Guitar Jim Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Because it was very important to him. We know that the young man went away very sad because he was very rich. I'd say he placed great store in his wealth, as we read in the lesson for this passage. Until he could get past his reliance on material wealth and possessions he could not follow Jesus. In another parable Jesus tells us that whoever puts his hand to the plough and keeps looking back is not fit for service in the Kingdom of God. I hope I haven't stolen Pastor Ralph's thunder there . . . The Savior knew this young man better than he did himself. There could be another reason for Jesus telling him to sell everything and give the money to the poor . . . perhaps, for all his good upright living the young man maybe didn't care for the poor enough. Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? No one likes to give up what he/she worked hard to acquire. It's basic human nature. That's why communism was doomed to failure. The "haves" will never be content with giving their money and possessions to those they feel didn't deserve them. In our culture, that means the welfare cheats, the drug addicts and alcoholics, anyone who won't "pull their weight so why should we carry them?" That's how our Western "work for a living" minds are conditioned. If we sell everything we worked so hard for and give the proceeds to the poor, we'll be poorer than they are! The early Church set the example to follow I believe. Those who had an abundance brought the extra things they didn't really need, sold them and placed the money at the Apostles' feet. Barnabas set the example there. Ananias and Sapphira decided to hang onto some of the money they received . . . which wasn't a sin in itself. Their sin was in telling everyone that it was the total amount they received in order to win the favor of the apostles and the rest. If they'd been open about it and told Peter they needed to hang onto some of the money I'm certain nothing bad would have happened to them. The Apostles would have simply been glad to get what they got. The spiritual danger of wealth lies in our reluctance to place God first in everything . . . especially finances! How many marriages are in trouble because of the unwillingness of spouses to agree on just how the money they earn should best be managed? This was a problem in my marriage. My ex-wife was a hard stingy woman who begrudged putting two bucks in the plate every Sunday. I wanted to tithe. The arguments we had over that, you wouldn't believe could happen in a Christian home! Eventually I had to pull rank on her since I was the working partner and she was the homemaker and I proposed a compromise of 5% instead of 10%. Once we agreed on that, which agreement only came after yet another screaming match, the matter was settled and God still blessed us. We're told to make up our mind what to give and then stick to it. No matter what came along we always had enough money to handle anything that came up. That's how God's blessing works. On another personal note: I own a few guitars. I'm not a collector per se, but I'm a professional guitarist who makes his entire living playing live and I like having a choice of which one to take to work tonight. Nothing super valuable here, but they're all dear to me. In fact most of my guitars are from the bargain bin and I've modified them. I still love every one of them though. If God ever made it clear that He wanted me to divest myself of them and give the money to the poor, could I? . . Would I? I'd like to think so, but . . . . Then again, I'd have to keep at least one to make my living. Would I keep the most valuable one and sell the el cheapos? I'd tell myself that I'm a professional musician who needs a top quality guitar to do my best work . . . but the reality is that I'm a good enough guitarist to get a tune out of a string across a garbage can. Any old wreck would do the job. What I'm getting at here is this: Wealth is relative. Even a person whom a rich person would consider poor may have possessions that he prizes highly, so highly that he wouldn't part with them, even at God's request. He's no different in God's Economy to the rich young ruler. THAT'S the spiritual danger of wealth. I truly believe that God is OK with people making money. Read the book of James. If God helps us to make money we should praise Him for that and realize that He did it for a reason far beyond seeing to our physical comfort. Are we to give to God's work? Most probably. However, if it's God's will that we lose our money, we have to be OK with that too. Moreover, if we have just enough to go round, as most of us do including me, we still need to place God in charge of the purse strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WALT39 Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? Mark 10:21 - Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Jesus loved this person, but Jesus knew that his wealth stood in the way of his spiritual journey. The only way this person could honestly serve Jesus was by getting rid of the impediment of his wealth in order to grow in his Christian life and serve Jesus. Why does this trouble us so much? I believe that this troubles most people because we are a materialistic society and even though most of us have a job and own a home, how can we give that up. I think that we can follow Jesus so long as we are not held captive to our wealth. As our pastor has stated that you can not hook up a Uhaul trailer to the hearse. If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? We must focus on Jesus and the talents that we have come from God. We must be aware of that and that any wealth comes from Him and not from our own doings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandria Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? I think the reason Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune, was because he was testing him, when he asked Jesus how he could get into the Kingdom, he was in a sense telling Jesus he was not a follower and his wealth was more important to him than being a follower of the true God. When Jesus told him to give all of his possessions to the poor and follow him, the young ruler went away disappointed. Jesus knew what was really in his heart. I guess the reason this troubles us so much, is because we are always striving to have more, even if we do not need more and we are not trusting God to provide. As we get older we tend to wonder why we wanted or thought we needed so many things we did not need. I do not think it means we cannot have wealth and be saved but it is how we look at that wealth, if it is more important to us than God or other people then yes it is definitely going to keep us from entering into the kingdom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? I believe it was to see if the young man would set His mind on Jesus and not his wealth. If he was unwilling to sell all that he had (Jesus knew his heart) it would have been like adding Jesus on to all his wealth. Another posession. God is a jealous God. You simply cannot keep your mind on your wealth and on God. The two oppose each other. This does trouble me as I see in me a war going on inside that I am not used to. I don't have riches as some but I wonder if I did would I be willing to sell all. It's easy when you have not. Would I base my security on my wealth and not on Christ and the riches of knowing Him and the fellowship of His suffering. May the Lord keep our hearts and minds on Him. God Bless! Jen Numbers 6:24-26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara A. Lee Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? Jesus wants this young man to divest himself as a test to see if he really looves Him. Is he about the Kingdom of God or is he about the almighty dollar. We put too much value on the THINGS of the World and not on the THINGS of God's Kingdom. We are an instant gratification world. We want everything now and go about getting it at any cost, and yes sometimes at the cost of others. I think this is what is so troublesome about this world. We have to make choices in this life about whether to serve Jesus or to serve man. If we chose to serve man then we are doomed for a lifetime in hell. That is why we have to be very careful about what and how we go about getting some things in todays society. If we go along with the world, we are putting ourselves in line with the devil. We have to do what is right, and yes sometimes that means just giving up a lot of worldly things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmlhopeful Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Jesus wanted to see just how much the ruler was willing to give up to follow Him. Why does this trouble us so much? We wonder if we are following Jesus if, we too, are holding on to our wealth. Should we give up what we have to follow Him? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? While Jesus asked the ruler to give up all he had, this does not mean that all believers should sell all their possessions. Most of His followers did not sell everything, although they used their possessions to serve others. This story shows us that we must not let anything we have or desire keep us from following Jesus. We musts remove all barriers to serving Him fully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Jesus knew that the man's wealth and the status that went with it was a barrier between this man and the Kingdom of Heaven. The wealth and everything that went with it would always come first for this mine and therefore the obvious answer was to get rid of it. I think that great wealth would constitute a similar barrier for most, but not all people. There are other things in our life which can also constiturte a barrier, and as someone else on this forum commented, the amzing thing is that this man had only the one barrier. Sadly though, for the man, it was a barrier which he was not prepared to pull down and he went away unhappy. Why does this trouble us so much? It is a hard truth. We know what the barriers are in our lives, it might be wealth, it might be other things, but letting go can be so hard If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? There is no other way to be saved than by putting God at the centre of our lives, by making him our number one priority. If that means that we have to clear out anything else which is going to come before that, then that is the only way we can be saved. I think that is what Jesus was saying when He talked about giving up wealth and possessions and even our families. If these are things which are going to come between us and God as the centre of our lives, then it is better to give them up and gain the riches of the Kingdom than to hold on to them and lose it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haar Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 Jesus required the young man to sell his riches (possession) and follow him becaus wealth could distract him from entering the kingdome of God. This was just of great concern to the young richman but also to us. We are burdened by the quest for wealth that we can derail from our goal of getting to heaven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? I think that we are prepared to give up and make amazing sacrifices to further our material and financial goals in life, and perhaps feel secure in our accomplishments.Because of all the sacrifices made we find it hard to give these treasures up. I believe however that when you come to know and understand the full value and immensity of Gods plan and eternal treasure He has set aside for us, then all of the worldly treasures become but trinkets and dispensable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard C Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Jesus saw that the rich young ruler was indeed a righteous man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marloes Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? The man loved Jesus but he loved his money even more. With his money, the man also would give up his possessions, status, family relations, power/leadership, ... It's not good to love something else more then Jesus, whatever it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moses 4 Posted October 30, 2010 Report Share Posted October 30, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? This scene with Jesus and a rich young man is probably the most famous biblical passage that tends to be ignored by modern Christians. If this passage were actually heeded today, it is likely that Christianity and Christians would be very different. Pax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda bass Posted November 2, 2010 Report Share Posted November 2, 2010 Jesus probably required the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune because riches and posessions had become an idol in his life. I think this troubles us so much because,like the rich young man,we also are reluctant to give up any of our possesions for the sake of the Kingdom. Often Christians fear that God will require something of them that will cost them too much. What this says about the spiritual dangers of wealth is, once riches have been accumulated,it is difficult to let go of them for any reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trusting God Posted November 5, 2010 Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Jesus required the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune, because He wanted him to surrender everything and follow Him. He wanted the young ruler to realized what was controlling and possessing him. The young ruler wanted to have his cake and eat it too. The Bible fully explains that we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). He wanted to keep his possessions and wanted eternal life, but he was not willing to pay the cost. Just as we read in the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price we have to be willing to give up all for the cause of Christ and the Kingdom. Just as the rich young ruler was troubled about giving up his fortune and possessions we have the same problem, also. We do not want to fully surrender everything to God. We are possessive of what we have and are fearful that God will require us to give it all up for Him. That is why Jesus tells us in His word that if we cannot give up everything for Him we cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:33). The rich young ruler came to Jesus asking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nurselaino Posted November 6, 2010 Report Share Posted November 6, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? Mar 10:21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." To serve God we have to put God before anything and everything. By giving up his wealth the rich young man would be giving up everything, wealth, power, possessions, status and most likely family. If he can not give up these things to follow the Lord then he is not putting the Lord first. I cant speak for other but I can say why this "scares" me. I know that God will take care of all my needs but at times I also know I dont always have the faith to put it to the test. I believe that I have to take care of the family and by giving up somethings I feel I am not doing the job I am to do. For me possessions are comfort and I hang on to that comfort dearly. Wealth is not something I have so to give up the little I do have (like many live from paycheque to paycheque) just seems like I will be facing disaster. Wealth leads to so many other things that can take us away from the Lord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csreeves Posted November 6, 2010 Report Share Posted November 6, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? I think Jesus knew the rich young rulers heart as he does ours and he knew exactly where our(his) weakness(inability to let go to serve God) lies and he asked Jesus the wrong question if he didn't really want to hear the answer. We all ask the same question and some take the answer and leave while some let go of their stronghold. I don't believe it is related to wealth only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smurf1948 Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Mon ey can lead us away from Christ. Why does this trouble us so much? Were reluctent to put put all our trust in Christ to meet our needs. If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? Welath can become our main focus. How to keep it or gain more, thus taking our focus of the Lord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summertime7 Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? a) Jesus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaret955 Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? Jesus wanted to know if the young rulers heart was pure,and what he was prepaired to give up for God! why it trouble us so much is we live in a world that money wealth and power is our ruler asking us to give up on our possessions would be like asking to cut off our limbs.Money,power etc are not the way to the riches that await us in the kingdom ,as Gods treasures are more than what we can ever imagine. It is saying about the spiritual dangers of wealth being we cannot worship both money and God we need to serve only one GOD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted December 2, 2010 Report Share Posted December 2, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune so his love/devotion/focus is on Jesus and the priorities of the Kingdom of God, not worldly wealth and everything that implies. This troubles us because we love wealth and the power and security that comes with it. We don't want to give it up. The spiritual dangers of wealth really are concerned with redirecting us from God and Heavenly priorities to self-reliance and worldly prioriites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pearl Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? Because he valued his fortune above all things. Because we may have something, of had something at one time that came between us and Christ. The time is now to make the decision to totally follow Him. If we love money above all things, we can lose our salvation and not obtain eternal life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FORWARD FELEX Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? The rich young man's fortune would keep having dominion over him if he kept or was to keep it. Jesus wanted to show him that serving God is done in spirit and truth. This could not be possible if he kept the riches. We count from material wealth since we live in a competetive world in terms of business. It troubles us a lot if we abandon our wealth, for it's a sign of losing in business. If the only way of man to be saved was through letting go of what one has, many would not be saved. Even up to now there are people who believe that there is no heaven. For them, what you do on this earth is all. therefore, they decide to enjoy every bit of life they come across to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wifee Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 2a) Jesus wants him to give up/surrender all his fortune, and anything that is of worldly worth, so that he will have totally broken away from anything that can distract the young ruler from following Jesus. Jesus wants any follower to commit to Him totally &give up their own life, to live for Him we struggle with this as the pull of work pressures & commitments,family; our desire to better ourselves physically, these all can come between us & God if we don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissioned Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 Q2. (Mark 10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved, what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth? Jesus required the rich young ruler to divest himself of his fortune so that he can truly surrender all to God, putting his trust in God to provide for his needs and not depend upon his riches. This troubles us because we too cling to the things that we have. Like the rich young ruler we cannot enter the kingdom of God unless we give up everything that we have to be a follower of Christ. There is no other way for man to be saved and the spiritual dangers of wealth is allowing riches to take possession to the point of not surrendering completely to Jesus and His commands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizzie55 Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 BECAUSE FORTUNE CAN GET IN THE WAY OF DOING GOD 'WILL[ [2B] BECAUSE WE THINK WE CAN LIVE WITHOUT HIM [2C]THAT WE HAVE TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING TO BE ONE OF GOD'S DISCIPLES [ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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