Cost of Discipleship

Carry your cross

English Standard Version Chapter 14

25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 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. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple

Jesus takes time to explain to the large crowd of people about the cost of true following. But you might ask why do I need to hate my family to follow? The world around us is an example of this I believe. Society today tells us that we must simply love the world around us and this gets difficult to navigate. Discipleship-Discipleship means a person’s readiness to place his or her claims above those of both family and self. Disciples must be prepared to deny themselves completely

I. Howard Marshall, “Luke,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1004.

Placing your claims above family and self. What does this mean? It means that if you want to follow Jesus you must put His causes and calls above what family and world desires.

Jesus then asks us a question concerning how we discern the process. 28 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?

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 14:28.

We are currently exploring and making decisions concerning our affiliation and disaffiliation in the UMC. You could say we are literally counting the cost. I have heard leaders of the church and task force speaking about the cost and making sure that we have a plan to complete the task whatever we decide to do. Jesus is asking those who choose to follow Him to consider the cost before you begin the journey to serve, because He wants us to successfully complete the mission.

29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 14:29–30.

I believe this is why becoming a follower of Jesus is not a leap of faith. I have always been one who believes that faith takes making a decision and that decision may be a leap for many. We are faced with making a decision currently, but we are not leaping without studying the costs, whether that is looking at discernment, or looking at the financial ramifications, we are working together to be informed.