Missing the Plot...

This past Tuesday we studied the Parable of the Rich Young Man (Mark 10:17-31). For those of you unfamiliar, this rich man comes to Jesus (the story never mentions that the man is young, and I forget why the story is titled with young included, so I don't know why its mentioned so) and asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responds "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness (lie), do not defraud (cheat), honor your father and mother"... and the rich man says that he does them all. Jesus looks at him lovingly and then tells him that he lacks one thing: to sell all that he has and give to the poor." This is the context for the famous phrase, "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"...

Now, first off, it struck me how infrequently this passage is taught at church. The few times that I had heard it, I remember the pastor softening the message by adding qualifiers like, "You actually don't have to sell all your possessions, you just have to be willing to, were God to call you to do so." That doesn't seem to make sense to mel I feel like it would be more genuine were you to say that the teaching is tough (one could say 'impossible'?) rather than trying to make following Jesus easily accessible and comfortable. What is so wrong by saying, "this is tough, I'm not sure I can do it let alone tell others to do the same?" That seems to be a more honest understanding of the passage than lessening the power of Jesus' words. But that is all stuff I had thought of before.

The significant thing I wrestled with since Tuesday is simply this: In most, if not all, of our churches today, the rich man in our story would be the stereotypical model Christian! He didn't murder anyone, didn't commit adultery, didn't steal, lie, or cheat... he even honored his father and mother! And then add to all that the fact that he was wealthy (hello Puritan work ethic!)... If you were to judge the externals, that is future (if not present) deacon material! Yet even he had the self-awareness that something was missing. And that is when Jesus pointed out where the man was lacking - the heart.

The question I'm left with is this: How often does our Christian message go beyond the externals? Have we as Christians created a culture where the heart no longer matters, with the paradigm of faith being one that focuses on the external measures of behavior and, unfortunately, wealth? (And we have all heard of our fellow Christian brothers and sisters who teach that wealth is a sign of God's blessing *cough*gag*blech)

This past Sunday, my friend Dave Miller asked a question that seems to sum this quandary up: Are we as Christians content with loving the idea of Jesus, or are we actually in love with Jesus? I think to be in love with Jesus suggests the type of infatuation, of out of control-ness, which would cause a rich man to sell all his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. He doesn't need qualifiers or a softening of the message to make it more palateable... he's in LOVE! There is nothing that can be asked of him that he wouldn't do (were he called to do so, you know, if God would have wanted that, etc etc).

So to wrap it up, I think its a good question to ask of ourselves individually, especially as we approach the time of the year when we celebrate Jesus' birth.... are we in love with Jesus, or in love with the idea of Jesus? And as a church, have we missed the plot, creating a system that focuses on the externals rather than the heart? Tough questions, probably with tough answers... Let's all spend some time this Christmas appreciating the fact that Jesus does love us in the way we could only dream of loving him!