Discipleship Part 3

Many times, Jesus urged His followers to count the cost of following Him.

To be a disciple, you must count the cost…….

Luke 14:27-30- Whoever does not carry his own cross (expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come) and follow after Me (believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me) cannot be My disciple. 28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a watchtower (for his guards), does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to finish it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is unable to finish (the building), all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish!”

Jesus is very clear that there is a cost to follow Him. Some of that cost is the same for all of us. But each of us has individual costs that we must be willing to pay. For example – with the rich young ruler it was giving away money.

Matthew 8:18-21 tells some other costs to count……

Discipleship Tested

Matthew 8:18-21- Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to cast off for the other side of the Sea of Galilee. 19 Then (on His way to board the boat) a scribe (who was a respected and authoritative interpreter of the Law) came and said to Him, “Master, I will accompany You (as Your student) wherever You go.” 20 Jesus replied to him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father (collect my inheritance).” 22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me (believing in Me as Master and Teacher), and allow the (spiritually) dead to bury their own dead.”

Following Jesus as a disciple comes at a cost. It involves sacrifice. No servant is above His Master. If Jesus was rejected and harassed and criticized, the followers of Christ should expect no better treatment. To be a disciple of Christ means you must be willing to sacrifice many of the pleasures of this world.

While the first man in Matthew 8 was over eager to follow Christ – the next man was under eager. Matthew 8:21-22 says: Another disciple came to Jesus and said, “I want to follow You, but first let me go bury My father.” Sounds reasonable. Jesus told him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead." Sounds kind of harsh. But here’s what Jesus is saying:

To be a disciple, you must instantly obey the Lord…..

 Now, it sounds harsh when Jesus told the man to follow Him and let the dead bury the dead, but we must remember that in Eastern cultures, the dead were buried within the first 24 hours. What is most likely here is that this man’s father was not dead yet. The young man said, “I first have to bury my father.” What the young man meant was, “I must care for my father until he dies.”

The response given by Jesus indicates that when He calls us to follow, He expects us to obey without delay and without excuse! People today find many excuses for not whole-heartedly following Christ today. They have good intentions to obey someday, but someday never comes.

First, they have to finish school.

Then they have to find a job.

Then they must concentrate on their career.

Then they get married and then a family.

Then the kids have sports and school and band and a zillion other things.

Then the kids are grown and……………then…….

 They have to prepare for retirement.

The list goes on and on, but Jesus wants to cut through our excuses and challenge us to put Him first now, not later!

To be a disciple, you must deny yourself and take up your cross. Matthew 16:24 says: Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself (disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests) and take up his cross and follow Me (cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also). You don’t hear much about dying for Christ or even dying to self today. Most people don’t like to talk about the cost of following Christ. They just want to reap the benefits. Most people live life based on their own thoughts or feelings. As Christians we must die to that and live by God’s will and God’s word. Self-denial is not denying yourself things – it is denying yourself. That means saying no to yourself and yes to God. It’s human nature to live for yourself, but Christ died to free you from the bondage of living for yourself so you can live for God. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says: He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

If the Church is not making disciples, then all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible, are a waste of time.