The Cost of Discipleship
The Cost of discipleship is threefold. Jesus said that you must:
Hate your own family. 26. What in the world is Jesus talking about here? Hate in the Bible is always what you understand it to be by definition. This doesn’t seem to make sense. Consider these commands:
Eph 6:1-3 obey and honor your parents
Eph 5:25-29 love your wife as you love your own body
These seem to contradict Lk 14:26.
Did Jesus hate the disciples or his own family? No. What about his example?
In Jn 13:34 he commanded that ye love one another, as I have loved you. In Jn 17:23 Jesus prayed to his Father that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. He loved them even though they were about to scatter and Peter was about to deny him.
Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe him in Jn 7:5, but he didn’t hate them. However, when they tried to call him to come back home, look what he said in Mk 3:31-35. They eventually believed and were in the upper room with the other disciples in Acts 1:14.
So, what is Jesus saying in this verse?
Hate and love are contrasted a couple of times and these verses give us an understanding of what he meant.
Matt 6:24 No man can serve two master: for either he will hate the one, and love the other… See also Lk 16:13. Do you see that to love one is to hate the other?
In Matt 10:35-37 Jesus said, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”. Contrast this with Lk 14:26.
Jesus wanted his disciples to know that if they followed him, they could experience heavy pressure from their family to not follow him. He wanted them to be fully dedicated to serving him without any “pull” coming from their families.
A fellow for whom we are praying will not get saved in Thailand because he will not leave his Buddhist religion and disgrace and dishonor his family. He would have to “hate” his family to come to the Lord.
Look at these verses:
Ps 119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Buddhism is a false way. Its followers wind up in hell if they die without Christ.
Ps 139:21-22 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? I hate them with prefect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
Do you remember that in Acts 16:31, Paul and Silas told the jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house”. They said, “… and thy house”. The greatest way for family members to come around to the Lord is through a saved family member, 1 Cor 7:16.
The fellow in Thailand knows the cost of discipleship. And its greater than he is wiling to bear. Yet, if he will come to Jesus and be saved, he may be the very reason others in his family will trust Jesus to save them.
In Matt 19:29 Jesus tells us what people have forsaken to follow him. And the reward is very high compared to the loss.
We always pray that our family will follow Jesus, too. But if they don’t come around, you follow Jesus anyway. This is one of the great costs of discipleship.
Hate your own life. In Rom 6 we see that our old man is crucified with Christ. That’s a good thing because Rom 7:18 says, “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing”. According to Eph 4:22 my old man is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. I personally hate my own life and am delighted that Christ is living his life in me, Gal 2:20. In Christ I have found a deep, abiding satisfaction and joy.
Bear your own cross. Following Jesus could cost you your life. Are you willing to die for him? Paul said in Phil 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”. Many of Jesus’s disciples have been martyred through the ages. And many more will be killed in the future Tribulation, Rev 2:10, 20:4.
Now Jesus gives three situations to illustrate these conditions of discipleship.
Building a tower. A man building a tower must count the cost before he begins. He gets mocked if he can’t finish what he started to build. You have to know, going in, what this could cost you. But remember it cost Jesus his life. Jesus didn’t want anyone who hears these words to start out thinking that following Jesus was going to be a cake walk. He didn’t want anyone to quit because it gets hard.
King going to war. This king had to consult whether his army of 10,000 could defeat an army of 20,000. Outnumbered armies have been victorious before. So, it’s not just the numbers. It’s the courage of the soldiers, like Gideon, Jonathan, David, etc, who come away victorious. If the king decides to fight and then sends an ambassage to negotiate conditions of peace, he’s failed. Christians are prone to make deals with the world and the devil to keep from paying the high cost of discipleship. And Jesus wanted none of that.
To forsake all in Lk 14:33 is the same as in Mark 10:29-30.
Salt losing its savor. Salt is good. If salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall “it” (the salt) be seasoned. You don’t waste salt to season salt that is no longer salty. You throw it out.
Some salt is good for the land; it’s used to stabilize the soil.
Some salt is good for the dunghill; it hastens decomposition.
This salt that has lost its savor and must be cast out. This reminds us of what Paul said in 1 Cor 9:27 about being a castaway.
Conclusion: Jesus doesn’t want anyone to have false expectations of what being a follower of Jesus entails. He told them plainly that this could cause problems with their family, with their personal choices, and even with their lives. Don’t start following Jesus unless you plan to forsake everything that is holding you back and stick with him till your life on this side of eternity is over.
To study the previous lesson, click on A Great Supper.