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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider The cost of true discipleship

The cost of true discipleship

Published Sep 7, 2025 12:05 am
REFLECTIONS TODAY
The so-called “bandwagon effect” connotes popular acclaim given to a leader or a group who has attained a celebrity status. Throngs of people usually surround and follow their “idol” and such gathering or movement could end in a mass hysteria. Jesus dislikes this kind of crowds who seek their celebrity idols mindlessly and follow them blindly. If people follow behind Jesus, he wants to be sure that they are enlightened and are following him for the right reason. He honestly speaks of the necessity of carrying the cross in one’s life as a precondition of discipleship. At that time, the cross was not yet revered as the symbol of redemption and resurrection as we know it today. It was yet the symbol of oppression, cruelty, punishment, and death in disgrace. To mention the cross was a big turnoff to people who wanted to be his followers. Peter knows how unpopular the talk about the cross is so that at one point he remonstrates to Jesus and warns him not to speak about death or the cross if he wants to keep his numerous followers. Jesus reprimands Peter and identifies him to be Satan since he tries to pull Jesus away from the cross, thus sabotaging the Father’s plan.
In plain and simple words, Jesus wants the large crowds to realize the cost of true discipleship. Our loud protestation of faith in God or our pious words and actions will never be sufficient. To follow Jesus requires our unwavering and utmost allegiance to his person and full obedience to his will. We cannot claim to be following the Lord while insisting on our own life projects. Our commitment to other cause or person should only be secondary. To be disciples of Jesus comes at a great price, and Jesus compares the process to the tedious and expensive task of building a tower. One embarks on such a project only after a realistic assessment of one’s resources. Do we have the inner freedom to cut ourselves from our closest relations like family members, or to abandon our well-laid plans, if only to allow God’s own plan, and not our own, to dominate our lives? We have to build on our belief and trust in God. Our admiration towards him ought to surpass our admiration towards anything or anyone else.
Jesus also compares true discipleship to a king who is set to go on a battle. He must have an accurate headcount of his troops and a realistic assessment of his chance for victory. If the prospect for victory is slim, then the more prudent option is to negotiate for peace with the enemy. We need to make an honest assessment of our own desire to serve the Lord as his disciples. We need to conquer our human limitations like our doubts, anxieties, and our lack of faith and trust in God. We need to ask him to help us grow where we are spiritually deficient so that we can truly surrender and entrust our life in his mercy.
First Reading • Wis 9:13-18b
Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the Lord intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns. And scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things are in heaven, who can search them out? Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2025,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
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