Discipleship Life

Christians often talk about the cost of discipleship. This text in the Gospel of Luke is sometimes referred to as “The Cost of Discipleship”.¹ We can have a variety of ideas about what discipleship entails, some of which are more helpful than others. Jesus is clear, discipleship isn’t easy and it isn’t without challenges. Discipleship is not what happens to us after we die. Discipleship is what we do while we are alive.

Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first, and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. Luke 14:25-33 NRSVue

Just before this week’s lectionary passage, you will remember, Jesus has been explaining to some Pharisees and their Sabbath dinner guests how life in the Kingdom of God will undo and replace the cultural assumptions of hierarchy, honor, shame, privilege, and rigid social structure. Life in the Kingdom of God includes and even celebrates the humble, “the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.”²

The text begins by telling us that large crowds are following Jesus. So far, following Jesus has meant food and healing and community. But Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem, to his confrontation with the authorities and to his death. So the consequences of discipleship need to be explained…again. Previously in Luke’s gospel, Jesus has talked about the potential loss of family relationships, and possessions. He has talked about the challenges discipleship may bring. ³ Being a disciple, as Joel Green writes, “must flow out of a transformed disposition, reflecting new commitments, attitudes, and allegiances. That is, the conversion that characterizes genuine discipleship is itself generative, giving rise to new forms of behavior.”⁴ Being a disciple involves a willingness to change in significant ways and Jesus has to keep telling his followers- because they and we have trouble remembering this.

Jesus’ statement that disciples must “hate” their family and “even life itself” is a dramatic way of telling his followers that they (and we) may have to make some hard choices. Living into the expansive life of the Kingdom of God will upset the status quo and strain relationships.⁵ Family ties and social expectations as socially determining factors give way to God’s new community that erases boundaries. Families may not understand and accept these new ways of living.

Jesus says we will need to carry the cross. Often we misstate this as carrying “our” cross, rather than “the” cross. We think carrying the cross is about bearing our personal trials or burdens- our cross to bear. Carrying the cross is a commitment to follow Jesus without concern for one’s future.

Then Jesus gives the crowds and us two odd parables, one about someone building a tower and one about a king contemplating war. On first reading, it might seem that Jesus is telling us to be sure we can succeed as disciples. Estimate the cost. Consider if we can win. Do we have what it takes to be successful? And while it seems prudent to consider what following Jesus might entail, I don’t think this Jesus is telling us that the only good disciple is a successful disciple.

People, builders, and kings, try to assess their resources and their probability of success. And they get it wrong. They miscalculate. Sometimes they fail. Reliance on resources and possessions and assessments and calculations are not what disciples rely upon. Disciples rely upon Jesus, regardless of whether we are “successful” or not. We don’t rely on our possessions or our capacity or our abilities. We might use them, but we don’t define ourselves by them. Being rich or exceptionally skilled at something doesn’t make us a better disciple than someone else.

For people like us with lots of possessions, hearing Jesus say, “none of you can become my disciples if you do not give up all your possessions” is difficult and even frightening to hear. We should remember that most of Jesus’ followers were quite poor. They didn’t have much to give up. They didn’t have much to lose. So why is Jesus talking about possessions? It’s not so much what we have, as how we relate to what we have.⁶ Where do we put our trust? Where do we find our security? Jesus is asking them and us to let go of our reliance on things and to rely on God.

Sometimes looking at alternative translations can be helpful. Joel Green translates the verse about possessions this way (14:33) this way, “So therefore, none of you can become my disciples if you do not bid farewell to all you have.” Eugene Peterson in, The Message puts it like this, “Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.”

Green and Peterson both get at the heart of the matter. Discipleship involves a change of heart and a change of priorities. It’s not the giving up of things as much as how we give things up. Do we grit our teeth as we give up our possessions? Do we force ourselves to “obey” regardless of how we feel? Or are we able to “bid farewell”, which may be bittersweet but is also an unforced departure. Farewell implies a finality and also good wishes, or at the least not begrudging. We leave without anger or bitterness.

The life of a disciple involves kissing dear things, dear habits, and sometimes dear people good-bye. It’s not that we don’t care about people and jobs, and communities, and friends. But as we change, and grow as disciples, our priorities change and grow. We realize that some, probably all, cultural norms and social practices need to change. It’s the realization that we need to leave this thing or practice behind. We need to step into different and more faithful ways of living. Sometimes discipleship is not what we are willing to give up but rather who we are willing to invite in and fully accept as our siblings.The “cost” of discipleship reveals itself in ways we expect and in ways we could never have anticipated.

1. FYI the subtitles within chapters of books in the Bible are (much) later editorial additions to the original text. Sometimes they are helpful, sometimes not. In either event they are not part of the original text. ↩︎
2. Luke 14:13 ↩︎
3. See Luke 8:4-21; 9:23-27,57-62; 12:13-59. ↩︎
4. Green, Joel B. The Gospel of Luke, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1997, page 564. The post is greatly informed by Joel Green’s discussion of this text. ↩︎
5. See the recent posts, “The Empire Always Strikes Back!” and “Uncontrollable Sabbath”as examples of this. ↩︎
6. At the same time, economic injustice is real and a problem, and contrary to God’s intentions for the world. ↩︎