Exploring the Text: The cost of discipleship
Jesus is being followed by great crowds of people. For most of us, that would be a great thing, but Jesus takes the opportunity to challenge his followers. He tells them that to truly follow him means being willing to sacrifice everything and put him first. To be clear, Jesus is not really telling us to hate our family or our own life. He is using hyperbole to make a point. His point is that to truly follow him, he must be our highest priority. He then challenges his followers with a couple of illustrations. Both of them had to do with figuring out what something would cost before starting the venture. In the same way, Jesus says that we need to count the cost of discipleship before committing to follow him. Jesus is not just looking for a large crowd, he is not looking for popularity, he is not looking for fans, he is looking for followers who will always put him first.
I wonder how many of the crowd walked away after Jesus said this. I wonder how many of them were interested in Jesus, but not willing to put him first in their lives. I wonder how many of them counted the cost and decided it was too high. I wonder how many of us would be one of them. Are you interested in Jesus, are you a fan of Jesus, or are you willing to count the cost and be a disciple of Jesus.
Jesus is being followed by great crowds of people. For most of us, that would be a great thing, but Jesus takes the opportunity to challenge his followers. He tells them that to truly follow him means being willing to sacrifice everything and put him first. To be clear, Jesus is not really telling us to hate our family or our own life. He is using hyperbole to make a point. His point is that to truly follow him, he must be our highest priority. He then challenges his followers with a couple of illustrations. Both of them had to do with figuring out what something would cost before starting the venture. In the same way, Jesus says that we need to count the cost of discipleship before committing to follow him. Jesus is not just looking for a large crowd, he is not looking for popularity, he is not looking for fans, he is looking for followers who will always put him first.
I wonder how many of the crowd walked away after Jesus said this. I wonder how many of them were interested in Jesus, but not willing to put him first in their lives. I wonder how many of them counted the cost and decided it was too high. I wonder how many of us would be one of them. Are you interested in Jesus, are you a fan of Jesus, or are you willing to count the cost and be a disciple of Jesus.