Count the Cost
“Oh, that we could have a modern day Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or that we could be a modern day Bonhoeffer. ”
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Startling words from a man that understood well the ultimate cost of discipleship. Bonhoeffer spent his last days of freedom building into the lives of a group of young men, discipling and training them in the ways of faith. He was singly focused on moving God’s Kingdom forward. Oh, that we could have a modern day Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or that we could be a modern day Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was eventually executed for his strong belief in Christ, but his physical death was not the most important death he experienced. He had long before died to self—determined that he would never shrink back from serving Christ, no matter what. In Luke 9:23-24, Jesus calls, saying, “Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.’”
So, what does it mean for us to lose our lives? To become the kind of disciples Jesus called to serve the Kingdom of God? Luke 14:28 says, “Which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it.” Let’s look at some of the components involved in determining the cost of discipleship.
DIE TO SELF
Jesus’ call to discipleship was, and is, very clear. We see this in Matthew 4:18-22.
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Nothing has changed over the centuries since Jesus called those first disciples. He gives us the very same call. The question becomes, will we count the cost of following, no matter what he asks of us?
WESTERN CHRISTIANITY’S DECISION TO WATER THE CALL
Talking about our faith walk, Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
In our attempt to make the gospel more palatable, we have watered it down to the point that it is sometimes barely recognizable. Bill Hull, in his book Conversion and Discipleship, talks about some of the incomplete gospels that the American church has created to get more people in the door. Those gospels include the forgiveness-only gospel, the gospel of the right, the gospel of the left, the consumer gospel, and the prosperity gospel. (For a deeper explanation of each of these, we invite you to register for our next Come and See event.) Each of these gospels focuses on some aspect that makes us feel good about our faith, but leaves out the obedience of discipleship. In the gospel Jesus preached, we are all called simply to follow him.
OUR HESITANCY TO LIVE OBEDIENTLY
Why, then, are many of us reluctant to live in obedience to that call? Why do we have such difficulty going all in with our faith … dying to self, and the cares of the world in order to follow Christ? In Mark 4:1-12, Jesus shares what we call the parable of the sower. Immediately following that, he gives an explanation of the parable to his disciples.
Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
Mark 4:13-20 NIV
At The Bonhoeffer Project, we call the last category of people fourth soilers … those people who dive deeply into their quest to know more about Jesus, to be more like Jesus, and to help others follow Jesus more closely. Those people who are willing to die to self and to serve Christ as God has called them … those people who believe the job of the church is to disciple others and teach them to be obedient to the commands of Christ.
ARE YOU WILLING TO COUNT THE COST?
Bonhoeffer continues, saying, “Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye that causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.”
The cost of discipleship is really a heart issue. Our hearts must be surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, declaring that Jesus is the King of the Universe. From that declaration, our hearts must be surrendered to the Word of God. We must understand that the kingdom of God often does not fit our expectations. We don’t get to make the calls, but instead, we choose to be obedient to the commands of Christ we find in the Word. Tough stuff for a people bent on getting our own way, and getting it in a hurry. We must learn to discern God’s will for our lives, a knowledge that can only come by sitting in his presence. We must learn to practice patience as we wait on God’s perfect timing in all things. Hard stuff for a group of people who are accustomed to having many of our desires met instantly.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Where are you on the continuum? Are you in the drop the nets club? Are you available when Christ calls? Do you have enough margin in your life to live in obedience to the call to discipleship in your life? Whose life are you investing in as you journey along your faith walk? Who are you allowing to pour into your life, helping you become more like Christ?
What do you need to die to in order to serve Jesus with all you are? What stands in the way of your dedicated service to the Kingdom of God? Take some time now to look at your life … be honest. Journal what God speaks into your heart as you continue to draw closer to him. Make a plan to change some things in your life., because without a plan, you will not follow through.
