What does First B Jackson teach about cost of discipleship?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on the cost of discipleship starts with Luke 14:25-35, where Jesus turns to address a large crowd and lays out three conditions for following him. Both Pastor Craig and Pastor Ray have preached through this passage, and neither of them softened it. The first condition is that a disciple must love Jesus more than father, mother, wife, children, siblings, or even his own life. The word 'hate' in the text is a Semitic idiom of comparison, meaning to love less than, and the same construction appears in the Old Testament with Jacob and Esau. The parallel in Matthew 10 makes the meaning plain: whoever loves family more than Jesus is not worthy of him.
The second condition is carrying your own cross daily. Leon Morris's commentary is cited in both messages: when someone in a village picked up a cross and walked off with Roman soldiers, everyone watching knew that person was not coming back. Luke is the one gospel that adds the word 'daily' to this command, tying the call not just to the moment of conversion but to the ongoing work of dying to self throughout a believer's life. Jesus then gives two illustrations, a man building a tower and a king facing an army twice his size, to press the point that following him is not something to enter without honest reckoning. The second illustration carries particular weight: unlike the builder who can simply choose not to build, the king cannot opt out of the army already marching toward him. The same is true for anyone who has not yet settled things with God.
The third condition is renouncing all possessions, which the teaching at First B Jackson is careful to explain does not mean having nothing. It means holding everything with an open hand, recognizing it as God's rather than your own. Paul's words in Philippians, where he counts his heritage, education, and status as loss compared to knowing Christ, and Moses in Hebrews, who considered reproach for Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, are both brought in as examples of what that posture looks like in a real life. The passage closes with the image of salt that has lost what made it salt, a quiet but pointed warning about the cost of a halfway commitment.
Taught from Luke 14:25-35 · Philippians 3:7-11 · Hebrews 11:23-29 · Luke 9:23 · Matthew 10
The passage taught · 1 Peter 2:20
20 For what glory is it if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if, when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is commendable with God.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- May 28, 2023 He Is No Fool Who Gives What He Cannot Keep Luke 14 sermon on the cost of discipleship: putting Jesus first, carrying your cross daily, and renouncing all else to truly follow Him.
- May 28, 2023 He Is No Fool Who Gives What He Cannot Keep Jesus lays out three plain conditions for discipleship in Luke 14: putting Him first, carrying your cross daily, and renouncing all else. Pastor Ray walks through each one.
Mentioned along the way
- May 21, 2023 Why Do the Nations Rage Pastor John preaches Psalm 2, showing why human rebellion against God is futile and how Christ, the anointed King, offers cords of love rather than burdensome chains.
- November 6, 2022 My Time Is Not Yet Here Sermon exploring discipleship's cost through Luke 9 and John 7, as Jesus walks toward Jerusalem and calls followers to commit fully without looking back.
- July 17, 2016 Set Your Face Toward Your Mission Eric Wachob examines Luke 9 to show how Jesus kept His mission clear and calls Christians to set their faces toward God's purposes with the same undivided focus.