DISCIPLESHIP BASICS 101: TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND KNOW THE COST

As we have established in our last blog post on Wisdom Wednesday “Being a disciple of Christ means to: REPRESENT THE INVISIBLE GOD” that in order to be a disciple of Christ you must understand first and foremost to be a student of God, and allow Him to teach and train you to become an active disciple of Christ, who lives their life as a model and representation of Jesus.

However, today we are expanding on this, I am here to practically give you steps to be a disciple of Christ and explain to you what this entails, due to the costs which it takes to be one.

If you want to learn how, I got you, keep on reading.

What does “take up your cross” mean?

You may have heard of this saying at church, from other fellow Christians or most importantly in your bible. In Luke 9:23, Jesus said to the disciples “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” 

To take up your cross does not mean to carry your burdens and say “that’s my cross I have to carry” after you’ve realised, you’re in a strained relationship. No.

That is actually self-pitying pride.

You actually will need to get out of that relationship.

To take up your cross is to deny or as others may call it, to die to yourself daily.

What did Jesus do when He carried the cross up to Golgotha where He was going to be crucified? He died on that very cross He carried.

And that is the same for us. To be a disciple of Christ you have to learn to die to your own desires, ideas, plans and will all in exchange for God’s desires, ideas, plans and will for your life – which are all good and perfect for us (James 1:17). 

He knows you better than you know yourself. Therefore, He knows exactly what you need over what you want.

With having that in mind, let me ask you this question – Are you willing to follow Jesus no matter the costs?

Take a hard think.

Let’s be all real here, many of us gave our lives to Christ thinking that this new Christian life would be all sunshine and rainbows. And don’t get me wrong there is so much glory in this Christ walk which overshadows the sufferings that we will go through (Romans 8:18). 

But that’s the thing, there will be suffering, test, trials and tribulations that we will face, and we cannot ignore that.

And that leads me onto the 3 practical steps which will show that you are a disciple of Jesus by the cost which it takes to be one.

I will be using the scripture Luke 9:57-62 as an example to reveal to us 3 men who were willing to follow Jesus, but Jesus revealed to them what it took to be a disciple of His.

“⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” ⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

What are the costs of being a disciple of Christ?

1. STRUGGLE (v.57-58)
   • The first man was a scribe and thought that following Jesus meant to live a life full of no struggle and just luxury.
   • But Jesus’ response to the man was to show that Jesus’ lifestyle, not that He was poor and had no place to live, but that He was constantly on the move.
   • And that lifestyle may not be appealing to him, for someone who was a scribe meant that he was wealthy, and therefore who may have a settled home, family, occupation – a life that was luxurious and steady.
   • Now, it does not mean that if you are wealthy you cannot follow Jesus, but Jesus is showing us here before you boast that you want to follow Him, count your costs.
   • To follow Jesus means you will have to be willing to forsake things, people or a certain lifestyle and go through seasons of struggle.
   • Like Jesus tells us in John 16:33 that we will have trouble in this world, but we should be brave and courageous because He has given us victory. 
   • It is easy to follow Jesus when things are going smooth. But our faith will be tested when tribulations come. 
   • And that’s when you will know if you are fully committed in your relationship with God, or if you’re just half-hearted when things only go your way.
   • The test produces perseverance and we must allow perseverance to finish its work so that we are spiritually mature and complete in Him (equipped to the work of God) (James 1:2-4).
   • Just like how Jesus persevered on the cross and said “It is finished” (John 19:28-30).
2. SACRIFICE and LOSS (v.59-60)
   • Sometimes like this second man, we give Jesus an excuse to not follow Him, and put others or other things before Him.
   • We sometimes think that our duty to our relations (family and friends) will excuse us from our duty to Christ.
   • But what is the point to gain the world but to lose your soul (Mark 8:36). 
   • The world (and others) will not give you what God can give you (John 14:27).
   • God needs you to proclaim the Gospel and seek Him first and that may come at a cost where you may lose friends and sacrifice some things like your time.
   • But God promises us when we seek Him first everything else will be added onto you (Matthew 6:33).
   • And that He sees the work, the loss and the sacrifices you are doing in His name, and your reward will come (Ephesians 6:7-8).
   • Jesus sacrificed His life for us to give us victory over our struggles and gave us eternal life in heaven and so much more.
3. DEATH (v.61-62)
   • The third man deemed following Jesus as a sad thing, almost as though he was going to die and therefore, had to say his farewells to his family because he was never going to see them again.
   • But he got the perception of following Jesus wrong. 
   • The man was mistaken that being a disciple of Jesus means that because you have to say farewell to your past or farewell to the people who may not be good for you, or having to die to your sins as a sad and bad thing, but it is not.
   • Jesus made this analogy to express that when you follow Him, you have to leave worldly things and people who are bad company, that are not pushing you towards Christ, behind and to not look back.
   • This requires having to die to your flesh and to your desires daily and allow the Holy Spirit to resurrect inside of you daily.
   • Because to follow Jesus you can’t be lukewarm (there is only heaven and hell, there is only faith and sin, there is only good and evil – there is no in between or middle) and be both of the world and of God.
   • We live in this world, but we are not of this world – so we can’t follow the patterns of this world but instead we follow the path of Jesus (John 17:14-16).
   • God wants ALL of your heart. Although you are dying to your flesh, your old life, your sins, desires, plans etc., you are becoming alive in Jesus Christ; alive in new desires, new plans, new life, all in Jesus.
   • But if you are giving God only half of your heart, or ¾, or a little bit; you have a divided heart. You are going to be tugged in both directions, the world and God, sin and faith, evil and good, your flesh and the Holy Spirit.
   • To be a disciple of Christ costs you to die to your wants but allow Jesus to give you what you need.

Now I don’t know about you but that was a lot. So, just take it all in and refresh yourself of all of this. Pray to God that He helps you live a life committed to Him, no matter the costs.

I hope this blog post will help equip you to be the disciple of Christ, God called you to be.

Stay Blessed,

Divine L.