Article October 22, 1984 Issue

The price and promise of discipleship

THOMAS C. ASHER

The Christian disciple desires to understand and serve God. He prays to resist worshiping the false gods of this world. The modern disciple, like the first-century disciples, strives to see life the way Christ Jesus did. He soon discovers that following the path of our Way-shower is not an easy task. As the Master said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."^{Matt. 16:24.}

Even the earnest Christian disciple may sometimes find himself straying from the teachings and example of the Master, resisting "the way." He may think that following Christ Jesus is too difficult and too costly.

Yet something beckons him to return to the "straight and narrow" way. It may be the recognition gained, perhaps through much suffering, that the world's gods deliver the opposite of what they promise. Or it may be an innate attraction to the truth taught and exemplified by Jesus. The disciple may intuitively sense that there is not just a price associated with discipleship, but incomparable promise—the promise of God's kingdom.

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