Why Does Following Jesus Cost So Much?
When I was a little boy growing up in church, we learned the steps to becoming a Christian. We learned that we first had to realize that we were sinners, confess our sin, repent of our sin, get baptized, and live-the-Christian-life. The last step was always said as almost an afterthought; the focus was to get us in the door. I left children’s church thinking that it would be easy to live the Christian life.
If you’ve been here for long, especially if you attend our 11 service, you have doubtlessly heard Jesus’ words repeated: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). These are words from Jesus himself, and they are true, and they go hand in hand with my early understanding that it was easy for adults to live the Christian life. Some of you are new along this journey and you might still be under the illusion that it’s easy for the rest of us. After all, you might only know us all from Sunday mornings, when we all look our best and when you’ve asked someone, “how are you doing?” they’ve answered, “fine” and you believed them.
But there comes a time in the life of every Christian when we realize it isn’t always easy to be a Christian, when we finally understand that living the Christian life is hard. In explaining to his disciples about his impending death, Jesus told his disciples “In this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33b) So today we continue asking “why” – this time asking “why does following Jesus cost so much?”
The first cost of being a Christian is our tie to this world. When we accept Jesus as our Lord, we accept that this world is no longer our home. Hebrews 11 is regularly known as the “Faith Hall of Fame” and it lists some famous (and not so famous) Bible heroes who lived by faith. Verse 13, however, reminds us that All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. (Hebrews 11:13) They were aliens and strangers on earth. This is why this world is not a friendly place for Christians. We don’t belong here; it’s not our home. We were created to be in perfect relationship with God, bringing him glory in everything. But because of sin, this world became a hostile place, a place that hates Christians.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 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. This is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.” John 15:18-21
Following Jesus costs the comfort of home. God called Abraham to leave his family’s land to go to a place God would show him. He left without knowing where he would end up and how he would get there. He trusted that God would do what He said He would. That’s not comfortable, but God doesn’t call us to be comfortable.
Why would God call us to leave what is comfortable? To even suffer? Because God wants all of us. God will not share us with Satan. There is no such thing as a part-time Christian. Our society has gotten somewhat comfortable with divorce, with shared parenting; one parent gets the children and the other gets to have them for the weekend. It doesn’t work that way between God and Satan. Everyone belongs to either one or the other. A good verse to remember comes from 1 Samuel 7:3: If you’re going to serve the Lord, then commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only.
To truly follow Jesus is to get rid of anything and everything else that holds us back. Quite honestly, this is hard. It means taking a long, hard look at life and asking the question: can I give this up? If the answer is “no” then it’s possible that whatever “it” is has become a god to you. Jesus says “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24)
Last week, I explained that God cannot accept anything less than perfection in his presence; his justice demands perfection. Just as you wouldn’t accept a glass of water with only a little poison in it, neither will God accept us with “only a little sin.” Jesus’ death serves to perfect anyone who accepts, but we have to allow Him to perfect us completely by surrendering everything to him. Not just part of us, but everything.
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says it is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:30) In other words, if there is something holding you back from giving everything to God, get rid of it. It’s not worth what you’re paying for it! Why does it cost so much to follow Jesus? Because the eventual cost of not following him is much higher.
But following Jesus also costs so much because the payoff is so great. When Jesus talked about his kingdom, he often did so in parable. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:44-46) These stories illustrate the value of the Kingdom; it is so great that when someone discovers it, they realize that everything else pales in comparison. And what happens is this: once you count up what you “paid” for the Kingdom, you realize that Jesus is worth so much more. The costs don’t come close to the reward.
But why does it cost at all? Since God loves us so much, why doesn’t he make it easy for us? Simply put, God uses the high cost of discipleship to purify us.
In Zechariah 13:9, we hear the word of God: I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’ What would happen if we looked at the troubles and difficulties we were going through and instead of grumbling or complaining, we had the attitude that through this, God is making me into the person He wants me to be.
Sometimes that refining comes through difficult people. There are some people who are just mean. They aren’t just “extra grace required” – they go to every length to make life miserable for you. In 2 Samuel 16, we meet a man named Shimei who comes out, cursing King David, pelting him with rocks and mud. I love this passage. One of David’s men, Abishai, asked David, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!” I love this! But David, who had the power and the right to have Shimei beheaded, but instead he poses this possibility: “If he is cursing because the LORD said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?” 2 Sam 16:10, “Leave him alone let him curse, for the LORD has told him to. It may be that the LORD will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.” (2 Sam 16:11b-12).
In his book The Beautiful Fight, Gary Thomas writes this: “What does it matter whether God causes [our problems] or merely permits them? What truly matters is how he uses them to conform us to the image of his Son. Don’t run from social frustration or relational confusion; be humbled in the midst of it. Learn how to love in the messiness of human relationships – confronting, forgiving, and asking to be forgiven. Don’t make a hassle-free life your primary pursuit; instead, listen to God to discern how he is using these interruptions to cleanse your soul and purify your attitudes.”
What might your interactions with others look like if you took every conversation, every interruption, every conflict, as a chance for God to cleanse your soul and purify your attitudes? Did you ever consider that maybe God actually put that person in your path to help you grow closer to Him. We can probably all quickly think of someone who God gave us to teach us patience…
When we commit to be Jesus’ disciples, he will use everything, even (and especially) difficult circumstances, to move us toward perfection. The word disciple is the root word for discipline. To be Jesus’ disciples, we must endure discipline.
Listen to this passage from Hebrews 12:7-11 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Discipline doesn’t only mean punishment, though sometimes it feels like it. It’s kind of funny that sometimes coaches punish their players by making them do what I do for fun, something that will doubtlessly make them better athletes. Are you disciplined? Discipline isn’t easy. It’s not fun. It hurts. But if you ask any coach, they will tell you that disciplined players are the ones who make it. The ones who are the first in the gym and the last to leave are most likely to succeed. I have a friend who was somewhat of a basketball star in high school. He told me that when he was young, he had a goal of becoming a basketball star, so he made a shot chart and free throw chart and disciplined himself to make so many shots and so many free throws before everyone else came to the gym. Some of you remember the teams Blaine Keene played on here in Millersport. Yes, he had natural talent and ability. But he worked his tail off to get where he got. Not only are disciplined players successful, but disciplined teams are the ones who win championships. And disciplined Christians are the ones who succeed. And Hebrews 12 tells us that success for a Christian is a harvest of righteousness and peace.
Not only does our discipline give us peace and a right relationship with God, but it also moves us toward perfection. We are told to Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4) The word here for mature and complete carries the same weight as perfection or sanctification.
Every one of us must be moving toward Christian maturity. When we feed our baby with a bottle, it’s really cute. But it wouldn’t be so cute if our 6 and 4 year old sons were being bottle fed. And a lot less adorable to see me, drinking formula. Why does following Jesus cost so much? Because Jesus expects us to grow toward perfection, and it’s a rough transition from formula to solid food.
For those of you who are more mature, please understand that it’s messy. It’s never neat and clean when a baby begins to eat solid food on their own; that’s why the baby Christians need those of you who are more mature. And understand that if the only spiritual feeding you’re getting during the week is from me or from other pastors or leaders, then you’re probably not a mature Christian yet. If you can’t feed yourself yet, that’s a sure sign that you’re not yet eating solid food. Try it! You can do it! There’s nothing like a baby’s first birthday, when we give them their first cake. They usually take a while to figure out what it was, but then they dive in face-first. It’s awesome. But if that happens on your 50th birthday, that’s just not right.
Because learning discipline is messy and hard, the Bible tells us to fully devote ourselves to it. Paul writes to the Corinthian church Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24) In other words, do everything in such a way as to attain that which God has set out for you. Don’t be satisfied with a consolation prize or participant’s medal; do the best that God has called you to. Paul says I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
There are some of us who are absolutely undisciplined. We only read the Bible only when we “feel like it.” We are too busy to meet with other Christians regularly to encourage and uplift one another. We only pray when there’s an emergency, never just stopping and listening to the Holy Spirit speak to us. Friends, the cost of following Jesus is discipline, and the prize is perfection. So when we see some aspect of ourselves that does not conform to the image of Christ, we do whatever it takes to rid ourselves of that defect.
God demands we do everything it takes to follow Him, because He is worth it. Anything less than full commitment isn’t enough for God. It would be like your spouse saying, “I love you enough to be your spouse six days of the week.” Or one hour, as the case may be. Elton Trueblood says, “A little commitment turns out to be the same as none.”
It costs to follow Jesus because he won’t allow a half-way commitment. He paid the ultimate price for us: his life. And he asks the same in return.
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