“If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.” Luke 14:26-33 NLT
In the faith community three words are commonly used to name those who consider themselves to be on the “Jesus side” of things. The first and most common is “Christian.” Acts 11:46 is the first time those who gathered around Christ were called Christians. It was intended as a slur, but it eventually became an identification of honor for those who identified with who Christ said He was. The second is “believer.” This seems to signify something deeper than “Christian,” which often is a simple demarcation from other religious systems like Hindu or Buddhist. Believer accurately defines someone who with deep inner heart conviction embraces the divinity of Jesus and that He is the only way to salvation. They personally trust Him for salvation. However, what Jesus called us to is even more. His goal for each of us is to become a follower. A follower does more than believe with his or her heart. A follower is active, leaving every other competing priority to follow Jesus.
The question, “What does it cost to follow Jesus” has a simple but not easy answer. It costs everything. Everything. Jesus says that every other love we have in life, every other commitment or priority, pales in comparison to our commitment to follow Him.
So, Jesus doesn’t just call us to be a Christian and identify with the 29-31% of the world’s population who identify as Christian. He doesn’t just want us to be believers who believe all the right things in our heart, but that belief doesn’t transform daily life and decisions. The commitment He wants is active following. It costs everything. Jesus said, “Don’t even start until you count the cost and are willing to follow Me completely and always.”
- Truly following Jesus will cost me everything. There will never be a discount for following. But fully following will always have a great reward.