The Cost of Living

Intro

The cost of living! We can complain about it. Whether it’s housing, vehicles, education, or food, the cost of living seems to keep going up! However, as the cost of living goes up, wages don’t seem to be rising at the same rate do they?

And cost of living is something that all of us have to consider. When you are thinking about moving to a new location, you look at the cost of living. You need to make sure you can afford living there based on what you make.

Living in downtown Manhattan is different from living in downtown Butler. I watch these shows on TV where people are in areas where clearly the cost of living is higher where they are. They are buying houses that around here might go for $100,000 and they are spending $350,000+ on them.

So if you are going to take a new job that requires you to move to a new location you better look at what they are going to pay you and compare that to the cost of living in that area before you take the job.

But what about the cost of our life in Christ? Does it cost us anything? Is there a “free ride” with Jesus?

Power in the Text

When I was in college I had to take a class called “Industrial Cost Estimating”. It is by far the worst college course I ever took. The class was online, the content was ridiculously hard to understand, and the professor was terrible.

My initial thoughts on the class based on the name alone was that we would simply be looking at what I was producing, how much of it I was producing, how much materials cost, maybe the man-hours needed to complete the project and coming up with an estimate of what it would cost to make it.

That was an incredibly naive understanding of the concept. We did do those things but we also had to consider things I never thought of. We had to develop algorithms that took into account human error and fatigue, energy consumption, and work/time analyses. It was a lot of calculus, which I thought I was good at, until that class.

It was horrible. I hated it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the vital role that cost estimating plays in industry.

For any construction project, there are a lot of factors to take into account.

There are architects who design

structural engineers who determine the stability of the building

construction companies who build.

And likewise one of the most important parts to any project is estimating how much it will cost. We can desire a certain house, but once we find out how much it costs, we might change our minds.

Jesus likens discipleship to understanding the cost to construct a building

Luke 14:28-30 NLT 28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

So Jesus asks what person does not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it. He wants his listeners to understand how sad it is to start something and not finish it.

The failure is evident to all. Verse 30 describes the public response in very mocking terms, as everyone around belittles a person like this.

The shell of the building echoes the shell that remains of this man’s reputation.

The implication is that embarking on discipleship is just the same: It would be to our benefit that we reflect on what it will take to finish what we have started.

It is interesting to me that in today’s Church we talk about Christians in two terms.

Converts

Disciples

As if they are two exclusive terms that mean two different things. Converts are those who simply accept in faith the work of Christ on the cross. They call upon him for the forgiveness of their sin and place their hope in the promise that one day they will live forever in heaven.

But disciples are those who not only convert but also choose to follow Jesus. To learn his word, lean on the Holy Spirit, and who’s lives reflect the character of Christ in everything they do.

I have heard it said, we are not called to make converts, but to make disciples. And this is true based on the definitions we just went over.

But what is interesting is that from a historical point of view and when you look at early Christianity, you didn’t see these distinctions. If you were calling yourself a Christian, you were in fact a disciple. If you weren’t a disciple, then you could not call yourself a Christian.

They were one in the same. No one chose to follow Jesus without the intention of being a disciple, mainly because choosing Jesus often mean choosing death.

Yet in the last several generations we have created this space in the Church where one can be a convert, an accepter of Jesus without being a disciple of Jesus. This distinction is not a biblical one. And I think Jesus makes that very clear when he says “you better count the cost” before deciding to accept me.

Big Idea/Why it Matters

But this doesn’t necessarily jive with the modern evangelical Church’s approach to evangelism does it. Get as many people in a room as possible.

Have lots of giveaways and tell them how loved they are and that Jesus can forgive them and save them (which is absolutely true, but not the whole story) and just raise your hand or come to the alter, which by the way, the concept of coming to the front of the Church is only about 100 years old in the life of a 2,000 year old belief system.

And I don’t dislike alter calls, I’ve given them. But let’s be very clear, they are not a biblical practice, and for much of the 20th century, they have led more to emotionalism rather than commitment to the King of the Universe.

How do I know that? Because if they were as powerful as people say they are then why is the Church in the shape it is in. Where are all these Christians who’s lives were transformed at the alter?

We’ve seen hundreds of millions comes to Christ through alters calls in the 20th century, yet Billy Graham himself in an interview in 1990 estimated that only about 25% of those responded to his alter calls actually became Christians.

And recent studies show that to be a generous estimate. Studies have shown that only 6% of people who respond to alter calls are any different in their beliefs or behavior one year later.

I know there are differing views and opinions on alter calls, and I don’t dislike them, but I am concerned when I see people coming to the front of a Church or raising a hand to receive Jesus if they have not first been presented with the full picture in that in order to be a disciple of Jesus you have to realize it is going to cost you something.

Otherwise the grace of God is a cheap grace.

Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer understood the cost of following Jesus and used the term “cheap grace” to describe what cultural Christianity had made of believers.

“Cheap grace has brought chaos to the church. It is defined in several ways: intellectual assent to a doctrine or idea: in other words, justification of the sinner without a corresponding change in his ethics.

… Biblical Grace, on the other hand, is dear and costly. A man must give up his life to follow Christ. Grace is dear because it cost the Son of God his life, but it is grace because God did not count this too great a cost”

The life of salvation that Jesus offers is free to everyone, but it can only be given to us through the cross. And the disciple is then called to imitate Jesus in taking up the cross. Salvation is free, but the life of the disciple is costly.

Matthew 16:24-26 NLT 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

To the early church the cross was a symbol of execution, of losing one’s life. So to follow Jesus was to lose your life—but also to gain it back through Jesus.

This is why bearing the cross and coming after Jesus is the issue of discipleship. Learning from Jesus means following him, experiencing the rejection he experienced and so bearing the cross he bore.

We cannot ‘learn Jesus’ without being prepared to walk the same path he did.

Application/Closing

There are many in the Church today who have yet to take up their cross. Who are trying desperately to hold onto this life with everything they have.

They want to have their cake and eat it too as it is said.

But that is not Biblical Christianity. That is not the choice Jesus presents to us.

Craig Keener explains the cost of following Jesus:

“Although genuine Christians may fall short on their commitment at times, those who wish to follow Christ should understand from the start that they are surrendering their lives to Christ.

Those who do not acknowledge Jesus as Lord—as having the right to demand of them anything, including their lives—have yet to be truly converted.

Today Christians continue to debate the character of the gospel: to be saved, does one need to accept Christ as Lord or only as Savior?

Throughout the New Testament, however, the question is more or less a moot one. Jesus came to save us from our sin, and accepting him must include recognizing his right to rule our lives. This does not imply that Christians are perfect; it does indicate that they recognize who their Lord is”

My questions for you this morning is do you know who your lord is? Who is it that at the end of they day has ultimate authority in your life? Who is it that determines your steps? Is it Jesus, or is it you?

Have you considered the cost? Is Jesus your King and are you willing to surrender everything in your life, to include your life for him?

What does following Jesus cost you? Maybe it’s your friends, the ones who don’t want you to change for the better.

Or your desire to live in a way that God doesn’t want you to live. Maybe it’s your security in money and wealth because you will learn not to lean on yourself or your accomplishments but in God’s provision.

The cost to follow Jesus can be great—but the rewards far outweigh the cost! And that is what you have to decide. I can’t decide that for you. Your spouse can’t, your children’t can’t, your parents can’t. Only you can decided that.

But understand that our choices have consequences. Some good, some not so good. The Bible says that every choice we make is a choice that brings life or it brings death. God desires that we choose life. So whatever you choose, be prepared to deal with the consequences.