Disciple and Discipleship-III (Cost of Discipleship)

Luke 14. 25-27 At one time large crowds were now travelling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them,  “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters— yes, even his own life— he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple”.

Jesus had made it clear that the following will cost the follower something.

He never promised believers wealth, power, position or comfort. He knew human nature. If he makes our lives on earth comfortable, then we would follow him only for comfort.

Besides, He made it clear that we are only wayfarers and aliens in this world; the world is not our permanent home, but we are bound for paradise and ultimately new Jerusalem or heaven. We must not become too comfortable or prosperous which will lead us to develop a dangerous attachment to Satan’s world.  The price we have to pay for disciples are varied and complex. Jesus talks extensively on the cost of discipleship in Matthew 10; other gospels also talk about it.

Mathew 10:18, 19 On My account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say.

The Indian government came to power with its Hindutva agenda. It is not surprising that atrocities against Christians are on the rise. In a related development, the Centre has passed the Citizens (Amendment) Act which targets Muslims. It won’t be long before Christians are also affected.

Mathew 10.26 you will be threatened. False charges will be brought against you – Jesus has promised truth will be eventually revealed and the Lord will redeem you.

Matthew 10:17 The religious establishment will be against you. It might be another religion that doesn’t believe in the true God or idol worshippers. They may be threatened because of you that you will expose their hypocrisy. They who persecute you might belong to your own religious establishments. It was the High Priest and the Pharisees of the Temple who crucified the Lord. They did it “officially”.

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

You might be physically harmed. About 120,000 Christian die globally every year because of their faith.  Remember they cannot hurt your soul.

Matthew 10:34-37  Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Surprising verse! This verse has caused much confusion among God’s servants and believers alike. When you believe Jesus your loved ones--your family, friends, co-workers, the community --may reject you. God’s love will sustain you. Men would be always divided because of Jesus – starting from Herod’s massacre of innocents up to this day, persecution of Christians is the rule rather than the exception.

Matthew 10:32 You will be held to public ridicule. Jesus has promised

‘‘Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven” What great privilege!  ”But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven”.

In Luke 14.33 He says unless we give up everything we cannot be His disciples. By everything, He means our comfortable life, our wealth, health, our social position, our political power, etc and humble ourselves.

John 6: 48-65 Jesus said ‘I am the bread of life – your fathers ate the manna in the desert and died’’. He went on to say his flesh was bread and His blood was drink. Whoever eats His flesh and drinks, will be raised on the last day. From that time on, many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”

John 6:68, 69 Then Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of eternal life”. For the second time (after Matthew 16:16) Peter confessed Jesus was Christ, the Messiah. “And we have believed and have known that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”.

John 13:4-8 Washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus told Peter “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.”…Unless you allow Jesus to cleanse you He will not accept you as His disciple.

John 15:7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples. 

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Paul has emphasized in many places that we will have to suffer for Christ’s sake and prove we are His disciples. He didn’t only preach about suffering, but he suffered himself terribly for the Lord, and eventually died a martyr. He has described how he had suffered for the Lord’s sake. (See below).

Paul was suffering from a chronic ailment that was a hindrance to his ministry and he prayed for its removal, but God refused. God, according to His sovereign plan, refuses to heal some believers of their physical ailments. When we pray for physical healing, we must trust our bodies to God’s care. Paul writes in 2Corinth 12:9, 10 – He said to me ‘my grace is sufficient for you’. My power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may overshadow me. Therefore I am pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am powerful.

2Corinth 11:23-29 (I have been) in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.  Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,  in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.

Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.  Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?

Philippians 1:29  For to you, it is given on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.

His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts. He doesn’t look at people as man sees.

Stephen was doing a great job for the Lord. His special talents and outlook were absolutely necessary for the young church’s growth. But he takes away him at the peak of his ministry. God allowed Herod to kill James early in his ministry but rescues Peter dramatically.

Moses was being trained in all the arts and talent needed for a king, but he was stripped of his talents and retrained in the desert among sheep before He could use him. He chose Jonah for an important fully knowing Jonah would disobey Him. By training and temperament, according to the human point of view, Paul would have been the fittest to take the Gospel to the Jews and Peter an Apostle to the Gentile. But God reversed this order!

2Tiimothy 1:8 Paul tells his son “Therefore you should not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me His prisoner. But be partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God”. “Be a partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel” – everybody, at one time or another, will have to suffer for being true disciples. The Bible – Old Testament and New Testaments -- contains a number of examples of this; E.g. Joseph, Jeremiah, Elijah, the apostles. But God will not forget the work you have done for Him. He will not forget the sacrifices you have done in your ministry.

Luke 6:21-23. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. No work you did for the Lord will be a waste.

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