Day 0
The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the 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’? 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
34 “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Adapting the Parable (According to Klyne Snodgrass)
"These parables differ greatly from the easy believism that marks so much of American Christianity. Churches urge everyone to believe, to accept Jesus, but make no demands on people’s lives; the more adherents the better, even if the message is curtailed for “marketing” purposes. Such shallow ideas about conversion create enormous problems for individuals, churches, and societies. We need to do a much better job helping people understand what Christianity really is about. The concern is not going to heaven, as important as heaven is, but living now in accordance with Jesus’ own life.
Counting the cost of discipleship is difficult since non of us on coming to faith has or can have any idea of the future or what sacrifices commitment to Christ will involve. To say “Jesus is Lord,” though, does not mean “Jesus is Lord unless….” Faith in Christ by necessity means discipleship with all its consequences. We are given over to another who shapes our lives. The parables are about more than considering the cost of discipleship. Presupposed and more significant is the fact that discipleship requires intent, choice, determination, and effort. It is not some light-hearted affair, and it does not just happen. The fear we have of focus on human effort must be jettisoned, for no discipleship occurs without human effort or merely because of human effort. Discipleship is not about humans straining on their own; it is the necessary result and consequence of faith in and following after Jesus (Luke 14:26-27). Relation to Christ activates and empowers the whole life, but if humans do not choose to act and actually act, nothing happens."