The Cost Of Being A Disciple

Pam and I are not ones for New Year’s Resolutions, but the first of every year we do sit down and set goals and make plans for the coming year.

If you are anything like us, anytime any of us make plans, whether to buy a home, purchase a car, go on vacation, install an underground pool, etc., we sit down and analyze the cost (or at least I hope we do). Do we have the funds, or if we are going to borrow the money, can we pay it back? Is what we want to purchase worth what we will need to spend to acquire it?

Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ has some of the same characteristics. There is a cost associated with it.

In Luke 14:28-33, we read these words from Jesus:

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 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. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.’

- Luke 14:28-33

While the blessings of being Jesus’ disciple, a child of the Most High God, are too numerous to count, I wonder how many of us have actually considered what it costs to be a disciple of Jesus?

The reality is that Jesus does not want a blind, naïve commitment that expects only blessings.

As Jesus said in verse 33, if we are not willing to give up everything we have, we cannot be His disciple. I don’t know about you, but at least at first glance, that sounds really expensive.

Jesus wants everything….

All… every part of us. He desires complete surrender to Him. So, I feel compelled to ask, just exactly what does that mean? What does that look like in real, practical terms?

For me, it means my mind, my soul, my spirit, and my body belong to Jesus. Every thought, word, deed, and attitude are taken captive by Him. It means I am simply a steward of the time, talents, and resources He has entrusted to me. It means I am not my own… I am His.

Seems like a huge price to pay. But, in Philippians 3:8-11, the Apostle Paul examines the things of this world he once thought to be his, and he writes:

I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him… I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

- Philippians 3:8-11

Knowing Jesus, celebrating in His Resurrection, and experiencing the abundance of life He promises us in John 10:10, makes any - and I do mean any - cost pale in comparison.

As far as I am concerned, being a disciple of Jesus Christ is well worth the price. One might say, both literally and figuratively: The benefits are “out of this world.”

Friends, let’s make it a priority this coming New Year to engage with God’s church, to serve and be served, investing our time, talent and treasure into the Bride of Christ.

Pastor Ken

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