Count the Cost

Would you obey God if it cost everything you had?

Three hundred years ago Alexander Mack and a group of seven Christians risked their lives to do something we take for granted. They were baptized.

“Now hold on just a minute. Why would Christian baptism be dangerous?”

Religion was controlled by the State in 18th Century Germany. Each province’s prince chose which Church his citizens attended. And the State enforced the rules of Church as law.

To be a Christian in that time meant to be baptized as an infant and agree with Church beliefs. How one lived didn’t matter much at all.

Alexander Mack was influenced by a new idea called Pietism. Pietists believed Christians should follow the teachings of Jesus and live their faith every day. Such a life, they felt, should show honesty, humility and Christian love.

Another group that affected Mack was the Mennonites. They were punished by the State because they didn’t baptize their infants. Instead they baptized adults who chose to follow Jesus.

Eventually Mack began meeting with others to study and discuss the Bible. They talked about how Jesus’ teachings should affect their lives. But church leaders of that day didn’t want others studying and teaching from the Bible.

Since they were not following the laws of the Church and the State, Mack’s group was threatened with arrest. But they bravely continued obeying the Bible.

Jesus told several stories in the Bible about the cost of following him. He said the cost was complete surrender to him as Lord. Mack’s group counted the cost and obeyed Jesus.

In August of 1708, Alexander Mack gathered with four other men and three women by the Eider River in Schwarzenau, Germany. After singing hymns and reading Jesus’ words about counting the cost, the eight brave Christians were baptized.

As word of the baptisms spread people came to hear what this new group believed. At first they were called New Baptists and then German Baptists. Soon the group began to grow.

Because the religious climate in Europe was not friendly to groups like Mack’s the new church eventually moved to America. William Penn invited them to settle in Pennsylvania.

Soon a church was started in Germantown near Philadelphia. They became known as the German Baptist Brethren.

Enjoying their new freedom in America, Brethren churches grew and began printing a newspaper. They also printed the first Bible from moveable type cast in America (in German).

But soon the Brethren had to count the cost again. As the colonies moved toward war, Brethren were persecuted for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to the King of England. They also refused to take up weapons to fight because of their peaceful nature.

As a result many were forced to flee and settled in the Shenandoah Valley and the Midwest.

Last weekend almost one thousand spiritual descendants of Mack’s movement gathered in Schwarzenau, Germany to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the first Brethren baptism.

Today Brethren churches are spread around the world. Just like throwing a stone in a river sends out ripples, Mack’s actions have impacted the lives of thousands of people today. And it’s all because one man listened and counted the cost when Jesus said, “Follow me.”

As a Brethren pastor I still invite people to count the cost and follow Jesus Christ as Lord.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!