Inspired by Jeremy, I dug up an old Facebook tag. For those of you used to expecting distinguished and profound posts from me, you’ll be so disappointed… For those of you who know me, this will assure you that I am still not distinguished and profound. I intercepted a note in 5th or 6th grade [...]
Count the cost
Posted By Jeff on November 1st, 2007
Allow me to preface my ramblings with this statement: I know many people have studied this topic more than me; books probably exist about this topic. Also, I understand that these concepts did not originate with me.
I was reviewing some notes I found on my laptop from a LIFE group with the Journey youth about two years ago. We were contemplating the meaning of “counting the cost of following Jesus.” The discussion stemmed from a short study we did on the parable of the farmer scattering seed (Matthew 13:4-9,18-23Matthew 13:4-9,18-23
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them.
5 Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth.
6 When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away.
7 Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them:
8 and others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.
9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
18 “Hear, then, the parable of the farmer.
19 When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside.
20 What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;
21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
22 What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
23 What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most assuredly bears fruit, and brings forth, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”
WP-Bible plugin). While reading scripture and digging for its meaning, I asked the youth how we can prevent ourselves from being the seed that does not get planted properly and what can we do to assure that we become the seed that produces a harvest of “thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted?” As we thought of examples in scripture that directly dealt with this issue, we determined that the best way to be properly planted and to produce a harvest would be found in the teachings of Jesus. We came up with Matthew 8:34-35Matthew 8:34-35
English: World English Bible - WEB
34 Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.
WP-Bible plugin.
“If any of you wants to be my follower,” he [Jesus] told them, “you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life.”
We felt like we were on to something with this passage because it told us how to “find true life,” but we needed a starting place.We began looking at contexts of scripture similar to the one above in Matthew. We found Luke 14:27-28Luke 14:27-28
English: World English Bible - WEB
27 Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple.
28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?
WP-Bible plugin,
“And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me.”
Verse 27 sounds similar to Matt 8:34Matt 8:34
English: World English Bible - WEB
34 Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.
WP-Bible plugin, but it was the next verse that got our attention.
“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills.”
We all felt like this was a clue to the parable in Matthew 13. Even this group of young people had seen certain individuals who attended church, read their bibles, and even called themselves Christians fall away from the Christian faith. Why?Here is one possible solution: We live in a culture where we invite people to become Christians because Jesus loves them and all they have to do is believe and walk an aisle. But Jesus did not make it this easy. He told people to count the cost. He held nothing back when telling people about the sacrifices they would have to make in order to be his followers. Jesus warned his followers while he was on earth that they would have no place to lay their heads (Matt. 8:20Matt. 8:20
English: World English Bible - WEB
20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
WP-Bible plugin) Some disciples will have to surrender their jobs (Matt. 4:19, 9:9Matt. 4:19, 9:9
English: World English Bible - WEB
19 He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.”
9 He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”
WP-Bible plugin), their money (Matt. 19:21Matt. 19:21
English: World English Bible - WEB
21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
WP-Bible plugin), their dreams (Matt. 16:24Matt. 16:24
English: World English Bible - WEB
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
WP-Bible plugin), and some even their lives (John 21:19John 21:19
English: World English Bible - WEB
19 Now he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. When he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
WP-Bible plugin).
Yes, Jesus died for us, and yes, salvation is free for us, but when we join into a relationship with Christ we need to understand what we are doing. We give up our rights to act on our behalf. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-201 Corinthians 6:19-20
English: World English Bible - WEB
19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are not your own,
20 for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
WP-Bible plugin). If we decide to warn people about the cost of becoming a Christian then less people will probably join our churches, but the people who do join will hopefully produce a harvest of “thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
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November 2nd, 2007 at 9:12 am
I definitely agree. By trying to produce more christians, we are probably hurting our cause more than helping it. Many, if not most, of those christians may not live the lifestyle of following Christ and then non-christians don’t see a difference. How many times have we heard comments about christians being hypocrites? When Shaun leads someone to Christ, he almost tries to talk them out of it because, as he says, if I can talk you into it, someone else can talk you out of it. That’s also why some student camps upset me. They like to play on students’ emotions to get a lot of decisions. However, once we went to a student life weekend conference and the invitation time was so different from any other camp or conference I’d ever been to. The speaker told them that if they wanted to accept Christ to stand up and shout it. I think there were 3 students that did. It was pretty awesome. Don’t you know they had to count the cost!
brittany’s last blog post..Pondering
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:23 pm
So true. I’ve felt snubbed more than a few times due to trying to follow a life I believe Christ wants me to lead… but I know more times than not I myself can probably come across as that hypocritical christian. I try hard not to be judgemental of others b/c my faults are all too often presented to me day to day! “The Cost” of following Christ really can be great… and I agree with Brittany that many times we’re not “warned” of what that cost is when we decide to submit ourselves to God. I’m feeling it less lately due to being surrounded now by other people who love God and want to see me and my family rise above and beyond a selfish and sinful life. What a relief! I think I’m finally getting to a place in my own spirituality that I can be a fairly good example to others. I just have to keep working on shutting my mouth when it needs to be shut, and thinking more carefully before I speak… such a struggle for me!
Mandy’s last blog post..Sleeping In
November 3rd, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Brittany, I have definitely been here before: “he almost tries to talk them out of it…” I’ve seen waaay too many folks fall away after a hopeful start in their relationship with Christ.
When Jesus told the parable of the soils, (Mark 4.1-20) he said that there would be at least four different responses to the Gospel. It’s profound that only 1/4 of the soils in that parable actually produced a harvest from the Gospel.
There’s actually a great little sermon on that parable here.