Counting the Cost

There are three types of things that I don’t think Christians should be, and they all start with “C” for the sake of making it easier to remember.

Christians should not be:

1. Comfortable
2. Complacent
3. Cost-Conscious

I’ve written about not being comfortable or complacent before but this new “cost-conscious” aspect just popped up yesterday while I was discussing social justice with my friend H. She had mentioned a story about a friend of hers who said that he refuses to go on a missions trip to a third world country because he knows he will be changed and be forced to give up his (lavish) lifestyle in order to meet the needs of the poor.

Talk about being cost-conscious!

Today at church we watched a video sermon from The Meeting House with Pastor Bruxy Cavey and he also mentioned this cost-consciousness that Christians should not have.

Jesus had already “laid the chips on the table” and said this:

²⁶“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26-27)

We know what the cost of following Jesus is – it’s our lives. The decision to follow Jesus does not mean that easy roads and blue skies are ahead of us – our life can be demanded of us, whether it is through trials and hardships or persecution and martyrdom.

Yet so many Christians, when confronted with the issues of changing their lifestyles from being one of comfortability to cruciformity (living your life in light of the cross), they refuse to take the chance to let God truly take them on a wild ride in life and start counting what choosing a cruciform life could cost them.

We should not be in a position where we are counting the costs to us – we shouldn’t really even be living lavishly comfortable lives. The $300 pair of jeans you just bought could’ve fed, clothed and sent a child to school for a whole year; the $60 sushi dinner could’ve bought a goat for a rural village in Africa or Asia. I’m not saying that you can’t treat yourself to things now and then, but if the choice is between giving up your life to God and helping others and living an uncomfortable life versus living for yourself, many Christians will opt not to take the costlier route.

What it comes down to is this: you’ve already given up your life to this God who is amazingly crazy and He is offering you a ticket on the greatest adventure of your life; yet all He’s asking is for you to stop counting the costs that you might incur along the way and just start on this journey with Him!