I understand that many of us are greatly influenced by this consumer approach to Christianity that makes Jesus the almighty servant, whose job is to run around fulfilling all our worldly dreams and selfish desires. That is not biblical Christianity at all, no matter how popular it is around us. The true Gospel, beloved, is costly; it requires and demands something of value on our part. Before I go far with this, let me be clear that salvation in Christ is completely free. You can’t and you don’t pay anything to be forgiven. No amount of “seed money”, good works, or anything else can wash your sins. You just have to “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” It’s Him who fully purchased our redemption at great cost to Himself.
Nevertheless, once you take that step of repentance, it means you have decided that your life is no longer yours, but His to please and to serve. That is where the cost factor applies. Consider the fact that if ever you want to be committed to anything under the sun, you have no choice but to give up other things to accommodate that commitment. In the same way, “giving your life to Jesus” also means giving up some other things to accommodate that Jesus. This is what our Lord reminded the disciples when He said “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? (Luk 14:28) ”
Your Time
Time is the most precious thing that the Lord has given us. And we must use it as wisely as we can, because one of these days, our time on earth will be over. The best way to do that of course, is to count down the clock while in service of the Lord. This is another cost that you must calculate. Jesus, your Master wants your time; following Him does cost some hours. Question; how has the Lord cost your time? How much more time are you willing to sacrifice for Him?
Your Money
This is not the moment to discuss the financial abuses and the money-hungry false prophets that believers in Africa have had to endure. Rather, I want to approach this subject of money and the church from a positive angle. That is, biblically speaking, for the Gospel to go out, it needs to be financed by us hard-working citizens. This is what all true Christians must consider and be willing to do. That is, we must not be afraid to lose a lot of cash for the cause of Christ. Only if we really want to faithfully serve our Master. I could sit here and recount how much money I have spent towards Gospel work all these years, yet I have no regrets because I counted that cost before I chose this path, to begin with.
Your Body
It is easy for all of us to say, Amen to Romans 12:1, yet it is another story to actually obey what it says and really give our bodies as living sacrifices to our God. Regardless of whether we take it seriously or not, it is still true. The good Master calls you to serve not only with your lips but also with your hands and feet. This means the redeemed are expected to work hard, to walk distances, to get hands dirty and even to risk their lives all for the sake of His Name. Remember that verse that nobody likes, which says, “It has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe but also to suffer for His Name” (Phil 1:29)? Therefore, those guys who take comfort in being called children of God yet with zero willingness to exhaust their bodies for the Savior are actually not ready to live for Him, they are still living for themselves at the expense of His holy Name.
Your pleasures
I don’t think I need to remind anyone that salvation in Christ means goodbye to all the pleasures of sin. This is non-negotiable. However, there are still other pleasures and habits which may not be sinful per se, but do distract our devotion to the Lord and slow down our growth in Him. One good example is television, which is not sinful at all, yet the more hours you waste watching daily soapies, news and talk shows, the less attention, thought and time, will you give to your spiritual disciplines. The same thing can be said about social media. Hence all of us must zealously guard our Christian lives, and discipline ourselves to refuse and limit those pleasurable habits so as to accommodate our commitment to the good Lord.
The following words were spoken by my favorite Bible teacher, Steve Lawson, in one of his sermons. He says “You need to weigh in on the cost factor, and count the cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. It will cost you popularity. It will cost you promotion perhaps, at times. It will cost you an easy life, you will have to discipline yourself, you will have to buffet your body and you will have to say no to temptation. You will have to say no to this world, you will have to break from the crowd and be willing to stand alone for Christ. You will have to be willing to dance from a different drummer. Even if no one follows after Jesus, you will be willing to stand if you are the only person in the world for Jesus Christ. You have to be willing to suffer persecution for Jesus Christ. And let me you, it will come. It might even cost your life.”
The only thing I can add to that is, once you truly calculate the cost of discipleship, you won’t be surprised when tribulation, persecution and temptations attack, instead, those are the things that will strengthen your faith and tighten your grip on Him.
Conclusion
The reason why we have these jellyfish, sissy Christians that never want to do anything for the Lord is that a great mass of these people have never been given the true Gospel. Hence they have no idea that being a follower of Christ is not a means for life enhancement, but a call to self-denial; to take up our crosses and to follow Him (Mat 16:24). That is the cost that we must all calculate beforehand. I thank you.
Sinothi Ncube
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