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The Cost of Following
There are times in history when leaders have placed great demands on their followers.
Guiseppe Garibaldi, the Italian general and key figure in the unification of Italy in the 19th
century, offered his men only hunger and death to free Italy from the bonds of monarchy.
At the beginning of World War II, Winston Churchill told the English people that he had nothing to offer them but "blood, sweat, toil, and tears" in their fight against the enemies of England.
But not all are healthy – Jim Jones, David Koresh, Joseph Stalin and others of cultish styles
have only called for the dying of their followers for their own purposes.
Jesus demanded that his followers carry a cross -- a sign of death. Their fates (per tradition):
Andrew died on a cross; Simon was crucified; Bartholomew was flayed alive; James (son
of Zebedee) was beheaded; The other James (son of Alphaeus) was beaten to death.
Thomas was run through with a lance; Matthias was stoned and then beheaded; Matthew
was slain by the sword; Peter was crucified upside down; Thaddeus was shot to death with
arrows: and Philip was hanged.
Dietrich Bonhoffer, the German pastor who was executed by the Nazis for his role in an
assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler, wrote about this cost of discipleship many times. In his
book The Cost of Discipleship, he famously wrote:
“When Christ calls a man [sic], he bids him come and die.”
The demands Jesus makes upon those who would follow him are extreme. Christianity is not a Sunday morning religion - it is a hungering after God to the point of death, if need be. It shakes our foundations, topples our priorities, pits us against friend and family, and makes us strangers in this world. It’s not a warm, comforting welcome to the group, but rather a jolting revelation of the enormity of the calling.
We’re not promised a life of luxury or security in following Christ. Jesus himself not only was
crucified, but his entire ministry was spent “upsetting the apple carts” of his day. Those with
power, influence, wealth or high status perceived that those things meant nothing to the
teacher from Nazareth - the Kingdom he came to establish and promote gave no preference
to such things. His way of living was focused on the “other,” as Bonhoffer also wrote:
“The Church is the Church only when it exists for others.”
You might see why this angered some and threatened many. It is no different today. The cost
of following Jesus is as steep, as dramatic, and as contentious as it has ever been. When we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized into this death, but we are also raised with him to new life – a life that sees others as valued and beloved, that seeks enough for all, that promotes that which gives life and life that is abundant in joy, peace, and love.
This is the way of Jesus. A tough and dangerous trek that demands all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. That is the cost of following Christ.
Shalom.
Pr. Mark
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