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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
It was right between the sidewalk and the street, the largest one third of a snowman I had ever seen. I don't know who made it, but it appeared on day one of Atlanta's snow last week. Actually I don't even know that it was intended to be a third of a snowman, but it seemed to fit. It appeared that someone had intended to build a gigantic snowman, but all the energy was sapped out of him/her just from preparing the lower body of the snowman. Besides, even if the person could have managed to make the middle sphere of the snowman's body, it would have taken a construction crane to have lifted it into place. Now, rather than a snowman, some 10 days later, it is just a curio beside of the road awaiting some lucky soul to win the office pool by guessing when the sun will have completely melted it away!
If it was a third of a snowman, it is obvious that someone failed to plan adequately to bring his dream into reality. Jesus spoke of this phenomenon two millennia ago. “Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish”? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.'” (Luke 14.25-33).
The failure to count the cost or to estimate accurately the resources that will be required has been the downfall of many a venture. According to studies, the number one cause of start-up business failures is the lack of adequate operating capital. Countless millions of people fall short of new year's resolutions because they fail to properly count the cost that will be demanded in order to achieve their goal. Jesus' examples of the tower builder and the warring king are but two of many; He could have chosen thousands of others. It is amazing that human nature has not changed that much over the centuries. It would be just as easy today to pick relevant illustrations of the failure to count the cost principle, as it was in Jesus day.
The particular application that Jesus made of the principle related specifically to discipleship. He made application by saying, “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” It was not as if the cost was a hidden cost; it had been openly advertised in advance! If a person was not/is not willing to give everything to follow Jesus, he “...cannot be My [Jesus'] disciple.” I am not saying that a person cannot make a split second decision to follow Jesus, but I am saying that Jesus set forth non-negotiable terms of discipleship; one who does not consider the cost of discipleship rules himself/herself out of the discipleship business!
For us today, one of the ancillary points we can learn is that the decisions of Christianity are to be made from the standpoint of the informed rather than the ignorant. We have not been asked to have blind faith in this regards; we know the demands before we are asked to make the commitment! God operates this way; He neither makes nor accepts cheap disciples! One third of a snowman does not a snowman make!
Questions:
1. What reactions did passersby have regarding the unfinished tower? How did this reflect on the would-be builder?
2. How does this same principle apply to those who wish to conquer an enemy?
3. Who, according to Jesus' words, CANNOT be His disciple?
4. If God reveals the worst case scenario in order to attract followers, what would we expect the devil to do in order to attract disciples? Is he true to this expected modus operandi? Illustrate.
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