The Cost of Following Jesus

How Jesus Embodied Self-Control Here

In this encounter along the dusty roads of his later ministry, Jesus displays remarkable enkrateia—mastery over the natural human impulse to make following him comfortable and convenient. Three would-be disciples approach with enthusiasm, but Jesus responds with unflinching honesty about what discipleship truly costs.

When the first man declares his readiness to follow "whithersoever thou goest," Jesus could have welcomed this eagerness with open arms. Instead, he exercises self-control by resisting the temptation to sugar-coat reality. "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Jesus masters his own desire for followers by refusing to recruit through false advertising.

The second encounter reveals even deeper self-control. When the man asks to "first go and bury my father," Jesus responds with words that would have shocked his first-century audience: "Let the dead bury their dead." In a culture where honoring one's parents was paramount—especially in death—this statement required tremendous self-mastery. Jesus controlled his natural inclination toward cultural accommodation, understanding that the urgency of God's kingdom sometimes demands responses that seem harsh by worldly standards.

With the third inquirer, who wishes to "bid them farewell" at home, Jesus employs the vivid image of plowing: "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Here Jesus demonstrates self-control by refusing to lower the bar. He could have said, "Of course, take your time, see your family"—but instead he masters any tendency toward permissiveness that would ultimately harm both the individual and the kingdom mission.

Following His Example

Practice radical honesty about your commitments. When someone expresses interest in joining your ministry, business venture, or cause, resist the temptation to oversell the benefits while downplaying the costs. Jesus didn't hide the hardships of discipleship behind promises of prosperity or comfort. Exercise self-control by telling the full truth upfront, even when it might mean fewer people sign up initially. This actually serves both you and them better in the long run.

Develop the discipline to say "no" to good things for the sake of great things. The man wanting to bury his father wasn't asking for something evil—family obligations are generally virtuous. But Jesus recognized that even legitimate desires can become obstacles to our highest calling. Practice self-control by identifying what "good" activities or relationships might be preventing you from pursuing what matters most. This might mean declining a lucrative job offer that would compromise your values, or limiting social media usage that fragments your attention.

Cultivate forward momentum in your spiritual disciplines. Like the plowman who must keep his eyes ahead to cut straight furrows, spiritual growth requires the self-control to maintain forward focus. When you commit to prayer, Scripture reading, or service, resist the urge to constantly second-guess or look back at "easier" seasons of your life. Instead, exercise enkrateia by establishing non-negotiable rhythms that pull you forward, even when motivation wanes.

Echoes in Other Traditions

This theme of disciplined commitment and the cost of spiritual pursuit resonates across wisdom traditions worldwide. From the Buddhist emphasis on renunciation for enlightenment to the Stoic focus on controlling what is within our power, many paths recognize that authentic spiritual progress requires the self-mastery to choose difficult truths over comfortable illusions, and ultimate purposes over immediate pleasures.