Count the Cost of Discipleship

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not 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, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

This section of scripture has been subtitled by editors as “the cost of being a disciple.” And certainly, in the time of Jesus, if you were a young man who was a disciple of a rabbi there would be some cost to you for your endeavors. Your time would not be your own; you would be totally at the direction and demands of your master. You would not have many if any personal possessions because you would not be able to carry them with you or have much space for them where you were. Similarly, a well-to-do disciple would be unlikely because they might be unwilling to voluntarily do the things that they could afford not to do. Distractions would be undesirable in the world of discipleship. They would keep the disciple from his tasks and studies and cause the master to constantly have to teach material that had been missed the first time. The time required for a disciple to be discipled would increase as would the frustration on the part of both master and disciple.

So, Jesus is telling people that if they want to be his disciple they need to understand that it is a big undertaking and then once they have determined that, make their decision about whether or not to be a disciple on that basis.

Jesus isn’t looking for family haters. He’s looking for devoted disciples. He’s looking for people who will set their priorities straight, for people who will place him above everything else in their lives and be willing to pay the price of discipleship. He wants knowing disciples, willing disciples, surrendered disciples.

Know what it is going to cost to be a disciple and then, having figured the cost, pay it gladly with your life and for all your life. The desire of Jesus Christ should be the desire of our hearts. To know him is to become more like him, for that which you cherish will change you.

Most people cherish things and use people. They become like the “things” they cherish, cold, hard and unchangeable. But some people cherish people and use things. They become like the people they cherish, soft, growing and changing. A few cherish Christ and forgo other things. They become more like Christ, loving all people, and in the process they gain perspective for every other thing.