The Cost of Discipleship - July 1, 2014

After seeking advice, the king [Jeroboam] made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other. Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. (1 Kings 12:28-32a, NIV)

Solomon has died and the once unified kingdom has split: ten tribes to the north (Israel) and two tribes to the south (Judah). The newly anointed king of Israel, Jeroboam, fears that if his people travel to Jerusalem to worship Yahweh that they will return their loyalty to King Rehoboam of Judah so he sets up two places of worship (Bethel and Dan) in the northern kingdom, violating the word that God spoke about Jerusalem being the place he has chosen to dwell.

As we learned last week at Shiloh – the place where the tabernacle was housed until the political and religious center of the nation was moved to Jerusalem – God desires people who will seek after him. Both Shiloh and Jerusalem are a bit off the main travel route, meaning that people need to be intentional about going there to worship God. While certainly Jeroboam fears losing the loyalty of his people if they travel to Jerusalem, I do think that may have been a piece of his decision that truly did want to make worship more accessible. As I have seen, travel to Jerusalem from the northern kingdom is difficult, traversing through difficult Hill Country of Judah. It may have been pragmatism which contributed to the decision.

I wonder how we, in our modern times, have gone the pragmatic route and made worship easier and more accessible in ways that do not please God? Have we made things so easy that many people sit in our worship services without hearts that are truly seeking after God? This is something I think about quite a bit and it has come back again to me over this past week. Jesus challenges those who want to follow him by saying that they need to count the cost of being his disciple: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple,” (Luke 14:26-27).

True disciples are those who are willing to pay the price of following Jesus to the point of losing their own lives. Losing one’s life does not always mean physical death, but it can mean losing everything you thought life was meant to be. The people of Israel were intended to travel to Jerusalem to worship Yahweh, not to find an easier way. Jesus traveled to Jerusalem to give up his life. Are you willing to travel to Jerusalem?