The Cost of Being a Disciple

Luke 14:28 "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?"

 

LUKE 14:25-35 NIV

The Cost of Being a Disciple

²⁵ Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.
 ²⁷ And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
 ³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
³³ In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
 ³⁵ It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

The parable of the man building a tower is a continuation of the teaching regarding what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus. This parable stresses the commitment. "Jailhouse religion," where a person is only sorry he got caught and is trying to get out of a bad situation, will not produce true discipleship.
 It takes a forsaking of all to be Jesus' disciple. Jesus is simply saying, "count the cost."

Jesus' teaching on discipleship emphasizes commitment. Just as a king wouldn't engage in war without thoroughly considering all the possible outcomes, so no one should attempt to become a disciple of Jesus without counting the cost.

It would be better not to start following Jesus than to start and then turn back.

When a person first comes to Jesus, it is impossible to know everything that following Jesus might entail. No one, however, should be fearful of making a total commitment because of some imagined problem that may never come to pass. There should be a willingness to forsake everything to follow Jesus.

Once we make that decision, then Christ begins to live through us (Gal. 2:20)
 ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

We find a strength that is not our own, equal to whatever test we may encounter.