The Cost of Christianity

" Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and He turned to address them: 'If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. . . Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers should laugh at him and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.' Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops, he can successfully oppose another king? In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.' " [Luke 14: 25-33].

My husband has an expression: "Do not start what you cannot finish." 

As for me, I use the metaphor about running a race. I tell our son, " Why would you exhaust yourself running a marathon, then sit down one foot away from the finish line?"

Being a Christian is a long and exhausting race. St. Paul said so himself when he declared: " I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the Faith." [2 Timothy 4: 7].

There is a serious cost to being a Christian, even today. In this Scripture, Jesus relates to his disciples the metaphor of building a great tower. Would you even begin construction, without at least a fairly accurate assessment of how much it will cost you?

In a way, this warning of Jesus' here is like "Truth in Advertising" or informed consent. Jesus calls to us, "Come, follow me". [Matthew 4: 19]. But, He also wants us to know what the consequences will be, if we say, Yes.

Some say that this is Jesus being so very human here, traveling on the road to Jerusalem where He knows what awaits Him, knowing in His heart that Peter, 'before the cock crows will deny Him three times' [Matthew 26: 34]. Who would not want absolute loyalty from His best friends, as He marched to a violent end?

I also say that this is Jesus as God's Son, saying, "People will hate you because of me." [Luke 21: 17].  Jesus is not simply posing a provocative theory here.

This is real. Jesus wants us to put Him and His Father first, if we are going to claim to be Christians. Everything else comes second, even our own families.

We are called to the same priorities, even today. I think of the Theodore Kaczynski case. (He is better known as the Unabomber.) His own brother turned him in to authorities, because  he did not want anyone else getting hurt. This was a case of putting God before one's own brother.

I think of that brave young man Matthew Cordle,who went on You Tube to confess that he had killed a man while driving drunk. This is a case of Cordle putting God before even himself. Cordle will likely spend about 8 years in prison, because of his confession.

I think of some of the choices I have been faced with:

My mother told me in college, that if I did not major in what she dictated, she would cut off tuition. I opted for her choice AND mine, and earned a double major. This was a lot of extra work, but studying the subject for which I had innate gifts, rather than the subject my mother foisted upon me,  honored God first.

When I brought home my husband-to-be, my mother was horrified to find that he is Catholic. She said to me, "What do you see in him? Can't you date someone else?" But in marrying my Catholic husband, I was affirming the value of my faith, something my mother could not "see". I put God before my mother.

My mother offered me money to get married by a Justice of the Peace, then to go off on a trip for a few weeks. But I wanted to be married in a church, before God. I turned down the money and the trip. I chose God first.

My parents refused to stand in the receiving line at my wedding. Instead, I went around to every table at the reception, to greet each guest. I chose to welcome my guests with love and caring, even though I had no dinner and only one bite of cake.

Since I "came out" as a Christian at my wedding, and thereafter, I have :

* Lost friends, who stopped calling me or asking to get together.

* Left jobs, when I found out that the products or practices of my employer were questionable.

* Been disinvited to holidays by family; and therefore had to spend holidays alone.

* Received invitations to go on vacations with family, BUT the invitation clearly excluded my husband. (As my husband are I are now One, I stayed home.)

Jesus calls us in Luke 14: 25, to "get real" about our faith.

We are called to follow God and Jesus above all else-- above money, above fame, above friends, above jobs, above even our own mothers.

I have been told that I have a steely bond with God. As a Christian, could you, would you, love God above all else?

[Related Postings: "In Battle For God", August 25, 2012; " Hating This Life", March 25, 2012; "My Baptism By Fire", August 19, 2013.]


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