What Is A Disciple Of Jesus Christ?

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not 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, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:28-33).

Christ has already counted the cost of discipleship for us. The cost is everything we have. Jesus once declared, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matt. 13:44). What the man in the story received was so much more valuable than what he gave up --- though it was everything he had. The cost of discipleship is great; but compared to what we receive from Christ, the price is a bargain.

We read in John 6 that “many of [Christ’s] disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God’” (John 6:66-68). The twelve disciples had given up everything to follow Christ, but, with the exception of Judas, they never regretted it because, as Peter declared, Christ has “the words of eternal life.”

The apostle Paul wrote, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:8).

Jesus didn’t say, “Follow Me, and you will be happy, healthy, and wealthy.” He said, “Know this: Discipleship is going to cost you whatever you have. Don’t expect comfort and ease.”

Listen to what Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 16: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Matt. 16:24-26).

It is said that Charlemagne gave instructions to be buried in the royal posture of a king upon his throne, with the Gospels opened on his knees, his sword beside him, and his crown upon his head.

When his tomb was later uncovered, there he was. The crown was still perched on his skull, and a bony finger rested on these words: “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

“The whole world” refers to all the things that could possibly be achieved or acquired in this life. Gaining the whole world looks more appealing than losing everything for Christ. But the reward for following Christ is eternal life, while the final result of gaining the whole world is the losing of one’s soul.