The reason a lie detector test is generally not admissible in court is simple. Lie detectors are pretty good at detecting lies about 70% of the time compared to human beings which can detect lies about 54% or just over half of the time. Better than a human being but still not even right 3 out of 4 times. But that’s not the primary reason for their questionability. The primary reason is that even if you know something is a lie, that doesn’t tell you the truth.

Human beings are prone to things called the negativity bias, seeing bad over good, and confirmation basis, only seeing that which supports their desired outcome. We focus on what we want to focus on. We do what we want to do regards of logic and reasoning. Ever tried to talk yourself out of eating a cupcake? We are emotional rather than logical creatures no matter how much we try to deny it.

When we do a cost/benefit analysis, what feels best in the moment is the most likely thing we’re going to do. Later consequences can be dealt with later. What impacts me now is more important than what impacts me the most.

Three verses ago, yes that’s right, just three verses ago, Peter was declaring by divine inspiration that Jesus was the Messiah. The fulfillment of all the ancient prophecies. And now here we are, roughly 3 sentences later, arguing with Jesus that he shouldn’t do the things necessary to fulfill the prophecy. Why? That’s great that in the future you’re going to save all the people of the world but right here, right now, in this moment, I don’t want to see you suffer. The idea of you dying has a greater more immediate impact on me than this idea that you are going to save my soul sometime in the unspecified distant future.

So now three sentences later Jesus has gone from praising Peter, the rock and foundation of the church to cursing him and calling him Satan for losing sight of divine things and focusing on human things. Poor human Peter.

Of the great multitude of reasons human beings don’t go to church anymore, this is most certainly high on the list. Human things exist in the here and now. Divine things don’t become fully tangible until we’re no longer human.

When we think about the cost of discipleship, we think about the cost of being a disciple in the here and now. We think about all the things we have to do, the commitments we have to make. We think about what the cost of discipleship is but how much do we think about the cost of not?

Ever go on a vacation? How many of you have put off a vacation because of the cost? How many have said “someday.” Or “when I retire.” Or, “maybe next year?” Why? Because we can’t afford that now. How many dreams have you post-poned until they were no longer an option? How many vacations did you never get to take? How many things did you never get around to doing because the cost of doing them at the time was deemed too great, too high a price to pay?

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

For a growing number of people, the cost of discipleship is too high. You have to deny yourself what you want in the hear and now. You have to pick up burdens that are going to take up your time, finances, and talents. You have to schedule things, be responsible for things, you have to leave your comfort zone. Talk to people you’re not necessarily comfortable talking to about a subject you are uncomfortable talking about. You deny your faith, your cross for the sake of yourself.

The cost of discipleship is undeniably high. But I ask you, what is the cost of not being a disciple?

Ever sit down and weigh out the cost of not taking that family vacation with your children while they were younger? Ever sit down and calculate how many of your health issues could have been significantly lessened or avoided if you’d have just taken a break when you needed one instead of pressing on forward and enduring? Ever lost a loved one, a friend and you didn’t spend that time with them? Didn’t go to that dinner? Didn’t go to that concert? Didn’t go for that morning cup of coffee? Didn’t just stop by and visit because you happened to be in the area?

What was the cost of NOT going compared to the cost of going? We weigh the cost of saying yes but are we weighing the cost of saying no or are we only looking at how good we are at looking at the obvious or the short term? Are we focused on divine things or are we focused on human things?

The cost of discipleship may seem high, but what is the cost of not being a disciple? The cost of discipleship is high but it is the only expense you will be reimbursed for in the end and don’t worry, Jesus is keeping all the receipts for you and filling out all the reimbursement forms. All you have to do is sign your name on the dated line.

By this I mean, you have to become a disciple, and you have to commit. We live in a world that makes us afraid of commitments, especially those that come with responsibilities and expectations attached to them. We want to hold on to what we have deemed real and tangible and we will give up our lives for it.

Peter saw the potential in Jesus and declared it so. He wanted what Jesus had to offer. Three seconds later all he can see is the cost and what he’s not willing to pay. No only is he not willing to pay the price of mourning himself, he is not willing to let Jesus choose to pay the price of the suffering he will endure to make it happen. Ever talk someone else out of something they want because you have decided the price is too great for them to pay?

It’s easy to get caught up in the cost of things. We pay a heavy price for the life we’re living today. If you look back at every choice you had to make, everything you had to give up to be in the position you are right now, you have to start asking yourself some questions: Was it worth it to get here or would it have been worth a steeper price to have paid earlier on to have a possible alternative?

No matter what route you choose, there will be pain and suffering. Sometimes that pain and suffering is known in advance. The heartbreak of a child going away to college, the financial burden of buying a home or a new car, the emotional toll of leaving a relationship, the training it takes to become an athlete, there is a cost to everything that is painful and it is suffering.

Edmund Burke once said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. God will not hold us guiltless.”

Jesus said “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

The cost of discipleship and picking up that cross may seem high. The cost of building relationships in this life is most certainly steep. But the cost of not being a disciple? That may be something you haven’t devoted enough thought to.