COUNTING THE COST
Here is a true story of an
Ethiopian Jew Seeking the Right Messiah. Obediah hated Christians for the way
they treated his family. In their Ethiopian Jewish community, they were utterly
rejected by their Orthodox Christian neighbors. The neighbors called them Falasha,
which means foreigners or strangers. Because they were Jewish, besides
verbal abuse, they were mistreated, and his older brother was beaten several
times. They wanted to immigrate to Israel.
In 1991, the Israeli government flew
in their family and more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews on a crowded military
transport family. Obediah recalled, "We just celebrated all night. It was
a dream come true." Twelve-year-old Obediah was sent to a yeshiva, a
traditional Jewish school, to study religious texts. He was discriminated
against this time, and it was based on his skin color.
Disillusioned, Obediah was transferred
to another school and completed three years of military service. As the life he
had dreamed of failed to materialize, he turned away from God. "something
inside me was empty," he said. "I became alcohol addicted, and I lost
my way at that time." The turning point came when he saw an advertisement
that asked, "Why don't you read Isaiah 53 in the synagogue?" Obediah
had wondered as well.
Christians believe that Isaiah 53,
which describes the "suffering servant," points directly to Christ as
the Messiah. But Obediah said, "Jews call it the "forbidden chapter,
and entirely skip over it. That quest led Obediah to find the right Messiah.
After completing Bible college, he started a church to help Ethiopian Jews to
learn about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. While some were open to his message,
Ultra-Orthodox Ethiopian Jews threatened to kill Obediah. The civil unrest and
violence occurring in and around Israel have caused widespread fear and
hopelessness in Obediah's community. However, it has also provided
opportunities to share the Gospel.[1]
Despite the opposition and threats to his
life, Obediah continued to preach the Gospel. Not only Obediah but many around
the world are experiencing persecution. "Since 2000, 62,000 Christians in
Nigeria have been murdered by Islamist jihadist groups including Boko Haram,
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani militias."[2] In May this year, three
missionaries, Davy and Natalie Lloyd and Jude Montis, who worked for Missions
in Haiti, were killed in Port-au-Prince. Were the three missionaries in Haiti
lacking faith? Or those Christians in Nigeria were they killed due to their sin?
How can we make sense of these killings?
Paul writes to Timothy that
persecution is a normal part of Christian life. II Timothy 3:12, "In fact,
everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."
The question
of counting the Cost of Discipleship is one that Jesus Christ repeatedly
addressed in his ministry. In Luke 14:25-34 Jesus discusses how to Count the
Cost of Christian Discipleship.
I.
Counting the cost begins by making Jesus the number one priority in our lives.
Luke describes various events on
Jesus' journey to Jerusalem in chapters 9:51-19:44. Along the way, Jesus
prepared his disciples for his departure. In Luke 14:25-34, he shifted his
focus from his disciples to the crowds. We must pay attention to this
significant shift. Some think that Christ's hard teachings are reserved for
pastors and other committed disciples. The way Jesus addressed the crowds
indicates that they are meant for anyone who wants to follow Him.
Vs. 25-27, "If anyone comes to
me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters,
yes, even their own life, such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does
not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."
Is Jesus advocating in these verses
that we all must hate everyone, including our own lives? Hating our family
members sounds like a very hard declaration from Jesus, so how do we understand
these verses?
Unlike our English words for "love"
and "hate," in Hebrew and Greek, these words are often used not to
refer to an emotion but to a commitment, to speak of a person to whom one was
more or less loyal. In other contexts, these words can mean choose or not to choose,
as in the famous statement in Malachi 1:2-3, "Yet I have loved Jacob, but
Esau I have hated."[3]
We can sigh in relief; we don't have
to take the English word "hate" literally and begin to hate
everybody, including our lives, to become Jesus' disciples. The implied message
Jesus wanted us to know is that we love and choose him over others. Counting
the cost begins by making Jesus the number one priority in our lives. Example:
Saying no to my mother.
Jesus said, in Vs. 27, "And whoever does not carry
their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Another aspect of
counting the cost involves carrying their crosses and following Jesus. For
modern Christians, wearing a cross becomes a fashion symbol. We trivialize
cross-carrying by saying our mothers-in-law are the crosses we have to bear.
When a person carried a cross in
Jesus' day, no one thought of it as a persistent annoyance or symbolic burden.
The cross meant one thing only: death by crucifixion. The Romans forced
convicted criminals to carry their own crosses to the place of crucifixion. Bearing
a cross meant one was about to die and that one would face ridicule and
disgrace along the way.
Most Christians in any era of church
history have not been called to literal martyrdom. But if it ever comes to
that, we must be ready to accept martyrdom for the sake of the Gospel. Hebrews
Chapter 11 gives us a list of people who faced growing persecution and possible
martyrdom as a key test of their genuine faith in God. I wonder how many
American Christians would pass the test when real persecution is unleashed upon
us. Verses 28-32 Jesus shared two short parables, one of which is of a tower
builder and another of a king going to war.
II.
The Parable of a Tower Builder (Vs28-30)
Jesus shared wisdom through this
illustration of the importance of calculating the cost before embarking on a
building project, so as not to leave the building unfinished and subject to
public ridicule. How does counting the cost beforehand apply to Christian
Discipleship?
Is Jesus saying that unless we know
everything that God will ever ask of us beforehand and agree to it, only then
will we become his faithful disciples? No! We can not know all the troubles we
might face in advance regarding following Jesus. However, we must realize the
amount that commitment could cost. We are willing to surrender everything to
Jesus, including our very lives. If we are not, then we are not making Jesus
the Lord of all our lives.
III.
The Parable of a King Going To War ( Vs. 1:32)
Again, the critical point in this
parable is to count the cost. In the parable of the tower builder, the lack of
completion of the building could lead to public humiliation. In the parable of
a king going to war, a bad judgment can lead to total loss of lives. In verse
32, where the king sent a delegation to ask for peace terms, how do we
understand? It may sound like negotiation for modern listeners, but in Jesus'
days, these were expressions of unconditional surrender."[4]
What is the overarching principle in
these two parables regarding counting the cost? Vs. 33. In the same way, those
of you who do not give up
everything you have can not be my
disciple."
Jesus is not saying to us, as He
told the Rich young ruler, to sell everything and give it to the poor and
follow Him. (Matthew 19:16-22). However, He is calling us to surrender our
lives unconditionally. We will say to Jesus, Lord, I will follow you with all
my heart, soul, and strength. No matter what happens, I will fix my eyes on you
and follow you throughout my life. Hebrews 12:2-3.
[1]
The Voice of the Martyrs August 2024 Vol.58 No.8 Pages 8-11
[2] https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/nigeria-s-silent-slaughter-62-000-christians-murdered-since-2000#:~:text=Since%202000%2C%2062%2C000%20Christians%20in,ISWAP)%2C%20and%20Fulani%20militias.
[3]
Carig L. Blomberg, “Preaching the Parables.” Page: 183
[4] Carig
L. Blomberg, “Preaching the Parables.” Page: 184
