The Cost of Discipleship: Can You Really Follow Jesus?

The Cost of Discipleship: Can You Really Follow Jesus? | Momentum | Efficient Church

Introduction

You're walking behind Jesus, there's a crowd, everyone's moving forward. And then he turns around and says something you don't want to hear. "If anyone comes to me, and doesn't disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can't be my disciple." Luke 14:26. In this Momentum sermon, the preacher doesn't try to soften it. He reminds us up front: Jesus didn't come to tell you what you want to hear. Scripture doesn't offer you a feel-good life. It tells you the truth, and sometimes that stings.

We all struggle to ask for help. The preacher's wife, Laurence, is a marriage and family counselor: she sees couples come to her too late. Nations struggle too, to admit they're declining. So when it comes to admitting we need a Savior (someone to save us because we're powerless to save ourselves), it's even harder. There's a resistance in us, a pride that keeps us from crying out for help. And that's exactly the resistance Jesus confronts, in Luke 14:25-35.

The question in this passage is simple, and it concerns you today: how do you follow Jesus? The answer comes in two parts. By placing him above everything. And because he alone can carry you all the way through.

Sermon Outline

1. Following Jesus means placing him above everything (Luke 14:26-27)

The context is the key: since Luke 9:51, Jesus has "set his face" to go up to Jerusalem, where he will give his life. Great crowds are traveling with him toward that cross.
The verb "hate" here doesn't mean the hatred of a cult or a visceral loathing. Scripture calls us everywhere to love our parents and even our enemies. Here it's a strong verb of radical preference, the same way it's written that God loved Jacob and hated Esau, meaning he preferred Jacob.
Following Jesus means preferring him over your natural allegiances: parents, spouse, children, friends, even your own life. That creates a real conflict of loyalty, in your relationships, your values, your choices, how you use your time, your energy, your money.
"Whoever wants Christ halfway doesn't have him at all," Calvin reminded us. You can't split the difference between the life Jesus gives and a life you try to build without him.

2. Follow Jesus, because he alone can carry you all the way through (Luke 14:28-32)

Both parables (the tower and the king) point to the same thing: your powerlessness. The first man can't finish his tower. The second is too weak to win his war. This isn't a call to calculate whether you're strong enough; it's a statement of your inability.
The parable of the tower attacks your presumption: you think you can build your own salvation. Look at what's on your table: you don't have the materials to finish the job.
The parable of the king attacks your casualness: "Twenty thousand men should do it, I'll go it alone." No. If the great King coming toward you is the thrice-holy God, what credible mediator could you possibly send, other than Jesus himself?
Peter tried to make it through in his own strength, and he failed. A disciple is someone who sits down, thinks it through, admits he needs Jesus, and carries his cross: the sign of his death to his own presumption.

3. The lesson: have salt, have courage (Luke 14:33-35)

"So therefore whoever of you who doesn't renounce all that he has, he can't be my disciple." Verse 33: this is the response of a disciple who has understood his need for a Savior.
Salt that has lost its flavor is good for nothing but to be thrown out. Our Western world, which rejects anything radical, undivided, total, has become tasteless.
It desperately needs flavor: the courage to say, in a world that doesn't see it and doesn't want it, "we need a Savior."
That courage starts with ordinary men and women willing to say, out loud: "I cannot save myself."

Key Takeaways

Jesus doesn't tell you what you want to hear. His call is radical because what's at stake (your salvation) is radical.
"Hate" means to prefer above all else. It's not about despising the people you love. It's refusing to let anything come before Jesus.
You don't have what it takes on your own table. Tower or war, your powerlessness is the starting point. Sit down, face it.
Carrying your cross means giving up trying to save yourself. It means hiding in the shadow of Jesus, walking step by step in his footsteps.
Your flavor is your Savior. In a tasteless world, the church has the courage to say what the world doesn't want to hear.

Personal Application

What concrete allegiance (family, friendship, reputation, comfort, money, plans) still comes before Jesus in your life this week? Name it.
Where are you trying to split the difference between Jesus and "the life you're building without him"? Where is your half-step?
What "material" are you still counting on for your tower: your morality, your discipline, your Christian past, your good intentions? Are you ready to sit down and admit it isn't enough?
When was the last time you told someone in your life, out loud: "I cannot save myself, I need Jesus"? Who could hear that from you this week?
Where have you lost your flavor? Where has your speech lined up with the surrounding relativism just to avoid friction? Ask God for courage, not aggression, courage.

Scriptures Referenced

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to "hate" your father and mother in Luke 14:26?

In the biblical context, the strong verb Jesus uses means to radically prefer. Scripture calls us everywhere to love and honor our parents, and even our enemies. Here, Jesus is saying that no human allegiance (parent, spouse, child, friend, or even your own life) can come before him. It's a call to place him above everything, not to despise the people you love.

Why does Jesus talk about building a tower and a king going to war?

Both parables point to the same thing: your powerlessness. The first man can't finish his tower, the second can't win his battle. Jesus isn't asking you to calculate whether you're strong enough to follow him. He's showing you that you aren't, and that he alone can carry you all the way through, to peace with God.

What does "carrying your cross" actually look like today?

In the first century, a person carrying their cross was walking to their death. Carrying your cross means giving up any claim to save yourself, and giving up every other allegiance that competes with Jesus. It means hiding in his shadow, depending on him step by step, and accepting the conflicts of loyalty that creates in your relationships, your time, your finances, your values.

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