As we
progress from childhood through adulthood, we may see conflicts between the
values our culture has taught us as being "good", and the values
required by Jesus. Here is a Bible parable (Mark 10: 17 - 26) which
dramatizes that dilemma.
"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?"
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus
answered. "No one is good ----
except God alone. 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.'
"
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I
have kept since I was a boy."
"Jesus looked at him and loved him.
"One thing you lack," he said.
"Go, sell everything you have and give
it to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow
me."
At this the man's face fell. He went
away sad, because he had great
wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to his
disciples, "How hard it is for the
rich to enter the kingdom of
God!"
The disciples were amazed at his
words. But Jesus said again,
"Children, how hard it is to
enter the kingdom of God! 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."
The disciples were even more amazed,
and said to each other, "Who
then can be saved?"
How do you
feel about the rich young man?
---- sorry for him --- he couldn't help it that he was rich.
---- disappointed in him --- he walked away from God.
---- upset --- Jesus shouldn't have been so hard on him.
---- frustrated --- do I have to give up everything I have,
too?
Was the rich
young man's reluctance to surrender his wealth, simply blind selfishness on his
part? Or, was it that his wealth was a key part of his identity as a
person? Had the rich young man's secular culture taught him from his earliest
days that competition is to be extolled, that life is a place where male
warriors and traders go out and compete for wealth and power? Had the
culture not taught him that those who end up with the most wealth and/or power
are the "best"?
The rich
young man may have adopted the latter model, and he seems to have reaped its
monetary rewards, wherein self-interest and independence are celebrated.
Probably, he did not expect Jesus to tell him the opposite of the values his
cultural upbringing had taught him.
Suppose I
have a financially-dependent wife and children, elderly parents or other
dependents ------- does Jesus want me to disregard their future by no longer
being able to support them? Or, somewhere between giving away my last
cent, and keeping all my wealth ---- is there a "Sweet
Spot" that satisfies Jesus' desire to totally obstruct my natural selfish
instincts that cause me to want to use my wealth only as it pleases my
ego?
(Parable continued: Mark 17 -
31)
"Jesus looked at them and said,
"With man this is impossible, but
not with God; all things are possible
with God."
"Peter said to him, "We
have left everything to follow you!"
"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 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. But many who are first
will be last, and the last first."
What would
you do if Jesus asked you to sell everything you have and give the proceeds to
the poor?
--- Have my hearing checked
--- Compute my net worth and think about it
--- Hold a garage sale
--- Give more to church
--- Other: ______________________
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These
thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping
to encourage in you some spiritual growth this winter.
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