In the parables Jesus tells in this passage, he encourages any who would follow him to count the cost of discipleship and consider whether they are willing and able to pay it. This got me thinking about cost this week, as Broadneck prepares to celebrate its 31st anniversary as a worshipping body. What sort of costs were part of our lives in 1982, when our church was begun? According to my internet research, in 1982...
Average Cost of new house $82,200
Average Monthly Rent $320.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas $0.91
New Car Average price $7,983.00
US Postage Stamp $0.20
Cost of a dozen eggs: $0.84
Cost of a gallon of Milk: $2.24
Cost of year's in-state tuition to a 4-year university: $2,344
How does this compare to the costs of the same things today? Well, roughly, in 2013 (and some of these truly blew my mind)...
Average Cost of new house $322,700
Average Monthly Rent $1,109.73
Cost of a gallon of Gas $3.52
New Car Average price $31,252
US Postage Stamp $0.46
Cost of a dozen eggs: $1.83
Cost of a gallon of Milk: $3.45
Cost of year's in-state tuition to a 4-year university: $8,655
This is all interesting...but what does it have to do with Jesus' parables, and our life as a church? Well, it got me to thinking about how we react when costs increase. What costs are worth continuing to pay? What do we do when things that used to not be costly suddenly involve sacrifice? And how do we answer these questions when it comes to discipleship? Now, I am not talking about the literal cost of things like Bibles or church budgets or utilities on our building. I am talking about, what do we do when following Jesus asks more of us than it ever has in the past...when being church requires us to sacrifice in new ways...when we have to reconsider our commitment to things in which it used to not cost much to invest, but that now could prove costly in terms of time, letting go of personal preferences, opening our minds and hearts, sacrificing for others, etc. Do we see following Jesus and being Christian community as worth the price even when it becomes more personally costly to us?
Think on these things, and let's talk about them together on Sunday.
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