How much does it cost?
by Anita Foster
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So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions (Luke 14:33).
Read Luke 14:31–35
Wow! Jesus is bringing out the big guns … again. This time, it refers to the cost of being a disciple. Reading this passage, I am reminded of the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, pastor, seminary teacher and resistance operative against the Nazis during World War II. Bonhoeffer’s work calls Christians to embrace ‘costly grace’ and warns against ‘cheap grace’.
Bonhoeffer says that ‘Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance … Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate’.
Bonhoeffer explains that by contrast, ‘Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a [person] will gladly go and sell all that [they have] … it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves [their] nets and follows him.’
This kind of grace is costly, because it calls us to follow. However, it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ – the one who offers true life. Costly, because it asks us to pick up our cross, and it cost God the life of his only Son. Bonhoeffer says it is grace because ‘God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us’.
Sometimes, it can be tempting to leave the gospel at the nice, warm, fuzzy feeling of being loved and forgiven. Or to leave it for a Sunday morning church service. But true discipleship is costly. It inspires commitment, obedience and sacrifice, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, is transformative in our lives. By embracing spiritual growth in community over personal comforts, we can experience a grace that enables us to live a life in response to the amazing gift we have been given. This true life that Jesus offers is worth the cost.
Lord God, free us from clinging to comfort, and lead us into the true life found in Christ. Holy Spirit, strengthen us to walk the path of costly grace with faith and courage. Amen.
Anita Foster lives in Melbourne’s outer east with her husband and three teen and tween daughters. She is the Director of Faith and Formation at Luther College in Croydon, and she loves teaching, theatre, being in nature and finding new ways to express her creativity.
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