Count the Cost Then Count the Reward

Teri Horton bought an abstract painting from a junk store in California for $5.00. Ten years later, she discovered that the “junk” she purchased was likely an original Jackson Pollock painting and could be worth more than $10 million. Let’s project our imaginations into the future and suppose that Ms. Horton has been paid $10 million for the painting that cost her $5.00. Let’s imagine that she is sitting in the palatial mansion the money has afforded her and that she is dripping in jewels and draped in fine designer clothing, none of which she could have afforded previously. Imagine that I ask her, “What did that Jackson Pollock painting cost you?” How do you think she would answer that question? I think she would say, “Cost me? It cost me nothing. It gained me $10 million and afforded me everything I own.” When the profit far outweighs the investment, we call it gain. The initial cost is swallowed up in the benefit it obtains, and it shows up on the “profit” side of the balance sheet.

Jesus challenged those who would be His disciples first to count the cost. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish’” (Luke 14:28-30). He made it clear that to be His disciple would cost a person everything. But Jesus also challenged those who sought to be His disciples to count the reward. After you count the cost, then count the reward. “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). When the benefit far outweighs the cost, we call it gain.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith” (Phil. 3:7-10).

Do you see what Paul is saying? He said that he gave up everything he valued because when he compared it to “the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,” everything he valued was rubbish. It was nothing. It was less than nothing. The worth of everything he valued was swallowed up in the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. If we could ask Paul, “What did radical discipleship cost you?” I think Paul would answer, “Cost me? It cost me nothing and gained me everything.” (Jennifer Kennedy Dean. All rights reserved.)