What I’m Thinking: Cost of Discipleship

Jesus told his followers that his yoke was easy, and his burden was light – but not in Luke 14. In Luke 14, he told them to count the cost before they made the commitment.

Here’s a transcript:

Jesus is quoted as saying, “Come to me, you who are weary or heavy laden, and I will give you rest. My yoke is easy; my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Well, he did not say that in the fourteenth chapter of Luke (Luke 14:25-33). In Luke 14, Jesus said pretty much the exact opposite.

If you want to be my disciple, you must be prepared to leave family and home behind. He compared being his disciple to a king planning to build some large tower and deciding whether or not he can meet the cost. He compared it to a king deciding whether or not he could go to war and face a conflict. If you want to be my disciple, he said, you must prepared to leave all your possessions behind.

Count the cost of discipleship, he said, before you choose to follow me.

There are days that I find Jesus’ burden to be light, that I find the yoke to be an easy one. But there are other days that I am very aware of the cost of discipleship and I find myself asking, “Am I willing to pay the price?”

Sometimes I say yes. Sometimes I say no – and I try to do better the next day.

Jesus told us to be prepared to give up our possessions. I think that’s actually too small a way to think about it. There are things that are precious to us. Some of them are hard and fast; some of them are ideas and concepts; some of them are privileges and power. It’s these that may be a part of who we are and who we were made to be but they also might be something that separates us not just from Jesus but also from our deepest souls, from our best selves.

And giving them up can feel like a heavy, heavy cost.

Still, I do think that that is a worthwhile price to pay, a worthwhile cost to bear for that sense of peace and rest, for that relief of a burden we may not even have been aware we bore, and to find an easier yoke and a lighter burden: refreshed souls.

That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below; I’d love to hear from you.