The Cost of Discipleship

There is a story that a group of armed men entered a church during worship and told the congregation that if they weren't willing to die for Jesus, they should leave. Once the majority of the people left, the armed men put down their guns, turned to the pastor and said, "O.K. Now let's worship Jesus with his true followers." 

I don't know if this story is true or not but it does illustrate an important point. The true followers of Jesus are willing to give up everything, even their lives, in following him.

I wonder how many of us would have remained in that church. How many of us would be willing to give up our very lives in an open demonstration of obedience and faith? Or would we have rationalized our escape by excusing our lack of commitment and saying that if we went on living, we would be able to support the Lord's work in the future. (But then, what kind of support can you expect out of someone who has failed the test?)

Jesus invites, calls, commands us to follow him. Hear his call:
Matthew 4:19
19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

Matthew 16:24
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life_ will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Before we look at what Jesus demands of us in total commitment to him, consider again what he gave up in order to save us from our sins.
St. Paul summarizes it in Philippians 2:5 ff
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature_ God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature_ of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death-
even death on a cross!

Jesus is true God from all eternity. As true God he had all power, rule, authority, and ability. And yet, in order to save us from the curse of the law imposed on us because of our sins, he denied himself, took up his cross, and died for us. He made himself nothing. By the world standards he was a poor teachers with only a small following while on earth. He was a servant. He served his Father first and foremost but he also served the poor, the sick, the sinners, and the destitute. He humbled himself by not making full use of his divine power and glory. He was obedient to all of God's laws but especially to the law which said, "The wages of sin is death." Read again through the Gospels and note the unwavering commitment, servanthood, and obedience of Jesus. He did this all out of love for us and in steadfast obedience to his Father. 
Hebrews 10:5
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, 'Here I am-it is written about me in the scroll-
I have come to do your will, O God.' "

Why did Jesus do this? Although he would be exalted after his humiliation, it was not for personal gain and glory that Jesus endured all of this. He did it for purely unselfish reasons. He followed his Father so that we might be saved from hell and live forever in heaven. In addition to salvation, he gives us every spiritual blessing as St. Paul tells us in Ephesians:

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he_ predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he_ made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment-to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen,_ having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory.

And so, when Jesus calls on us, invites us, commands us, demands of us to follow him, it is not as though he is asking us to do something that he hasn't already done himself only so much more so.

What is involved in following Jesus? Luke 14:25
Hatred of family members and one's own life.
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple.

When you were a child, you obeyed your parents without question (at least you were supposed to). Out of obedience or love you did what they told even if it wasn't always what you wanted. As a spouse there are things you do for your spouse that you wouldn't normally do. You go out of your way for your children to give them what you didn't have. Jesus deserves an even greater commitment on our part. And in those cases when our parents, spouse, children demand something contrary to Jesus, the true follower of Jesus is to choose him over them.

Carry our Cross
27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

This means that we are to be willing to suffer for the sake of following Jesus. In the past this literally meant for some to suffer crucifixion. For others it was a loss of jobs, friends, divisions within families. Today, we basically seem to live on easy street when it comes to taking up our cross. Oh, we may hear an occasional snide remark but few of us actually suffer for Jesus. In fact, many Christians are like the people in that congregation who when given the chance to stand up for Jesus or to run, bolt for the nearest exit. We don't want to give up our leisure activities, our precious football games, our sports, or our pet sins for Jesus or anyone else. 

Well, no one is going to stick that cross on our shoulders, but if we aren't willing to sacrifice for Jesus' sake, then we shouldn't fool ourselves into believing that we are his followers either.

Jesus demands total commitment to him and asks us to consider what great cost there is.

28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
34 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Application: As we see again what Jesus gave up and what he calls on us to give up for his sake, we are presented with two very different future results.
1. Those who choose this life, and the love of family members, and the ease that comes from avoiding persecution, and the pleasure of leisure activities, will have more fun in this life and be better off financially and have more friends than those who choose to follow Jesus. But remember this chilling warning. "Whoever denies me before men, him will I deny before my Father in heaven." To be denied by Jesus means spending an eternity in hell.

2. Those who hate their family members, their own life, who take up their cross, who consider the cost and who are willing to sacrifice all for Jesus, they will receive more spiritual blessings on earth than we can almost count as well as the joys of heaven as Jesus acknowledges us before our Father in heaven.

Conclusion: In that story about the armed men who took over the church and demanded the members to make a decision, it was tough for them because they weren't sure what the outcome was going to be. It shouldn't be that way for us. Jesus tells us up front what the cost of discipleship is and what the future rewards are. The question is, Are you going to believe what he has to say and follow him or are you going to satisfy yours