How Serious Is Your Church About Missions? Part 4 of 6 Counting the Cost

The church must emphasize the teachings of Christ in evangelistic and discipleship-based activities to greatly increase its missionary efforts. Many Christians would say they are doing this, but it is clear that the efforts to reach the unreached in the world are minimal, and very few Christians are willing to go. What must happen for change to occur is a reexamination of scripture in light of the life of a believer. We must bring attention to the high call of following Christ and the sacrificial life Christians are to live. When trying to enact cultural Christian change, it is essential to Biblically assess how someone becomes a disciple of Christ. Luke 14 is perhaps the most straightforward description of Christ’s expectations for being His disciple. What is essential to bring about this change is to demonstrate the depth of sacrificial living Christ expects of His followers. For us to properly understand this passage, modern Christians must wrestle with their cultural realities and see this passage as if they were sitting at the feet of Jesus as He spoke. For example, taking up your cross would have been seen as a death sentence to a first-century audience. Do we see following Christ this seriously? Then consider that Christians living in America have the most comfortable lives in the history of the world. So, we must wrestle through this passage. Please stop and take a few moments to read Luke 14:25-33. 

For real change to occur in the church, Christians must see the significance of the high call of being a disciple of Christ and count the cost. This is what Jesus communicated to His audience. He shared some of the most challenging realities with them and asked them to consider if they genuinely wanted to follow Him. When you consider what Jesus asks of them, telling them to count the cost makes perfect sense. He told them in several passionate ways: this is what it looks like to be my disciple and make sure that you consider the arduous journey ahead. This was an entry-level conversation about being a follower of Christ. Is there any possible way to believe this is what is happening in the average church today? It is not likely, considering what most American Christians spend their time, money, and effort on. The purpose of this teaching was to challenge people to view all the things in their lives that they draw comfort from and see if they would be willing to sacrifice them to follow Christ. This is a consistent theme in the New Testament. In our context, it is clear that very few people follow through with sacrificing a safe and secure existence for those who have never heard the gospel.  

The greatest evidence for sincerity in any area of life is following through with what someone claims is important. At the core of being an evangelical is the idea that Christians have the only message that will lead to man’s salvation and that all Christians are responsible for getting that message out to the world. The church must address the significant gap between someone saying they are a Christian and comparing their actions with the clear teachings of Christ. Is your church doing this? Jesus tells us in verse 35 that life is meaningless aside from faithfully and sacrificially following after Him. Christ did not mince words, and the church must emphasize His call to live sacrificially. Christians are called to count the cost and see the value of following after Jesus as supremely more valuable than anything else. 

As always, we must start with ourselves and count the cost. How are you living out your life of faith? Have you counted the cost of following Christ, and are you willing to do anything for His glory? How about your church? Does your church gathering discuss the disconnect between the low support for missions and what Jesus called us to do? Try to start the conversation with your church and with other Christians you know. More must be done to get Christians to the unreached peoples of the world. If you genuinely desire to see the nations reached for the sake of the gospel, then please let this be the day that you will be committed to doing something different about it.