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What is the cost of being a disciple of Jesus? Does the Bible specifically tell us what this cost is and how we are to “pay for it”? Does discipleship even require one to give up something? After all Jesus paid it all, right? Today I seek to answer some of those questions in order to emphasize the reality of true discipleship. Being a believer in Jesus Christ is not just accepting the salvation he provides, but it is also following the road to sanctification that he outlines for us. He has mandated that we obey his commandments and follow his for our life (see Matthew 7:23 and John 14:15) For a long time, I have noticed Christians and other religions exclaim of God’s grace toward them and never speak of any type of requirement on their part. Not a requirement to “earn” any of God’s unmerited favor. After all it wouldn’t be grace if you could earn it! But I have problems with any faith that suggests that I can receive all the rewards of something without any cost. I’ve heard it said it this way, “Salvation is free but it is not cheap”. There is a cost to anything worth having and discipleship is not exempt. I’ve been married for twelve years to my wife. God knows that I love her deeply, however there are aspects of our relationship that we’ve really had to work hard at to have stayed married for this amount of time. It didn’t come easily to us, but through tears and prayers we have survived difficult circumstances and now have a solid marriage to show for it. Any athlete that has trained with weights realizes that a couple of workouts won’t get the results that he desires. It will take hours and hours of the same repeated motions to get the desired results. During my senior in high school, I set a goal to repeat as the state champion in the high jump. But before that goal was achieved I committed myself to the task of training and preparation so that I could achieve that goal. The goal of the disciple of Christ must be to become “Christ-like” at any cost. We as believers should strive to the goal of true discipleship. I have outlined some of the things that have helped me and I pray they are a blessing to you.

In contemplating the cost of discipleship, there are several things to understand. I will only touch on a few so you should allow the Holy Spirit to reveal what these mean for you and your walk. First, learn what to give up. There will be things that you are attached to by relationship that are weights that keep you from becoming a disciple of Jesus. In Luke 14:26, Jesus says,

If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.

Mark 8:34-35, reads,

Then he called his disciples and the crowds to come over and listen. "If any of you wants to be my follower," he told them, "you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life.

Are we being asked to sell all we have and go to the mission field? Most likely not. But, I think what Jesus is underscoring is that we have to extinguish our desires to please ourselves. A true disciple of Christ cannot seek to promote an individualistic agenda while trying to further the kingdom of God.

Next, we all have to bear our own cross. We have all been commanded to take up our cross and follow him which will involve suffering for his name’s sake. Your cross is defined as “anything disagreeable to your flesh”. So you can fill in the blank there. What does taking up my cross do for me as a disciple of Christ? It builds in me the things I need to carry out my kingdom purpose so that God gets glory from my life. Only through suffering does one learn endurance and patience. Going back to my example of training during my senior year, every sit-up or push-up I did I knew it was for a specific purpose. Therefore, I was able to endure the cramps and pain as I patiently waited for all those hours of exercise to finally pay off. (By the way, I did repeat as state champ in the high jump.) We as Christians have largely lost the will to experience “delayed gratification”. This society we live in allows us to access so many things at the flip of a switch that we are conditioned to think that all of life should work that way. Well, God’s teaching method is different. In his kingdom, we often find them opposite from the ways of the world and society. We are told to “endure to the end” to receive our rewards. There is no “get rich quick” scheme in the kingdom of God.

Thirdly, we must understand that following Jesus leads us to special places. On the mount of transfiguration, three disciples (Peter, James and John) experienced something they were commissioned not to tell until after Christ had risen from the dead (see Mark 9). The experience was so special and unique. But why didn’t all twelve of Jesus’ disciples experience this? Allow me to assume for a moment that there will always be someone willing to go the extra mile for their blessings. The woman with the issue of blood was determined to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment despite what it would cause her to look like (see Mark 5:25-34). Jairus pleaded at the feet of Jesus for the healing of his daughter (see Mark 5:22-24;35-42). Bartimaeus cried, no doubt, to the top of his voice to get Jesus’ attention to come and heal him of his blindness (see Mark 10:46-52) All of these individuals were willing to “roll the dice” and risk everything they knew or ever believed at a cost. Whether it was shame, pain or death their resolve was stronger than the imposing obstacle. Part of the cost of discipleship is the willingness to press through and want more of Jesus regardless of the cost to you. Will it mean that you look foolish in front of people? Probably. But how bad do you want it! We have to take our desires to the next level as Peter, James and John did in the pursuit of Jesus. Furthermore, in our pursuit we cannot allow distractions to discourage us. Think about this. If Jairus had allowed (1) Jesus’ delay in arriving to his daughter’s aid, (2) the negative reports, and (3) the mocking of the crowd cause him to not believe his daughter would be healed, would he have gotten what he asked for? As a disciple, we have to have a conviction that if we follow Jesus we will be lead to special places.

Here’s a simple prayer to pray:

Father I realize that the plan that you have laid out for my life involves me giving my life over to you totally and completely. Help me to realize that in that process you are making me into a vessel that will bring you glory. No matter the cost, I truly want to follow you.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

"The Way" from Kevin Pauley

The First Sin