What is the cost of discipleship?

The Cost of Discipleship – Luke 14:25-34

25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “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. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 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? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 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? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 

33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Christ lays down in stringent words the law of discipleship as being self-sacrifice; the abandonment of the dearest, and the acceptance of the most painful. And then He illustrates the law by these two expanded similes or condensed parables, of the rash builder and the rash King. Each contains a side of the Christian life and represents one phase of what a true disciple ought to be. 

Whosoever throws himself upon great undertakings or high aims, without a deliberate forecast of the difficulties and sacrifices they involve, is sure to stop almost before he has begun. In Jesus’s ministry, when the free food stopped, public opinion turned ugly, the cheering crowds became jeering crowds. 

Those who are following Jesus simply for what they can get won’t stick around when the going gets tough, they will turn away at the threat of sacrifice and find something else to gratify their "me-first" desires. When God’s way conflicts with our way or our hearts’ desire, we might prioritize the shallow faith we have bought into.

The builder should take into account the cost to finish the building, and with the continual renewal of effort, to rear his life’s building. In order to bore the tough times of commitment, the lower self with its appetites and desires has to be crucified. The vine must be pressed and pruned in tendrils, leaves, and branches even, though the rich sap may seem to bleed away to waste if we are to grow precious grapes out of which may be expressed the wine of the Kingdom. We simply cannot follow Him and the World’s way at the same time (Matthew 7:13-14) and must be “dead” if we are to be alive to anything worth living for.

If genuine builders would begin building under the influence of impulse or emotion but take no account of how much it would cost to finish the building, the building would not be finished and never will be (Luke 14:30). I do not think it meant that it is better to not begin unless you are sure you can finish. Rather, it meant that we should not begin without opening our eyes to what is involved in the beginning. The self-sufficient man would deplete before he can finish his building; while he who has no confidence in himself and recognises the fact that he cannot build, will rely on Christ to be his strength. 

If any of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple - Luke 14:33. 

Renouncing isn’t giving up something physically, but more often it means to let go emotionally so that what we possess no longer possesses us. To build the Lord’s building, there are costs to digging up old foundations of nature to lay the new ones. 

Would it be difficult to fling away paste gems and false riches if our hands were filled with the jewels that Christ bestows?

Am I still retaining ownership of anything, even my rights to have rights?

"I see your love for my class and their hunger for you. You value intimacy with me above any task or what I can offer. You showed how you enjoy intimacy with us, speaking with us and just being with us. You dance and sing over us. Help me to let go of my inclination towards efficiency, but to fully be here with you and to enjoy you."

Taking this moment to pen down what God has spoken so tangibly to me through people. Speaker Dann prayed over me on week 3. He shared that he saw strength in me, and that strength will grow. He assured me that I am here at the right place, at the right time. He sees me travelling around a lot, in Asia, and that He felt God wants to affirm me that He is well pleased with me and that I am a woman after God’s heart. If I ask God for the nations, He will give it. Glory to God.

It moves me again and again on how personal He is. He isn’t a sadist God that wants to punish us, nor is He far away. He desires to speak to you as well. He’s rejoicing over you, dances and sings over you and takes great delight in you. He is for you, with you and within you my friend (: