What Does It Cost to Follow Jesus?
Is Jesus satisfied with our devotion? What is the real cost of discipleship, and what does it mean to follow Him? In this blog, we uncover the challenging yet rewarding journey of embracing Jesus’ call amidst the tensions of love, sacrifice, and devotion.
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Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a 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 out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if salt has lots its taste how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Jesus Offers Some Difficult Words
If I’m being honest, I’m not sure I like these words of Jesus. Because my Jesus, who I’m sure is just like yours, is one who:
Sets a lavish banquet and intends to invite all to come from near and far to dine with Him.
Pursued me even when I thought I could get away, found me, and embraced me as His beloved daughter and has never let me go.
Is like the father whose son thought he knew better and then waited patiently and eagerly for me to return to Him more than once. Once I did return, I was met not with shame and guilt but a deep sense of peace, purpose, and even celebration because I had come home.
Is rich in love for me beyond measure; a love overflowing with unceasing mercy and abundant grace.
That’s my Jesus, and I imagine many others would agree!
But in this passage, we read difficult things about what it means to follow Jesus as a disciple. We cannot block out words we do not like or understand because, as the Psalmist wrote, “God’s Words are eternal and unchanging—fixed and established forever in the heavens (Psalm 89:2).”
God’s love, mercy, and grace bear weight in our lives because of His hard sayings. The hard words activate His love, mercy, and grace because we can’t understand or respond to the hard things without them. It’s not a matter of one or the other because, with Jesus, we have both.
That’s why we can look at these hard words without hiding but instead look straight at what Jesus has to say to us.
Curious or Committed?
Large crowds have been growing as Jesus moves about, teaching them who He is and what it means to follow Him. As crowds continue to inquire about His teachings, Jesus is consistent in His teachings and responses: I have come to bring you the kingdom of God and all that means. Come to me, and you will find salvation for your souls and a new way of living.
Salvation is freely offered, but it is not cheap. There is indeed a cost to following Jesus.
The crowds may be there out of curiosity, but Jesus wants them to consider what a commitment to Him will cost because it will and does. Jesus has been honest about that from the start. He grabs their attention in a way that surely causes those close enough to hear His words to catch their breath, just as it should catch ours now.
JESUS: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14: 26-27
Did He really say to hate our nearest and dearest and even our own lives? Also, did He tell us not just to pick up a cross but to bear it? Those are hard words to swallow. Hard to accept. Hard to receive.
When you come to a hard saying of Jesus, and there are many, we must ask, how am I to understand this? What else did Jesus say that sheds light here? Can we find a loophole? (We try that one a lot, don’t we?)
Jesus said the word “hate,” but He’s said so much about love, such as telling His followers that they are to love their enemies and do good to those who hate you (Matthew 5:43-44). Does that make these words more difficult or easier to understand?
Let me assure you that you will not find a commentator or biblical scholar who believes that Jesus says you must passionately dislike anyone. These words are about discipleship and what it means to follow Jesus exclusively.
Jesus is saying that a disciple’s love for Him must be so great that the very best of earthly loves, compared to love for Him, will seem to be hatred. Jesus is sharing a picture of what our affection, devotion, love, and commitment to Him must be; Not should be, but must be.
Of all the relationships in our lives, there is only one relationship that lays claim to us like no other relationship does, which is the one with Jesus Himself.
JESUS: “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s Word and put it into practice.” Luke 8:21
Jesus is not saying that one cannot be a very good disciple absent this devotion and intention. He’s saying that absent this devotion and intention, one cannot be a disciple at all. We also can’t sidestep the phrase: “You must bear your cross.”
Think about that phrase for a minute. Those hearing it have no concept that a cross can mean anything except suffering, horror, and death. They have no idea that soon there will be a cross on a hill that will truly bear suffering and death, but it will also open resurrection, new life, and hope.
Jesus declares that His disciples are those who live in the shadow of that cross. For Jesus, discipleship is not optional; It’s not an “add-on.” There are no two tiers to following Christ.
Let’s admit that we think and act that way, don’t we? We see those who do Christian things like attending church, praying, worshipping, and maybe attending Sunday school. Then there’s the really devoted ones. The ones we point to and say, “Look how they are living their lives every day.” They aren’t dabbling in the faith; they’re all in.
Jesus doesn’t entertain two-tier discipleship. Instead, Jesus is saying that complete devotion, alongside full sacrificial cross-bearing discipleship, is the only way you can relate to Him.
We always intend to be full disciples, though, don’t we? But just not right now. It’s like the Parable of the Great Banquet when all the invitations went out. It wasn’t good timing. We all can come up with a list of why. I’ll be a disciple when:
My job isn’t so demanding.
When the kids don’t need me so much.
There are fewer outside responsibilities and activities.
But there’s no fine print here; Jesus says the same thing to everyone. There is only one standard to being a disciple. St. Francis woke up each morning, greeted the day with his arms raised, and declared, “My God and my all.” That’s to be the same for us.
Jesus Isn’t Safe, But He Is Good
JESUS: “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a 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.’” Luke 14:28-30
The answer is, obviously, no one.
JESUS: “Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?” Luke 14:31
The answer is, once again, no one.
Jesus is saying it’s ridiculous to do that for either account. But even when we know what we should do, we can recall the times we didn’t think through situations, and they ended up incomplete, unfinished, or even a complete disaster.
The warning is clear. Theologian and author A. M. Hunter said, “In the first parable, Jesus says, ‘Sit down and reckon whether you can afford to follow me.’ In the second, he says, ‘Sit down and reckon whether you can afford to refuse my demands.’”
Jesus is saying you absolutely need to count the cost of following me, but you also need to recognize that the cost of not following me will be so much greater. Or, in the words of Dallas Willard: “If you think it’s hard being a disciple of Jesus, you should try living the other way.”
The parables tell us that living to make a name for yourself or secure your own future is too expensive, so stop now before you ruin yourself. There is a cost to not being a disciple, and that cost is breathtakingly high.
JESUS: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39
We cannot come to Jesus with an agenda for our lives and then try to fit Him in. Jesus will not be used that way (nor used at all). Don’t come to Jesus to be a better husband, wife, friend, or worker. Don’t make Jesus the means and your life the end. You come to Jesus because He’s Jesus.
Jesus is saying come to me because I’m true, and I am your joy and strength.
In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S Lewis tells the story of four siblings who find their way into the land of Narnia through a magical wardrobe. The story revolves around the children’s interactions with Aslan the lion, the king of Narnia, whom they first learn about through Mr and Mrs. Beaver. The youngest, Lucy, assumes Aslan is a man, but when she discovers he’s actually a lion, she asks, “Then he isn’t safe?”
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Who said anything about safe?”
We ask the same question: Jesus, are you safe? How often do we try to ease into following Jesus? We need to know that it won’t hurt or cost too much. We don’t want our plans to be upended.
Mr. Beaver responds, “Of course, he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
He is good. Jesus is so very good. He’s not out to squash or harm you. Jesus is about living within you and amid the hard things that you have and will endure. He’s there for all the incredibly joyful moments you have, the small ones as well as the life-changing ones.
He’s also the majestic, glorious King of all creation who holds our lives tightly and tenderly in His hands for our good and His glory.
When Jesus left His place beside the Father, He knew that what was ahead of Him would not be safe, yet He came without hesitation. He set aside His equality with God and emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant. In human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. There was nothing safe for Him about His coming to us, but because He did, there is now a total, self-sacrificing, life-giving love, grace, and mercy that He offers us for all of eternity.
Jesus is calling us to completely align our lives with His where we can find a life of glory and greatness but with no promise of ease. Obey me unconditionally, no matter what I say or what I send.
Jesus tells us, and even invites us, to count the cost of following Him. But when you do, the cost He will ask of us will never be equal or comparable to the cost and sacrifice He paid for us.
The Deal of a Lifetime: Bored or Scared?
Dallas Willard said:
“What an astonishing vision! The water of heaven flows through our being until we are fully changed people. We wake each morning breathing the air of this new world; we experience a new consciousness, and our character is transformed. We drop our deceitful practices, our insincerity, our defensiveness, our envy, and our slander, and we move toward others in genuine love. It isn’t costly to obtain this kind of life; you simply give up the old life and receive the new one as a gift. Those who engage in it aren’t spiritual heroes, they’re just responding to the deal of a lifetime, now that they can finally see it clearly.”
Is it possible to see that counting the cost doesn’t take anything of meaning away from us but leads us to more than we can ever hope for or imagine?
So, how do we begin to count the cost? That’s between you and Jesus. But I want to share a way to do that.
Years ago, I was speaking with a pair of missionaries who’d been serving on the Ivory Coast of Africa. We had so many questions: What will you do for your children’s education? What about healthcare?
But our real curiosity wasn’t about details. Our real question was about their relationship with God. How were they listening to Him and so willing/eager to follow and serve Him in a place they’d never been?
The missionary, Steve, stopped my questions and told me of his conversation with the 87-year-old missionary couple they were replacing on the Ivory Coast. Decades earlier, they had made the same commitment as Steve and his family. He said he had all the same questions, but the missionary stopped him at one point and said, “What we have learned is that there is only one way to live this life of faith, either bored or scared. We decided we would choose scared every time.”
Why choose scared? Being scared means we draw closer to Jesus because we need the One who calls us to give all of who we are to Him, and in return, we receive the fullness of His life within us.
When we stop to think about where we might be as followers of Jesus, we should ask ourselves: Are we bored or scared in both big and smaller moments? We will say we choose scared every time.
The claim that Jesus has on our lives as His disciples is total. May we find His command and invitation to be equally irresistible.
TL;DR:
This blog explores the challenging teachings of Jesus in Luke 14, emphasizing the radical nature of discipleship.
It examines the concept of counting the cost, the necessity of full commitment, and the transformative power of aligning one’s life with Jesus’ teachings.
Readers are challenged to consider the true essence of following Jesus and the profound impact it can have on their lives.
Related Reading
What Does Scripture Say about Discipleship by Grant Caldwell
How to Hear God’s Voice & Follow His Will by Rev. Paul Lawler
The Power of Prioritizing God by Rev. Paul Lawler
Are You Prepared to Meet God Right Now by Rev. Paul Lawler
