Wave the White Flag: Counting the Cost of Discipleship

The only rational move when you're facing the almighty is to wave the white flag, to surrender unconditionally. Jesus then brings the hammer down on this crowd. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything cannot be my disciple. See, this is the fine print. Grace is absolutely free. Salvation is a gift you cannot earn. But discipleship, following Jesus day by day, will cost you only one thing, everything. [00:37:24] (44 seconds)  #SurrenderEverything

He countered the cost of your salvation in the Garden Of Gethsemane. Sweats of blood dripped down his cheek. He saw the cross. He saw the pain. He saw the sin of the world. He did the math. And he decided that you are worth the cost. The king of heaven waved the white flag to death so that you could have life. Surrender feels like losing until you realize the one in whom you're surrendering to, one who loves you more than you love yourself. [00:43:00] (50 seconds)  #WorthTheCost

And and then year after year, you're driving by and nothing happens. It's a half, finished foundation in the middle of a field growing weeds. It's a monument to a man who who wanted the glory of this amazing house but didn't count the cost. Jesus is saying to the crowd, listen. Don't start to building a life with me if you aren't willing to finish it. Casual Christianity is a half built tower. It helps no one, and it just confuses the neighborhood. Say it again. Casual Christianity is a half built tower. It helps no one. It just confuses the neighborhood. [00:35:23] (48 seconds)  #NoCasualFaith

So, what do we do with this hard teaching of Jesus? It's easy to think, well, the way I'll respond is I'm just going to work harder. I'm gonna read my Bible. I'm gonna volunteer more. But that's not what Jesus is asking for. He's not asking for more effort. He's asking for your surrender. We all have areas of our life that we've walled off from god. [00:38:09] (28 seconds)  #ChooseSurrender

So we all have places that we've walled off from Jesus. We try to build our own life, our own dreams. We try to build our own tower. We try to fight a war with not enough resources pretending that we can win. And Jesus is saying, stop. Wave the white flag. He's inviting us to surrender our whole life to him. Why? Because he wants to ruin your life? No. Because he knows that the things that we refuse to surrender will ruin ours. [00:40:16] (47 seconds)  #LetGoToLive

And this is a profound story. It's it's it's about a king with 20,000 troops, and you and I are the king with 10,000 troops. And Jesus is saying, look at the battlefield of your life. You wanna run your own life. Right? You wanna be the king of your own heart, of your own finances, of your own future, and he's saying, do the math. You can't win a war of control against the creator creator of the universe. You you can't win against a king like God. [00:36:31] (38 seconds)  #DontFightGod

Well, Jesus is using a Middle Eastern teaching technique. He's using extreme hyperbole. He's not telling you to harbor emotional hatred towards your family. The rest of the scriptures is clear. You're supposed to love your family and your spouse. What Jesus is saying is that it's a matter of priority. He's saying, your devotion to me must be absolute and primary, so consuming that your love for your family looks like hate in comparison. [00:33:40] (33 seconds)  #JesusFirstAlways

Now, we would be out on the water, walking with our savior, pulling up others around us. Yes, the cost of following Jesus is high. It costs you everything. But I wanna remind you of one final truth. We are asked to give up our lives, but only because he first gave up his. He didn't just preach this sermon. He lived it. [00:42:23] (37 seconds)  #HeLivedSurrender