FAMILY BIBLE STUDY:
The true price of wealth is often extravagant
___ Mark 10: 17-31
___By Bobby Dagnel
___First Baptist Church, Nederland
___The television game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" has given away over $55 million. The program is a success not only here but also abroad, where more than 40 versions of the show air in 64 countries. The website receives thousands of hits each day. Everybody wants to be a millionaire, long the benchmark for success in this country.
___There is a downside, however, to this mountain of cash. An article from USA Today
described the many stresses of people who find themselves instant millionaires. The story focused on a group of high-tech entrepreneurs from California, who, upon selling their dot.com companies, found themselves with a large windfall of cash. Bless their hearts, it seems they are having the greatest of difficulty adjusting. They're lonely, embarrassed, confused and even a bit paranoid.
___ They seem to have found some solace in therapy, where a psychiatrist has come up with a term for that which ails them--sudden wealth syndrome.
___Oh, the agony of it all. What's one to do? This week's passage, Mark 10:17-31, may be of help in bringing wealth and materialism into proper perspective.
___While context is always important to proper interpretation and understanding of Scripture, it especially is relevant to this passage. Jesus' exchange with the rich young man follows his statement about children and the spirit in which the kingdom of God must be received, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it," v. 15.
___This is significant because the young man next encountered is a total contrast to the standard of helpless dependence Jesus says is required for receiving the kingdom of God. He is aggressive, confident, successful and affluent. He is what we would call a go-getter. We can envision him as a driven, type-A personality. We can be confident the question he posed in verse 17 concerning what he must do to inherit eternal life was asked with the expectation Jesus would prescribe some good deed that would settle all accounts once and for all with God. From this man's experience, there was nothing he could not do for himself.
___He must have been encouraged when Jesus answered, "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother," v. 19.
___ His confidence soared. "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
___Knowing there were deeper issues (or shallower) that must be confronted with loving compassion, Jesus said, "One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me," v. 21.
___Why did Jesus tell him to divest himself of all possessions? While this should not be understood as a required action for all would-be followers, there is, nonetheless, a general principle that holds true--to be a disciple of Christ, anything that creates in you a sense of self-assured independence and robs you of a childlike dependence upon the heavenly Father must be abandoned. In this particular situation, Jesus knew this one was possessed by his possessions. Though he had violated none of the laws listed, his life was a habitual transgression of the first commandment against having other gods before the one true God.
___Notice the reaction described in verse 22. The young man's face "fell." The same word is used in Matthew 16:3 to describe the sky becoming overcast in anticipation of a storm. As a result, the man "went away sad, because he had great wealth." We can only hope that at a later time the "skies cleared" for this young man and he was able to rearrange the priorities of his life, but for now he could only walk away haunted by what might have been.
___Do not read this passage and think Jesus is recommending poverty and a total divestiture of our possessions. He's not. Poverty doesn't deliver a person from the love of money. There are, however, some very real drawbacks to wealth. In verses 23-25, Jesus describes for the disciples how hard it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Before we exclude ourselves from this and assume he is referring to the Bill Gateses of our world, we would do well to consider that while the U.S. represents only 6 percent of the world's population, it holds 60 percent of the world's wealth.
___To take this passage seriously, we must reassess our definition of wealth/poverty. If we determine we are not wealthy because we don't live in the house we wish we lived in, drive the car we wish we had or wear the designer labels others wear--we could all make a plea for poverty if that were the standard. When we, however, compare what we have to what the rest of the world does not have, we must confess we are indeed a wealthy people.
___What will wealth cost you? It can cost you your soul. Paul wrote to Timothy, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant," 1 Timothy 6:17.
___We have become arrogant when we lose sight of the one objective requirement for entering the kingdom of God--helpless, childlike dependence.
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