Luke 14: 25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

 28"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? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

 31"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? 32If 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. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

 34"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
      "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

The Commitment of Discipleship

“It is true that we believe Jesus because of His love for us.  But according to Luke 14:26 and 27, who is the one that is qualified to be His disciple?”

Let’s read Luke 14:26-27.  26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

Let’s think for a moment and try to understand what Jesus really means by this.  Clearly, becoming Jesus’ disciple will change the way we relate to our families, but does He literally commands us to hate our families?  How could He tell us to hate our families when He is the God who created the family unit and authored the commandment that we should love and honor our parents Deut 5:16 (Fifth Commandment) and Ephesians 6:1-3, love our spouses, Ephesians 5:28, and children, Ephesians 6:4? 

Even Jesus Himself who is a complete God during his life on earth, he loved his human parents – Joseph and Mary.

So why does he tell us that in order to be his disciple, we have to hate our families?  Does he actually mean that?  The answer is no.  If Jesus does not literally command us to hate our families, why does he say it?  According to many theologians, Jesus is using hyperbole, an overstatement in order to make a point with maximum impact.  According to Bob Deffinbaugh, Th. M., in Jewish culture, hate means love less or unloved.  To be hated is to be loved less than another.  God who created us in His own image deserves our love more than any idols, molten gods, or other human beings, even our own family members. 

Now, how does Luke 14:26-27 apply to us today?  We don’t know when in the timeline of His ministry did Jesus say this statement, but we know that this was sometime before he was crucified. This statement is in reference to the high price He will pay for our sins on the cross in order to save us, for that reason, He demands that we pay the same price in order to deserve his saving grace and mercy. 

As stated above, Jesus does not actually demand that we have to hate our families in order to become his disciples, but think about this:  How many of us that have family members, relatives, and friends who refuse to believe in Chris Jesus.  I believe that most of us have.  In fact, I have a brother and a sister who turned away from believing God after so many years of following Christ.  On the other hand, for those who recently converted, how many people did you disappoint them?  And how many of them have tried to convince you to turn back?  How many family members, relatives, and friends did you lose since you converted to Christianity?  When Jesus says, if you want to follow Him, you have to hate your father, mother, brother, sister, daughter, and son, does He mean that to become a disciple, you will have to disobey their wishes and resist all of their attempts to turn you back from following Christ?  When you refused to respect their demands to return to worship animism, but continued to press on with Jesus Christ, you love God more than your families and this is precisely what Jesus means hate your families in order to become His disciple.

Think about Matthew 10:34-39 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it."  Because once you decided to become Jesus’ disciple, you will slowly separate yourself from your family members who do not believe God and as time lapses, the gap between you and your loved ones will grow wider.  You will become less engage in family events that you know are inappropriate for you as a disciple of Jesus Christ to be participating, but at the same time, you will become more active at church and involve in other church functions and activities and by now your feelings toward your family members, especially your extended non-believing families, are more distance, but you feel closer to your church members.  This is when Jesus is like a sword that cuts off the thread of relationship between you and your non-believing family members.  You might have a daughter or a son, a brother or sister, or parents and relatives who refuse to believe in God.  No matter how much you love them and want them to believe in God, they would not convert.  Or on the other hand, you might be the only one in your family who believes in God and your conversion is against their will.  Similarly, you might have a son or daughter, a brother or sister, or parents who have grown up in the Christian family, had attended church regularly, and might have involved in some leadership capacity, but now he or she is strayed away from God, what he or she is involved in are very unchristian, and no matter how much you pray for him or her, he or she continues to refuse to attend church or sometimes he or she even tells you that there is no God.  This is precisely why Jesus says “I came to set a man against his father.”  Think for yourself, how hard it is even for a Christian to become a disciple, so how much harder for the non-Christian to accept God, convert, and become a disciple.  Think of ways we could reach out to our non-Christian families and friends.

The aforementioned is the first price you paid to become Jesus’ disciple.  The price is high because in order to be a disciple, you have to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”  You have to totally submit yourself to the will of God. Be obedience to Jesus takes precedence over your allegiance to your families.  Once you love God more, you will love your non-Christian families (sometimes even your Christian families) less, so it’s like you hate them.

Let’s read Luke 14:27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.  Jesus said this statement long before he was crucified, so how much what do you think those crowds that actually heard Jesus said this would understand what He really mean?  We read this passage more than 2000 years later, so what do you understand and how much do you understand this passage?  Jesus has predicted his own death in Luke 9:22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”  But he did not mention that he was going to be crucified on the cross.

Again, as I have mentioned above, this statement is made in allusion to the fact that Jesus was to be crucified on the cross.  The cross symbolizes rejection by society.  During Roman occupation of Israel – during Jesus time, the cross is a symbol of the capital death penalty.  Those who are condemned to death by the cross are required to carry their own cross from the court to the countryside to the site of the execution, and then be executed by crucifixion.  Those crowds that heard Jesus said this understood very well what he meant by carrying the cross and follow Him – it means death. 

They understood cross means death, but no one truly understood what Jesus said, “any one who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” until years later when the believers were persecuted.  We see that the Sanhedrin started to persecute the Christians when the numbers of believers/disciples started to grow.  In Acts 6:8-15, we see that Stephen was falsely accused by the leaders and members of the Synagogue and arrested and brought to the Sanhedrin.  In Acts 7:54-60, we see that the Sanhedrin stoned Stephen to death

We had heard Dr. Txawj Teev Vaaj and many other pastors preached several times that all of Jesus’ disciples, except John, were executed for spreading the Gospel and also about early Christians being persecuted.  Let me share a story of one of the early Christians who was burn alive with you.  Polycarp lived between 70 –155 A.D. Polycarp was a direct pupil of the apostle John, connecting him to both the biblical apostles and the age of early church.  Polycarp was a Bishop of Smyrna, (currently Izmir, Turkey).  Polycarp was arrested on the charge of being a Christian, accused to be a member of a politically dangerous cult whose rapid growth needed to be stopped.  Amidst an angry mob, the Roman proconsul took pity on Polycarp and urged him to proclaim, “Caesar is lord.”  They asked if he would proclaim that Caesar is lord and “offer a small pinch of incense to Caesar’s statue,” he would not be torture and killed.  Polycarp responded, “Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong.  How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”  Due to his steadfast stand for Christ and refused to compromise his beliefs, Polycarp was tied to a stake and burned alive. 

Does this kind of persecution still going on today?  Yes, it is still going on around the globe today.  Christians are being persecuted and killed nowadays by Muslims and Communism for no reason other than being Christians.  Let me direct your attention to the recent killing of Hmong Christians in Laos.  On August 7, 07, Compass Direct News in Los Angeles, CA reported that about 600-800 Lao soldiers and police and 200 Vietnamese soldiers were deployed to Bokeo province, Laos in early July 07.   Once there, they killed at least 13 Hmong Christians and arrested and imprisoned over 200 of them.  They had nothing to accuse the Hmong Christians, so they seized the opportunity of the recent arrests of General Vang Pao and several other Hmong, as we know of, to accuse these Hmong Christians as Vang Pao’s supporters.  According to the Newspaper, Lao soldiers demanded that the leaders of these Hmong Christians must declare that they were financed and trained by Vang Pao to fight Lao Government.  Lao soldiers and police surrounded several villages that were mostly Christians and prohibited them from holding worship services.  You might also have heard or read newspapers of many instances when Lao Government forced Hmong and other ethnic people including Laotians who were Christians in Laos to renounce their Christianity or face imprisonment. 

Is this the reason why Jesus warns us that to be His disciples, we have to carry our cross and follow Him?  And is this the reason why Jesus says to his disciples in John 15:18-25 that being His disciples, the world will hate them?  Read John 15:18-25 18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: 'Servants are not greater than their master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Those who hate me hate my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'

This is the second price we have to pay to become Jesus disciples.  In many instances, people have to pay the price with their lives in order to be able to follow Jesus.  The cost to be a disciple is too high and when Jesus calls us to be his disciples, He calls us to give our lives to Him, so can we become his disciples? 

“According to human thinking, God must be the one who loves us.  But according to this passage, we have to love God more than others and even more than we love ourselves.  What has this passage been a stumbling block for you and for other Christians that you know?”

I want to discuss two more points in this passage here before I answer the question.  First, in verse 26, what does Jesus mean by saying “If anyone comes to me and does not hate … his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”  Speaking of hating one’s own life means taking up the cross, which Jesus Christ has for us.   It means to completely surrender to Christ.  Becoming a disciple of Christ means to give up your own goals to pursue the goals and wills of Jesus Christ.  You no longer in control of your own destiny, but God does.  This means that when God calls you to do something for Him, whether you want to do it or not and even when it conflicts with your personal goals, you have to give up your own goals to pursue what is God’s.  Good example of this is those missionaries who give up their lives to go overseas to spread the Gospel.  There is a story that says that missionaries of the 19^th Century who went overseas often packed their belongings in the coffin instead of a trunk so that they would have something to be buried in because once going overseas, they never expected to return. 

The second point is found in Luke 14:31.  It reads: “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”  Similar to verse 26 I discussed above, this verse talks about giving up your belongings – most valuable things you earned and own, your wealth.  Does this mean that to become a disciple, you have to give away your properties, your money, and whatever you consider important to you?  In some case, it is.  Think about Luke 9:25 “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”  To become a disciple, you have to at least tithe your income, give above and beyond your tithe to support other ministries at church, and give to the Great Commission Fund, so that there will be enough fund to pay for the overseas ministries and our missionaries.  It is amazing how the church members (Hmong American Alliance Church) responded to our capital fund drive last year.  Some contributed over $40,000.00, but some only $50.00.  Does this mean that those who contributed $40,000.00 were rich and those who gave only $50.00 were poor?  It may be true in many of them, but rather it was precisely what I discuss here – to be a disciple, you have to give up everything you have for Christ.  The second meaning of giving up your properties for Christ is this.  Once you become a disciple, you allow God to be the owner of your properties and you become the steward of them.  This means that you allow God to use your wealth to promote His ministries on earth.  When time to give comes, the one who claims ownership of his properties and wealth would say, “How much of my money should I give to God?”  However, the one who claims to be a steward would say, “How much of God’s money will I keep for myself?” 

In talking about money, I recognize that money is not the only indication of our commitment to His discipleship.  However, wealth is the source of our pride, honor, and power.  Therefore, to give up everything for the sake of becoming his disciple is to give up our wealth.

For many, the stumbling block to become disciple is actually the wealth they have.  To be disciple is to love God more and to love God more is to hate one’s own life and give up one’s wealth.  Many cannot allow God to take total control of their lives and wealth, so they cannot be Jesus’ disciples.  Others cannot become disciples because they love the world so much that they rather be conformed to the world than to surrender to God and allow Him to use their lives for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  What is your stumbling block to become a disciple?

By now, you might think, if becoming a disciple is this difficult, how anyone could become a disciple and most importantly, how could anyone be saved?  I will discuss these two points later, but keep in mind that we are not talking about regular Christians, we are talking about discipleship.  And we should understand that we are saved not because of our good work, but it is by grace.  Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

“Verses 28-30 speak about a man building a tower that he would have to sit down and consider the cost whether he can finish it.  Verses 31-32 speak about a king who plans to go to war with another king that he has to sit down and consider the chances whether he can win with a smaller army.  In your opinion, what is the meaning of these two parables?”

The meanings of these two parables are of the same - Counting the Cost.  Having following Jesus all your life for those who were born in the Christian family or since you have converted to Christianity, what do you think after reading, thus far, my discussion of the high price of becoming a disciple?  Knowing what you know now, are you going to try harder to become a better disciple or are you going to give up? 

The question above is about your determination and commitment to become a disciple.  The price is just too high to be a disciple, do you have the will to remain a disciple for the rest of your life because God does not demand a section of your life, a portion of your wealth, but He demands everything that you have including your life.  He also demands that you love Him more than your father and mother, brother and sister, and your daughter and son.  Finally, he also demands that you must carry your cross and follow Him.  Read also Matthew 10:37-39.

All the things He says here are concerning the quality of discipleship.  I believe that as creation in God’s image, He wants everyone to accept Him and be saved, but in order to have maximum impact in the world; He is looking for the quality of discipleship rather than quantity.  This is why Jesus says before a man builds a tower, shouldn’t he sit down and figure out if he has enough fund to build it.  Once you start to build, you cannot stop halfway, lest you would be ridiculed and be embarrassed if your project is incomplete.  Similarly, Jesus urges us to consider all the costs of becoming His disciple before we actually commit ourselves to it because it is not good for us and for God that we retreat at midway.  Unfortunately, most people do not think of these things prior to their commitment, which is the reason why we see so many Christians become inactive or even return to worship animism.  However, if everyone knows all of these costs before conversion, many who are good Christians may not have accepted Christ because the price is too high. 

Final thoughts in this question is, yes, it is a very high price to pay to be a disciple and no one could do it if we have to depend on our own will and ability, but we can do it if we totally surrender to Him and depend on his power.  Read Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Finally, let’s discuss the question:  What did Jesus attract you?  It is true that each one of us has different attraction of Jesus Christ.  Historically, most Hmong who converted to Christianity because they wanted to get well from their illness or be set free from being possessed and oppressed by the evil spirit.  No one knows of a better life to come than our current human life.   Only through years of study or reading the Bible and listening to the sermons and teachings of the pastors, do we understand the wonderful eternal life that God promised us.  Even then, we still have doubts of God’s eternal life because it is something beyond our human life and imagination.  We read it and hear it, but we haven’t seen it, so in many occasions when we face with difficulties as disciples, we doubt God and His power.  Many people initially converted to Christianity to escape illness due to evil spirit, but now, as Christians, they are sick and pray every day to get well, but the illness persist, they start to doubt if there is a real God.  Again, being a Christian and especially a good disciple, the Bible teaches that you cannot do everything like the world does and as I discussed above, you have to totally submit to God and allow Him to lead your life the way He wants.  You are being persecuted, you are being hated by your family, relatives, and friends and you suffered so much just because you are a Christian.  Now, you face with so many temptations and you do not know what to do anymore.  It takes a strong willed person who totally submitted to God to persevere.  Are you the one?

Each Christian might have different reason to believe in God, but we all should share a common attraction in Jesus Christ and that is the eternal life He promised us.  The Old Testament instructs the Jews to observe Sabbath and keep the seventh day holy to God in remembrance of their deliverance from slavery from the land of bondage.  We worship God on Sunday, the first day of the week, in remembrance of our Lord and Savior, the day Jesus Christ rose from the death to life.  Rev. Dr. Leander Harding states, “The weekly Sabbath is a foretaste of the eternal abiding with God.”  Hebrews 4:1 “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.” This Sabbath rest to come, as provided in Isaiah 66:22-24 and Hebrews 4, points us to a new kind of Sabbath rest, which every day is a Sabbath rest.  This is a Sabbath that the Christians will celebrate every day in the kingdom of heaven.  This is the eternal life that God promised to reward his disciples and this is our share attraction of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Let us diligently study the Word of God that we will gain the deepest sense of knowledge of the will of God, so that we may be able to be better disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Written by Swm-Looj Khang.  If you have any comments, please feel free to email me at shieulong@comcast.net or post your comments here.  Thank you for reading The Cost of Being a Disciple.  If you find any interest in this article, please leave your comments and look forward to read the next article.

Answer: 66 books.

2. How many books are in the Old Testament?

Answer: 39 books.

3. How many books are in the New Testament?

Answer: 27 books.

3. What does "testament" mean?

Answer: A "covenant" or "contract."

4. Who wrote the Bible?

Answer: Written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by over 40 different authors: shepherds, farmers, tent-makers, physicians, fishermen, priests, philosophers and kings.

5. Which single author contributed the most books to the Old Testament?

Answer: Moses. He wrote the first five books of the Bible, referred to as the Pentateuch; the foundation of the Bible.

6. Which single author contributed the most books to the New Testament?

Answer: The Apostle Paul wrote 14 books of the New Testament.

7. When was the Bible written?

Answer: Over a period of some 1,500 years, from around 1450 B.C. (the time of Moses) to about 100 A.D. (following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ).

8. What is the oldest book in the Old Testament?

Answer: Many scholars agree that Job is the oldest book in the Bible, written by an unknown Israelite about 1500 B.C. Others hold that the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) are the oldest books in the Bible, written between 1446 and 1406 B.C.

9. What is the youngest book in the Old Testament?

Answer: The book of Malachi, written about 400 B.C.

10. What is the oldest book of the New Testament?

Answer: Probably the book of James, written as early as A.D. 45.

11. What is the youngest book in the New Testament?

Answer: The Book of Revelation is the youngest book of the New Testament, written about 95 A.D.

12. What languages was the Bible written in?

Answer: The Bible was written in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek (Few chapters of the books of Ezra and Daniel recorded in Aramaic).