Questions: The Rich Man

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”…

From the start of kindergarten, to graduating college

From ignorance and innocence to imitating knowledge

It’s heralded from billboards and tvs and the world wide Net

From parents to child from teacher to student

“This is life’s goal: The American Dream”

It comes in all shapes, colors, packaging and sizes

The notion never questioned as its popularity rises

Get a good education

Get a husband or a wife

Get a house

Work hard

Retire… that’s the end of life…

Right?

Am I willing to give up this stuff? Honestly?

I rolled out of college in May with a degree in my hand, ready to hustle the streets, in search of a job.  After job-hopping for an entire summer, the thought occurred to me: Is this it? Is this what I was meant to do for a lifetime? To increase my pay? To find a wife? To settle down? To work? To have kids? To retire?

For most of my life, my prayers had been utilized to see the American Dream accomplished in my life:

“God, please help my family with finances.”

(God please give us money to help us to continue to living in this comfortable lifestyle with tvs, cellphones, and a nice house because I don’t want to be uneasy.)

“God, please bring a girl into my life.”

(God bring a the best looking girl into my life that fits with my personality exactly so I don’t have to love her inspite of her weaknesses.)

“God, please give me a job that will pay for the bills.”

(God please give me a job that I absolutely love and feel fulfilled in and that will offer all these benefits to make me feel comfortable in life.)

I know I have always thought wealth, riches and comfort as a blessing from God. But now I wonder: why did I ever think that? For I was never promised any of those things as a follower of God.

In fact, Jesus said I would be persecuted.

I would be made fun of.

That I might be disowned.

That I might be homeless.

That I might be killed.

It seems that’s what happened with Peter, Paul, John the Baptist, Stephen,

And even Jesus.

So why am I searching after security and treasure?

And that’s when I realized that I was the rich young ruler.

That I was in search of comfort and not really the truth.

That what I wasn’t really losing this life in order to gain another

But was loving the treasures here on earth, the American Dream

Truth was, I had neglected my spiritual life

I followed the rules

Yeah, I screwed up every now and then but who doesn’t, right?

That’s just what you do as a Christian, right?

My cup was clean on the outside.

Just when I thought I had this Christianity thing down, a kink was thrown into the mix

God opened up my eyes to see where my heart could be found

And as Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

It wasn’t up in heaven, where neither moth nor rust can destroy

But down here on earth, stuck in the dirtiness of this Dream

Maybe you are like me, with money and comfort and things

Hear it from Jesus: we are at a disadvantage

He was speaking to us when he said “You can’t serve both God and money.”

Maybe you are like me and uneasy about what he asks

To count everything as a loss compared to knowing him

To take up our crosses and go follow him

Let’s stop thinking that we are superior with our riches and our stuff

Let’s stop looking towards comfort for it has turned into an idol

Let’s stop looking to money for security and start looking to Jesus for redemption and salvation.

Are you willing to give this all up in order to follow Jesus? Honestly?

Look at your heart.

Ask yourself the question: What do I really want?

Don’t pretend. Don’t say what you think is right.

Say what is in your heart.

Then…

Confess. Genuinely. Daily

Repent. Genuinely. Daily