9-4-19 - Counting the Cost

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

Count the cost before you build, whether it’s a structure, a business, or your faith life. In his pep talk to would-be disciples, Jesus tells them how radically they need to reorder their priorities if they’re going to follow him, and then gives an example: “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'”

We might find this teaching puzzling. Many of us, growing up in prosperous, Western societies, in which Christianity is a known quantity, if not closely observed, have encountered little cost to following Christ. Giving up a Sunday morning or a portion of our income is not so pricey.

It was much more costly for Jesus’ immediate disciples and the crowds who followed him. Terrorized by the occupying Romans, oppressed by the temple leadership, the average citizen of Jesus’ place and time did well to keep his head low and stay out of trouble. Leaving your livelihood and family to publicly identify with an itinerant teacher who drew a fair amount of attention, much of it suspicious, was not a recipe for a quiet life. Those who affiliated with Jesus risked their comfort, work, family relationships – and often their lives.

Some people in the world now do engage such risks to claim allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord. I read about an Arab convert to Christianity who was ostracized by his Muslim family for being too “Western,” and by the Christians he met as being too “Muslim.” Even people in this country can give grave offense to their own families and religious traditions when they convert, or be ridiculed and minimized.

Does it cost you anything to publicly identify as a Christ-follower? 

Does it cause a problem with your job? Your family? Your social circle? Do people think you’re foolish?
What are the things that pull you away from God-life?
We might offer those to God and ask the Spirit to help us re-order what counts.
Do you feel a pull to making this relationship more central in your life? What would that look like?

Maybe, for us, relationship is a better analogy than architecture. What if we translated Jesus’ example: Who of you, intending to commit to a relationship, does not first sit down and assess feelings, chemistry, compatibility, to see whether there’s enough to engage it? Otherwise, when you’ve told all your friends “This is the one!” and then you break up, all who see it will begin to ridicule you, saying, "They started hot, but sure flickered out in a hurry!"

Fact is, few people have a big conversion, start following Christ and keep going. Many of us come on strong, get distracted or disappointed, wander off, wander back, get complacent again, often for years or decades. And at some point we stop wandering off – we keep moving closer, into knowing and being known. Our priorities of how we spend our time, money and love shift, open up. We keep choosing God, coming closer. Maybe if we’d sat down and counted the cost, we wouldn’t have done it – but now, whatever cost there is, doesn’t seem like a cost at all. More like a gift.

That’s my prayer for you today.

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