Inking a deal for Jesus, but not like He did it …

Have you ever felt pushed by a salesperson to make a purchase?

For example, you’re at a technology store, looking at smartphones. A pushy salesperson grabs a long-term phone contract and says, “This deal is unbeatable, and it’s ending soon. Sign now!” They push the contract in your face, making it hard for you to explore your options or read the terms at your own pace, leaving you feeling pressured and uneasy.

In those moments, you’re not sure about the “deal” but you are sure the only thing the sales person is interested in is inking (signing, closing) another deal, NOT what your needs are and how to best meet them.

Many ministers, and even many Christians, who try to extend an invitation to non-Christians to enter into a covenant relationship with Jesus act in such a way as if they just want to “ink another deal for Jesus.” I say this because many such invitations aren’t extended the same way Jesus invited people into relationship.

There’s something very important that’s often missing in such invitations today that was an important emphasis Jesus included in His invitation: A warning.

Jesus cautioned people to FIRST count the cost of following Him BEFORE making that commitment.

Many of us never do that.

The truth is, deep down there’s a fear that a non-Christian won’t “pray the prayer of salvation” or “trust in Jesus” if we warn them to count the cost FIRST.

By “cost” I’m not saying — and Jesus wasn’t saying — that we have to, in some way, “purchase” our salvation. No, that’s utterly impossible, even if we wanted to do that. Salvation is a free gift from God made possible through the sacrifice Jesus made of His life on the cross.

BUT, there IS a cost to entering into a covenant relationship — it’s your entire life!

Let’s look at the caution Jesus made, and what He said:

“A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, ‘If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else — your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, “There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!” Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own,'” Luke 14:25-33.

“Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?'” Mark 8:34-37.

Perhaps so many of our churches today are filled with people who profess to be Christians but don’t lead lives of actually following Christ because we pushed them to “ink a deal with Jesus” without warning them, and helping them, to first count the cost.

We need to change this.

Scotty