“Whoever loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take up take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:37-39
When looking at this topic, there are two questions a person can ask. First: Is missions costing me something? and the other: Is there really a cost to missions? You may be confused on this second question, but bear with me as I dig into both of these.
Where in your life are you seeing you have to choose between living missionally and and being accepted? Has you come across a time in your life where missions costed you? Whether it was a friend making fun of you, a co-worker judging you, having friends abandon you, or several other things, has missions come at a cost? Let me tell you, you are not alone! Followers of Jesus all over the world from the past, present, and from what the future will hold have accepted the cost. That cost is from the littlest thing like being made fun of, to the extreme like having your life on the line. This has been like this for all of time. Think about it for a second, the disciples followed Jesus for what he was to them, not for what they could receive by knowing him in this present life. They were on fire for Jesus, preparing for what was to come.
Just like the hate that was showed to Jesus, his disciples were overwhelmed with the same kind of hate and their deaths displayed that they knew the cost and counted it to be worth it. So the question that I leave with you before moving on to the next question is; Have you counted the cost of missions, and is it worth it?
Now for the second question; Is there really a cost to missions? If someone asked me this before the Race started, I would say yes. There is a cost to missions. But after considering what Christ calls me to do and be, I don’t believe there is a cost to missions. Yeah sure, I will be made fun of and my life could be on the line and several other things could cost me, but all Jesus calls me to do is to bring all of the glory to God and point others to him as I do so. I should be living my life for what is to come and not what is only temporary.
Paul says in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Paul understood Jesus alone is worth it. Looking back up to Matthew 10:37-39, one must take up his cross, throw off all things that are holding them back from Jesus, and lose their life for him. For in Jesus they will find their life.
When missions may seem like it is costing you, I encourage you to look to Jesus who alone is enough and remember that this life doesn’t compare to the one that is to come.
