THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "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. Luke 14 : 25 33

The modern version of the gospel does not recognize the revolutionary aspect of these words of Jesus. If I were to ask the normal Christian on the street if he thought Jesus had said these words (given that we left out the fact that they were from the Bible) he would probably say that Jesus would never say such things. The idea of a gospel that costs anything, much less "everything" does not suit the modern believer. He/she has been steeped in a philosophy that has taken the ethical demands of the Lord and in effect thrown them out the window. We are sold a free gospel that gives free grace and all we need do is accept it.

In my few short years I have learned a few things. In observing people I have seen that the surface value they ascribe to something is not always the real value they hold it in.

Thinking that the gospel is free can lead us to value Jesus as nothing. Thinking that it places no demands on us can lead us to never invest ourselves in Jesus.

The gospel is not today nor has it ever been "free".

First of all it cost God His only son.

It cost Jesus his life.

It will cost us ours to follow him.

He directly said it would six times in the Bible.

Matthew 10:39
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Matthew 16:25
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Mark 8:35
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

Luke 9:24
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
Luke 17:33
Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

John 12:25
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

What Jesus said would be ours if we did lay our lives down in love for him is more wonderful than anything we could know. It was what we were created for.

But the Bible does say it is a free gift.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

To say that we can obtain what Jesus bought on the cross by any work we do is completely unbiblical.

The Bible is not contradictory. But when it seems to be so we have to look deeper to understand what is actually being said to find the truth.

So let's start with the word free. No gift is free. Anything that is given to someone else costs the giver. It is free to the one it is given.  It is not bought by the one who gets it.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Some gifts are free yet cost us to receive them.

When we receive Jesus we are not getting a present we are entering into a convenant relationship with him. This is why it costs us everything.

I could never have entered into the relationship I have with my sweetheart if I had not been willing to lay down my life for her. I did not pay for her. She gave herself to me as a gift. But it was a gift that required that I do the same with her. That is because it is a covenant we share.

In the same way, Jesus laid his life down for me first as the most costly gift ever given. But the only way I can obtain that gift is to give my life as a gift back to him. This is because we are called into a covenant relationship with him.

Jesus agapes (Unmerited love) us to bring us to phileo (An intimate covenant relationship as friends) 1. Nothing could buy his love but nothing short of our full surrender is demanded as the way we enter into what he offers us.

We can see plainly how someone values something by the way they treat it.  You can always tell how valuable something is perceived to be by their care for it. Do they protect it? Do they invest themselves for it? Almost always things that we get for nothing are valued by us as worthless - even if they are a treasure of great value. If we think something is worthless we don't bother to protect it. If we feel it is worthless we don't put it away in a safe place. Simple principle, yet profound when it is applied.

1 For a more indepth look at Agape and Phileo go to: http://word-of-grace.blogspot.com/2010/04/agape-and-phileo.html