Articles
Counting the Cost (Luke 14:27-33)
“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 consider 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 for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”
When you consider your own conversion, do you trust you were sincere? Perhaps you have had inquiries regarding your initial understanding of the amount of personal change required in making this decision. I know I have and I made that decision after two decades of life. This is normal!
Although unlisted in the traditional steps of salvation, counting the cost is imperative. When we look back at our own personal transformations we may consider that we didn’t fully understand that prerequisite of discipleship. In truth, this process is partly subjective, partly objective. It is objectively understood that we must change for the better and pattern our lives after Christ’s. Nevertheless, it plays out differently in each life because we come to a knowledge of Jesus at different paces. Some are like a Ferrari and some are like a tortoise. None of these are bad (as long as each is committed), but each has their journey. Regardless of our pace, the end goal is the same – be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:1f) and be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48).
But counting the cost is not restricted to the pre-Christian stage; it is necessary in every stage of Christian development. If in our fetal and prepubescent days as Christians we neglected to fully appreciate the transformation necessary, we missed out. If we still have trouble with this concept, we do ourselves a great disservice. We need to appreciate our own need for transformation so we can properly esteem the demands we ask others to partake in when we present the gospel. Christianity is and always has been a religion of self-denying metamorphosis, for us and for others. So remember to count the cost…
