“So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."
Yikes! I once had a conversation with a friend about the discomfort we feel in opulent surroundings – a very fancy restaurant, a deluxe resort in an impoverished nation. She said, “Well, Jesus didn’t say we couldn’t be rich, did he?”
“We-e-e-l-l-l,” I said, “He kind of did, more than once, talk about giving it all away and following him. But I’m hoping he’ll accept the gradual approach…”
Yes, I’m on the slow road to giving it all away. So are most of the people I know. Do we count as wealthy? You bet. We like to compare ourselves to people with more money; then it looks like we’re just getting by. But even the poor in America are richer than 85% of people in the world, many of whom have to try to live on less than $1 a day. You do the math.
Jesus often interacted with prosperous people. To some he said, “Give it all.” To others, he didn't. Zacchaeus, in the flush of conversion, offers to give half his net worth to the poor; Jesus doesn’t say, “What about the other half?” When Jesus talks about how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, he may be saying it’s impossible – or simply noting that people of means often put their security in their accumulated wealth rather than in God. If you can walk the fine line of having resources and not relying on them, you might have the freedom needed to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
God wants us to trust in God’s provision, not in our own resources or strategies. The expression, “God helps those who help themselves” is not in the Bible and is contrary to the Good News Jesus preached of radical openness to the grace of God and radical generosity to the poor in wallet and the poor in spirit. If everyone viewed every child as a precious gift of God, there might not be so many living on garbage heaps. We’re not there yet, most of us...
So, how do we respond? Today, we can begin with gratitude for the resources we have. Name a few, write them down. If you feel a tug of remorse, offer repentance, not because you have resources, but for clinging to them. When have you felt called to share what you have, and didn’t? Name it.
We can also ask Jesus what he wants us to do with our money. That’s a scary prayer, one I don’t think I’ve ever prayed. He’s not going to reach into our bank accounts – yet he just might inspire us to be freer with them.
Jesus’ invitation is to follow him, to start consciously walking the road with Him every day. If we do that, he’s going to start pointing out sights we may not have noticed before. He may introduce us to people who live closer to the edge; might nudge us to give to this organization or that ministry. We might find ourselves wanting to volunteer in parts of town we never saw before, or make new friends.
It starts with “Yes, Jesus. I want to follow you. This is what I can give today.” If you truly walk with Him, the “what I can give today” is going to grow and grow. So will you.
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