The Cost of Following

As they were traveling on the road someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Then he said to another, “Follow me.” “Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.” But he told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”

Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9: 57-62 CSB

It is my experience that most of us, particularly in the United States, have a transactional relationship with God. Despite our piety somewhere unspoken within our deeply held beliefs we have particular expectations of him in return. 

These unspoken expectations often come up in a crisis like during a divorce, a loss of a job, or a death in the family. The cry is similar, “But why God, I did my part?!” “I go to church, I held onto sexual purity, I donate money, how could this happen to me?!”  Our prayers often cater around these sorts of expectations, “What school should I go to?” “What job should I work?” “Where should I live?” “Can you help me get a car?”  There’s nothing wrong with these request, and of course better to ask God than not ask (1 Peter 5:7), but at the same time, they’re fundamentally consumer choice projected onto spirituality. The fastest growing “churches” in the world are those that broadcast this as the gospel: “Be faithful to God and he will reward you abundantly, with wealth, love, and happiness.” 

C.S. Lewis once famously quipped at this take, “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”

The book of Job is even better. 

This insidious undercurrent to our religious beliefs has conflated the American Dream with the Gospel message, and it inevitably leads to despair. I’ve held the hand of too many who are poor, tired, lost, depressed, divorced, cheated on, bereaved, despite their faithfulness to working hard and following the proper guidances of our culture to know this. “Why me, what did I do wrong” is the oft repeated refrain. 

You didn’t. It’s the promise that’s wrong. A horrible lie.

Joseph didn’t do anything wrong when he was sold into slavery and shipped off to Egypt. 

The Disciples didn’t do anything wrong when most of them were brutally martyred. 

The Saints through history didn’t do anything wrong when they were hostilely confronted by power, governments, and society. 

It’s that the Gospel has never said, follow me, and you’ll be rich, happy, and comfortable. Ever. 

Following him always leads to the cross. It always leads to death. It’s a death to self, death to desire, death to ambition and death to personal Glory. 

Following him leads to war against Satan, and Satan doesn’t go down easily. 

But, just like our Lord, when we do that, then, and only then, does the Spirit give real and true life. The type that money, status, houses, and prosperity couldn’t dream of affording. It’s the power to overcome Satan and his whole illusion he has cast over the world. 

The cost is high, but not doing so is worse. 

As for me and my house, we choose the path that leads to real life.