Luke 14:28-33
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? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build, and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Many people have the notion that Christianity demands of us something called “blind faith.” However, so far from recommending “blind faith” Scripture is, in reality, quite adamant that we should consider carefully the price tag on the gospel. In one sense, of course, the gospel is free. We do not earn the love of God, we receive it without cost to us because it cost Jesus so very much to buy it for us with his blood. But, on the other hand, the gospel is costly indeed. For we too are called by Jesus to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. That is hard, painful work. As hard as building a tower in the first century without electricity or the gas powered engine and as hard as going to war. And, indeed, it is both to build and to wage war: to build up the body of Christ and to engage in ceaseless battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil. So Jesus tells us ahead of time just what to expect. He also promises us it’s worth it: so very much worth it that the real question is not, “Can I afford to be Jesus’ disciple?” but, “Can I afford not to be?”
