The Cost of Discipleship
Have we been taught to share the whole Gospel or just the comfortable parts? Generally, I believe that Christians are able to share the following points:
1. All people are spiritually dead because of their sins and in need of right standing with God.
2. God will breathe new life into every sinner who believes in Him and confesses Jesus Christ as Lord.
3. As a result, a relationship is formed through Jesus' blood and the believer undergoes a process known as sanctification.
4. At the end of the believer's physical life comes glorification-eternal life in heaven with God the Father.
Is this a complete Gospel presentation? I believe that it is not. What about Luke 14: 25-33? In this passage, the crowds are following Jesus. My fiancé preached on this passage a few Sundays ago and as he pointed out, Jesus isn't interested in crowds. He is interested in those who count the cost of being His disciple. Jesus stops the crowd and in a sense says "You are following me now, but do you know where I am going? I am headed to the cross. Count the cost now because once we get to the cross, only those who are true disciples will stay with me."
Counting the cost, huh? When people hear the Gospel message and comprehend it (cognition), do they just pray the prayer and move on? I believe that we should encourage those considering Christianity to count the cost. Being a follower of Christ could cost your comforts. It could cost your family. In fact, it could cost your very life. Is it worth it? Is Jesus worth it? This is the part that seems to be missing from most Gospel presentations. We are so afraid to offend people. We don't want to tell them that sin in their lives must begin to be removed (sanctification). We don’t want to tell them to leave their lives of lustful thinking. We don't want to warn them of their love for the materials things of this world.
Dr. Plummer tells the story of a man who is presenting the gospel door-to-door with a tract. He knocks on a door and a lady answers. He asks if he can share this good news with her. She says yes and begins to listen. He reads each page of the tract. When he comes to the last page, he says "ma'am, I can't read this part. Will you read it out loud?" She says "sure, no problem." She begins to read "the prayer." "Father, forgive me, for I have sinned. I confess that Jesus is Lord. Please come live in my heart...." When she finishes, the man jumps up and down shouting "Yes!! We've got one more!! This lady has just accepted Christ!"
This is NOT the right way to share the gospel! Instead, he should let her know up front that being a follower of Christ will require counting the cost many times.
Counting the cost is not just for those checking Christianity out. It needs to happen often in the lives of believers. Daily sacrificing and dying to your flesh-this is counting the cost. We should encourage each other to daily count the cost of being a disciple of Christ.
posted by Nikki Leigh Daniel @ 10/18/2005 08:25:00 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
The sad thing is that Plummer's illustrative story is not so far off from the truth. Surely we are doing a great (and eternal) disservice by not clearly presenting the gospel in it's entirety from the very beginning.
"Counting the cost" of living under God's Lord-ship on a daily basis is, like you said, not just for someone who is considering Christianity. It is the constant, daily reality that we are no longer living for ourselves...and that the cost often requires letting go of things, people, ideas, expectations, comforts, that have such a strong hold on our source of happiness and contentment. I cannot help but think of Apostle Paul...
Boy, what a great evangelism tactic! If only I had known that all I had to do was trick folks into reading the sinner's prayer...
That reminds me of a billboard that was up by the interstate between Sioux City, IA and Sioux Falls, SD. It had one of those glowy, sainty looking pictures of Jesus (white, natch) and said, "Jesus, I trust in you." It was sponsored by Sacred Heart church or something. I remember wondering the motivation for putting that up. Like a driver was going to be speeding by late at night reading billboards out loud to try and stay awake, and he'd come across that one and accidentally get saved? And he's thinking, "Shoot, I guess I have to start going to church now..."
But seriously, Nikki, thanks for the reminder.
Nikki...it reminds me of the post I did by Oswald Chambers..that we don't really share that Christ did not just die for individual sins but for our sin nature. Our whole nature is in need of redemption. When we really stop and think about the exchange of the old man for the new man, it doesn't leave us the option of "Repeat this prayer and you are saved." No, the very nature of who we are changes and that can not be done by deception or sheer will..only by the grace of God.
Interesting. I would disagree that the church does NOT teach the sanctification part of the gospel. I think the church, historically and presently, has been very good about saying that Christians, if they are true followers of Christ, should be changing (ie. doing this, not doing that). Where I think we have been weak and ineffective in communicating the whole truth of the gospel is in teaching our identity in Christ as new creatures. It's not enough for us to say, "If you are truly a follower of Christ, you must stop lusting, lying, etc." I think people get that part. And they get that they will go to heaven when they die. What we, as the church, have neglected to focus on and teach is the fact that Christ gives us new life NOW! Because of THAT, we are EMPOWERED and have the option to turn our backs on sin and let go of the things we so dearly love that keep us from Christ. Sanctification is more than just me making an effort to live out the gospel. It is me becoming more and more who I truly AM---a righteous saint in the eyes of God through the blood of Christ.
You know what I mean?
Right on! In the past, I have basically tried to talk a newborn believers out of it. This way, I can make a better determination of whether or not they are genuine. I lay out the costs. I want them to understand that it is daily denial. I am so sick of the fluffy duffy "repentance" that is preached in the majority of our churches today. We have it so easy here. Take Sudan, for example. When you associate yourself with Christ, you do so knowing that you could be burned alive the next day...You can rest assured that they have counted the costs of discipleship...
but to an extent, aren't babies first fed with milk before they move on to solid food? are you not a child, playing around with childish, simple things, before you become an adult, and put them away?
i say let them enjoy the beauty of what just happened, that their sins are now forgiven and they have eternal life, before you start expecting them to be "adults" who can deal with "solid food".
Brilliant! Christianity sometimes comes off as formulaic because of these misrepresentations. Our goals should be focused on the fact that we need Jesus every day, and that what we do when we accept Him into our lives (continually, even) is to enter into a relationship with God.
Sin is very real, and it is imperative that we elaborate upon this. Constantly. The costs to be weighed seem much lighter, though, when new believers know they have fellow members of Christ's body right along side them (Also true for "old" believers, haha). Hang out, pray for, and pray with these new believers. If we stick together, we can do it. Accountability.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Oh and the "Jesus I trust in you." sign: I know it's not an entire Gospel presentation, but for a road sign, it is a quick way to plant seeds, even if somewhat minute. I applaud every time I see one or one like it on Dixie Highway (Alot of them are anti- abortion signs that say: "Even before you were formed in the womb, I knew you." Plus, it takes up signs so that there aren't any Thoroughbred Lounge 1, 2, 3, or 72 signs peddling smut.
I know I ramble-- I hope I'm coherent. Sometimes I have a hard time expressing things when I'm tired. Sorry for the long post.
God Bless,
Danny
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