"Over one billion people today—almost one-fourth of the world’s population—call themselves Christian. In the first century, too, multitudes flocked to Jesus. They came for various reasons and with various expectations: to satisfy curiously, to be healed, to sit at the feet of this eloquent and controversial rabbi or simply to go along with the crowd.
"At certain times during his ministry, Jesus challenged his would-be disciples with strong and sobering words about the cost of truly following him as Lord. As those who claim Jesus as our Lord, we too need to carefully weigh these words."
— from Andrea Sterk and Peter Scazzero in the Life Guide study, CHRISTIAN CHARACTER.