RECOGNIZING THE COST | Northstar Church

“Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?” – Luke 9:23-24.

Many of us have a difficult time balancing Jesus’ generosity with His intense call to follow. There is a tendency to try to balance grace, blessings, and love with the costs. Because the reality is that there is a cost that all of us must count to follow Christ.

Jesus does not remove the cost of following Him. Jesus makes this point clear in Luke 9. Self-denial and daily cross-bearing are the marks of a follower of Jesus. It is a call to surrender your rights and submit to God’s agenda.

Jesus said anyone following Him would need to take up their cross daily. Remember the way Jesus suffered on His cross. No cross comes without pain and agony. Every day, we must be prepared to suffer for the sake of Jesus. Rather than health and wealth, Jesus promised we would be hated, homeless, and persecuted (John 15:18-21). Following Him will not result in a life of ease, but it will guarantee an eternity of peace in His presence. The cost of following Jesus is great, but the reward is far greater.

Jesus gives two illustrations concerning assessing the cost of following Jesus. The first illustration is of a tower being built. A parallel would be building an addition to one’s house. Not counting the cost means the project will not be completed. Jesus declares that one must assess whether one is ready to take on the personal commitment and sacrifice required to follow Jesus. The second illustration is similar, and it concerns a king going to war. A king must calculate the cost before going into the battle. One must count the cost to avoid an embarrassing and deadly outcome. Being a disciple requires abandoning all projects, plans, and personal goals.

Jesus expects nothing that He has not already accepted for Himself. Everything that matters is challenging and costly. You are going to face pressure to not intensely follow Jesus. But in the end, having Jesus means gain, like Paul says: “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

Discussion Questions:

How do we go about recognizing the costs?