Why don't followers of Jesus' obey his teaching in Matthew 19:21?
So you won't have to look it up, Matthew 19:21 says: Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (NIV)
Background
This verse must be read in context. The preceding verses tell us that "...a man came up to Jesus and asked, 'Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?'" (Matthew 19:16, NIV) Jesus tells him to obey all of the commandments and the man responds that he has done that, and asks, "What do I still lack?" Only then does Jesus respond by telling him to sell everything he owns and give away the money. Matthew goes on to tell us that the 'young man' walked away in despair because he was very wealthy.
Interpretation
In my opinion, the person who asks the question, 'why don't followers of Jesus obey this teaching' is confusing two different kinds of Biblical accounts. Sometimes, Jesus spoke universal truths and commands that were to transcend time. Matthew 28:18-20 charges all followers of Jesus, regardless of time or geography, to go everywhere and make disciples of everyone. That is a command. He tells us in Matthew 6:33 to seek the Kingdom of God above everything else. That is a command. He tells us in John 15:9 to 'remain in' His love. That is a command.
But there are other times when the teaching is not directly and literally to us, but rather to a particular person at a particular time in a particular circumstance. He tells Peter to throw his nets out for another catch (twice), but we don't interpret that as a call to go fishing, do we? We interpret it as an understanding that Jesus has the ultimate power in this world. Or we see it as analogous for the fact that we should be willing to throw our nets out and trust God to bring people and resources into our lives. I could name a hundred other examples. When he told Peter to throw out his nets, that was not a command to be literally taken to all of us.
Likewise, Jesus' call to the rich young man to sell all of his possessions and give away everything is not a command to all of us. I believe that Jesus looked into this man's heart and knew that the thing that had come between him and God was his wealth and his stuff. We know this because he didn't take Jesus up on the offer, but rather walked away sulking. So, what good is that text in my life? Lots. It tells me that I need to probe around and find anything that is standing in between me and God and divest myself of it. Pride. Career. Money. Ambition. Laziness. Whatever it is, it's got to go - or at least I've got to relate to it differently. God has to be first. That is the lesson of the Rich Young Ruler*.
**(Luke tells us he was some kind of ruler)
Brian,
ReplyDeleteI thnk your explination of this scripture is spot on! You taught us a while back that man looks at the outside and God looks at the heart. We as believers need to realize that for our hearst to be in line with God we need to know what God wants. The only way to know what He wants is to study His word. Becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ is 1st and attitude:"I am going to live my life for Christ and everything I have is His." If that is the case then it will be reflected in our actions. When the church at large is will to make this a committment then we won't have to worry about things like raising money to pay for the Church, or getting involved in outreach, or Bible study because it will be a natural outpouring from our committment.
Because of what Christ did and does for us we should want to obey Him, not out of obligation but out of thanksgiving.
ok I'm off the soapbox now!