This morning I am sitting here watching Orson build with Lego. He has taken a lot of interest in Lego recently, building all sorts of different contraptions and letting his imagination run wild! I've always been a big fan of Lego (even now at almost 30 years old), so when Orson asks me to play with him, I'm happy to oblige!
So what does the Bible say about Lego? Well, nothing actually, but it certainly says a LOT about building. As Orson was building with the blocks this morning, I was reminded of Luke 14 and the cost of discipleship. Christ is speaking in front of a multitude of people who seem very eager to follow Him. However, as Christ begins teaching, the message that He conveys is probably not what most of them were expecting.
Luke 14:25-27 "Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."
This certainly was not a popular message. The thought of having to "hate" your own family and your own life in order to follow Jesus seems radical and nonsensical. But Christ wanted to make sure that those who were following Him were willing to do whatever it took to be His disciple. Following Christ means that you might have to give up close relationships with family and friends because they push you away from Christ rather than towards Him. Following Christ means you might have to give up comforts of life, jobs, money, etc, because you have decided to do whatever it takes to live for Him. Following Christ means you might even die as a result of standing for Christ! So to "hate" these things means that you are ready, willing, and able to do whatever it takes to follow Christ, even if family disowns you, even if friends don't stand by you, and even if it costs you your life.
Christ then gives an illustration about "counting the cost." Vs.28-30 says;
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?
The purpose of this illustration is to drive home the point that one must truly be prepared to follow Christ in action, not just in word. The Lego set that we have doesn't come with a lot of pieces and sometimes Orson wants to build things that we don't always have the pieces for. So we find unique ways to work around the instructions and come up with some pretty silly looking houses, cars, and robots (which are his favorite to build). What Christ is asking of His followers is that they consider what it REALLY takes to be His disciple. Don't start building the Lego set because you think you have enough pieces, only to find out that halfway through ... you're missing half the build. Don't follow Christ thinking it's going to be a walk in the park, only to realize you never really counted the cost of what it truly means to be His disciple. I've seen too many "Christians" walk away from their faith, and I think it largely has to do with a lack of preparedness in understanding what Christ actually requires from us.
So next time you're playing around with Lego or working on some building project, remember to count the cost. Have I really considered what it means to follow Christ and what it might cost me to do so? Am I willing to give up all of these things in order to keep following Him? Don't be left with an unfinished Lego set or a tower that's only halfway built. Count the cost and follow Christ.
In Christ,
Pastor Johnson