September 7, 2025

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TEXT: Luke 14:25-33

TOPIC: The Cost of Discipleship

SERMON SUMMARY:

Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?

A powerful African preacher once stood before an affluent congregation in Northern Virginia and asked a piercing question: "Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?" The silence was deafening. This question cuts to the heart of what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

In Luke 14, Jesus presents three challenging conditions for discipleship that demand we examine our priorities:

First, Jesus must come before family. Using strong Jewish hyperbole, Jesus says we must "hate" father and mother to follow Him. This doesn't negate our biblical responsibilities to honor parents or care for children, but establishes that our commitment to Christ must supersede even our deepest family bonds.

Second, we must carry our cross. Following Jesus requires sacrificing our own ambitions, hopes, and plans that don't align with God's calling. Like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and countless modern martyrs—including over 7,000 Nigerian Christians killed this year for their faith—we must be willing to give up everything, even our lives.

Third, we must renounce worldly possessions. This isn't a call to literal poverty for all believers, but a demand that Jesus' plans take priority over our pursuit of material security. We often think we must provide for ourselves, but God whispers back: "That would be me. I will."

The Christian ideal, as G.K. Chesterton observed, "has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried." Yet when we truly place Jesus first—before family, self, and possessions—we discover something remarkable: He is better at caring for these things than we are.

The cost of discipleship isn't ultimately about loss—it's about freedom. Freedom from the world's desperate scrambling for control and security. When we say "with all that I am and all that I have, I honor you," we find the greatest freedom of all.