Is there such a thing as cheap and easy discipleship? Because in all honesty, my discipleship has been both cheap and easy by any standards. This makes me question whether or not it is discipleship at all. Let me share with you the fate of the initial twelve.
1. John died of extreme old age in Ephesus, but they tried to kill him by boiling him in a vat of oil.
2. Judas Iscariot, after betraying his Lord, hanged himself.
3. Peter was crucified, head downward during the persecution of Nero.
4. Andrew died on a cross at Patrae, in Achaia, a Grecian colony.
5. James was thrown from a pinnacle of the temple and then beaten to death with a club.
6. Bartholomew was flayed alive in Albanopolis, Armenia.
7. James, the elder son of Zebedee, was beheaded at Jerusalem.
8. Thomas, the Doubter, was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel, in the East Indies.
9. Philip was hanged against a pillar at Heropolis, a city of Phrygia, in Asia Minor.
10. Matthew was slain by the sword, in Ethiopia, Abyssinia.
11. Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows.
12. Simon died on a cross in Persia (now Iran).
I am thankful that it is unlikely that this will be the fate of any American reading this post. However, that does not mean there is no price to pay. I am one of the most comfortable people I know. Stephanie and I live without very little--sure we could have more, but we could have a whole lot less. Somehow the devil has convinced me that I am entitled to comfort--that I deserve the amenities we enjoy. In other words, my attitude would aptly be described as the antithesis of what it ought to be according Philippians 2:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Christ, who in fact created the world he came to visit, made himself nothing.
I, on the other hand, have never created anything and damage what I touch am convinced that it is my right to be comfortable, have what I want, and do what I wish when I desire.
God opposes the proud and therefore opposes me. Lord, break me of my pride.
