"Can He -- Will He -- Become a Disciple?"

The Rich Young Ruler

Rich: More than enough wealth to sustain life

Young: Between the ages of 25-45

Ruler: Corporate Management, Church Leadership, Community Status, etc.

This description hits pretty close to home right now. In this description, I see my husband. A young man with a wife, two kids, dog, two cars, two houses, significant investments and responsibilities, established career, leadership roles in the church, status in the community, etc. Now, I am not comparing him to the actual man described in the scriptures, but I am saying that the man’s “title” could easily suit Justin and our family situation as a whole. And since my husband (of course with 100% support from me and our families) recently decided to return to Ozark Christian College as a full-time student, we are definitely feeling the call of Jesus to “come follow me.” So, what does that look like today? In a time of prayer this particular passage of the Gospels came to mind and I began making the comparisons. These likenesses sent me searching out more about this story. I found an excellent lesson on this passage from Dr. Ralf F. Wilson and a majority of the following is excerpted from his writings (emphasis mine). As I continue to think and meditate on this passage, I still wonder what awesome truths are in store for us.

“The story of the rich young ruler exposes a raw nerve in us that causes a reaction. But disposing of wealth was not all that Jesus asked the man to do. "When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' " (18:22) … The word "follow" is the characteristic word of discipleship, Greek akoloutheo, "' follow,' figuratively, to follow someone as a disciple, 'be a disciple, follow.' "[12] However, I don't think that the following Jesus invites this man to do is just figurative. Jesus looked at this man and loved him (Mark 10:21). I think he is inviting the rich young man to join him on his journeys, to become one of the disciples who enjoy the immense and unspeakable privilege of spending time with Jesus and learning from him on a day-by-day basis. What a wonderful invitation! But the invitation implicit to us is no less wonderful. We, too, are invited to come to Jesus, and then to follow him on a spiritual life journey. To enjoy his company, his presence. To be taught along the way by his Word and Spirit. To become part of his great extended family, the Body of Christ throughout the world. And to be filled with hope in the closing days of our journey as we know his promises and feel his comfort with us. "Come, follow me," is the invitation Jesus extends to you and me.”

We fully accept the “Come follow me”, but are we willing to accept the “Sell everything you have and give to the poor,” portion of the calling? We seem to have skipped right over that part. How much of a commitment will this really take? Are we willing to sacrifice our comforts to become completely dedicated to the call?

“The young man has kept all the commandments, but still senses a lack, an incompleteness, or else he wouldn't have come to Jesus in the first place. Now Jesus speaks to the young man's point of need:

"When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' " (18:22)

“If the man does this, Jesus assures him, he will have treasure in heaven. "Treasure" is Greek thesauros, "that which is stored up, 'treasure.' "[10] It is an ironic exchange that Jesus proposes -- exchanging fabulous wealth here on earth for fabulous wealth in the Kingdom of God… Recently, Jesus has taught his disciples about the importance of faithfulness with regard to money: "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money" (Luke 16:13). Now his disciples have an object lesson to learn from -- an actual rich man, fabulously wealthy. Can he -- will he -- become a disciple?”

We fully understand that accepting the call to follow Jesus requires sacrifice. But what sacrifice, and to what extent? Can we -- will we -- resign our salary & benefits? Can we -- will we -- sell our things, our car, our house? Some would say we would be better off to sacrifice time rather than wealth; to keep the salary, continue in school and have less time for other things. But if all our time is spent with Justin studying and working (both full-time hours) in addition to all our other responsibilities in the church and our family, we are not simply sacrificing time, we are sacrificing relationships. Our marriage will weaken, friends and family will have to be neglected: is that what Jesus has called us to? I don’t believe so! Jesus has called us to make disciples -- to minister to those in our home and in our lives. I would rather my children suffer the pains of hunger than to be starved from love.

Another part of the calling is to be generous. If we maintain all our worldly responsibilities while attempting to respond to Christ’s invitation to follow him, we also have nothing to give. We will have to grasp with all our might to each and every thing: school, work, church, family; each one in danger of become its own stronghold on our family. There will be little to nothing left to be generous with. But if indeed we do eliminate the stresses of career and maintaining the extra comforts in life (by “selling everything we have”), we may find we have an abundance of love, faith and encouragement to distribute to those in need simply because we refused to sacrifice what we thought we could do without, over what Christ has specifically asked us to give to Him.

“… Jesus' words don't just upset the rich young ruler. They also upset us… But why are we even worried with the question? Do we, too, feel possessive of what we have? Do we fear that Jesus may require us to do something that would cost us too much? What are we afraid of? And why do we fear? We fear because we sense that we are not fully surrendered, that's why.”

All of this comes about because Justin and I will indeed need to make that life-changing decision as to what exactly it looks like to give everything it takes to follow Him. And we have so many options. The most difficult and emotionally weighing decisions we have to make are whether or not the opportunities presented to us are a result of God’s leading or a vice perpetuating a stronghold in our lives. I so appreciated the prayer that Dr. Wilson offered at the end of his lesson. My heart echoes it here:

“Dear Father, Jesus' words have a way of piercing our hearts and defenses we have built up against you and doing things your way. Make us tender-hearted. Gently expose the reservations of our hearts, as you did for that wealthy young man those many centuries ago. But give us grace to be able to obey you, the Great Physician, who alone can heal our corrupt and deceitful hearts, and make us whole. Forgive us, O Lord, for clinging to the remnants of a life independent of you, and make us wholly yours. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.”

See Dr. Wilson’s complete lesson text at: http://www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/18_18-23.htm

We covet the prayers of our family and friends for us in this time in our lives.
Pray that in all things we might bring glory to God. -AB