The Cost of Discipleship: Part 1

Mark 8:34-38

When I shop for an item I need, one of the first things I do is look at the price. I have an idea of how much I’m prepared to spend. I sometimes think about how long it took me to earn the money. Is what I want to buy worth the effort needed to purchase it? If the item I want costs more than I want to pay, it stays in the store. That’s counting the cost.

We need to count the cost in spiritual matters, too. The Scriptures teach us that every person must realize their need for a Savior. The Gospel message is simple, but accepting it is not easy. Unfortunately, many today have embraced what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.” This concept of ‘cheap grace’ is urgent and needs to be addressed.

Bonhoeffer wrote, “Cheap Grace is the deadly enemy of our church. It is grace without price: grace without cost! … Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine … an intellectual assent … Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner … Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession … Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” (Part I, Chapter 1)

People are often given the impression that if they accept Jesus as Savior, all their troubles will be over. They’re not informed of His lordship or that discipleship and cross-bearing are part of what it means to be a follower of Christ. They were counting on adding Jesus to their lives and going on in their way. Then, they find out that Jesus demands total surrender! Is it any wonder they become disillusioned?

Professor Robbie Castleman writes, “The message of cheap grace is flourishing in many churches today. Salvation is sold as fire insurance, Jesus is reduced to correct propositional formulas, and worship is all about us and how we like it, no matter how many times we sing, ‘It’s all about you, Jesus’.

Cheap grace substitutes the fear of the Lord for a fear of the world. Cheap grace hides our light under wonderfully pious lampshades, and cheap grace renders the salt of the earth as just so much tasteless landfill.” He concludes by adding, “Every semester, I tell 36 wonderful students in this class: ‘Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace earned by the work of Jesus Christ alone. And this gift will cost you everything.’”[1]

Jesus told his disciples in Luke 14 about a man who wanted to build a tower. He didn’t want to start and not finish because people would mock him for his poor planning. So, he sat down and carefully figured out what it would cost to complete the project. We, too, need to seriously consider any project we take on, especially when considering “The Cost of Discipleship.”

In our text, Mark 8:34 to 38, Jesus informs His disciples about the cost of following Him. Listen now as I read the Word of God.

In this text, Jesus explains the several ACTIONS you and I must take to accept “The Cost of Discipleship.”

The First ACTION is:

Give Up Your Identity

Every person born into the world has an identity. We identify by name, nationality, race, or physical characteristics. We cannot change most of these things; God decides for us.

As we grow into adulthood, our identity is partly established by what we do. I can say a name to you, for example, Osama bin Laden, and immediately, your mind goes back to the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001. A completely different picture comes to mind if I say William Carey or D. L. Moody. Like it or not, our identity is established, at least in part, by the choices we make.

In verse 34, Jesus said that the first factor you must consider when you consciously decide to follow me is the cost of giving up your identity. His words are, “Let him deny himself” (a-par-NAY-omai). This word is used 11 times in the New Testament in one of two contexts: Peter’s denial of Jesus after His arrest or Jesus’ teaching about the cost of following Him. Aparneomai means to deny utterly or disown completely.

            I think you and I often misunderstand this concept of denying self. It is not primarily about denying ourselves certain things, although it can express itself that way. Following a particularly ascetic lifestyle can become a point of pride. That belongs to our old identity. Instead, denying self involves forsaking our will to fulfill the will of God. It means making conscious choices to live for His sake rather than our own. This will often include ridicule, rejection, and loss.

But something important must happen before we can give up our identity. We must first accept it. Let me illustrate it this way. Picture a sixteen-year-old girl who is unmarried and pregnant. She has already decided that abortion is not an option, and she has made the decision to give the baby up for adoption. But then the question arises: should she see the baby before giving it up? One might think it would be less stressful to have the baby and leave the hospital without seeing him and avoid the trauma of separation. That may seem logical, but would she have faced the reality of the situation?

Did you ever try to give away something you never had? Without seeing the baby, the situation has a sense of unreality. Of course, she’s carried the baby in her womb, but there’s a difference between that and holding the baby and accepting him. If the young mother holds the baby and loves him for a day or so and then gives him to the adoptive parents, the reality hits with full force. Then it’s possible to go through the grief process, the separation anxiety, or whatever sense of loss the mother experiences.

Regarding our humanly achieved identity, we must ask, “Have I accepted my ‘baby,’ or is there still a sense of unreality about my identity?” To accept our new identity in Jesus Christ, we must first define our fleshly, human identity and look it squarely in the eye to understand what we must lose if we are to live out of our true identity in Christ. If you and I want to know the joy and blessing of our new identity as accepted and dearly loved children of God in Christ, we must “lose our baby.” For some, that identity has been in the formation stage for a lifetime. It will not be easily surrendered.

Have you “accepted your baby”? Have you understood your identity based on positive performance-based acceptance, pleasing others, and using your wit, talent, or skills to impress others? For a disciple of Jesus, that is a part of your past identity. But you have to accept it before you can give it up and receive the identity of Jesus Christ.

At Heralds of Hope, we receive letters from former Muslims who have come to know Christ as Savior. Do you know what happens to many of them when they do that? Their families disown them. They say, “You are no longer my son or daughter!” Threats of death often reinforce the reality of this separation. The oldest son is charged with clearing the family name from disgrace by killing the infidel who has converted to Christ. That is the idea Jesus uses here in our denying self, disowning self. It completely rejects my will, my way, and my wants.

I recall a story from my mentor, Dr. J. Otis Yoder. He was a professor at Eastern Mennonite Seminary (now University) for over twenty years and told me about a change he observed while teaching in the college and seminary.

In the early years of his career, students would seek God’s direction for their lives and then come and train to fulfill their calling. Later, the emphasis shifted. Students now selected their chosen career path and tried to discover how they might serve God in that field. It is, perhaps, a subtle but significant difference.

I believe Jesus is highlighting the importance of our choices. He said, “Whoever will,” that’s a conscious decision. Follow in my way, let him reject what pleases him, and choose what pleases me. We must consciously decide to disown or renounce ourselves and subjugate all our works, interests, and enjoyments for the sake of Christ.

I struggle to accept that message. How about you? Our culture surrounds us with the idea that we deserve certain things. Advertisers appeal to that instinct within us. Yet God’s Word says we deserve to die for our sins. The world says, “Pamper yourself; take it easy.” The Word commands us to exercise spiritual discipline. The world says look out for number One. God says, “Don’t have any other gods before me.”

So much of what you and I do is based on what we want, what makes us feel good. Christian homes break up because husbands and wives focus on their desires instead of denying themselves and honoring their commitment to love unconditionally. Teenagers rebel against their parents instead of denying themselves and heeding God’s command to honor and obey. Church members leave because they claim they’re not getting fed instead of denying themselves and recognizing that you only get out of the worship service what you put into it. It’s this mentality of ME first that Jesus says we must disown completely.

If you and I want to be Jesus’ disciples, we must understand it’s not about us but HIM. The only thing that matters is what He wants. I admit that’s painful and wouldn’t say I like it. You will find it to be the same for you. But we have no other option. If you and I want to be disciples of Jesus, we must DIE to ourselves, and it needs to happen daily!

The patriarch Abraham modeled this truth beautifully in his willingness to offer Isaac on the altar. All the promises God made to Abraham were wrapped up in this young man. And God said, “I want you to offer him to me.” God was testing Abraham to see if his trust was in the promise God had made or actually in the God who made it!

There was no way Abraham could obey that command until he first died to himself. He had to give up his plans, hopes, future, and identity. The deed was done in Abraham’s mind, will, and emotions. He had died to Isaac emotionally. His identity was lost, gone.

It is the same with us. Everything that makes up our identity must be laid on the altar. We must disown them. We must give up our identity. This is the first action we must take as we embrace the cost of discipleship.  

The Second ACTION is:

Take Up Your Cross

Have you ever heard anyone talk about a grumpy neighbor, an ungrateful spouse, or a co-worker who is a real pain and then say, “I guess that’s just my cross to bear?” Or maybe it’s an illness or a physical limitation referred to as a cross. Is that what Jesus is talking about?

Unfortunately, we have trivialized the cross in many ways, removing its rough edges. Modern-day Christianity and the world have generally turned the cross into a decoration or a piece of harmless, shiny, and pretty jewelry.

Today, the Biblical symbolism of the cross is debased by women wearing low-cut blouses with a cross hanging on the exposed flesh. Or how about young people wearing the cross on body piercings, tattoos, or clothing while living lives that scream the immorality and self-possession of this world? And what about all the ways of making merchandise out of the cross? These are not the things the disciples pictured when Jesus spoke of the cross.

Jesus and the Twelve lived under the Roman occupation of Israel. The Jews were a subjugated people. As you may recall from history, Rome was reasonably tolerant of those nations and people who submitted themselves to its governance. But for those who rebelled, as the Jews often did, they were merciless. Their primary form of capital punishment was crucifixion. The people of Jesus’ day had seen hundreds and even thousands of crosses. And they hated the Romans for it.

The condemned were flogged almost to the point of death and then compelled to carry the crossbeam of their cross to the place of execution. That crossbeam could weigh anywhere between 75 to 125 pounds. Once at the crucifixion site, they were stripped completely naked and either tied by cords or nailed to the crossbeam. Artists have tried to protect our sensibilities and lessen victims’ humiliation by adding clothing to their paintings.

Then, the crossbeam was hoisted into place in a notch on the upright and secured. The victim’s feet could then be nailed, one on either side of the upright. The crosses held the victim’s feet just a few inches off the ground, not high in the air like we often see in pictures. This exposed him to humiliation by those who passed by mocking, taunting, and spitting.

Death was slow but usually came within 36 hours. The pain of infected wounds, the weight of the body compressing the lungs, and dehydration all added to the torment. Often, the bodies were left to decay and be devoured by scavengers. When Jesus mentioned the cross, the disciples saw this in their minds. It was an instrument of the cruelest form of death. They knew that those who “took up” the cross never returned!

Why did Jesus use this terminology? First, this was the death He was facing. From his struggle in the garden, we know that his flesh recoiled from it. It seems Jesus wanted to impress upon the disciples that this excruciating method of death would be to the physical body what death to self would be to the spiritual and emotional parts of our being. Our flesh dies hard; it hangs on tenaciously to life. We want to retain control. But Jesus says, “Count the cost; if you are not willing to take up the cross and die the kind of death I will die, you cannot be one of my disciples.”

[1] Robbie F Castleman, The Skim-milk Gospel of Cheap Grace, Themelios, Vol. 30, Issue 1