The Cost of Discipleship

We come again to the climactic eighth chapter of Mark, where we finally hear from the mouth of the disciples and Jesus’ own mouth who he truly is. There is a bit of a crescendo of revelation that happens in this chapter, as Jesus reveals more and more of his nature and purpose. Our passage is one of those hard sayings of Jesus. In fact, it is the fountainhead for all of the other hard sayings that Jesus made during his ministry. What Jesus teaches here is not hard because it is difficult to understand. Jesus speaks plainly, and he provides direct statements and analogies to help us understand fully what he means. No, these statements are hard because of what they mean. There are two reasons I think they are hard for modern American Christians. For one, we have been conditioned to think that the way to fulfillment in life is in the pursuit of happiness and self-fulfillment. The ancient Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, concluded that purpose is found in happiness attained through virtue. The Stoics believed that one could find fulfillment through inner peace. The Epicureans sought fulfillment in pleasure. But today, we are not Platonic, Stoic, or Epicurean. We are existentialists. By and large, Americans believe that fulfillment comes from maximizing our personal freedom and living “true to ourselves”. We believe in self-help, self-care, self-esteem, and self-respect. We believe, as Justice Anthony Kennedy infamously stated in his decision on abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, “at the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” It is no wonder that these words of Jesus would be hard to such a mindset.

But, it is also hard because American Christianity has so abbreviated the Gospel that we have made even the words of Jesus foreign to our understanding of Christianity. We have reduced the Gospel to this: “Believe in Jesus and everything will be alright.” If you believe in Jesus, your life will be better, your children and wife will love you, your cholesterol will go down and your stock prices will go up, and when it is all said and done, you will get a mansion in heaven.” No wonder our culture’s view of God has become that of a doting grandfather figure in the sky whose only desire is to make us happy. We have cheapened the Gospel. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.”

I say all of this to prepare us for this hard statement, so that we might be willing to hear it, and even more so, to do it. With that, let’s read Mark 8:34-38. From this passage see four points: The cost of discipleship is found in its Priority, its Pattern, its Paradox, and its Profession.

First, from verse 34, see that the cost of discipleship is found in its priority. Mark tells us that sometime after Jesus had prophesied to his disciples of his coming death and resurrection, he calls a crowd together with his disciples and begins to teach them. At the heart of this teaching is an invitation: “If anyone would come after me…” This is an open invitation stated to the crowd and the disciples. It is not just an invitation for Jesus’ inner circle or for the twelve men who would be his apostles, or even for the 120 people who followed him everywhere he went. It was an invitation to all who could hear it and to all who would read it now. Friend, understand that you, right now, are invited to inherit the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ. You are invited to come in repentance and faith to the Messiah, Jesus. But, that invitation is not a call to self-love and self-fulfillment. It is not a call to radical freedom and self-determination. It is a call to denial and death. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself.” To be a disciple of Jesus is to deny self. This is a loaded statement that we need to parse out. We need to understand what is not meant and then what is meant. This self-denial is not ascetism – the harsh treatment of the body aimed at proving devotion to God. Jesus is not calling us to fast or eat only bread and water or to forgo relationships. It also does not mean that nothing else in this world matters, as if we are to give up on our jobs and family and friends for the sake of Christ. The Greek word used here means “to disown or renounce.” It is used in Luke 22:57, when Peter denies Jesus. To deny ourselves is to say that Christ comes above all else, Christ is the motivation for all that we do, and Christ is the purpose for which we live. We no longer live for ourselves, but for him.

Second, see that the cost of discipleship is found in its pattern. Jesus goes on in verse 34 to say, “let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Jesus is referring here to a common sight that his disciples and the crowd would have known. The Romans, in their gruesome torture of crucifixion, would take the crossbeam (weighing around 100 lbs) and tie it over the shoulders of the victim, and then force them to carry it to their place of execution. It was a reminder, with every step that the victim took, that his path led to death. Jesus calls his disciples to follow him down that path. You see, the way of Christian discipleship is not a path of health and wealth. It is not a path that leads to political success or fame or comfort. The way of Christ is the way of the cross. It is a way of self-denial and a dying to self. In Luke’s recording of this same teaching, from Luke 14:27, Jesus says, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Oh, how haunting these words are, and how condemning of our cheap version of the Gospel. If you came to Jesus because you wanted him to fix something in your life, hear these heavy words, “unless you deny yourself, you cannot be his disciple.” If your relationship with Jesus boils down to a one-time decision and not a daily walk of faith, hear these heavy words, “unless you daily take up your cross and follow him, you cannot be his disciple.”

Because this phrase has been popularized in our culture, we do need to ask, “what does it mean to carry our cross?” It’s popular to say of some trivial burden, “it’s my cross to bear.” You know, my kids are terribly behaved and my husband’s a deadbeat, but that’s just my cross to bear. No! That’s life. By this statement, Jesus does not mean the general trials of life. He means that the way of Christ is a way that leads to suffering. That suffering may look like turning away from habits and relationships that are self-serving and sinful. It may look like speaking the truth, even when it could harm your reputation, career, or even your risk your life.

That brings us to the third cost of discipleship – a paradox. In verse 35, Jesus adds a paradox to his analogy – whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for the sake of Christ and the Gospel will save it. I have witnessed this very paradox in the lives of so many people I’ve counselled and prayed for. Let me give you a hypothetical example. Let’s say there is a young man who is infatuated with a woman (let’s call them Steve and Jill). Steve loves everything about Jill – her looks, her laugh, her mind. He can’t imagine life without her. She brings him happiness, and he has found such pleasure and fulfillment in her. So, Steve decides to marry her. ten years pass. Steve and Jill had two beautiful kids who bring joy to their lives, but over the years, the infatuation Steve had for Jill has faded. The demands of school and work and ballgames means fewer times of intimacy. They really haven’t had a date night in who knows how long. They’ve grown apart. Besides that, Jill isn’t quite the bombshell she used to be (Steve doesn’t own a mirror). One day, Jill comes in from work, and Steve is waiting on her at the kitchen table. He asks her to sit down, and he pours out his feelings, “I just don’t love you anymore. We’ve grown so far apart, I just don’t know who you are. And, I need to find my own happiness again. After all, I can’t love you if I don’t know who I am or what I want anymore. So, I think we need a divorce.” Where did the problem with Steve and Jill begin? When they got too busy with travel ball and careers? Maybe they both should have taken better care of themselves? No, the problem began at the beginning. Their relationship was formed around self – around what the other could do for them. So often, marriage is pursued not because it is a self-sacrificing covenant union that models Christ and his church, but as a way to hold on to what pleases us at the time. So often, children are conceived, not because of an overflow of self-denying love, but because of selfish need. The paradox of life is this – if you would live for yourself, the things you hold onto will rot in your hands and die. But, if you will live for others, and most importantly, if you will live for Christ, then everything you have, from relationships to your work, will be filled with life. We were not created for ourselves. We were created to love and glorify God. We love and glorify God by loving our neighbor, by sacrificing for our spouse, by teaching our children, by serving the world. And I know this is so counter-intuitive to the way of our culture, but it is in this way that we find fulfillment and delight. As Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man… whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

The ultimate reality of this paradox is found in losing one’s life for the sake of the Gospel. There are millions of Christians, even this morning, who face this reality because they live in countries where it is a death sentence even to meet as we do now. But, they still do it. They do it because they understand the way of the cross. They understand that true delight is not found in the approval of men or the fleeting pleasures of this life but in following Christ.

Finally, see that the cost of discipleship involves a profession. In verse 38, Jesus says, “whoever is ashamed of me in this life I will be ashamed of when I come in judgment.” Hear in this a necessary call to profess Christ. This is certainly a call to model the way of Christ in your life – to live in such a way that others see Christ in you. But, it is not only that. This is, at its heart, a willingness to speak the truth of the Gospel. Certainly, this means making a public profession of faith before a church and following Christ in baptism, at a minimum. But, it more directly is a call to profess faith in Christ when it costs. Jesus says, “whoever is ashamed of me… in this adulterous and sinful generation.” In other words, if you would rather have the approval of men and enjoy acceptance in society and participate in the sinful pleasures and habits of this world than to deny yourself and take up your cross, then Jesus will be ashamed of you when he comes in judgment. He will deny he ever knew you.

Friend, saving faith is not a momentary, emotional response to a revival sermon. It is not a one-time decision to raise your hand and say, “Yes, I believe in Jesus.” Saving faith is the daily act of denying self and choosing instead to walk in the way of Jesus, which is the way of the cross. This is the invitation of Christ. On the other side of that invitation is a paradox: if you would know true life, then you must lose who you are to Christ. If you would have the blessings of the kingdom – a flourishing life of strong relationships and growing faith – you must die to self in service to Christ and others. In spite of all of its harshness, in spite of the promise of suffering and loss, Jesus invites you to this life because it is the only way to have true fulfillment. It is a life of salvation. It is eternal life. It is a life that is kept from the judgment that is to come. So, today, let us deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus.