The Cost of Discipleship

"Go into all the nations and make disciples . . . "

I just finished reading an article about an old historic naval lightship from Nantucket that is being sold for $1.00 - but no one is interested because it will cost $150,000 to restore. The high cost of restoration is not worth the low cost of redemption. It got me thinking about the "Cost of Discipleship" and not the way we normally think of it. I mean the cost to the person doing the discipling. It's a long, hard, dirty road to restoration.

I think that many people are interested in 'doing church' for the aspects of it that are exciting and immediate. Salvations are obviously awesome experiences to witness and new ministries that take off are also thrilling to be involved in. However, I really believe that many also shy away from the true aspect of being a follower of Christ which involves the hard work of discipling. Who wouldn't want to be a pastor that only focused on teaching and writing? That would be a blast! But the road to restoration in a new believer is very hard and costly. It takes hours of listening, phone calls at 'inconvenient' times and dealing with the frustrations of their failures just when you think they've turned a corner.

This is one of the reasons I sometimes recoil at the concept of the super churches that have a feel of a weekly convention. Come in, sing, listen, have some coffee, and leave - and try not to get the place dirty while you're here because man this place shines!

If you really want to be in the ministry, you have to be the ministry and that may simply be one or two people that you're working with for a period of time - not thousands. It may be a small Bible study that meets once or twice a week. It means grabbing onto a dirty convert and holding them and getting dirty with them and staying with them through the long haul. Converts do not come clean - the prodigal son was covered in pig poop yet the father grabbed him and held him tight.

I'm impressed with some of the young adults I've been working with because they seem to understand this concept. They're going in to help with feeding some of the homeless, but they want it more than just packing a bag and handing it to them. They want to get to know them and actually spend some time with them. This is the 'restoration' process and it's costly. It's why many won't spend the $1.oo for redemption, because they don't want to deal with this restoration cost.

Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples, not simply converts - and I think this is where the church is really dropping the ball. It requires laying down your life for your brother - and Jesus says that there is no greater love than that. We may claim that we would die for them - but I believe that 'laying down your life' for them means more than that. It means giving up your time and your energy and paying the cost of discipleship.

Think of how Christ is willing to do that with us. When He said He was laying down His life for us, I believe that He meant more than just His death - I believe that He meant for the rest of our lives He would be dealing with our failures, our doubts, our fears, our guilt, our defeats - yet He would continually be pulling us back and washing us off and holding us tight. It was more than the moment of crucifixion and redemption - He was also willing to lay down His life FOREVER and suffer the high cost of the restoration of our lives. Because face it - we don't come clean.