The following message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. Luke 14, picking up in verse 25, this is the reading of God's Word. Now great crowds accompanied Him, and He turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 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 out to encounter another king in war will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000. And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use, either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. This is the reading of God's word. Please have a seat. Let's begin in prayer. Father, we thank you for your amazing faithfulness. Never once have we ever walked alone. And Father, we know we need you because as we consider passages like this, there is no way we could do it if you left us alone. We pray, Father, now for your word to just hit us with full Holy Spirit power. We pray that our hearts are ready soil, ready to bear fruit when you work on them. Please make us faithful to this moment. Make us faithful to this passage. We pray this in Jesus's name. Amen. My first car was a BMW. A 1975 BMW. My friend used to tease me. He would go around to our friends and say, Jason's so spoiled, he drives a BMW. It was a 1975 2002 BMW, which if you know cars is a thing. So he says, it's a 2002 BMW, he's so spoiled. But this was a classic. This was a classic and it's one of those words you have to give it because it's a painful classic. 1975 to the present gives it a lot of time for things to break down. And so you would have me from time to time getting in the car, hoping to go home and finding that I could not because the car was not going to let me go home. So I learned all sorts of neat tricks. You know how to, when your car battery keeps going dead every time you push it down the hill and pop the clutch, you know, and then you can start the car. That was wonderful. Saved me many times, but you can only MacGyver your way out of so many situations. And so I find myself at the mechanic many a time. And you're looking at this car and you're thinking, man, wouldn't it be great if this car just ran right? And so you ask the question, what would it take for this car to just run right? And then they give you this list. They give you, well, okay, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this. And I'm going in there thinking, I've got 300 bucks, what can you do, right? And they're like, this is like $5,000. And you're thinking, okay, then what's the bare minimum that I can get away with? That's my mechanic attitude. If I go in on a planned visit, it's different, but we all know that many of our mechanic visits are not planned, is that right? And so we get there and we are thinking, I just want something that's marginally safe and marginally reliable. What is the bare minimum to get me out of here? Cause I cannot afford everything you want me to do. It's a natural question. When a cost is presented to us as human beings, we say, what is the bare minimum that I have to do to meet this cost and to do it justice? And so in the face of such a natural question, a question that I'm sure we've asked a number of times ourselves, I thought that we would come to Jesus this morning or this afternoon, and we would ask him, what is the bare minimum to be your disciple? What is the bare minimum of following Jesus Christ? What does discipleship cost? As we come to our passage here, we see that Jesus, his heart beats for discipleship. His heart does not beat for crowds. So often we measure ministries by a totally faulty metric and that is how many people are there. Jesus looks around and he sees he's got a lot of people going with him. And you can imagine how that works. This man goes around, he preaches with such power and such conviction. And not only that, he heals people. He casts out demons. This is a miracle worker. You can see how the crowds would just naturally build, build, build, build up. And so Jesus can, you almost picture him in a sense, looking over his shoulder and thinking, there are a lot of people here. And he doesn't then say, wow, this is going great. This is, my ministry is thriving because of all these people. No. What God wants are not crowds, but disciples. God wants not crowds, but he wants individuals with real, personal, practical faith. And so Jesus looks at the crowd and far from commending himself and them on being such a mighty movement of people coming together. No, he wants to shake them up. And so as we come to verses 26 and 27, I offer you bare minimum discipleship in two simple steps. Let's look at the passage again. Verse 26. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, He cannot be my disciple. The first simple step in being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, hate your loved ones. Hate your loved ones. Now, we have problems with that, don't we? That's upsetting. Is there a single person who likes that command? If you do, actually, we should talk afterwards. That's not a good place to be. Not only is it upsetting, but frankly, it seems contradictory. This is the man who said that the second most important commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself and parentheses, except hate your loved ones. That seems contradictory, doesn't it? You would think loving your neighbor, doesn't that apply to my family? And so you picture, it's our reaction. It's probably the reaction of these people following him saying, why would he say such a thing? Why would he say something so upsetting? Why would he say something so shocking? It's because he's trying to shock us. He is shocking us on purpose because he wants us to learn something. He wants us to get a point and he wants that point to go deep into our hearts. What Jesus does is he takes the most important relationships in our lives And he says that we should hate them in comparison to our love and our loyalty to him. True discipleship means a commitment to Christ that completely surpasses our commitment to anyone else. Completely. surpasses it. Our love for Christ should so far surpass our love for other people that it looks like we hate our loved ones compared to how much we love him. That is his shocking point. True discipleship is marked out by a new love that stands supreme over every love that we have ever known. True discipleship chooses Christ over anyone else. Your second step for discipleship, verse 27, whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. So your second simple step in discipleship, prepare for certain death. Prepare for certain death. We already talked about this because Jesus has used this picture of carrying a cross back in chapter nine. But it's just as a reminder to you, this picture of carrying a cross, it's not manual labor. It's carrying the cross upon which you would be executed. That's what they made them do. Not only are we going to kill you in the worst way we can imagine, we will make you carry the cross to get there. and then we will execute you. Jesus says that following him is like carrying a cross to your place of execution, where the execution that awaited you was the most fearful, painful execution that they could come up with at the time. That's what discipleship is like. I want to commend this command to you because just this command will help you to evaluate so many preachers out in the world. I encourage you to take this command, bury it in your heart, And then from time to time, when you hear a popular book coming out, when you hear a preacher on TV or on the radio, and they're talking about following Jesus, I want you to ask yourself if what they describe as following Jesus is the same as what Jesus seems to be describing here. Does carrying a cross to your death sound like your best life now? Doesn't. Does a shameful execution sound like health, wealth, and prosperity? It doesn't. Just take this simple verse with you and you will be equipped to expose so much of what is preached as if it were Christianity out in the world. Just what Jesus describes as true discipleship. Jesus says that if you want to be my disciple, then follow me as one who was prepared to die and not just die a little death, not just a die in your sleep kind of death, to die the worst kind of death possible. Be prepared for that if you want to follow him. A disciple commits to Christ to the point of dying. We follow him, disciples, we follow him with the assurance that it means our death. Not good odds, the assurance that it means our death. And so every day that you find that you're still alive and you're still going and you're still doing well, I want you to recognize that that is a gift of God's grace to you. When things go really bad, there's this temptation to look at God and say, God, how could you do this to me? And I want you to remember here that Jesus is saying, no, following me is like getting ready to die. So if that day comes, and I don't wish it on any of us, but if that day comes, let there be no surprise because he told us it was coming. He said, following me is like getting ready to die. So don't be surprised if one day that comes true. True discipleship is willing to die the worst death possible for the Savior. True discipleship chooses Christ even over one's own life. And so Jesus, in verses 28 through 32, he gives two illustrations for how we should respond to these high, high standards of discipleship. The first is the illustration of a tower. The cost of building a tower. This is a straightforward one, isn't it? The idea is that before you begin a tower, you're supposed to consider well, whether you can finish the job. No one's surprised by that, right? I hope that's not too close to home for some of our handy types, you know, building all their things. He says, if you start and you cannot finish, Jesus describes the mockery that would come from people around who see, oh, that's a nice foundation you laid. Where's the rest of the building? He said, you will be mocked for not finishing. You will be mocked for your very public lack of planning. And so the point here is that you shouldn't start a task that you are not prepared to finish. The second illustration is the cost of a war. And this illustration, it's similar to the building of the tower, but it has a very important difference. It, too, asks you to plan ahead, to evaluate the cost of what is coming. The big difference, though, is that building a tower is a voluntary thing. What he's saying is build the tower, don't build the tower, but just make sure you've planned. In this case, The illustration has a king with 20,000 men on his way, one way or the other. And so you're the other king, the king with half the soldiers, and you are the one who now has to say, this war is coming. I need to figure out if I can handle this war. Don't get into a war that you are not prepared to finish, Jesus says. And if you can't handle the war, then you better make peace and you better make peace by any means possible. And so in verse 33, Jesus brings it all together. Look at the passage with me. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. He brings it all together with this one answer. What does discipleship cost? Everything. everything. Jesus says that true discipleship means renouncing all that you have. And practically what that looks like is that Christ will have full control over your entire life. full control over who you are, over all that you have, over all that you do. Every single part of it now belongs to Him. If you are His disciple, nothing belongs to you. If you are His disciple, it all belongs to Him. And He will do with it what He pleases. With your relationships, he will do what he pleases. With your possessions, he will do what he pleases. He will not ask for your vote. They are his to do with as he pleases. So what does it mean to be a bare minimum disciple? It means giving up everything for Christ. All of it is his. Discipleship transforms your relationships because every single relationship gets bumped down at least one slot when Jesus Christ takes the throne of your heart. What you're going to find, practically speaking, is he's not going to necessarily say discard all your relationships, but he is absolutely going to say reprioritize all of your relationships. Discipleship will transform your budget, because none of your money is yours anymore. You're not in charge of your budget even. So we go through life so often asking ourselves, how do I want to spend my money? The disciple asks a new question. How does God want me to spend this money? What does my master want me to do with his money? Discipleship transforms our time in just the same way as with our money. There's no more looking at your life and saying, these are my goals. This is what I want to do. It's the master's time. It all belongs to him. And so a disciple asked, how does God want me to spend my time? There is no part of a disciple's life that God does not claim for his own. Not a single square inch, it all belongs to him over which he cries out, mine, every single inch of your life. The only way to be a disciple is to be all in. All in. All in discipleship, it is the essence of the Christian life. That's why those verses 34 and 35, you may think they're somewhat random. Why are we talking about salt right now? But this is the point. You imagine your salt shaker at home, the salt there in, you imagine that you could sort of wave your hand over it and extract all the saltiness, all that flavor out of those little particles, I guess, at that point that are inside your salt shaker. And so you ask yourself of that in that salt container filled with unsalty salt, what is it good for? Nothing. Unsalty salt is good for nothing. And so in the same way, if you could extract all in discipleship from Christians, what would they be good for? Nothing. A so-called Christian who doesn't want to be a disciple is not a Christian. Every Christian is called to be a disciple. And if you are not a disciple of Christ, you should hear that Christ wants that to change. Christ wants you as his disciple. Christ calls you. He tells you, believe me, and then you will find forgiveness for your sins. Christ says, come and you will be a part of the royal family of the King of all creation. Christ says, come and I will give you salvation. I will give you hope. I will give you mercy. I will give you grace. I will give you love. Come be my disciple. But he calls you to come with your eyes wide open. He calls you to count the cost. Count the cost of being a disciple. Do not come to him unless you intend to give everything that you have for him. That includes your dreams. That includes your goals and your desires. That includes your livelihood. That includes your finances. That includes your recreation. That includes your relationships. All of it. Intend to give him all of it. You don't have to think it's easy. You don't have to have a plan for every day and how it's going to work out. But if you are going to come to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, come planning to give everything. Don't start out on this road only to give it up later because it turned out the cost was more than you were willing to give. There is no partial credit for halfway disciples. None. Discipleship demands everything. And I know that's intimidating. But you also have to count the cost of not being his disciple. Because just like his illustration, there is a king coming. There is a king coming, and if you are not his disciple, he counts you as his enemy. And he comes with a power too great for you to possibly withstand. And so, while being a disciple sounds incredibly costly, and it is, not being a disciple will cost you far more. Because judgment is real. Because hell is real. So make peace with the king while he is still a great way off. And this teaching, it's also a reminder to those of us who are already disciples, because over that long track of the Christian life, sometimes our zeal fades, doesn't it? You might be able to look back and say, man, 2010 to 2015, those were good years. I was faithful, I was zealous, I was witnessing, I was doing all these things that I would think come with a healthy Christian life, but then I don't know where it happened, but my passion started to cool. And maybe you can't even put your finger on it, but at some point you started withholding things from Christ. It wasn't all His anymore. It was 99% His. 95% his 90 80 70 down on the line and there suddenly you don't know how you got there but far from giving him your heart mind soul and strength you realize your discipleship is a mess of compromises and actually rebellion Christ calls you to come back Christ calls you to come back. He is gracious, and he is gracious to forgive. He is gracious to restore. And where we are weak, he is strong. And where we fail, believe me, he is ready to help. So come back, wayward disciple, come back. Return to that conviction that body and soul, both in life and death, you are not your own, but belong to your faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. If you have begun to put down your cross, then Christ says, pick it back up. The only way to follow Christ is all the way. So let this be your heart's conviction every minute, every hour, every day. And we should close with one important, very important question. How is any of this even possible? Because if you are a Christian of any conscience, you should probably feel a little bit beat down right now. Because you look at your life and you say, I haven't given it all. I'm not giving that. I'm not doing that. It's not hard to make Christians feel guilty when you're wielding the law of God's word. So we ask ourselves, how is it even possible to live and love and die like Christ is talking about? Because there is a very legitimate fear that you're looking at a task that's simply impossible, so why even bother? Do you feel that tugging at your heart? Why even start a job I know I can't do? But don't jump to conclusions yet. Follow me just a little bit longer. Start with what Christ has done before you try and figure out how you're going to do your part. Start with what Christ has done, because what has Christ done for his disciples? Is it the bare minimum? No! No, he has made the guilty righteous. He has made the filthy and wicked clean. The rebels have been reconciled. In Christ, the dead and Adam have new life in him. Oh, far from the bare minimum. Because of Christ, the children of God are new creations. They are objectively different than they used to be. Start with what He has done. And once you have your heart soaking in that for a little bit, then consider how He has equipped you. Because there was a time where, before Christ, you were powerless to do anything for Him, to obey Him, to follow Him, to worship Him, to honor Him. You were powerless. But as a new creation in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit indwelling you. That is not powerlessness. God himself has lent his power to your persevering in the faith. He has empowered you. He has enabled you. Where once it was impossible, now by the Holy Spirit, you can follow Christ. You can. He's given you what you need. And where once you found your heart was cold because there was no motivation, you didn't want to do anything for the Lord, After Christ, the love of heaven has showered down upon you. This flood of God's love has drenched your heart. And so even the dullest, hardest heart finds itself after soaking in that love, softening, stirring up. You feel that spark starting to take flame. Love like that just hits your heart and it makes you want to love him back. Where once you had no motive, now you have the love of God poured out upon you. And once you understand what Christ has done, and once you understand how he has equipped you, I want you to look ahead. And I want you to look ahead to the hope that we all are marching toward. Because Christians don't go towards a good odds future, they go towards a certain hope, a certain future. They bear up under a cross because on the other side of the cross is glory. They bear up under the sorrow and under the affliction and eager anticipation of the peace and the paradise that awaits them on the other side. It is possible to live for Him because He lived for you. It is possible to love Him because He loved you. It is possible to die for Him because He died for you. And so, if you would be a disciple of Christ, know, hear it clearly, that Christ demands your all. He deserves your all, so don't show up with anything less than your intent to give every single thing you can for the rest of your life. The bare minimum cost of discipleship is everything you have. Don't be mistaken about that. But one day you are going to find that everything you have was a paltry price to pay for everything you gained in Jesus Christ. The Savior bids you to come. Come and be his disciple. Count the cost, but come. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for making disciples out of people like us. We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ who lived and loved and died for us. And we pray right now that those who are far from you would hear the call to come and be a disciple and obey. We pray that they would come near. We pray that you would draw them. We pray that you would encourage them and equip them and bless them. For those of us who find ourselves just dwelling on our guilt because of our failed discipleship, Lord, pour out your grace on them. In your kindness, give them the gift of repentance. And by your Holy Spirit, Lord, prosper them in being the kind of disciple that Jesus calls us to be. Father, it's a task that we almost cannot even consider. It makes our knees shake. But we pray that you would help us. And even in saying that, Lord, we know you will be faithful too. Thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We hope that you were edified by this message. For additional sermons as well as information on giving to the ministry of Grace Community Church, please visit us online at gracenevada.com. That's gracenevada.com.