November 7

The Cost of Discipleship
There are stages to the Christian life. To enter the last stage of Christian growth is to become a fully devoted follower of Christ. It means we must count the cost of discipleship and choose to make Christ the center of our lives, to risk everything that is important in our lives for Jesus.

In Luke 14 Jesus makes perfectly clear what it means to be a disciple. You will notice that in this passage it starts with “large crowds.” Now to the world that is what we would call a success. But Jesus knew these were just the curious and the observers. Just having a crowd of people doesn’t mean you have disciples. It is interesting that rather than looking for multitudes Jesus was looking for a few good men and women. He is not impressed with size he is impressed with quality.

To be a disciple Jesus must be our first and foremost love. 25-27. He uses an over statement to get our attention. This is called a hyperbole. There are a 100 verses that indicate that God wants us to love our families yet when we compare our love for our families with our love for Jesus our love for Jesus must be supreme. All other loyalties must become subordinate to him. If there is a clash of loyalties he must win.
So here is the question: Do you love Jesus more than anything or anyone on this planet? If you say YES, then you have passed the first test of a disciple.

To be a disciple of Jesus requires a rational evaluation. 28-30. In the middle of downtown Stamford for the past 26 years there is a big hole. It just sits there year after year, decade after decade. Someone started building project years ago but never got any further than digging a hole and putting in a few foundation blocks.
Someone failed to think through the entire process of erecting a building. In following Jesus it should be the most rational decision we will ever make. It is obvious that the universe is winding down which means there must have been someone to wind it up.... the rational mind says there must be a God. The intricate design of the universe shouts that nothing here is random or chaotic. The rational mind says that there must be an artist behind this beautiful design. The rational mind knows that Jesus is the only religious leader who ever claimed to be God, showed us his great power by his miracles and then was raised from the dead on the third day. Jesus wants us to get the point. Don't rush into this decision of becoming a fully devoted follower without rationally evaluating what is involved. This is not an emotional decision. It is a rational decision to start building a life based on Jesus.

To be a disciple of Jesus demands a calculated decision. 31-33. When at war it is not easy with 10,000 soldiers to defeat one who attacks with 20,000. A king in such a position thinks hard. If he cannot see his way through the problem he does not wait for defeat, he arranges a peace while the enemy is still a great way off.
The builder of tower is free to build or not as he chooses. But the king is being invaded, he must do something. In the building story Jesus says sit down and reason with me if you can afford to follow me. In the second he says sit down and see whether you can afford to refuse my demands. Both ways of looking at it are very important. The enemies that assault us are time, death and entropy. The sands of time are quickly passing through the hourglass. The most shocking news I face each day is that I am 55 years old. I can not tell you how fast the years of my life have passed by. The Bible says that history will end with every knee in the universe bowing and every tongue confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord. Calculate this, will you bow your knee before Jesus your friend and Savior or will you bow you knee before Jesus your Judge.

To be a disciple it requires and inward change. 34-35. Salt was found in virtually every home in the Middle East. Certainly everybody used it in the Palestine of Jesus' day. Jesus would have known this since his boyhood in Nazareth. Salt used was gathered from Dead Sea. It is 4 times saltier than ocean and it would be gathered in piles. After a period of rain it would still be white but the sodium chloride would have left. A radical commitment to Jesus is more than an outward appearance of change. It is an inward change that makes the difference. The biggest problem in Christianity today is that Christians have lost their saltiness. They look like Christians on the outside but in their hearts they have lost the passion, the love, the commitment to Jesus. There is so little intensity for Jesus today in the church. So how is your heart doing today? Are you yawning about spending this day with Jesus or is there a fire inside your heart to serve him?

If the fire has gone out take some time and pray on your knees asking him to renew your heart.

Today is accountability day. Send me a quick email telling me the condition of your heart. God bless you as you become a fully devoted follower.