Mark 10:17-22 tells the uncomfortable story of a rich young man who liked God but ultimately chose his stuff over following Him.
He burst onto the scene seemingly from nowhere and threw himself at Jesus’ feet. Addressing Jesus as the “good teacher”—in flattery or humility, it’s hard to say—the young man asked what he needed to do to “inherit eternal life.” Jesus mentioned the commandments, and the eager man claimed he had kept all of them since childhood. Jesus smiled at him—amused by his enthusiasm or surprised by his self-righteousness, it’s hard to say—but instead of giving him a pat on the back for his good behavior, he challenged him to sell everything he had, give the money to the poor, and follow him. The young man’s face fell, and he walked away.
Here was a man who wanted to serve God, but only to a point. He was okay with following basic codes of morality and maintaining a decent, respectable life, but he would go no further. Jesus diagnosed the problem; it was not that the young man was rich, but rather that his riches had him. He liked the things of God (a lot!), but he loved his stuff, and stuff dictated what he would or would not do. Jesus offered him a chance to be free from the tyranny of stuff but he declined.
Like many Christians, the young man rejected the kind of discipleship that required sacrifice and a much deeper commitment of the heart—the kind that asks us to give more than we want to, go out of our way to help someone else, embrace the occasional discomfort of obeying God and being rejected by people whose respect and admiration we want, put up with people we would rather walk away from, give up a prized activity or pleasure, and so on. He rejected the Christianity that asked for more.
Jesus asked for everything because he recognized that anything we prize more than him will inevitably draw us away from him. This is especially true of riches (Matt. 6:24), and we don’t have to be “super rich” to be susceptible to this problem. If our spiritual priorities are warped, the comforts and advantages that come with riches will tend to distort our values and keep us focused on (indeed handcuffed to) the temporary materialistic aspects of this world.
Jesus held the line and holds it still. He challenges would-be followers to choose and place him above all else, and following him still involves some sacrifice, a willingness to give up anything or everything to follow him wherever he leads. It’s a scary proposition and many of us still decline.
The story raises a lot of uncomfortable questions that require honest personal reflection. Do you prize God above everything? Are you withholding any part of your life from God? Are you hanging onto the life you have and rejecting the one Christ is offering? Are you tethered to your stuff?