How costly is discipleship? For many of us in Western democracies, this question has almost no meaning. All my life I have known the freedom to worship when I want, where I want… even what I want. And as a Christian in North America, at least for the present, about the closest I get to persecution is having someone ridicule my faith on social media.
Many of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, however, know very clearly the high cost of following Jesus. They risk losing jobs, family, even their lives. Many meet in hidden house churches with only one shared Bible among them. Yet, hungry to grow, desperate to know the Lord who gave all for them, they consider meeting together worth the cost.
Jesus speaks hard words in Luke 14:26-27: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
But we, in the affluent West, sometimes shrug our shoulders and say, “I don’t get it!” On the other hand, our persecuted brethren understand these words very well. They know that their love for Jesus must be considerably stronger than their love for anyone else in their lives.
That is the discipleship Jesus calls them to… and us as well.
Lord Jesus, you, the sinless one, sacrificed everything to rescue me — while I was still a sinner and your enemy (Romans 5:8-10). Show me today how costly your grace toward me was so that I will never hold any part of myself back from following you. In your precious name, amen.
Go Deeper — What would it be like if you couldn’t practice your faith? Ask God to help you understand how costly His love is for you and to give you a heart that longs to follow Him completely.
For a further challenge — Read and reflect on The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or search for quotes from this book.
Photo Credit: Badder Manaouch