Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Cost of Discipleship

Phillippians 3:7 "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." (NASB)




The German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book called The Cost of Discipleship. In one of the most lucid treatments I have read on the topic, he essentially said that that cost of discipleship to Christ is our very lives. This is one of the verses that he used; the apostle Paul reflects on the cost to himself personally.



In verses 4-6 of this chapter, he describes his earthly qualifications and awards. He was the perfect religious man under Hebrew law, zealous in his own pursuit of God, even to the point of his pursuit of the perceived heretical "wayists," the followers of Christ. He was a student of Gameliel, one of the greatest Hebrew scholars of all time. He spoke at least 7 languages fluently. He had the equivalent today in two university doctorates, and a master's certificate in a trade (tent-making). (The master's certificate meant he could teach apprentices, and he did - Pricilla and Aquilla.) After all that acheivement, verse 7 says that he counted it all as a loss for the sake of following Christ. Verse 8 says that he in fact considered these things as common garbage, to be thrown away to do so, culminating in verse 10 that says, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."



Let us consider for a moment what Paul has said. First, it is "that I may know Him." This does not refer to mere salvation, but it says "and the power of His resurrection." John 3:16 says that "God SO loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life." Not only is he talking about the concept of quanitiy, that is, of living forever, but of quality, in the sense of eternal vigour and vitality! And he even talks about how we get there; this is the part that is difficult. "...and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death." This is not something that our old nature wants to hear. And yet, it is the only way we can be trained to walk in His glorious new Life, our new and heavenly nature.



This culminates in verse 14, which says, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." In verse 13, he talks about how we need to forget the past and reach toward our future, toward what we are becoming in Him. Many times, we think this can be done without suffering and pain, but this is not so, according to Paul, and according to Deitrich Bonhoeffer. The cost of our discipleship, or as I prefer to think of it, our on-the-job training, is our very own life. Steve Camp wrote a song that perfectly expresses this in the line: "To give all that we are / For all that He is / This is the Gospel according to Jesus."



Jesus came, it says in the gospel of John, that we might have LIFE, and that we might have it more abundantly. As we partake of His sufferings, that is as we choose to die to our own will and yield our will to Him, we gain entrance into that life. Brothers and sisters, let us be those who will count our lives as a loss, declaring it to be garbage compared to walking in the newness of Life Jesus brings.



Prayer: Heavenly Father, I yield my will to you. Lord, take this mess I call my life and exchange it moment by moment for His glorious and heavenly life. Let me be filled with heavenly vigour and vitality, here on Earth, according to your will, which is carried out in Heaven. Energize me to press on toward that upward call in Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.
 
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"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
-John 8:32 (NASB)

1 comment:

Brad Hirsch said...

Thanks, Gerry...much food for thought. Well done. I am praying the prayer as well. God bless.

-brad hirsch