Show Don't Tell: Mark 8:34-38

Instead of saying "Jesus taught the cost of following him," count the cost clearly. Jesus calls the crowd along with his disciples—this isn't just for the inner circle. "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Deny yourself: say no to self-centered desires. Take up your cross: not metaphorical inconvenience but an instrument of execution. Follow: keep walking behind him. "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." The paradox of preservation: clutching destroys, releasing saves. "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" No exchange rate covers that loss. "Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" Nothing. "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." Acknowledgment now determines acknowledgment then.