Count The Cost Series

Men in Black is a comedy about two special agents who work for Men in Black, an underground agency created to protect earth from dangerous extraterrestrials. In this scene, Agent K (played by Tommy Lee Jones) tries to recruit a New York City cop (played by Will Smith) to the agency. Take a look (show video: Men in Black, Agent K Recruits Another Agent).

Agent K explains, “All right, kid, here's the deal. At any given time, there are around 1,500 aliens on the planet. Most of them are right here in Manhattan. Most are decent enough. They're just trying to make a living. Humans, for the most part, don't have a clue.”

The cop asks, “But, uh, why the big secret? Humans are smart. They can handle it.”

Agent K answers: “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago, everyone knew the earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everyone knew the earth was flat. And fifteen minutes ago you knew that people were alone on this universe.” With a sigh, Agent K adds, “Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.”

The cop asks, “What's the catch?”

“The catch?” K says. “That catch is you will sever every human contact. Nobody will ever know you exist anywhere. Ever.” K pauses and then adds, “I'll give you till sunrise to think it over.”

As K strolls away, the cop shouts, “Hey, is it worth it?”

“Oh yeah, it's worth it,” K answers, “If you're strong enough” (Men in Black, Columbia Pictures, 1997, written by Ed Solomon, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld).

Heaven is free to all who put their trust in Christ, but Jesus wants only the “strong” to join Him in the fight against “cosmic powers” and “the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

So, what’s the catch? What does it cost to follow Jesus in this fight? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Luke 14, Luke 14, where Jesus lays out the cost of becoming His apprentice in the fight against evil in our world.

Luke 14:25-26 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple (ESV).

Crowds of people were following Jesus, but Jesus is not interested in quantity. He wants quality people on His team. To be sure, He wants His house to be full (Luke 14:23). He wants everyone to believe in Him and find eternal life. But He wants only those who are willing to pay the price to be His disciples.

Now, a “disciple” is a learner, those who attach themselves to a teacher in order to learn a trade or a subject. Today, we call such people an “apprentice,” those who learn by watching a master craftsman and doing what he shows them to do.

Do you want to learn from the best? Then it will cost you. First, if you want to apprentice yourself to Christ, then you must…

RANK HIM FIRST IN YOUR LIFE.

Make your relationship with Jesus a priority over all other relationships. Put His desires so far above even your own family’s desires that it looks like you “hate” them in comparison.

Tony Evans put it this way: “Jesus deserves priority over every other relationship. If you must choose between Jesus and a family member, then, Jesus wins. Our love for him must be so strong that unbelieving family members think our love for them might as well be hate, because we chose to obey Jesus rather than do what they want” (Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, Holman Bible Publishers, 2019).

Korehira Watanabe is a Japanese swordsmith, who has spent 40 years honing his craft in an attempt to recreate an ancient kind of sword. He says:

“When I was younger, I was making swords just because I loved it, but as I got older, I started to think that I need to pass along the aesthetics and soul of the Japanese people through my swords.

“When I was in college,” Watanabe says, “I saw a picture in a magazine of the legendary sword maker Akihira Miyairi, who later became my master. That was when… I decided to be a sword maker. All of my family members opposed the idea because they didn't think I could make a living. They told me, ‘Don't ever come back home if you want to be a sword maker.’”

Watanabe apprenticed himself to Miyairi anyway and later said, “What I received from my master is not only the technique, but also his passion for sword making. I want my disciple to receive my passion, and I believe he will pass down his own passion for sword making to the next generations” (Takeshi Fukunaga, Director and Editor, Handmade Portraits: The Sword Maker, Etsy.com; www.PreachingToday.com).