Mark 10:17-22 reads as follows:
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
I heard a sermon from a friend of mine yesterday who addressed this passage. It was a great sermon. He posed this question:
If Jesus came into your sanctuary during worship and said: “You lack one thing; go, sell your stained glass windows, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me,” how would you respond?
Seriously, how would you respond?
What if Jesus said: “Go, sell your building, and use the money to serve the poor. Then come, follow me.”
Is the building off-limits? Even to Jesus? Are we so attached to our buildings that we can’t imagine selling them, using the proceeds for ministry, and still being church in other ways? Or is that just too radical? Since when did following Christ become a focus on being safe?
Would we respond the same way that the man in the Gospel did? Would the passage written about Jesus’ encounter with our congregation be written like this: “When the congregation heard this, they were shocked and ushered Jesus out the door, for they loved their building.”
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people proclaim that the church isn’t the building – it’s the Body of Christ. Yet, so often, churches seem to ignore this.
Am I, a pastor of a congregation, suggesting that we sell the building?
The answer to that question doesn’t really matter and I’m not going answer it either. I’m not going to give you something that is a pressure valve release from the question that is asked to each one of us – including you. The real question is this – are we willing to follow Jesus? Are we committed to him? When Jesus tells us to leave it all behind to follow him, do we do just that? Or do come up with excuses as to why we can’t or won’t?
Keeping or selling the building isn’t the real issue here. If Jesus’ command to put him first above all else bothers you, makes you put up resistance, makes you want to walk away grieving…well…then we need to talk. We need to be seriously open and vulnerable with each other.
Following Jesus isn’t easy – Jesus never claimed it would be. Following Jesus isn’t comfortable – often, it’s extremely uncomfortable and costly. Following Jesus pushes our limits and forces us to make decisions we would rather not make.
Jesus said:
‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’
(Mark 8:34-38)
Jesus plays for keeps. He calls us out when he sees that we have placed something as more important than him. He calls on us to pick up our cross. He calls on us to die. He calls on us to reject the lie that we are in control.
And in this, we are called to new life with him. This is what faith is about – life, death, resurrection.
Laced up Lutheran 
Brave but necessary call, my brother. God bless.
The man claimed to have kept all the commandments, but he had conveniently forgotten the 10th one, the root of all self-centredness and idolatry.
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Amen. Is it really brave though to actually follow through on what one claims to believe? Isn’t it crazy to claim one thing and then completely ignore what that teaching is? Maybe in this day being brave is actually being congruent. Although I think that is setting the bar pretty low. That’s like getting a participation trophy for showing up. That’s what we are supposed to do, not something to be recognized.
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I know too well the cowardice and hypocrisy of my own heart.
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This is where I start bringing yet further observations about this text which have nothing to do with my agenda and in no way detract from what else is said here, but…
In the Markan context (esp), we have a would-be messiah making a bid to be King of the Jews, which suggests revolt. Suggests. And Jesus is definitely revolutionary, but not in the usual ways. (I think we all know this much already, but) it is worth noting that the rich guy doesn’t yet see what WE SEE.
My observation is that this rich guy thinks Jesus is YET ANOTHER WOULD BE MESSIAH, only THIS ONE (in his view) STANDS A CHANCE of winning a revolt in the more usual sense of messianic revolts. And this RICH guy is worried, like any rich guy in the face of any other revolt in any other nation at anytime in history, that once the peasant uprising with the torches and pichforks is complete, they will turn to the rich and take away his wealth, give it to the poor, and probably kill him while they are at it!
I believe all of this is implied in his question and the way he addresses Jesus… “Good teacher” (overt respect to one he may chafe giving it to, no less!) “How can I survive the Age To Come – you know, after the revolt???”
This man is scared and hoping that his good living will impress Jesus and his followers and earn him a pass in The Age To Come.
I also find it interesting that Jesus says there is something this rich man “LACKS”. He lacks giving it up. That is almost like using a double negative in the English language. This man will be filled when he unloads. Hmmm…
Anyway, I sense this context is in order when discussing cowardice. The man is a coward, but he is a manipulative coward.
BTW, I think this fits nicely with Matt’s church-wide application. I think the church is very much in this man’s position with Jesus today.
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Great points X. I love that you point out that the rich man lacks something. That’s almost humorous. And as usual, the context is really important for Scripture.
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I have to admit that I cringed with the question about selling the stained glass windows. I have pictures of 6 of them hanging in 2 frames in our dining room. I don’t think I would refuse to sell them nor are they an idol but I surely would miss them. It would be quite an adjustment to look out of plain glass windows in their place. Some mornings when early worship begins, the sun is shining through the first one on the east side; throughout the service the sun appears in each window and by the end, it is shining through the last window…..or maybe by the time the sermon is complete. I told that to Pastor Evan, an interim we had, and his response was, “Oh, so the sun rises and sets on my sermon.” Cute. But really, when the sun shines through the vivid colors of the stained pieces, it has actually enhanced my visual worship experience….like a reminder that God is with us. I know God is with us always but that experience can be powerfully reminding of his presence. Soooooo, would I sell them if that is what Jesus demanded. My emotional reaction to that idea was pretty strong and lends a new perspective on selling EVERYTHING the rich man had.
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Struggling with the question is a good thing. This passage of Scripture again pierces the idea that Christianity is supposed to be comfortable. Following Jesus is not. Jesus lays claim on our whole self.
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There are so many things I can say about this passage, all of which are relevant (and some of which may come up if this develops into a conversation), but which at present will widen the scope too wide, I think.
I definitely appreciate how you brought out application of this passage to the church as a whole to face together. I think that is very useful. I hope church leaders will find your post and consider it carefully just along those lines (laity too). I am sure that the Body of Christ can (if indeed it is the Body of Christ) out perform the rich man in the story. No doubt Jesus himself lived out the implications of the demands this story placed on that guy, thus those of us claiming to be his Body today must follow likewise.
The angle I bring to this conversation presently (and the way I usually handle it on my own blog (not an exhaustive approach at all)) is to then couple the second part to the first part – “give it all to the poor”!
One slight addition to this…
I acknowledge that Jesus tells this to one single rich guy and does not thereby insist this is a teaching for all – per se. (I acknowledge this because this is the excuse people make for not applying it to themselves all the time, and I have to concede the point), True, this is a teaching for ONE RICH GUY in direct terms.
BUT…
But it is preserved for us all. And for that matter, Peter and the gang will subsequently resonate with it before the pericope ends, which suggests there is something in this even for the poor as well as the rich. But, since it is preserved for us all, that means we can’t all be the exception! It applies to some people sometimes at least!!! Or else why is it Bible???
We really need to quit making out like we are all the exceptions. This is a dangerous way to handle God’s Word!
But back to the coupling of the second part of the point… that being after “selling all” you then GIVE IT ALL TO THE POOR!
The poor certainly will dispose of all that wealth in short order! And of course this is the argument against doing such a thing. It is deemed bad stewardship.
But if it is that simple, then Jesus is a liar. So we have a very selfish blinder going up here, one that practically no one wants to take down.
Fact is, giving to the poor cannot be, in and of itself, bad stewardship. It actually is commanded to at least one rich guy with no concern whatsoever expressed about this by Jesus! And that in and of itself IS a fatal torpedo in the When Helping Hurts philosophy.
A point well worth noting, given your post and it being read by a guy like me.
My comment does NOTHING to diminish your post at all, but does add an extra, though not exhaustive, angle on the point. One I hope to promote at every opportunity.
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Thanks for your insights X. They are greatly appreciated by me. I agree with you that so often many make it a point to say that Jesus was specifically talking to this man. I agree with that, however…Jesus spoke with him and gave this command to him because his stuff was more important than God. This command was no different than Jesus telling the disciples if you hand causes you to sin, cut it off. In this case, if your wealth causes you to sin, cut it off. We live in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. I wonder what Jesus would tell us.
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Absolutely!
My aim here is to affirm everything you have said here. Actually to even praise you for broadening this text to a church-wide application! I have never done that. Well done!
But to also ADD this other angle to it.
You are not deficient for not adding it. But a guy like me with my agenda will take every opportunity to bring this added point to it. As long as you are talking about this text, as long as I am a conversation partner, then I don’t waste the opportunity to highlight this other angle too.
Great post!
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I wasn’t trying to be defensive with my response. Sorry if it came off that way. I was actually trying to add voice to what you were saying. Thank you.
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