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Author: Stephen Weller
743 words, 4 minutes read time

Counting the Cost

Scripture: Matthew 10:39: Luke 14:28-33

In the previous lesson we covered the three conditions of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. With this lesson we will finish the section and look at two examples of counting the cost. Before looking at the two examples there is a verse that wasn’t covered in the previous lesson that should be covered first.

^{Mt 10:39} Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

“Whoever finds his life” is reference to one being anxious to save his “temporal” life in which comfort and pleasure in the world is experienced. Being satisfied with what the world has to offer, one is not motivated to seek something better that God has to offer and, in the process, misses the opportunity to obtain eternal life. If a person is willing to risk or lose his comfort and even if needed his or her life, as in the case of severe persecution, then that person has probably found salvation and has the desire to live out his or her faith. If we chose to live for self, we will miss the opportunity for salvation, but if we are willing to deny self and seek after God, we will find him through Jesus Christ and will obtain the gift of eternal life.

^{Lk 14:28} “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”

In the previous lesson, we covered three conditions necessary to be disciples of Jesus: We are to love more than family, to bear our cross and follow Jesus, and renounce all that could hinder our meeting the needs of others. Jesus is now asking us to consider further the cost of following Jesus so that we don’t make a commitment that we are not willing or able to fulfill.

The first illustration Jesus gives concerns making a hasty decision to start building before determining how much the construction will cost to see if there is enough resource available to complete the work. If this is not done and construction is started and resources run out before the work is finished, then your resource has been waisted, and people will speak against you for your foolishness.

An application of this is most fitting in places of persecution. In some locations, becoming a Christian may immediately place you under a death sentence. This possibility must be seriously considered before becoming a Christian. If you were to face the possibility of death, would you still ask Jesus into your life and then a short while later deny him because of fear of suffering? What kind of grief will such a denial burden your life with?

^{Lk 14:31} “Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.”

Another example of the importance of counting the cost before starting something you can’t complete. In this case, one is to be sure there is a good chance of victory before engaging in battle.

^{Lk 14:33} “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Paul understood this when he encountered Jesus and said, “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7 ESV). How much are we willing to surrender for the sake of following Jesus? Yes, there is a cost of being a disciple of Jesus!

Conclusion

When comparing the lifestyle of Christians in the western church, one finds little difference when compared to unbelievers. This would seem to suggest that we don’t see Jesus and his teachings as being very important to us. It seems that we are not willing to bear the cost of following Jesus. Maybe we found our assigned cross to be too heavy to carry.