Counting the Cost

Counting the cost – what it means to be a Christian….

“Everyone therefore, who shall confess Me before before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33).

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth: I did not come to bring peace; but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” (Matthew 10: 34-35).

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. For he who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:36-39).

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.” (John 15:18).

Through the years I have heard different ideas of what a Christian is. I hold to two criteria in that determination. One is that the person should have had some significant point of time or origin in which he or she personally made a commitment to Christ, accepting Him as Lord and Savior. The second is that there should be an expectation of the very real return of Jesus Christ…his Second Coming. Interestingly, though, I have found that a number of professing believers don’t take his Second Coming literally, but rather in a figurative way.

I bring that up because it almost seems as everyone in America should be a Christian the way some talk. Our current president, ironically had it right, I think, when he said we are not a Christian nation. That does not mean there are no Christians here. But alas, it seems that those of the Christian faith are of the smallest group now. Maybe I am wrong? When we hear our friends and coworkers take the Lord’s name in vain or crack jokes about Christians and mock God, are we following along? Do we seem to be nodding in agreement with their words? Truly we need to be careful to understand when it is the proper time to lift up the name of Christ in the presence of nonbelievers.

I had to think about what our Lord meant by a sword. We often refer to our bibles as the sword when it comes to spiritual armament. I can see the scriptures naturally causing a division, even among household members. I am betting that few of us have all Christian members in our household. Truly, our love for God must supersede the love we have for others in our lives. I have heard the saying go something like…God, family, country. In any case, God is to be first in our lives.

The political correctness in our country, and wanting so badly to be liked by our neighboring countries, has led us down a path of lost values as a people. As Christians, we should not be surprised when we find that those of the world system hate us. Why not? They hated Christ Jesus first. In counting the cost, what has it cost our country to turn away from God who has graciously blessed it?

So how do we handle these situations? Here are some thoughts.

First, don’t deny Christ in attitude, action or word before either family, friend, or enemy.

Second, pray for your family while there is still time. Pray that someone other than yourself will have the opportunity to speak to them and finally, continue to be faithful.

Being a Christian after all, really is not easy. You have to count the cost. Counting the cost is a little like counting your blessings. It's sort of the opposite, but it brings you back into the reality of what being a Christian should mean.

What does being a Christian mean for you? That is counting the cost.

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