The Cost of Discipleship

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Pastoral prayer

INTRODUCTION

I want to begin this morning reminding us why we are here in this location at this time.

We are NOT here because of the effort that we put into finding a bigger place to worship.

We are NOT here because of our own wisdom, our perseverance, or strategic thinking.

We are NOT even here because it was our plan to come here!

We ARE here this morning because God brought us here. We are here because God has opened this door for us! We are here because God has a purpose for this church. We are here because God has called us to be witnesses to the city of Oak Grove. we are here because God has a mission and purpose for us to be here. We are here to make disciples.

BUT we are not alone! God is with us! And God is at work within this church and within our individual lives!

And I believe in all of my heart that God is going to use this ministry to reach thousands of lost souls! And God has called each on of us to be here and to join in on His great work!

What is our mission? Our mission is to “Lead people from all walks of life into new life with Jesus Christ”.

And if we will make this the center of all we do, God will make this a successful ministry!

~PRAYER OF THANKS TO GOD~

MESSAGE

I want you to think about this today, “The Cost of Discipleship”. We are in a series about discipleship because a true follower of Jesus is a disciple of Jesus. And if we really want to know what it looks like to be a disciple, we must learn from Jesus himself.

If we were to ask Matthew (who wrote this gospel) what a true disciple is, I believe he would say someone who was fully committed to Christ at any cost. And I think if we were to ask Jesus what a true disciple is, He would say someone who was fully committed to him at any cost.

Discipleship is costly. Discipleship that does not cost is not discipleship at all. Everyone who follows Jesus will have to give up things in this life for Jesus. In is inevitable!

Matthew 19:27 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You”

My hope from this message today is that every one us is leaves with an understanding of what it means to follow Christ. There are two reasons:

1) If we are going to make disciples we must know what they look like! We must know what the goal is and when someone is truly walking in faith.

2) we must make sure that we are truly committed! If new are not truly committed to Christ, then how can we lead another into a fully committed life?

Do you ever think about why Jesus did not have a big church? Has there ever been a better preacher, pastor, or evangelist on the face of the earth? Here was the Son of God walking around dealing blind men and raising the dead and He had a small group of 12.

We went to Gideon meal last night and sat at a table with a man and his wife who were Gideons. And they asked where I pastored and I told them I was planting a church in oak Grove. And then he asked how many you running?

And this was a nice man and nothing at all wrong with asking that but we all want to know how many people are coming and sitting in the seats on Sunday morning.

If we gauged Jesus’ ministry by the amount of people in His circle wed say He was a failure. I mean if you tell someone you have a church of 12 and one of them is the devil your a failure!

Here is my point: The goal of ministry is not to get as many people as we can into the seats on Sunday morning. The goal of ministry is to make disciples who are committed enough to follow Jesus at any cost!

Why?

Crowds impress men, not God

Matthew 8:18 NASB95

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.

Explanation: Notice what Jesus does when He sees the crowds. He says alright boys, time to go. Pack up the boat, lets set sail. He does the exact opposite that we would do today. I mean we drool today at the thought of 50 or 100 coming to sit in our service because that is how our culture defines success in ministry.

But that is not how Jesus defined success. Jesus is not interested in fans. Jesus is not interested in superficial people who make superficial commitments.

And Jesus knew the hearts of the people in the crowd and He knew they were there for all the wrong reasons. They were the uncommitted. They had come because of that they had seen, not because of who Jesus was. They had come because they had heard what jesus could do, but not because they wanted Jesus. And Jesus is not interested in fans, He is looking for followers.

Bridge: Solomon said, “there is nothing new under the sun. That which has been is what will be.”

No matter what period of history we are in, there will always be crowds who come for all the wrong reasons. There will always be superficial people who want to entertain the idea of coming to Jesus, but are not willing to pay the costs of following Jesus. Crowds do not impress God, and they should not impress us either.

Application: Do you know what our mission statement is? “Leading people from all walks of life into new life with Jesus Christ”. Do you know that the name of our church is “New Beginnings Baptist Church.

What we must be about is seeing people receive new life through Jesus Christ. What we MUST keep in focus is what God has called su to do and not fall into the church culture way of thinking that if we can just get people to come, we have made done something.

Crowds impress men, but they do not impress God. Our goal here is life change and we know that can only happen by the power of God.

Jesus gives us three case studies:

One candidate who says he will follow but doesn’t consider the high costs.

Another who says He can’t because the price is too high.

And then those who do and show us what it is like.

1) Following Jesus requires a willingness to give up the comforts of this life

Matthew 8:19–20 NASB95

Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Explanation: This man comes out from the crowd and He claims he is ready to follow Christ. And Jesus clearly sees some shallowness in this man so He tells him, “foxes have holes and birds have nests but the Son of Man has no-where to lay his head”.

What is Jesus saying? Is Jesus saying that He is homeless And that to become a disciple he must become homeless?

The kind of ministry Jesus had was a traveling preacher who went from town. He did not have a house where he called home every night, he did not sleep in the same bed every night, and He did not know where every meal would come from that He ate.

And the point to this man is if he wants to come follow Jesus this is what his life will look like. He will have to give up his secure home, comfortable bed, and stable way of life if he truly wants to Christ.

In other words, the man says I will follow you anywhere, and Jesus says will you go this far? Will you go as far as giving up your most basic securities in life such as your home to follow Me?

Bridge: We live in a much different culture than in those days. If we go anywhere we will most likely stay in a bed. We will most likely have a food over our head. But just becuase our culture is different does not mean discipleship is different. Jesus still requires us to go way outside our comfort zone to follow Him.

Application: How far will you go? Is there a limit to what you are willing to do for Christ?

Think about this: Ashley and I went to the Reach conference last year and a pastor got up to speak about what God had called him to do. And I have never forgot it because it was so radical. His ministry if I could remember was in Louisville. And he ministered in rough neighborhoods. And do you know how he reached the people of those neighborhoods? Him and his church members would physically move into those neighborhoods so they could get involved in these people’s lives and lead them to Christ.

Would you be willing to sell your house and move to a location that you did not desire, but where God wanted you for His purposes? What if God called you to be a long-term missionary. We think that sounds crazy but there are thousands of them right now serving in remote places all over the world. What if God called you to seel your house and move into a challenge house in Hopkinsville to reach one of our dangerous neighborhoods with the Gospel?

Let me get even more personal. Our mission field is Oak Grove. Oak Grove can be a rough place. It is full of lost souls who need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and it is a place where Christians are desperately needed. What if God called you to sell your house, and move into that neighborhood so you could start a bible study with your neighbors and make a huge difference in the Kingdom of God? Have you ever thought about that? Sounds radical doesn’t it? Is it any more radical than Jesus’ response to this man that if followed Him he would have to be prepared to give up all the securities of this life including a place to lay his head?

Are you willing to go that far? Because that is the kind of commitment Jesus is looking for and that is what fully committed discipleship looks like.

2) Following Jesus must supersede all other obligations including family ties

Matthew 8:21–22 NASB95

Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

Explanation: This man also expresses his desire to follow Jesus but there is some hesitation in his willingness. He has other business to attend to first. Now this man’s business is the most serious kind, he wants to go to bury his father. And what Jesus says to him has caused many people to stumble. “Let the dead bury their own dead”.

I have heard people try to explain away that this is not what Jesus meant, and these funerals were a week long, and that the man’s father had not even died yet, and on and on. But any explanation is missing what the Scripture is teaching.

Jesus says exactly what He means because He wants to make the point clear that nothing is as important in this life than bringing lost people to he one who gives life. Nothing is as important in this life as our duties to a risen Savior. And if we think that there are exceptions to this, Jesus makes it clear that when our own parents funeral conflicts with our allegiance to Christ, then we must be prepared to choose Christ.

Look at the key word in this man’s response: “first”. The man says let me “first” go bury my father and then I will follow you. In other words, you cannot be first in my life because my allegiance to my earthly father is more important than my allegiance to my heavenly Father.

Bridge: Jesus is not against funerals, but He cannot be second in someone’s life if He is going to be Lord of their life. The point is this man’s priorities were in the wrong order! What Jesus tells us to do must take precedence in our lives over every other thing including our own family obligations.

Application:

Here is an example of how this might apply today. Suppose one of your father was sick and doctors have done all they could do. They give your parent 1 year to live. Not long after this diagnosis God calls you to move across the country. You do not want to go becuase you know you may never see your father again, so you must decide what you will do.

What kind of priority does Jesus have in your life? Would you be willing to follow Jesus if it meant losing your beats friend? What if one of your parents said they would disown you if became one of those radical ChristIan’s? What about your spouse?

Where is Jesus and His work in your priority list? Is He at the top? Because if He is not at the top then you cannot be His disciple! Discipleship costs and sometimes it costs us what is most near and dear to our hearts.

3) All of those who make commitments will have their faith tested

Matthew 8:23–27 NASB95

When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Explanation: Notice that Jesus gets up from that place and gets into the boat and the Scripture says, “His disciples follow Him”. There is not a word said, there is no conversation, there is no questioning where Jesus is taking them, they simply follow.

That is really what true discipleship is. It’s not about making some kind of verbal commitment to Christ about all that we are going to do. It’s not about telling others how committed we are and that there are no limits to our allegiance to Christ. It is a physical following of Christ.

And notice where Jesus leads these men: right into the middle of a storm. Do you think Jesus knew a storm was coming? Absolutely! He is the Son of God. He knows what is going to happen when they get into the boat, but He takes them anyways. And the storm comes and beats against the boat, and waves are crashing over the bow, and they look up and Jesus is sleeping.

Ashley asked me the other night how I could fall asleep so easily. I can lay there for five minutes and I will be out! Why? Because I’m tired! Because I am always running and when I stop I crash! And when I read that Jesus was asleep in this boat I could imagine He was tired. People coming to Him night and day and walking and traveling must have wore Him out! So He took every opportunity to take a nap.

Bridge: Just as Jesus led His disciples into the boat and directly into the storm, so He will lead us into the storm so our Faith can be tested! I’m not talking about a physical thunderstorm< I am talking about the storms of life. Trials that will endure as disciples of Jesus.

The faith that is not tested is a faith that cannot be tested! Storms are inevitable for those who follow Christ! And the ones who continue to follow regardless of how hard the wind and the waves beat against the boat, can see if they have the real thing.

Application: What Does Jesus say to the disciples? “Oh you of little faith”. That is really what discipleship is all about. It is about faith! Not faith in ourselves, not faith in the circumstances, not faith in Mother Nature or karma, FAITH IN A LIVING GOD WHO WILL SEE US THROUGH!

Notice who they turn to. They turn to Jesus! Instead of bailing the turning the boat around they look to Jesus to get them through.

CONCLUSION

I don’t know where everyone is in here today. But my question to you is have you counted the costs? Have you considered the high price that discipleship demands upon those who want to follow Jesus.

Maybe you are the first man who would rather have the comforts of this world, than a committed relationship with Jesus. Maybe you choose the homestead, the settled comfortable life.

Maybe you are like the second man who wants Jesus, but Jesus is not the highest priority in your life.

Jesus wants everything! Jesus wants the whole person, not just a part! He is not interested in your money or relationships or houses, but if those things stand between you and Him, He will force us to choose. He is too good to let us ride the fence too long.

INVITATION

Have you counted the costs of discipleship. How committed are you? Are you like the first man, the second man, or the disciples who get in the boat regardless of where it it going.

Maybe God is speaking to you this morning. Maybe God is saying now is the time to come and trust Him in ways like you never have. Maybe God is saying to you, “come follow Me without limits”.

We are going to take a moment and we are going to open the floor for anyone who feels God moving them to respond. You can come for prayer, you can come for encouragement, and you can come to talk about making a deeper commitment to Christ. However God is moving your heart, you come.