“And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don’t you 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?”
- Luke 14:27-28
If you are going to run a race within an hour, why would you walk it? If you are going to make a patio, why would you pour concrete without the right materials? If you are going to make pizza, why would you set the oven before going to the grocery store?
All those sound ridiculous and the same goes for the Christian life. Why would you come to faith if you are not going to live any differently afterward? For to become a disciple of Christ, and to pick up the cross, is to walk a life of faith and following Him even through the fog. Often times when a conversion moment happens, we do not pause it and consider all that this means. Perhaps that is a disservice, or we just anticipate other people to handle that part.
But, if we were to take what is said here by Jesus, then we might better understand our spiritual formation.
The Disciples:
When the twelve were called by Christ to follow Him, they dropped everything and went. However, since the journey is long and the work is hard, it always comes at a much greater cost then we may initially consider. Along with that, Jesus even taught them that they will be persecuted for following Him, the result will be a blessing in the Kingdom. Yet, many of them might not have considered how that persecution would come. Some were beheaded, others hung on the cross, and another exiled on an island for the rest of their days.
Yet, they might have understood and accepted that they would die for following Christ. The problem is they might not have understood it being for the Good News they would proclaim. It is possible they understood Jesus to have political motives and talk about overthrowing Rome, despite that being far from Jesus’ motives. Hence may be why Peter slashed the ear off a temple servant, and why Judas betrayed Jesus because he realized that Jesus was not politically motivated. They might have wanted revolution and were willing to die by the sword and alongside Jesus.
While the Disciples might have understood that their lives would be cut short because of persecution for following Christ, they might not have known how far following Him would take them. They would carry their crosses far. Peter to Rome, John might have made it to Spain, and Thomas over to Pakistan and India. But counting the cost and carrying ones cross means a lot more than simply dying and traveling for Christ. It is a burden one carries with joy, and regularly laying one’s self on the cross. In fact, the greatest cost is one’s own will.
Cost of Discipleship:
In order to truly follow Christ, and walk in His steps, trusting in Him that in following our lives will be transformed, we must be willing to lay our wills aside. All our desires and passions and hopes and dreams must come to face the cross itself. That isn’t to say God hasn’t given us those desires, passions, hopes, and dreams, but rather to say they must become aligned with the work God wants to do in us and through us. That aligning process could mean drastic changes for some people.
We cannot always count the cost as we convert, but we must seek a means to hold new people accountable to take their faith seriously. We do not hold them to perfection, but we help them figure out the way of Jesus.
In fact, that’s what this means for all of us, how to continue to walk in the ways of Jesus. What parts of us and our lives do we need to give up, adjust, or redirect entirely so we can better reflect Christ with our lives. What areas do we need to grow in? Are we able to share the Gospel? Are we able to be a Peacemaker? Is there a relationship we need to work on? Can I comfortably approach God in prayer?
We all have something next for us to learn, work through, and grow from. It is always going to come at a cost. A cost that we must be ready to meet, and if we cannot meet it, the Holy Spirit has been made available to use to lean on and receive the grace necessary to continue on.
You may have heard, “God will never give you anything you cannot handle.” Which just is not true. We will regularly go though things we cannot handle, what makes the difference though is one’s reliance on the God who enables them to handle it. Us alone, it is impossible to make it through life with a sense of hope and joy, it is impossible to bear our crosses of hardships and suffering without the grace of God to ease the burden.
Perhaps we can look at it this way, count the cost, and when you realize you wallet cannot cover it, seek out the person of Christ who is willing to help cover it. We can trust in His grace because as we carry the cross, we drag it through the same rut that Jesus already carried His through, He has made the way possible for us. Count the cost and rely on grace.
Final Blessing:
No doubt, life is going to be hard sometimes. Energy levels are going to drop, mental healthy is doing to destabilize, and the wallet is going to look barren. Those are just some of the cost and challenges that we are to count. Yet we can have hope in this. Jesus, who never needed to experience that, came to earth to pay the cost of all out sins, so we might walk with Him, relying on His grace, and doing the work to pursue Him. Let us count the cost of following, paying what we can and relying on grace where we can’t.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breathe, and every heartbeat of your journey.
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