Counting the Cost

The 2022 World Aquatics Championships were held recently in Budapest. Along with other masters of aquatic sports, the world’s best swimmers gathered to compete. Sometimes a race is filled with amazing and talented swimmers, but still one stands out. For example, in the 2016 Olympics, Katie Ledecky broke the world record and won gold in the 800 freestyle event. The mind-blowing part is she won by 22 seconds, which is a huge margin in the swimming world. She was in a pool full of Olympians, in the finals no less, and won by that tremendous margin. If you have seen the clip, you know how separated she was from the rest of the women in the pool. 

This is how Jesus should be in our lives—well in advance of the pack. The others are important and valuable, they just are not in the same category. Jesus must be finishing way out in front of the others. This can be difficult even when things are going well. What about when life gets difficult or complicated or hard?

“Now large crowds were accompanying Jesus, and turning to them he said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. . . . 

“Salt is good, but if salt loses its flavor, how can its flavor be restored? It is of no value for the soil or for the manure pile; it is to be thrown out. The one who has ears to hear had better listen!””

Luke 14:25-27, 34-35 NET

At this point, large crowds were following Jesus. In these verses he clarifies for the crowds what following must look like and forces the issue of advance consideration of what following requires and entails. “Counting the cost” is a reality check. Following someone who is raising the dead, feeding crowds and healing the sick would appear to be the path to fame and success and material gain. Right? 

Jesus is setting that straight for the crowds and for us: following is costly.

The primary relationship for a follower of Jesus is her relationship with Jesus, so much so that all other relationships cannot compare, neither in what they offer nor in the level of devotion applied. Our commitment to Jesus must be so powerful that all other devotion appears as hate, rather than love. He must be first and there can be no close seconds. 

Following Jesus requires us to bear a heavy load. Carrying a cross is heavy and for Jesus it ended in humiliation and death. Jesus is painting a very clear picture here of what following him will look like. Why does he do this? He wanted the crowds witnessing the miracles to think carefully about what signing up with him actually looks like. He wants them to consider in advance what this will cost them and he is very clear that it costs everything. Jesus is all about all or nothing. And he is asking them, are you prepared for all or nothing? Because he knows that in the middle of the hard, we will wonder about the cost involved. And in the middle of pain and loss and emotional upset is not the time to decide if it’s worth it. Those kinds of decisions must be made in advance. Otherwise, we risk quitting when we should press on, throwing in the towel when we should persevere, or despairing when we should cling to hope. 

We need to know what to expect so we are equipped to handle it. And handle it well, as representatives of Jesus. 

Does following Jesus have benefits? Yes. Does it make us better at life? Yes. Does it make life easier? No. Does it insulate us from catastrophe, or pain, or suffering? No. We need to know this and to prepare accordingly. We also need to know that following Jesus means that even in the catastrophes of life, we can cling to the hope we have in Jesus. We have hope while carrying our crosses because Jesus carried his.