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This is one of the most difficult passages in Scripture to understand
and deal with, especially for those who are wealthy in this
life. Possessing material wealth leads to privileges enjoyed
in this life which we are loathe to give up for “pie in
the sky.” But there is an interesting twist at the end
of this account which can help us grapple with the condition
that Jesus set before the young rich man for him to inherit
eternal life.
Mark 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up
to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what
must I do to inherit eternal life?”
This young man apparently had a strong desire to inherit eternal life.
He honored Jesus and knelt before him. He believed that Jesus had the
answers.
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No
one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do
not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false
testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept
since I was a boy.” 21 Jesus looked at him and loved him.
This young man was likely rare among his peers. He feared God and
had kept the commandments Jesus cited since he was a boy. Jesus appreciated
this and loved the young man. But there remained one thing he still
lacked.
Sell everything you have and give to the poor
“One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything
you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell.
He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
At this
point the young rich man withdrew and abandoned his quest for eternal
life. He simply could not pay the price that Jesus demanded
of him. Perhaps most wealthy people would draw the line here as well.
It is certainly understandable. Astonishingly, however, Jesus set similar
conditions for whomever was considering following
him, not only those with earthly wealth. Look what Jesus said to large
crowds of assorted
people who were traveling with him.
Luke 14:25 Large
crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his
father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes,
even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who
does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first
sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete
it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it,
everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow
began to build and was not able to finish.’
…33 In the same way, any of you who does not
give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
Jesus spoke these words not simply to the wealthy,
but to large crowds of all kinds of people, both rich and poor. He
did not single out the
wealthy and make it more difficult for them to inherit eternal life.
Similarly, look what Jesus said to a crowd in Luke’s gospel.
Luke 12:33 Sell
your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses
for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will
not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The problem for the wealthy, of course, is that they
have so much more to give up. That’s the rub. Humanly speaking,
a life of comfort and privilege in the world can certainly be difficult
to give
up, treasure in heaven or not.
It is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God
Let's
now resume the account of the young rich man who went away sad because
he had great wealth.
Mark
10:23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How
hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children,
how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who
then can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible,
but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Jesus
finally reveals that human beings indeed cannot save themselves,
nor can they normally give up everything to follow Jesus Christ as
his disciples. But these things are indeed possible with God.
The promise: a harvest even in this life
28 Peter said to him, “We have left everything
to follow you!”
29 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one
who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children
or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred
times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children
and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come,
eternal life.
Jesus finally reveals that those who leave everything
for him and the gospel will by no means be left poor, destitute,
and homeless.
No, they will receive back a hundred times as much in this life. If
they have given up or left home or field---meaning their possessions,
their business or their livelihood---they will receive back on earth
one hundred times as much. (Mark’s gospel includes persecutions
as well.)
The more they have given up in this life for Jesus and the gospel,
they more they will receive back in this life as well. And their eternal
reward in the age to come can be commensurate. (For understanding of
eternal rewards, please see The
Parable of the Shrewd Manager and Is
it Right to Focus our Attention on our Heavenly Reward?)
The testimony of a wealthy Australian couple
There is a wealthy Australian couple whose lives have
demonstrated the truth of Jesus’ words. For years they have been traveling
around the world using their wealth liberally to obey Christ’s
commands to help the poor and the destitute. But then came the recent
economic crisis in which they lost considerable wealth. Nevertheless,
they made the very difficult decision not to decrease their support
of the gospel by even a single penny.
What happened next was the hand of God. He miraculously
restored their income to far greater levels than before they decided
to “give
up everything” by continuing to give to the poor at a very generous
level.
Our personal testimony
In 1977 I had begun preliminary work on my Ph.D. thesis for my doctoral
degree in Experimental Psychology at the University of California.
My undergraduate degree was in Physics. A year earlier in 1976 I had
come to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior at a Billy Graham Crusade
in San Diego, California. I had a beautiful wife and the American Dream
was laid out alluringly before me. Like the young rich man who came
up to Jesus, I had everything going for me humanly speaking.
But Jesus Christ called me to follow him as his disciple. In obedience
to His word, we gave up everything, including the American Dream. In
1978, two years after I accepted Jesus Christ, my wife and I left our
lives and worldly possessions in beautiful Southern California to follow
him to the ends of the earth. By faith, without financial support from
any church or a mission board to send us, we made our way to the jungles
of Indonesian Borneo where we preached the gospel to those who had
never heard. The Lord was most gracious to us, using us over nine years
to make disciples and plant churches in unreached areas dominated by
witchcraft, idolatry, and Isl--m. Our testimony, Dancing
on the Edge of the Earth, is available for downloading from the internet.
It is
now the year 2010, thirty-two years since we left everything in America
to follow Jesus Christ by taking the gospel
to the ends
of the earth. He is now beginning to fulfill to us his promise of a “hundred
times as much in this present age” what we left to follow him
at that time. In his own way he has provided wonderfully for our earthly
needs. He has taken us to six continents of the world to train his
servants. What will we do with the harvest of the “hundred times” in
this life? No, we will refuse to raise our standard of living. Instead,
we will store it in heaven by using it to equip more of God’s
servants around the world to fulfill the Great Commission. In this
way, we will use it to maximize our eternal reward in the age to come.
What do we learn from this?
The more
you have in order to give up for the Lord and the gospel, the more
you will receive back from him. But, as Jesus taught, you
must first count the cost of following him. If you have genuine faith
in God and you truly trust him---and admittedly this will stretch you
painfully---you will give up everything. Following Jesus in this way
can be downright scary. But He is faithful to keep his word
to you. He will reward you.
You will
reap a harvest of a “hundred times” in
this life what you have given up. What will you do with it? As
a faithful disciple of Jesus you will
again store it in heaven to reap an even greater harvest for yourself
in the age to come.
Those
who are rich in this life therefore have great opportunities for
repeated investment set before them. Like the wealthy
Australian
couple in the testimony above, they can re-invest their wealth in heaven.
In this way they will eventually reap a great harvest for themselves
in the age to come. They will hear the Lord say to them: ”Well
done, my good servant! Because you have been trustworthy in a very
small
matter,
take charge of ten cities.”
Perhaps there are few among the wealthy who will be
able to do this. As Jesus told his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to
enter the kingdom of God!” But there will be some rich people
who will be able to do the impossible with God.
This,
then, is the true prosperity gospel.
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