Old/New Testament

The cost of discipleship

²⁵ A large crowd was gathering around him. Jesus turned to face them.

²⁶ “If any of you come to me,” he said to them, “and don’t hate your father and your mother, your wife and your children, your brothers and your sisters—yes, and even your own life!—you can’t be my disciple. ²⁷ If you don’t pick up your own cross and come after me, you can’t be my disciple.

²⁸ “Don’t you see? Supposing one of you wants to build a tower; what will you do? You will first of all sit down and work out how much it will cost, to see whether you have enough to finish it. ²⁹ Otherwise, when you’ve laid the foundation and then can’t finish it, everyone who sees it will begin to make fun of you. ³⁰ ‘Here’s a fellow,’ they’ll say, ‘who began to build but couldn’t finish!’

³¹ “Or think of a king, on the way to fight a war against another king. What will he do? He will first sit down and discuss with his advisers whether, with ten thousand troops, he is going to be a match for the other side who are coming with twenty thousand! ³² If they decide he isn’t, he will send a delegation, while the other one is still a long way away, and sue for peace.

³³ “In the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless you give up all your possessions.

³⁴ “Salt is good; but if even the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? ³⁵ It’s no good for soil and no good for manure. People throw it away. If you have ears, then listen!”