Well, my time’s up. Thanks again to Tod for sharing his readers with me, and thanks to all of you who have contributed to, and challenged, my thinking. Before I finish, I wanted to take note of the fact that the life Jesus offers his disciples is wonderfully real, but it is not blissfully painless. The life of discipleship is not an easy life. Jesus says in Mark 10:30 that, in addition to houses and families and fields, we will also gain persecutions. Perhaps Jesus includes this as a foreshadowing of martyrdom to come, but perhaps he is also saying something about the nature of families, houses, fields, and all good material possessions. All good things come at a cost. If we would follow Jesus, he promises that we will have all the good things that come with this life, as well as the headaches that go with them. Relationships will still require great effort to nurture and maintain. Fields will still need to be plowed and planted, their crops brought in through difficult labor. Houses will still have to be built and their roofs repaired after hard rains. The difference comes in the fact that now this work has eternal purpose and quality to it. We come to understand that the difficulties of life are not to be fearfully avoided, but gratefully embraced as the means by which God makes us spiritually mature and capable people. Whether the “persecutions” of life come in the form of great violence or small struggles, as followers of Jesus we know that he has the power to form us and transform us into His likeness through them.
Christian community is material, but it is not materialistic. It has possessions as an important part of life, but not the defining part. At its best, it sees the blessings of God’s provision not as ends unto themselves but as a means of building up each member of Christ’s new family. In such a community, material things have purpose beyond personal enjoyment. We begin to enter into life of an eternal quality when we stop viewing our material wealth as a means of creating personal identity, but corporate ability. Wealth is a valuable tool for the creation of community because with it we have the potential to provide hospitality, comfort, aid and enjoyment to those who need it. Wealth, properly utilized, creates relationships where eternal life can come forth. Luke notes this when, as a mark of the authentic relationships being formed in the early church, he describes the believers as “having all things in common” and sharing meals together. In Luke’s opinion, these events were nothing less than miraculous (Acts 2:42ff). That is, they could not have happened apart from the alchemy of God’s Spirit, such that physical possessions became the stuff of heaven.
After discussing the Rich Young Ruler over coffee, a friend and I walked out to the parking lot and saw a luxury car with the vanity plate DEECYPL. I admit that this seems ironic to me, but isn’t it possible to be rich and be an authentic disciple? Can we enjoy the material goodness of this world without being materialistic? Jesus would say, emphatically, yes. But only with the help of God’s transforming Spirit.
PS: Even if you drive a junker, make minimum wage and swim in credit card debt, to a kid living on the garbage heaps of Manila you are still a rich young ruler.
I welcome your continued thoughts on how this part of the gospel can be effectively communicated to the Rich Young Rulers of Orange County and beyond. Email me at [email protected].
Thanks Morgan for the great series (and especially this excellent concluding post). I'll be back tomorrow with some vacation pictures and ruminations including a new series entitled "Better than X-Box" Tod
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