Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: sdeering@athena.mit.edu Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Help!! Message-ID: Date: 18 Sep 90 08:53:16 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 93 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article Alan T. Terlep writes: |> Greetings all, |> The second question is this. How do we reconcile our wealth with "It is |> harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to |> pass into the Kingdom of God?" Alan, If you look at the context of this statement by Jesus involving the rich young man, you can see that Jesus wasn't talking about the wealth itself being the problem, but the affect that the money had on the rich man. Jesus saw the the rich young man was really close to commiting his life totally to God, but that the riches where something that he held in higher esteem than knowing God. When he asked him about the Law the young man replied, "All these I have kept."( Matthew 19:20). What he lacked had to do with his attitude toward his wealth, not his wealth as a thing he had. Someone once said that in this case he didn't have the wealth, the wealth "had" him. It had such a hold on his life and he placed in such high esteem, that when God himself told him to give it away and follow him, he refused. The Apostle Paul said in his letter to Timothy, "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themsleves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that the may take hold of the life that is truly life..."(1 Timothy 6:17-19). I am a witness to the fact that God wants us to have our priorities straight in this life and what we put at the top is very important. If you look at both the Old and New testaments you can see that God's emphasis is always on placing a realtionship with him first in your life above everything else, to the point that there is a clear seperation between him and the rest of your life. He didn't say that you couldn't have other priorities, like a wife, a career, a dream, but that in having them you place him at the top of the list always. This is the right perspective. An example of what God considers a proper perspective could be arranged in a list like this: Priorities: 1. Relationship with God 2. Blank space 3. Blank space-to establish a clear seperation of God in the top spot always 4. Family and their support 5. Fill in with things like ministry, your job, etc. according to your life. For the rich young man, the order was like this: 1. Money 2. blank 3. blank 4. God and this is the wrong type of perspective and priority system. It also says in the bible that "... the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil", not the having of the money itself. The problem doesn't come about because we have money, but it comes about when the money "has us"; i.e. our love for having and keeping the possesion reaches the point where we ignore God or put him in a lower place of priority. Money in and of itself is just a unit of exchange, a tool that we can use for the kingdom and to handle our daily affairs. Money isn't evil any more than a hammer in your toolbox is evil; people and their desires can be evil and this is where we have to be careful. Having wealth can be a great thing considering all those who are in great need and poverty around us. It can be used for great good or for great evil depending on the heart of the person with it. To use it properly, we have to have the same attitude that Job had about his money which was that God gave it to him and could take it away. He places his relationship with God above all his possesions, and the possibility of losing that relationship was what really caused him the most anxiety. Money is just a tool. It is not to be an idol in our lives though, where we put our trust in its power to do what God has already promised he would do. It's hard for the rich to be saved not because they have money, but because they are likely to trust it more than God and not commit to him like this young man did. Jesus saw that the young man was unable to commit totally to God, while he placed such a high priority on the power of his riches and brought him to a place where he had to choose between God and the money; he choose the money and walked off sadly. God wants us to choose him first so that we can walk with him in joy, trusting in his ample abililty to provide for our needs and desires. I hope that this was helpful. God bless! -scott deering sdeering@athena.mit.edu "Be strong and courageous, for the Lord you God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9