Counting the Cost of Not Being a Disciple


"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?" (Luke 14:28)

"The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing." (Proverbs 10:28)

Is Christianity so hard that it is left (mostly) untried, as GK Chesterton (who wrote the Father Brown detective series a century ago) said?

It does seem hard, because it is inconvenient to not fit in with others, and to choose restraint over indulgence, and prayer over taking control, etc.

That's why even Jesus himself likened the choice to follow him to a property developer who has to budget carefully before building, what with contractors always coming in over what they quote to to you and all!

I wasn't a very good student at uni, because my aim wasn't to learn, but to pass, so I studied the minimum necessary to achieve my goal. I have remembered a few things, though.

One of those is the idea of "opportunity costs" in economics, which basically is the cost of "not doing" something. 

If it's costly to be a disciple, how costly is it to not be a follower of Jesus Christ? After all, life is gonna hit you anyway, problems, heartaches and all. On your worst days, would you rather have God as your friend or not?

And on your best days, would you rather share them with God, or not? Even good times leave us feeling like something is missing. Have you stopped to consider that God is the giver of every good moment, and to know that you're sharing them with him is like sharing your best days with those closest to you, rather than being blessed, but finding that you're alone?

Though we begin to follow Christ with difficulty, we soon find out that it's a lot better, and even easier, than trying to cope without him. It turns out that he is a burden lifter.

So enjoy your walk in this life, with God.

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