Discipleship's Cost

There is a distinct and clear cost to following Jesus.  Throughout the New Testament, the price of being a disciple of Christ is simple but stiff: everything.  Devotion to Christ requires that we lay everything down before the Lord.  This is inline with the greatest commandment, which commands us to devote every part of ourselves to the Lord in worship and devotion.

Scripture presents numerous examples of believers paying the price of discipleship.  For starters, there is Abraham.  The Lord called Abram to pick up his whole life and leave his homeland for a promise (Gen. 11:1-3).  Abram simply laid down his previous life for the promises of God.  Or consider Abraham's ordeal in regards to Isaac.  Abraham and Sarah had been barren for several decades, waiting for God to fulfill His promises of descendants.  Yet when God did finally bless the couple with Isaac, the Lord asked Abraham to sacrifice him.  And Abraham proved himself obedient to the cost of discipleship and was blessed for his faithfulness.

Another example is the calling of the disciples by Jesus (Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Lk. 5:2-11).  All of the accounts are remarkable.  Jesus simply calls the disciples to come and they, like Abram, pick up everything and follow the Lord.  They were successful self-employed business men that laid down it all to follow Jesus.  As Peter declares, "we've left everything to follow you (Lk. 14:26).

The other pertinent example of this is Saul, who becomes Paul after he lays down everything for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus.  Saul was a Hebrew of Hebrews, on the fast track to the Jewish religious elite (Phil. 3:4-6).  Saul had created a life to be envied, yet when the Lord Jesus called him, he cast it all aside.  This is the true cost: giving everything up for the sake of relationship to the Lord Almighty. Paul is quick to assert that he counts everything lost as a gain because of the immeasurable riches of gain the Lord (Phil. 3:7).

Scripture is unified in this regard.  Discipleship costs believers their very lives.  Practically speaking, believers are to take all of their lives, everything, and to devote it to the Lord.  In this, God sanctifies our past experiences, good and bad, for His purposes.  This is what is described by the concept of daily picking up your cross and denying yourself to follow Jesus (Lk. 9:23).

Ultimately, Jesus is the Suffering Servant who served the world through His very death.  If we are to be His followers, it makes logical sense that we will acquiesce to the same fate as His.  In a real way, this means that we will relinquish every part of our selves for the purposes and will of the Lord.  Truly, the cost of discipleship is high but the resulting relationship with the Lord far outweighs the cost.  Let us then press forward to live lives of servanthood that mirrors the life our Savior lived!