The Cost of Discipleship

The disciples of Jesus were never left under any illusions about what it would cost to follow Him. He had come to Earth at tremendous cost to Himself as Paul so wonderfully describes it in Philippians 2.5-8 and about which he wrote to the Corinthian church, "For you know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (2 Cor.8.9). When He laid before His followers the standard teaching of what we now call the 'Sermon on the Mount' and is sometimes referred to as His manifesto of the Kingdom, it soon became clear that suffering and denial were a part of the cost of discipleship. The 'Beatitudes' make that very clear (Matt.5.3-12). Among the spiritually blissful attitudes is 'persecution for righteousness sake' and slowly but surely through the Lord's ministry He made this aspect of Christian living real; it was part of His life. He also revealed in stages that 'denial of self' was a living witness and that loving Him was more important than loving self. However little they appeared to understand of what it would cost to follow Jesus to death before the crucifixion, the Early Church quickly realized after Pentecost that it was a joy to suffer for 'the Name' (Acts 5.41).

A wealthy young man with high prestige among the Jewish people, thought that it was possible to be part of God's kingdom and gain eternal life by his own exertions. He had kept the Law faithfully and was already a ruler of the synagogue yet he lacked one thing. He still clung to His material riches and power. The wealth had to go and he had 'to come' and follow Jesus. What a contrasting type of life that would be! His life was comfortable; everyone looked up to him as a role model; he could calculate where the next meal was coming from; he knew exactly what was expected of him; and all of this cost him nothing. It was all part of a most desirable life style. Just at that moment when he encountered Jesus and asked his well known question 'What must I do?' he was not prepared to leave that comfortable life behind. Becoming a follower of Jesus at this stage in His ministry was a bit hazardous. Only a few weeks lay between the Saviour and Calvary. To follow Jesus had long since been an excommunicable offence from the synagogues by the Pharisees. It never occurred to the ecclesiastical authorities a thousand years later, who did exactly the same thing, that they too were following the way of the religious Jews and excommunicating true believers from their churches. The cost to the dissidents for Jesus' sake, in any age, has been the same. Those in authority in any sect should note the warning. But receiving the 'order of the boot' is not in itself a laudable situation and it is only when it is received truly for the sake of Jesus that it can be an indication of where our allegiance lies.

Jesus arrived at a village in Samaria and was rejected because on this occasion he was on His way to Jerusalem. The enmity between the two peoples was intense. James and John immediately wanted to call down fire from heaven in true Old Testament prophet style. Jesus rebuked them for such a thought. Perhaps they had yet to discover that they must be at the receiving end of trouble not the giving end. That event is recorded in Luke 9. 51-56.

A little further along the road he met several who were confronted with the possibilities of discipleship. To one he warned that following Him meant that He would be of 'no fixed abode' and many of the Lord's disciples have known what that means, especially those who have carried the Gospel far and wide.

He made it made it clear to other enquirers that there was no time for personal family ties. As we read through these incidents we might feel that Jesus was being quite hard in the restrictions he was placing on 'would-be' disciples. William Barclay suggests that the would-be disciples had really said "I will follow you some day when my father is dead" ‑ after he had fulfilled all his obligations to his family. Jesus' reply is 'come now and get out of the dead world' ‑ a warning to us not to delay ‑ not to procrastinate ‑ seize the opportunity now ‑ something which comes to many of us, and being human we let the opportunity pass. Leon Morris gives some support to Barclay's suggestion. The lessons from Jesus reply to both of these men must certainly be that the affairs of the Kingdom of Heaven cannot wait for the protracted procedure of this world and its society. It does not mean that human relationships are unimportant or to be ignored, as in some sects. Paul, writing to Timothy, makes it quite clear that family ties are important (1 Tim.5.8). If we are at one with the Lord in this respect then we shall have no difficulty in understanding our priorities. The interests of the Kingdom of Heaven, which are top priority, can certainly include our attitude to our natural relatives. If they choose to disown us because we follow Jesus, that is their responsibility.

The other side of the coin relevant to priorities is seen in Jesus parable of the 'Great Banquet' recorded in Luke 14.15-24. The way in which the guests made last minute excuses for not attending the banquet is almost laughable in their silliness. The buying of property or animals or of getting married were flimsy excuses and not reasons ‑ such guests just did not want to bother attending the banquet. Such are the excuses made by those who Jesus calls but who cannot be bothered to make the effort.

He calls many but they find human reasons for rejecting the greatest offer ever made to mankind. But that quality of human reasoning is prevalent in human society in every age including the present. Why do people ‑ leaders and those in power and authority makes such stupid blunders and decisions? Like so many others, they are acting on human values and criteria. Jesus has provided by far the best way of life ever known ‑ and its for eternity ‑ but its not all 'sugar' and people want their 'sweets' (candy some might say) now. To be a disciple of Jesus demands discipline ‑ sometimes a bit rigorous but the exchange of the values of the Sermon on the Mount for the chaos of sinful humanity is wonderful value ‑ are we living up to it?

Jesus followed that rather well known parable with two miniature stories about 'counting the cost'. They are about a man who planned to build a tower but ran out of bricks and a king who went to war only to find his opponent was a lot stronger than he. Jesus is telling those who would be his disciples that they must consider all the implication of becoming a disciple. He didn't want people joining his little band of close disciples without them realizing the consequences. He was telling them that they must expect to sacrifice some aspects of human life if they followed Him. They might find themselves without income, shelter, friends, and lots of other things which ordinary people take for granted. Were they prepared for this? How suddenly can one be converted in order to really count the cost? And was Jesus really saying that there is an alternative option in life to discipleship with Him. If someone counts the cost now and finds the price too high, what must they do? Christ is the only means of salvation. But there is an opportunity for the majority of humanity who reject Christ now to re-think their answer to Jesus when He calls them from the grave. They will not have been condemned but will be judged by what they do then, just as disciples are being judged on what they do now.

As Jesus approached the cross He steadily impressed on the disciples that the way ahead was not easy ‑ it might be distinctly hard. These warnings became stronger with more detailed prediction of His suffering. These can be traced through the latter part of the Gospels and Mark 9 and 10 give examples culminating in His reply to James and John's questions about sitting next to Him in His glorious Kingdom. Did they really know what they were asking? Did they really understand His answer?

Was the cost of suffering, even death for Christ's sake, the real difficulty in counting the cost of discipleship? Or was it rather the day to day change that must take place in those who live to serve others ‑ totally. Paul, who gave up so much for a tremendously hard life had this to say "Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him…" (Phil.3.8,9)

Is it the daily 'laying down' and giving up that in the end proves to be the stumbling block to accepting Jesus as Lord? He was the slave of all ‑ a slave who paid the price to free all the other slaves.

DN