The Cost of Following Christ

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt 16:24-25 KJV)

Why do only a few people follow Christ for a lifetime?

Why do some appear to follow for a time and then fall away?

What prevents us from following Jesus wholeheartedly?

Why do many of us prefer to build on the sand rather than the rock?

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

It can't be that we don't know about Him. With all the technology available today, the archaeological research confirming the people and places of the Bible, the immense volumes of writings of believers explaining their faith, and the exegetical study of the words of the Bible - it's as if we know so much, yet believe so little.

He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:57-62)

The difficulty does not appear to be WHAT we know, but rather DOING what we know.

What keeps us from following Jesus wholeheartedly?

We want security: home, job, marriage, family. We want personal pleasure and comfort: an easy life, no conflict, to get along with everyone (compromise). We want earthly rewards: prosperity, popularity, friendships, leisure time. Some follow only with 'conditions'. Jesus, however, wants complete loyalty with no conditions. Total dedication, not halfhearted commitment. We can't pick and choose among Jesus' ideas and follow him selectively. Jesus did not appoint us to be editors who select the portions of Jesus' teaching which we "think" are irrelevant.

This man said in Luke 9:57-62, he first wanted to bury his father. It's likely the father was not yet dead and the man wanted to wait until he died. Our priorities do not place Jesus at the top. Some have one foot in heaven and one foot in this life. They cannot let go of the things of this earth.

They say, "Let me take care of important family matters first."

"Let me take care of my financial situation first."

"Show me a miracle"

"Heal me."

We must be willing to abandon everything else that has given us security and not allow anything to distract us from the calling He has made in our lives.

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.

When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (Mark 1:16-20)

Simon and Andrew left their sole livelihood, their job to respond to Jesus' call. James and John left their job and their father to follow Jesus.

Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:13-17)

Levi, renamed Matthew by Jesus, gave up his job as a tax-collector which likely included great wealth and power.

The Pharisees were uncomfortable with Jesus' life-style and attitude that allowed Him to be willing to associate with those whom the Pharisees had judged as evil people, those who did not follow the Mosaic law: tax collectors, adulterers, robbers and the like.

Many churches tend to treat people like this by rejecting them or demanding they change first. Other churches expect the convert to demonstrate "signs and wonders" proving their allegiance to Christ.

Then, there is the double standard within some Christian churches. Christian leaders point their finger at cults and cult leaders and accuse them of deceiving their members.

Perhaps we need to examine our own history as Christians believers. How many Christians today are guilty of the same sins? Too often our Christianity is in our mouths and not in our minds. Often the outsider can see through our facades; he calls it hypocrisy. He has heard the stories of Christian churches that have been divided by anger and hatred. He knows about the deacon who left his wife to run away with the church organist. He knows how some of the Sunday morning faithful spend Saturday night.

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip. (John 1:43-47)

The first thing Philip did after he followed Jesus was he told someone else: evangelism. Nathanael response was at first skepticism. What about Christ stirs skepticism today? What stereotypes about Christ prevent people from trusting Him today? We must set aside all our preconceived ideas about Christ and allow Him to fill our hearts and minds with the true Spirit.

Many today respond to Jesus with a lack of commitment. They believe with their mind, but not their heart. They are skeptical about who He is. They are not willing to give up themselves to follow him. They are willing to follow some of His commands, but not willing to sacrifice their own needs. They may hold on to parents, siblings, or children.

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters ... he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14.26)

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate ... -- yes, even his own life -- he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14.26)

Whose goals and aspirations direct your daily living? God's or your own carnal, self-centered desires?

There is a flow of obedience in our lives - a flow that springs from the motives of the heart.

What does it mean then, to follow Christ?

Clearly, we must step out of our comfort zone. We're not to be sitting in church but reaching out to the lost and the needy. We're to be telling others about the Savior! It's a life of evangelism and sacrifice of self.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19-20)

Expect resistance

We are told in Scripture that men will reject three things:

God created the world, which at first was covered with water (which means that its surface was cool at the beginning, not a molten blob as evolutionists teach).

God once judged this world with a global, cataclysmic flood at the time of Noah.

God is going to judge this world again, but the next time it will be by fire.

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this `coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:3-7)

The scoffers skepticism is based upon their evil desires, which lead them to prefer a view of the future in which there is no divine judgment. The scoffers maintain that everything in the world goes on without divine intervention.

Notice that the emphasis here is on a deliberate rejection, or as some translations put it, a "willing ignorance." Thus, it is a deliberate action on a person's part not to believe. People refuse to believe these things even when presented with evidence -people simply do not want to be convinced. Ignoring the flood as a divine intervention was not an oversight; it was deliberate.

We read in Romans 1:20 that there is enough evidence to convince everyone that God is Creator, so much so that we are condemned if we do not believe. Furthermore, Romans 1:18 tells us that men "suppress the truth in unrighteousness."

It is not a matter of lack of evidence to convince people that the Bible is true; the problem is that they do not want to believe the Bible. The reason for this is obvious. If people believed in the God of the Bible, they would have to acknowledge His authority and obey the rules He has laid down.

What does Christ expect you to give up to follow Him?

What are you willing to give up in order to follow Christ?

What does Jesus ask all of us to do?

Yes, becoming a Christian and deciding to follow Christ has costs and some of them can prove difficult for us. Some of us may start to fear and perhaps lose heart when the costs show up in our life. But before we lose heart lets look at what scripture tells us about "taking heart" and how God will help us handle each cost and what it buys for us.

Cost #1. We are to forfeit the world and its pleasures… but take heart in (Matthew 6:33)

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthews 6:33)

Cost #2. We will be persecuted by the world for following Christ ... but take heart in (John 15:19 & Philippians 3:20)

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:19)

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, (Philippians 3:20)

Cost #3. We will suffer in order that our faith might grow ... but take heart in (1 Peter 1:6-7)

These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

 Cost #4. We will suffer to bring Glory to Christ. .. but take heart in (2 Corinthians 4:15-17)

All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.    (2 Corinthians 4:15-17)

Cost #5. We will be attacked by Satan… but take heart in (2 Timothy 4:18)

The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (2 Timothy 4:18)

Cost #6. When we sin, it will be revealed and we will be disciplined… but take heart in (Hebrews 12:5-6)

And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." (Hebrews 12:5-6)

So in summary recognize the costs of following Jesus but take heart and do not be afraid of them for the benefits far outweigh the costs. Remember the thing man really needs to fear is being found not following Christ.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36)

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)