

Does this not, in some ways, describe the American church? If you hold a contrary opinion, then perhaps this explains some of the problem. You do not see it in the American church and so you cannot see it in yourself. You may have taken on the worldview of what numerous studies show: that the majority of American Christians believe that God is just there when you need help to get out of trouble or tribulation and as long as you are a “good person,” you get to go to heaven. (I have at least 10 books on my shelf that discuss these issues.)

So what are we to do? We have got to clear the clutter—the obstacles—that are impeding our spiritual growth.

Series: “Clearing the Clutter: Obstacles to Spiritual Growth”

Series will not be easy.

One obstacle to spiritual growth is we did not know what we were signing up for to begin with. We did not understand that following Christ meant bearing a cross. Or, if we did comprehend that it was about bearing a cross, we did not quite grasp what a cross is.

As a result, we did not have the idea that we were to be life-long disciples, or learners, of Christ. And discipleship is first and foremost about cross-bearing.

If we are to be a disciple of Jesus, we first must count the cost.

1. The Cost of Cross-bearing

Mark 8:34 NASB95

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

This text is about being a disciple of Jesus.

“Disciple” = “learner, student”

Sometime ago, pastor Kyle Idleman wrote a book Not a Fan. In it, he describes how being a Christian is not like being a fan. Rather, we are to be a follower. Although there is some truth to this, it is much more. It is much more than like a puppy dog following its owner around the house. Being a disciple of Jesus is about learning. It is also about living the way Jesus did. And to learn and live are a life-long endeavor.

Count the Cost

Because of this, we must count the cost. We must take seriously what it means when we decide to put faith in Jesus, confess him as Lord and Savior and be baptized.

Luke 14:27–30 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”

Robert Stein:

Luke Comments

Do not promise to follow Jesus unless you understand the “cost” and are willing to “pay” it. This does not imply that salvation must be earned. Rather the point being made is that God’s grace can only be received by those who, in repenting, place him [Jesus] above everything else.

Luke 14:26 “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.”

Making Christ priority and always first is to say that Christ is everything and all else is nothing. It is to say with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Beside Jesus nothing has significance. He alone matters.” (Cost of Disc.,59)

As a corollary, we must deny ourselves. We count the cost, and the cost is also to deny yourself.

Deny Yourself

Mark 8:34 NASB95

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself.”

“deny” = repudiate, disavow, disown; refuse to recognize or acknowledge = I like to say, “Kill the ego.”

Self-denial is a summons to submit to the authority of God as Father and of Jesus as Lord and to declare lifelong war on one’s instinctive egoism.

J. I. Packer

If Jesus is going to be first and foremost in our lives—if we are going to be his disciples—then we must kill our prideful, self-serving egos.

Instead, we must pick up our cross and follow Jesus.

Pick Up Your Cross and Follow

Mark 8:34 NASB95

“. . . take up his cross and follow Me”

Have you ever heard in conversation someone say, “I guess this is my cross to bear?” Perhaps someone is prone to being a klutz, and he says, “It’s my cross to bear.” Maybe more seriously, someone receives a negative diagnosis about a chronic condition, and he says, “I suppose this is just my cross to bear.”

Using the phrase in this sense, however, entirely misunderstands what Christ meant.

A cross in Roman times was used to torture people until they died. It was gruesome suffering. It was much more than an effect of being a klutz or receiving an unwelcome medical diagnosis. A cross brought mockery, derision, and ultimately death.

“Taking up your cross” means you have counted the cost and that cost will be persecution, mockery, derision, torture, ridicule, and possibly death.

In short, being a disciple of Jesus will cost you something, and it may cost you everything.

Note that Jesus does not leave it with just “take up your cross.” He says, “Follow me.” I.e., we are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus’ path to HIS cross. Here, following Jesus does not mean just trying to live like he did and act like he did and treat others as he did, seeking justice, mercy, and grace.

Following Jesus means to travel the exact same road of suffering that he traveled.

“Suffering . . . is the badge of true discipleship.” ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer (CofD, 91).

Application

Have we counted the cost to be a disciple of Jesus? DID we count the cost? Have we picked up our cross to follow Jesus to HIS cross of suffering?

The Bara Cultural Research Center report of Jan 2025: “Discipleship Drops Off the Radar – Although discipleship claims by churches and parachurch ministries are man[y], biblical mentoring is uncommon—and our research provides no basis for expecting an upturn in serious discipleship activity, fueling the continuing decline in the influence of the Christian faith in American life.” [https://www.arizonachristian.edu/2025/01/22/barna_crc_research_reveal_12_trends_that-will_shape_faith_and_culture_in_2025/]

Question: are you “in” or are you “out?”

After counting the cost of being a learner of Christ, we must realize that bearing a cross is going to be difficult. If you decide to follow Jesus, to become a disciple/Christian, it is going to be hard:

2. Cross-bearing is Difficult

Being a disciple of Jesus, a learner or apprentice, means a whole new way of life, new way of thinking—a radically new way of being, existing.

We Leave Behind Our Past

Luke 9:62 “But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’”

We Trust Our Entire Life to Christ

Remember James:

James 4:14–15 “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’”

Matthew 6:10 “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”

We Give Up All Our Possessions

Luke 14:33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

We Will Be Rejected by the World

Matthew 5:10–11 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.”

John 15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”

If that is not difficult enough:

Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

We Sacrifice Everything to Follow Jesus

Christ asks for all of you:

Mark 8:35 NASB95

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

It seems so counterintuitive.

Application:

Have you counted the cost of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus? Did you know that it was going to be difficult?

Oh my goodness! This sounds so radical! He’s gone off the deep end!

AW Tozer in The Pursuit of Christian Maturity: “If you think all this is just too much, and if you say, ‘Let’s not get fanatical about this,’ then this study is not for you.” (Pursuit of CM, 26)

Let’s modify this: “If you think all this is just too much, and if you say, ‘Let’s not get fanatical about this,’ then being a disciple of Jesus is not for you.”

If you thought becoming a disciple of Jesus was going to be easy and bring you unfiltered happiness, then you did not count the cost—you did not weigh Jesus’ calling correctly. And being a Christian is not for you.

If you thought becoming a Christian was just about “going to church” and “being a good person,” then you did not count the cost correctly. And, perhaps, being a disciple of Jesus is not for you.

If you thought becoming a Christian was about music, choir, orchestra, bells, Wed meals, having activities like VBS and Trunk-or-Treat, or having a nice worship service on Easter and Christmas, then you did not count the cost correctly.

If you thought it was about having a good job, eliminating stress, anxiety, and depression and all troubles in your life, then you did not count the cost.

If you thought it was about keeping some part of your self intact, then you did not count the cost. It is much more difficult than any of these things.

CS Lewis in an essay (“Answers and Questions”) in God in the Dock:

Q.11: “Which of the religions of the world gives to its followers the greatest happiness?

Lewis: “While it lasts, the religion of worshipping oneself is the best. . . . As you perhaps know, I haven’t always been a Christian. I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” (p.48)

It’s not about sitting in a comfy pew.

Then asked at another time whether Christianity is hard or easy. He said in part:

“The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says, “Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much or your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. . . . The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self—all your wishes and precautions—to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is to remain . . . ‘ourselves,’ to keep personal happiness as our great aim in life, and yet at the same time be ‘good.’ . . . And that is exactly what Christ warned us we could not do” (Mere Christianity, p.196-97)

It’s like you have all your ego and your precious happiness and ambitions in the palm of your hand like the one golden ring that rules all the rings (just like in Lord of the Rings). You have your “precious.” And in order to be a disciple of Jesus, you gotta throw your precious into the volcano.

But oh how so difficult it is! So difficult that we can call it a battle.

3. Cross-bearing is a Battle

If bearing our cross is about killing the ego, then we should notice that cross-bearing is a battle against ourselves.

Battle Against Our Natural Selves

Romans 7:21–25 NASB95

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

When Jesus calls us to be his disciples, it means that we are in battle against our sinful passions.

Battle Against Satan and This World

Battle against satan and the dark forces of this world:

Ephesians 6:12 NASB95

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Application

"If you have yet to encounter a battle, something is wrong. If you are not on the battlefield, you are not where God wants you to be" (Tozer, p.38);

"The carnal Christians [those who have their minds set on the flesh, not the Spirit[ do not understand this. When they fact difficulty, they back away as much as possible. Whatever undermines their happiness at some point is their enemy, or so they think. . . . Whatever the flesh can do the carnal Christian wants to do" (p.39).;

As a battle, it's not about having fun: "Christ never offered amusement or entertainment, and yet many feel they have to provide such things if we are to draw people nowadays to become interested in Christianity. These ones are carnal Christians" (p.46)

Let’s pause here for a moment. Some of us may have in our minds the idea of the modern mega-church, etc.

But let’s be careful. We have the same problem. We just use a different paradigm, but we do it because it’s fun. It makes us comfortable. It tickles our fancy. So we must battle against the temptation to have fun and be comfortable. Discipleship is not about being comfortable and enjoying our worship service.

4. Cross-bearing is Making Jesus Lord

“Lord” = master;

Word Studies in the New Testament Chapter 21

one having authority, lord, owner, ruler

Lord as Authority

Romans 10:8–9 “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

2 Corinthians 4:5 “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.”

Philippians 2:9–11 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

If Jesus is our Lord, he has ultimate authority over us. Authority over our hearts and lives.

Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’”

Ephesians 1:18–21 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

Jesus is Lord, and if you refuse Him as Lord, you cannot call Him Savior. If you have truly received Him, your life will be characterized by submission to His authority.

John F. MacArthur

Question: did you count the cost of Jesus being your Lord—his having authority over you?

Who is your true Lord—not your professed Lord, but the one who actually speaks with authority into your life?

Peter Leithart

Lord as All-consuming

Eph 3:16-19:

Amplified Bible Chapter 3

16 May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].

17 May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

18 That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

19 [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

We go where he goes; we do what he does and requests of us

Conclusion

So here we are: we are cleaning the clutter. We are identifying obstacles to spiritual growth, Christian maturity. And one of them is that we perhaps never counted the cost of bearing a cross.

When you became a Christian perhaps you were fired up—the Holy Spirit was energizing you every day. But now, years later, you’ve become lethargic. You’ve adopted the American gospel. Now the time is to wake up and clear the clutter. It’s time to clean house and get back on track to being a disciple of Jesus.

We know from the book of Revelation in the letter to the church of Laodicea that Jesus does not like lukewarm Christians. He spits them out. Either be hot or cold.