Cost of Following Jesus

I have been a follower of Jesus for my entire life. In the past year, my eyes have been opened to what the cost of following Jesus is like. I have heard of these stories, but never did I think that I would be living in countries where this a reality for people. A couple of months ago, I started listening to the Maverick podcast where they share spiritual journeys of people and what it looks like to follow Christ. A particular story that I was listening to was of a man in Central Africa who came to know the Lord, after being a Muslim his whole life, and the cost of following Jesus became real to him.

The cost was his own life. After being threatened by his own family members, they decided that they would kill him because he decided to follow Jesus. The podcast goes through his life and how the Lord saved him from the attacks, and how his mom and uncle ended up being believers. Here is the link for the podcast if you would like to listen (I recommend you do!) https://podcasts.pioneers.org/podcast-episodes/a-new-sound-in-africa.

Like I shared before, I have seen and heard of Christians being persecuted. But, it all gets so real once you are in countries where this could happen. I heard a story of a family broken because the son decided to follow Jesus. I worked on a building that was going to be a church but I did not know if I could let people know what it was going to be because I did not want anything wrong to happen. I have had to learn new word choices so that I would not get rejected or in trouble. Instead of saying “missionary” I had to say “worker.” I have had to keep names and locations confidential for peoples safety. Some things that I used to take for granted were now suddenly real to me.

Being from the United States, I could walk down the streets blasting worship music or yelling the name of Jesus. I could go to the most public space and grab a megaphone and start preaching the Gospel. I can drive to church and stand outside speaking to other believers. I can share stories with my family and know that they will support me. Anything that involves my religion, I have freedom in the United States. It is not something I should worry or have fear for. If I want to be a Christian and share the love of Christ with others, no one can take that away.

But for those in other countries, there is a cost. So many stories run through my head at this moment of people. Sharing their experiences of being followers of Jesus. It hurts my heart to remember these stories, but the encouraging part, those same people are still believers. Their faith has not wavered and they still see the goodness of God. I have often had to check my heart and my faith, I have put myself in certain situations and ask myself “are you willing to follow Jesus in the midst of persecution, if my life is  threatened, even if people leave me?” Many believers have had these questions be a reality for them. They have weighed the cost of following Jesus and still say yes. It is a scary reality, especially to have a small snippet of it for the past 3 months.

I am reminded of the lyrics, “I have decided to follow Jesus, no going back, no going back.” I want to share an organization that I recently have found that shares stories of Christians all over the world that are persecuted. https://globalchristianrelief.org. Please take a look at these stories and be praying for our brothers and sisters.

I have realized that even though for a couple months I have had to weigh the cost of following Jesus, I still have the freedom of being a Christian. I do not ever want to take for granted the fact that I can freely worship God and proclaim His name. I thank God that He gave me opportunites to be in countries where I can share the Gospel despite the oppositions. The cost of following Jesus is so real, but so worth it!

Blessings,

Joana Quintana