A Theological Reflection

When Following Jesus Costs Something

A Reflection on Baptism, Discipleship, and Counting the Cost

Saved by grace. Called to follow. Count the cost.

There is something I have been wrestling with for some time.

For several years, we at JICF have sent some of our leaders to the Church Leaders Conference (CLC) at Watermark Community Church in Dallas. CLC is a valuable place for church leaders to be refreshed, equipped, encouraged, and exposed to practical ministry experience.¹ I am grateful for opportunities like this. We need to learn. We need to become better leaders. We need to become better shepherds. We need to learn how to serve the church well.

But in recent years, another question has been increasingly difficult for me to ignore:

Are we teaching our young leaders how to lead a church without teaching them sufficiently how to follow Jesus when following Him becomes costly?

That question has led me to think about baptism.

Not because I think we should make baptism difficult.

Not because I think we should create another examination that people must pass before they are allowed into the water.

But because I wonder whether, in an age of easy beliefism, we have sometimes forgotten what we are actually asking a person to say when they are baptized.

When someone is baptized, we celebrate that they have put their faith in Jesus Christ.

But baptism is also a public declaration:

Jesus is Lord.

And if Jesus is Lord, then following Him will sometimes cost us something.

The question is not whether the cost will be dramatic.

The question is whether we are willing to obey Him when there is a cost.

The cost of discipleship is not the price we pay to be saved. Jesus has already paid that price. Salvation is God's gift, received by grace through faith. But the Christ who freely saves us also calls us to follow Him—and Jesus Himself tells prospective disciples to count the cost of doing so.²⁰

This reflection is therefore not an argument for delaying baptism until someone has proved himself worthy. Nor is it an argument for making baptism easier. It is my attempt to wrestle with a tension I increasingly feel: if salvation is freely received by faith and baptism is the believer's response of obedience, where and how do we teach Jesus' equally clear command to count the cost of following Him?

I first began asking this question about the young leaders we are developing. But the more I have wrestled with it, the more I realize that the question belongs to all of us. Costly discipleship is not merely a leadership competency. It is part of what it means for every believer to follow Jesus.

The Baptism Dilemma¶

The early church appears to have understood this very differently from the way many of us experience Christianity today.

One of the earliest detailed descriptions we have of Christian preparation for baptism comes from the document traditionally known as the Apostolic Tradition, associated with Hippolytus of Rome and generally dated to the early third century. The historical details of the document are complicated, and it should not be treated as a description of what every Christian church everywhere did. But it gives us a remarkable glimpse into one early Christian tradition.²

Those preparing for baptism were not simply asked whether they knew enough Christian doctrine.

Their lives were examined.

The Apostolic Tradition describes a period in which catechumens were taught the Christian faith and the Christian way of life. It speaks of three years as hearers of the word, but then immediately qualifies that period by saying that if someone was zealous and persevered well, "it is not the time but his character that is decisive."³

That sentence catches my attention.

The early church's practice is not Scripture, nor am I suggesting that its three-year catechumenate should become our model. But its seriousness forces me to ask whether we have sometimes moved too far in the opposite direction.

The goal was not to make people wait three years because three years was a magic number.

The goal was to see whether the person was actually beginning to live as a follower of Christ.

The church looked at how candidates lived. It asked about their conduct, their relationships, their good works, and, in some cases, even their occupations. Certain professions and practices were considered incompatible with Christian discipleship and had to be abandoned.⁴

In other words, the question was not merely:

"Do you believe?"

It was also:

"Is your belief beginning to change the way you live?"

That is a very uncomfortable question for the modern church.

What If Saying "Jesus Is Lord" Could Cost You Your Life?¶

Perhaps one reason the early church treated baptism with such seriousness was that publicly identifying yourself as a Christian could have consequences that are difficult for many of us to imagine.

We sometimes read the New Testament as though becoming a Christian were primarily a private decision about what I believe.

For many early Christians, it was not private at all.

To say "Jesus is Lord" was to declare allegiance to someone other than the powers and authorities around them.

There were periods when Christians faced imprisonment, violence, social exclusion, and death because of their faith.

That does not mean faithfulness always requires making baptism as public or dangerous as possible. In places hostile to Christianity, believers may be baptized quietly or in secret because public exposure could endanger not only them but also their families. Costly discipleship is not reckless discipleship. We do not prove our allegiance to Christ by manufacturing danger.

Imagine coming to the waters of baptism knowing that your decision to follow Jesus could eventually cost you your livelihood, your family, your freedom---or even your life.

We may be tempted to think that the early church made baptism difficult.

Perhaps the better question is:

What if the church was simply helping people understand the seriousness of the decision they were making?

The issue was not:

"Are you good enough to be baptized?"

None of us is good enough.

The issue was:

"Do you understand what it means to say that Jesus is Lord, and are you prepared to follow Him?"

Jesus Himself Said: Count the Cost¶

Jesus did not hide the cost of discipleship.

In fact, He deliberately warned people about it.

In Luke 14, Jesus tells His hearers to think carefully before becoming His disciples.

He uses the example of someone who wants to build a tower. The person first sits down and estimates the cost, because otherwise he may begin building and not be able to finish.⁵

Then Jesus uses another example: a king considering whether he has enough strength to go to war against another king.

And then Jesus brings the point home:

"In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples."⁶

This is not an invitation to casual Christianity.

Jesus is not saying:

"Believe in Me, and everything will become easier."

He is saying:

Count the cost.

There are immediate costs to following Jesus.

We surrender our right to make ourselves the ultimate authority.

We surrender our claim to live entirely for ourselves.

We may have to surrender ambitions that compete with God's calling.

We may have to change relationships.

We may have to change our priorities.

We may have to give up something that we value.

And Jesus tells us to count that cost before we follow Him.

At the same time, there is another truth.

We can count the cost without knowing exactly what the future cost will be.

We know that following Jesus may cost us something.

We do not necessarily know what He will ask of us tomorrow.

The cost is known in principle, but not always in detail.

Not Looking for Suffering¶

This distinction is important.

Costly discipleship does not mean that Christians should go looking for suffering.

We do not seek persecution.

We do not manufacture hardship to prove that our faith is genuine.

We do not need to find a dangerous place simply so that we can say that we have suffered for Jesus.

Jesus did not seek the cross because suffering itself was desirable.

We see this most clearly in Gethsemane.

Jesus prayed:

"My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me."⁷

Jesus knew what was coming. He did not pretend that it would be easy.

And yet He prayed:

"Yet not as I will, but as you will."⁸

This, perhaps, is the heart of costly discipleship.

We do not choose suffering. We choose Christ.

And when obedience becomes costly, we say:

"Not my will, but Yours be done."

Jim Elliot Did Not Go to Ecuador to Die¶

When we talk about costly discipleship, it is tempting to look for the most dramatic examples.

Jim Elliot is one of the examples that comes to my mind.

But I think we can misunderstand his story if we remember him primarily as a martyr.

I do not believe Jim Elliot went to Ecuador because he wanted to die.

He went because he believed God had called him to bring the gospel to people who had not heard it.

He obeyed.

His death came as a consequence of that obedience.

The story could have been different.

God could have protected him. He could have lived another fifty years. He could have returned from Ecuador and spent the rest of his life making disciples, raising a family, teaching Scripture, and serving the church.

Would his obedience have been less valuable if he had lived?

Of course not.

His martyrdom made his story famous. His obedience made his life faithful.

That distinction matters.

The point of Jim Elliot's life is not that we should seek a dramatic death.

The point is that he was willing to follow where he believed Christ was leading him, without knowing what the outcome would be.

That is the kind of discipleship I believe Jesus calls us to.

There Are Many Jim Elliots Whose Names We Will Never Know¶

And this is where I have another thought.

Perhaps we have too narrow a definition of a Christian hero.

We remember the missionaries whose stories were published.

We remember the martyrs whose deaths were recorded.

We remember pastors whose books became classics.

We remember people whose names became attached to movements.

But there are many, many followers of Jesus whose names we will never know.

They followed Jesus quietly.

They suffered quietly.

They made disciples quietly.

Some lost their families.

Some lost their livelihoods.

Some lost their freedom.

Some lost their lives.

And many simply made disciples who made disciples who made disciples.

Their names may never appear in our Christian history books.

But they are not unknown to God.

Paul describes this multiplication beautifully when he tells Timothy:

"And the things you have heard me say ... entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others."⁹

Paul → Timothy → reliable people → others.

Four generations of disciples.

No celebrity required.

No spotlight required.

Just faithfulness.

Perhaps the Kingdom of God is advanced far more by these quiet acts of faithfulness than we will ever know.

Costly Discipleship Does Not Always Look Dramatic¶

This is important to me because I don't want to create another unhealthy definition of sacrifice.

If we only talk about martyrs, missionaries, or people who give up everything, we may unintentionally make ordinary Christians think:

"I have never made a dramatic sacrifice, so perhaps I am not really following Jesus."

I don't think that is the point.

There are followers of Jesus who make much quieter sacrifices.

Someone may choose a less lucrative career because a demanding job requires constant travel and leaves little opportunity to build meaningful relationships or make disciples.

Someone may turn down a promotion because it would consume the time and energy they believe God has given them to invest in people.

Someone may choose to remain in a particular city rather than pursue a more prestigious opportunity somewhere else.

Someone may deliberately make themselves available to international students who have come to study far from their homes.

Someone may open their home every week.

Someone may give away money that could have been used for personal comfort.

Someone may choose presence over convenience.

Someone may choose people over status.

These sacrifices will probably never make the news.

Nobody will call them martyrs.

But they can still be costly.

I know of a young professional who made a significant career decision because he wanted to be more present in his community and more available to make disciples. His previous work required frequent travel between cities. The new path offered less travel and perhaps less financial upside, but it gave him something he valued more: the ability to invest deeply in people where God had placed him.

I find that kind of decision deeply challenging.

Not because it is as dramatic as giving one's life.

It isn't.

But because it reminds me that costly discipleship can be measured in ordinary decisions.

What Is "Big" and What Is "Small"?¶

Perhaps "big" and "small" sacrifices are not absolute categories.

They depend on the person, the circumstances, the time, and the place in which God has placed us.

Paul says in Acts 17 that God determines the times and places in which people live so that they might seek Him.¹⁰

That makes me wonder whether discipleship sometimes begins with a very simple question:

Why has God placed me here?

Why this city?

Why this workplace?

Why this neighborhood?

Why these relationships?

Why this generation?

Why these particular opportunities?

Sometimes obedience means going.

Sometimes obedience means staying.

Sometimes obedience means giving something up so that we can become more available to people.

Sometimes the sacrifice is large.

Sometimes it appears very small.

But Jesus tells us:

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much."¹¹

The Kingdom of God does not only advance through spectacular acts of courage.

It also advances through thousands of ordinary acts of faithfulness.

Sometimes the Cost Is Your Family¶

For some of our friends who come from Muslim backgrounds, the cost of following Jesus can be immediate and deeply personal.

I know of someone whose family had carefully shaped his religious upbringing. His education, his family, his community, and his identity were all deeply connected to Islam.

Then he encountered Jesus.

He came to believe that Jesus is the Christ and decided to follow Him.

When his family discovered that he had placed his faith in Christ rather than remaining within the faith in which he had been raised, they rejected him.

Think about that for a moment.

The cost of discipleship was not theoretical.

It was not a seminar discussion.

It was not an illustration in a sermon.

It was his family.

Jesus warned us that this could happen:

"Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me."¹²

For someone who has actually experienced rejection from his family because he follows Jesus, those words are not abstract theology.

They are costly.

This is one reason I hesitate when Christianity is reduced to simply making a decision to "accept Jesus."

Yes, we must believe.

Yes, salvation is by grace.

Yes, Jesus invites us to come to Him.

But Jesus also says:

Count the cost.

We Are Living in an Age of Easy Beliefism¶

This is where my concern becomes more personal.

I wonder whether, in many parts of the Christian world, we have entered an age of easy beliefism.

I don't mean that believing in Jesus is easy.

I mean that we have sometimes separated believing in Jesus from following Jesus.

We invite people to make a decision.

We ask them to pray a prayer.

We celebrate their baptism.

We tell them that Jesus loves them.

All of these things can be good and true.

But somewhere along the way, we may have forgotten to ask the harder question:

Are you willing to follow Him?

Not merely believe in Him.

Not merely attend church.

Not merely call yourself a Christian.

Follow Him.

Even when it costs something.

This is why the early church's approach to baptism challenges me.

They did not simply want to know whether someone could repeat the right answers.

They wanted to know whether the person was entering into a new way of life.

Perhaps we need to recover that seriousness without recreating a rigid institution around baptism.

But Persecution Has Not Disappeared¶

I also want to be careful here.

When I speak about Christianity becoming comfortable, I am speaking primarily about much of the Christian experience that I see around me.

I do not want to imply that persecution has disappeared from the world.

It has not.

There are brothers and sisters in Christ today for whom following Jesus is genuinely dangerous.

Christians in places such as Iran, Afghanistan, China, North Korea, and many other countries continue to face serious pressure and persecution. Open Doors' 2026 World Watch List places Iran, Afghanistan, and China among the 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution, with North Korea ranked first.¹³

These are not stories from a century ago.

They are happening now.

And that is why I have sometimes wondered whether we should expose some of our young leaders to the reality of the persecuted church---not so that they can experience persecution as some kind of spiritual adventure, and certainly not because we should seek danger.

Rather:

Perhaps we need to learn from Christians for whom the cost of discipleship is real.

What would it do to a young church leader to sit with believers whose faith has cost them their family?

What would it do to us to hear from someone who knows that gathering for worship may attract the attention of authorities?

What would it do to us to meet Christians who have very little of what we have, yet seem to possess an extraordinary confidence in Christ?

Perhaps we have much to learn from them.

Not because they are somehow better Christians than we are.

But because their circumstances force questions that comfortable Christianity can sometimes avoid.

Perhaps Our Leadership Training Needs Another Dimension¶

This brings me back to CLC.

I am grateful for what we have learned through leadership conferences.

We need to know how to lead.

We need to understand church health.

We need to learn how to disciple people effectively.

We need to learn how to organize, communicate, teach, shepherd, and serve.

But perhaps there is another kind of training that cannot be learned in a conference room.

How do I follow Jesus when obedience costs me something?

How do I respond when my family rejects me?

How do I respond when my career opportunities conflict with my calling?

How do I respond when obedience makes my life less comfortable?

How do I respond when following Jesus costs me my reputation?

How do I respond when God says, "Go"?

How do I respond when God says, "Stay"?

How do I respond when the answer to my prayer is not what I wanted?

Perhaps our young leaders need not only to learn how to lead the church.

They need to learn how to surrender their lives to Christ.

Baptism: Gate or Gateway?¶

This brings me back to the original baptism dilemma.

Should baptism be a gate that someone must pass through only after demonstrating sufficient maturity?

Or is baptism an act of obedience that begins the journey of discipleship?

I don't think the answer is simply one or the other.

The New Testament gives us examples of people being baptized very soon after believing.¹⁴

The Ethiopian eunuch did not spend three years preparing for baptism.

The Philippian jailer and his household were baptized that same night.¹⁵

So we should be very careful about creating human barriers that Jesus Himself did not create.

But neither should we make baptism so casual that we forget what it means.

The early catechumenate reminds us that baptism was understood within a life of discipleship.

The New Testament reminds us that obedience should not be unnecessarily delayed.

Perhaps we need both truths.

Do not create unnecessary barriers to obedience.

But also:

Do not separate baptism from the cost of discipleship.

Baptism Is a Declaration¶

Perhaps this is what I want to recover.

Baptism is not a graduation ceremony.

It is not a certificate that says:

"I have become mature enough to be a Christian."

But neither is it simply:

"I have made a decision, and now I can go back to life as usual."

Baptism is a declaration:

Jesus is Lord.

And if Jesus is Lord, then His lordship reaches into everything.

My career.

My money.

My relationships.

My ambitions.

My time.

My sexuality.

My possessions.

My reputation.

My comfort.

My future.

My willingness to go.

My willingness to stay.

My willingness to surrender.

That is why I think baptism deserves weight.

Not because the church needs to control who gets baptized.

But because Jesus deserves to be taken seriously.

Counting the Cost Does Not Mean Knowing the Future¶

I come back again to the distinction between knowing the cost and knowing the future.

Jesus tells us to count the cost.

We should.

We should tell people that following Jesus is not always easy.

We should tell new believers that there may be things they will need to surrender.

We should not promise them that Christianity will make their lives comfortable.

We should not hide the possibility of rejection, sacrifice, hardship, or persecution.

But we also cannot tell them exactly what God will ask of them.

Jim Elliot could not have known that he would be killed in Ecuador.

The young professional who gives up a more lucrative career path cannot know what God may ask of him ten years from now.

A new believer from a Muslim family may not know how his family will respond.

A missionary may not know whether he will return home.

A church leader may not know what the next season will require.

We count the cost.

Then we follow.

And when the cost becomes clear, we obey.

Not My Will, But Yours¶

This is why I keep coming back to Gethsemane.

Jesus knew the cost.

He did not pretend it was painless.

He asked the Father whether the cup could be taken away.

But then:

"Not my will, but Yours be done."¹⁶

Perhaps this is the heart of discipleship.

Not:

"Lord, I want to suffer."

And not:

"Lord, make following You comfortable."

But:

"Lord, whatever You ask, I want Your will to be done in my life."

That prayer may lead someone to Ecuador.

It may lead someone into an underground church.

It may lead someone to stay in Melbourne because God has given them a burden for the people around them.

It may lead someone to give up a lucrative career.

It may lead someone to reconcile with a difficult family member.

It may lead someone to open their home.

It may lead someone to spend years discipling one or two people.

It may lead someone into a place of persecution.

And for some, it may eventually lead to death.

We do not choose the assignment.

We choose whether we will obey.

What Kind of Disciples Are We Making?¶

Perhaps this is the question I really want to ask as a church leader.

Are we making Christians who know how to attend church?

Or are we making disciples who know how to follow Jesus?

Are we producing people who can answer theological questions?

Or people who can obey Jesus when obedience is difficult?

Are we teaching people how to build successful churches?

Or are we teaching them how to surrender their lives?

Are we measuring how many people are baptized?

Or are we asking whether those people are becoming disciples who make disciples?

Because Jesus did not tell us merely to make converts.

He told us to make disciples.¹⁷

And Paul showed Timothy what that multiplication could look like:

Paul → Timothy → reliable people → others.¹⁸

Perhaps the greatest legacy a Christian can leave is not a building, a title, a book, or even a ministry.

Perhaps it is simply this:

I helped someone follow Jesus.

And that person helped someone else follow Jesus.

And that person helped someone else.

A life multiplied through discipleship.

Quietly.

Faithfully.

Sometimes at great cost.

Often without recognition.

Faithful in Little¶

Jesus said:

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much."¹⁹

I think that applies to costly discipleship too.

We should not wait for the dramatic moment before we decide whether we will obey God.

Perhaps the real test is happening now.

In the little things.

In the decision to make time for someone who needs Jesus.

In the willingness to give up convenience.

In the choice to remain present.

In the decision to use our career not merely to make money but to participate in God's mission.

In the courage to speak about Christ.

In the willingness to forgive.

In the decision to say no to something that is consuming our time but pulling us away from God's calling.

In the willingness to go when God says go.

In the willingness to stay when God says stay.

If we are not faithful in the little things, why would we imagine that we would suddenly become faithful when the cost becomes enormous?

Perhaps costly discipleship begins long before the lions.

It begins with the small surrender of my will to His.

A Final Thought About Baptism¶

I began with a question about whether we are teaching people how to follow Jesus when following Him becomes costly. Baptism brought that question into focus for me, because at the water we are not merely celebrating a moment; we are witnessing someone identify with the Lord they are now called to follow.

So perhaps the baptism dilemma is not really about whether baptism should be fast or slow.

It is about whether we have remembered what baptism means.

I don't want us to make baptism unnecessarily difficult.

I don't want the church to become a gatekeeper that stands between a genuine believer and obedience to Jesus.

But I also don't want us to make baptism so easy that we fail to tell people what they are saying.

When someone comes to the water, perhaps we should be able to say:

You are declaring that Jesus is Lord.

You do not know everything that following Him will require.

You do not know where He will lead you.

You do not know what you may have to surrender.

But you are saying yes to Jesus.

Count the cost.

And then follow Him.

Some will pay a very visible price.

Some will pay a quiet price.

Some will lose family.

Some will change careers.

Some will cross oceans.

Some will stay exactly where God has placed them.

Some will suffer persecution.

Some will never be noticed by the Christian world.

And some may give their lives.

But the call is the same:

Follow Me.

And perhaps the prayer we need to teach every disciple is the prayer Jesus prayed in Gethsemane:

"Not my will, but Yours be done."

That is costly discipleship.

Not because we seek the cost.

But because we have decided that Jesus is worth following, whatever the cost may be.

Notes and References¶

Further Biblical Reading¶

• Matthew 10:34--39 --- The cost of allegiance to Jesus, including family relationships.
• Matthew 16:24--26 --- Denying oneself, taking up one's cross, and following Jesus.
• Matthew 26:36--46 --- Jesus in Gethsemane.
• Luke 9:23--25 --- Taking up the cross daily.
• Luke 14:25--33 --- Counting the cost of discipleship.
• Luke 16:10 --- Faithfulness in little and much.
• Acts 2:37--42 --- Repentance, baptism, and the beginning of the Jerusalem church.
• Acts 8:26--39 --- Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.
• Acts 10:44--48 --- Cornelius and the Gentiles.
• Acts 16:25--34 --- The Philippian jailer.
• Acts 17:26--27 --- God determining the times and places in which people live.
• Romans 6:1--11 --- Baptism and union with Christ.
• 2 Timothy 2:2 --- Multiplying disciples who teach others.
• Matthew 28:18--20 --- The Great Commission.