The Cost of My Will
The disciple of the Lord is to surrender their will and desires in life for the Lord’s will; the believer is to deny themselves and the earthly desires they would seek prior to the Lord. Instead, we are to redeem the time by “Understanding what the will of the Lord is” for our particular lives (Eph.5:17). The Lord Jesus Christ lived with the purpose of doing the Father’s will, which was to go to Jerusalem to die; Luke 9:51 reveals, “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem”. Luke 22:42 reveals the night prior to Christ’s death He prayed to the Father, “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done”.
Doing the “Lord’s will” is not a vague, listless, and subjective mystery that constantly evades believers; instead, it is found within the confines of obedience to God’s Word (I Thess.4:3, 5:18). Specifically, a believer can know the will of the Lord when they are worshiping the Lord and learning the Word in the “Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth” (I Tim.3:15). True discipleship begins in the ekklesia, and it costs the believer their own will and replaces it with a continual thirst do the Father’s will.
The Cost of My Sight
The disciple of the Lord lives a life of faith, not by sight. Romans 1:17 clearly indicates, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith”. Paul indicates the believer’s walk with the Lord begins in faith and should continue in faith until their last breath; however, believers can sometimes view faith only in light of salvation and not in light of sanctification. Mature believers can have a sense of graduating to a “cruising altitude” in their walk with the Lord where they may hedge themselves with a life of sight instead of faith in the process of time. Furthermore, serving the Lord in an ekklesia in “Spirit and truth” requires faith because it does not focus on externalism; whereas, ministries that focus on personality, capital, and programs promotes a life of sight. The nature of man is to tend towards eloquence, affluence, and appearance; however, the Spirit-filled believer should tend toward obedience to scripture, sincerity of heart, and spiritual fruit. The diligent disciple counts the cost of their sight throughout life since the Lord consistently allows circumstances that require faith despite the maturity of their walk or ministry.
The Cost of No Accountability
A disciple of Christ forfeits a life of no spiritual accountability to the Word of God, and submits to the Lord and His institution, the ekklesia. The cost of no spiritual accountability probably deters more casual disciples than anything else. The rogue disciple that doesn’t submit to the Lord’s institution, church membership, and a pastor is in rebellion; Submission to the Lord’s ekklesia requires humility and subjection to being held accountable. Many “Self-made” adults balk at the idea of submitting to the seemingly feeble and foolish ekklesia; they often claim to submit to Christ in their personal walk, but not to a pastor or assembly. The varied and pervasive universal church doctrine has allowed for misconstrued ideas on church membership and accountability. In particular, some individuals claim they only answer to Christ; however, they entirely miss the integration of Christ, His body/assembly, and discipleship. True disciples follow Christ and His Word; hence, they need to serve and submit to Him in the “House of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Tim.3:15).
The Lord’s ekklesia model is perfect; however, He uses saved sinners to carry out its mission. The atrocities of abused pastoral authority in Catholic, Protestant, and fundamental Baptist churches has triggered many to be wary and distrustful of following and submitting to a man. Revelation 1:20-2:1 reveals the importance of ensuring a believer is in a true candlestick assembly, “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;” In a biblical ekklesia, the saved pastor is in the hand of the Lord and has direct accountability from the Lord for how he runs that particular church. The pastor of an assembly has tremendous responsibility on how they proceed, and should live in light of this Truth. The believer’s role is to ensure they are in a biblical church, and then to submit to the Word by submitting to the role of pastor, not the man.
In His infinite wisdom, the Lord uses a multi-pronged approach to accountability to the Word of God; the multi-pronged approach insulates from the abuse of lording over another. The multiple forms of accountability for the disciple within the ekklesia include the following: 1) holding oneself accountable to the Word of God (Ps.119:59, Prov.4:26), 2) True friends that hold you accountable to the Word of God (Prov.27:17, Mt.18:15), 3) a pastor that holds you accountable to the Word (Gal.4:16, II Tim4:2), 4) the Holy Spirit brings the Word to remembrance (Jn.14:26). Finally, the ekklesia holds individuals accountable through self-reflection during weekly preaching of the Word, the Lord ’s Supper, and the church accountability/discipline process (Mt.18:15-35). Biblical discipleship costs the believer a life that is free from accountability; instead, a believer submits themselves to accountability structures to prevent them from erring from Truth (James 5:19-20).
The Cost of Family and Relationships
Strained family relationships are a frequent cost of following Christ; not because the believer neglects or berates their own family, but because throwing off the works of the flesh offends them. Converted Jews in the first century faced banishment or worse for believing that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah; hence, Jesus told them to be prepared to prioritize Him over family. Family units can hold all possible ratios of saved and unsaved members, which the actions or changes of one member can impact another. In particular, relationships can be strained over finances when a believer begins to tithe or social status when certain relationships cease to exist.
The Lord faced this common cost and set the perfect example for believers. The Lord’s own family did not immediately believe He was the Messiah, and Matthew 13:57 indicates they were offended in him, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? And they were offended in him”. John 7:5 reiterates this point, “For neither did his brethren believe in him”. The unbelieving siblings of the Lord were ashamed and embarrassed that their brother was claimed to be the prophesied Messiah and King of Israel. As well, the Lord and his siblings carried the stigma that their Mother, Mary, was a fornicator instead of the virgin mother of the Messiah (Jn. 8:41). Jesus maintained His testimony as the perfect Savior of the world, and at the very least James and Judas (Jude) were saved after the resurrection (Acts 1:14). The unbelieving family member can insult and criticize the foolish lifestyle of a believer; nevertheless, the believer needs to win them by their godly behavior.
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