There seems to be a phenomenon in our world today that we want to avoid doing difficult things. And it’s a little humorous to think about the things we consider to be difficult today. We think it’s hard to be on a flight without access to the internet. We think it’s hard to get to the office by 8am. We think it’s really challenging when our favorite restaurant isn’t on Door Dash yet.

Now I don’t think we should ever do something hard just because it’s hard. But there are many hard things that are worth the price. Getting your body into great shape takes sacrifice. Having children is quite costly in every way, but what a joy our kids bring us. It’s hard to start a business. It was challenging in so many ways to start Epic Church. it’s hard to learn how to do something new, and it’s hard to work through difficult relationships. So why do we willingly engage in these things that are difficult? Because we believe they’re absolutely worth it. And the question we’re asking today is:

Is being a disciple of Jesus worth the cost?

Luke 14:25-33 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even their own life – such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciple.”

Whoa. I thought Jesus did everything for us so that we can receive His gift of salvation for FREE. That’s true. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, to bring us to God. AND following Him is going to cost us everything.

Jesus tell us who CANNOT be His disciple. This is important. And maybe you’re thinking, I’m not sure I want to be a disciple; I think I’ll just settle for being a regular Christian.

There is no such thing as a Christian who is not a disciple.

Jesus says you cannot be a disciple unless you hate your family.

Jesus says you cannot be a disciple unless you carry your cross.

Jesus says you cannot be a disciple unless you can go the distance.

Jesus says you cannot be a disciple unless you give up everything you have.

This sounds like a high price to pay if we’re going to become disciples of Jesus. Why in the world would we ever think it’s worth it? Let’s get into these four things Jesus says are necessary to be His disciples.

When Jesus says we can’t be his disciples unless we hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters and even our own life – is he being serious? When we encounter the words of Jesus, we always want to pair those words with what else Jesus has told us. Two weeks ago, we came around the idea that what Jesus wants to be present in our lives more than anything else is LOVE – the opposite of hate. And He told us it would be by our love that everyone would know we are his disciples. But He is being serious. He’s making the point that our strongest allegiances in life cannot be stronger than our allegiance to Him. Think of this word hate as meaning “to love less”.

If you follow Jesus above all others, how do you think this will affect your closest relationships? What kind of husband will you be if Jesus is first? What kind of wife or mom or dad or friend or leader will you be if Jesus has your highest allegiance? And in your relationships, you should want the other person to love and follow Jesus above everything and everyone, including yourself.

“No matter how close people get to each other, they must be closer to God. The irony is, the closer people are to God, the more they will love each other…I think of some of my close friends. The dynamic that holds us together is that we love God more than we do each other.” - R.T. Kendall, The Anointing

Next Jesus says we cannot be his disciple unless we carry our cross. When Jesus talks about the cross, He always has one thing in mind – death. Death to self. Death to our will. Death to our own agenda. Death to building our own little kingdom.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Surrender will be necessary for us to keep following Jesus. We will have to surrender our will, our agenda, and our plans.

“The spiritual life is a life in which we are more and more able to be led, to be guided to hard places, to places we would rather not go. For Jesus it was the cross. For Peter it was the cross. For Paul and all the disciples, it meant a lot of suffering. It is not masochism. It is not self-flagellation. It is not being hard on ourselves. It is being in love. It is being so fully and so totally in love that we go to places we would rather not go.” -Henri Nouwen, Following Jesus

Then Jesus gives an example of building a tower or going to war. He’s making the point that when we start something, we need to know whether or not we’ll have enough to finish it. Here at Epic, we’re always talking about faith being a journey. On any journey, you can only begin where you are. But you can take a next step on that journey. And you wake up the next day and take another step. So Jesus isn’t saying we need to be fully matured in our faith. He’s simply saying that we want to take inventory and see if we’re willing to go the distance with Him.

Over the past few months, our team has worked hard on a Discipleship Pathway that provides clarity for where you are on your faith journey.

You can tap your phone and it will take you to the discipleship pathway on our website, where there’s a quite a bit you can engage with. You’ll see this heading – “Understanding the Journey”. Exploring – the questions you’re asking about faith. Engaging – this is about an orientation of your heart toward Christ. Committing is about going All In.

I have seen so many people start following Jesus who weren’t able or didn’t want to finish the race of following Jesus. Jesus is the Great Finisher and He wants us to follow Him all the way until the end. To do that is going to take resolve and perseverance.

What’s your line for how far you will follow Jesus?

In other words, what in your life is off limits from Jesus? What does He not have access to or leadership over? For you, how far is just a little too far when it comes to following Jesus?

The vision of Epic Church is to see an increasing number of people in San Francisco orient their ENTIRE LIVES around Jesus.

And finally, Jesus says that we cannot be his disciple if we do not give up everything we have. EVERYTHING? Some people have had to literally give up everything, like the rich young man. Some people had to give up their professions to follow Jesus, like those original disciples. But everyone who has ever followed Jesus has had to leave other things behind.

What is Jesus asking you to leave in order to follow Him?

It could be your job or the way you do your job. If you cannot do your job and be a disciple of Jesus, you should not stay in your job.

Jesus might be asking you to leave a life of greed and self-indulgence.

Jesus might be asking you to leave the mindset that holds you back from the life He has in store for you.

Is there anything you would refuse to leave in order to follow Jesus?

There’s a cost to following Jesus.

There’s a cost to not following Jesus.

Which price do you want to pay?

When you lose your life, you find your truest life.

When you die to yourself, the life of God flows into you.

When you give up what you thought was everything, you actually gain everything.

“Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.” - A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Do you want your life in your hands or do you think it will go better in His hands?

Do you really want to gain the whole world but lose your soul?

Do you want to build your own little kingdom that will be torn down or live for His kingdom that will never end and never be shaken?

Say yes to Jesus. Surrender. Leave whatever you have to. Pay whatever you have to. It will be worth it because Jesus is worth it.

“Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end; submit with every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from other dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.” - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Give your highest allegiance to Jesus.

Die to yourself that you may gain the life of Christ.

Determine that you will go ANYWHERE Jesus wants to take you.

Give up whatever you have to so that you never give up Jesus.

Jesus told us who cannot be a disciple. As you think about His words, I have a question for you:

Can you be a disciple of Jesus?

Not just do you want to, but can you? You can be if…