People are good at hiding from themselves the true cost of anything they really want to do.

If I want a new car, my actual reason might be as basic as the fact that Spring has infected me with new car fever. How can I justify such a purchase? Hiding certain costs from myself will help. I can ignore the increased cost of insurance, the impact of a car payment on my budget, the cost of having to worry about scratches and dents, and the cost of lost freedom that debt always brings.

Or take low prices for example. We all love them, which is why we shop at the big box stores that deliver cheap shirts and cheaper TVs. But is there a hidden cost behind low prices? If low prices require a child labor force in Malaysia or environmental catastrophe in China, or if they produce a growing underclass of low-wage workers here in America that need government help to survive, we had better count the cost up front and be ready to pay the whole thing.

What about war? It’s too easy to hide the costs of war. That’s why I appreciate an online display I found recently called Faces of the Dead. It’s simply a creative display of the photos of every U. S. service member killed in Iraq, from Jay T. Aubin on March 21, 2003 to David Stelmat on March 22, 2008. These 4,000 men and women are only part of the cost – which includes civilians, families, businesses, hopes, dreams and billions of dollars – but let’s never allow these people to be hidden.

Perhaps the essence of sin is to hide the real costs of our actions and focus on short-term pleasure or profit. If David could have seen from his rooftop the awful cost of his sin, would he have sent for Bathsheba? If Judas had known the personal price he would pay, would thirty pieces of silver have seemed like such a good bargain?

If you and I would simply take a little time and sift out the hidden costs behind our cherished sins, would we choose to live differently?

Jesus doesn’t want anyone to follow him on false pretenses. He doesn’t hide costs. He puts them out front: “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple”, he says in Luke 14:33. Jesus never says that discipleship will be cheap. He says that it will be worth it.

For the April 2008 MHCC newsletter – 3.25.8