Commitment

"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 carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

"For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

"Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks terms of peace.

"So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

"Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Luke 14:26-35)

Commitment to Christ is the first step of following Jesus.  Becoming His disciple is not a matter of spiritual maturity, but spiritual necessity.  Jesus was always careful to warn those who would follow Him of the cost of doing so.  He always turned away those unwilling to pay the price. But we live in a day and in the midst of a "Church" where discipleship is going to a weekly bible study and where the cost is being a "faithful tither."  The vast majority of Christians have no idea what it means to be a disciple.  In fact, most think discipleship is an option, something for the committed.  They are content to rest on the teachings of "grace," "Jesus paid it all," and "eternal security."  Now, it is most certainly true that one is saved by the grace of God alone, apart from any merit or works on our part.  And it is most certainly true that Jesus paid the full price for our redemption and salvation and it is something purchased by God for us and freely given, not something that is simply subsidized by God as the Catholic church teaches.  But cheap grace is not God's grace.  The cheap grace that demands less that Jesus demands has no more power to save that a rosary hung on a rear view mirror.  Cheap grace is like the plastic "jesus junk" promoted in fliers and sold in Christian bookstores; in true disciples of our Lord such things induce a case of Holy Ghost nausea.

It is strange that principles the world takes for granted are considered crazy in the Church.  If a believer in the Church decides to follow Jesus with all his heart, if he decides to live as if his citizenship is in heaven and he is a stranger and sojourner on earth, and if he takes seriously the words of Jesus; he is regarded as a fanatic, a screwball, a nut case.  But if a Christian should decide to leave his father and mother, leave his home, his wife, and children, leave all his possessions behind and even risk his life by joining the military; the "Church" applauds and commends him.  Even if he were to do these things for the sake of a job and money, the "Church" would be accepting or at least silent.    But let someone venture the same sacrifices for Jesus and all hell breaks loose.   Now, the fact that all hell brakes loose is to be expected, but what is so troubling is that the opposition will come mostly from the "brothers and sisters" in the Church.  It is truly an amazing thing that a Christian can be involved in all manner of sin and unfaithfulness and never be rebuked or "counseled" by the Church, but let him get serious about Jesus and he will be warned that he is "going over the edge," that he ought to take care of his family, that the real measure of discipleship is the willingness to wash pots and fix dinner rather than sit at the feet of the Master.

What Jesus teaches about the cost and commitment of discipleship is absolutely sensible.  A disciple was someone who follows a teacher with the goal of becoming like his teacher.  The closest analogy today might be the practice of apprenticeship.  In times past it would have been even a closer approximation.  The apprentice would live with his master, work with his master, assist him and learn from him, until the time came when he had become like his master and able to competently practice the same trade on his own.  If one was not willing to leave family and friends, he could not become a man's apprentice.  If his freedom and possessions were more important than his desire to learn a trade, he could not become an apprentice.  Apprenticeship, from the beginning, requires a formal commitment (usually a contract) on the part of both the master and the apprentice.  Without that commitment there is no apprenticeship.

Christ asks nothing strange of us.  He demands nothing more than the military demands of recruits.  And He demands nothing more than what is absolutely necessary to follow Him.  If we love family, or possessions, or our personal freedom more than we love Him, we will not be able to follow Him far.  Sooner or later, we will be confronted with the choice between Jesus and the things of this world.  If we love anything more than Him, we turn aside to pursue our true love.  And if we value our own skins more than we love Jesus, when the road He takes leads to Calvary and the cross, we will turn aside to save our skins. 

The demands Jesus makes of those who would be His disciples, he makes of all who call themselves by His name.  There is no such thing as a Christian who is not a disciple of Jesus.  If He is not our supreme love, we will turn away, we will not endure to the end.  The Church is filled with the half-hearted and the lukewarm.  But when the day of testing comes they will fall away.  Already multitudes of "Christians" has turned aside to follow after false teachers who tickle their ears with promises of power and prosperity.  Brothers and Sisters, let us count the cost now.  Let us purify our hearts today.  Let us cling to our Lord and Savior.  Let us follow our Master where ever He leads, even if it is to Calvary, for our Lord will lead us beyond the cross and out through the empty tomb.

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

See Baptism