The Eye of the Needle: Part Two
What does it mean to be rich?
For many of us, our first thought is of swimming through gold coins much like McDuck did in the old cartoon series! Or it might conjure visions of a private plane, touring the world, and never answering to a supervisor again!
To have $2000 would be rich in the United States in the year 1800 but today is nothing special.
The concept only works when it has a norm to be measured against.
Would you consider yourself one of the wealthy elite?
Compared to other Americans, we may feel almost poverty-stricken at this point in our lives but compare yourself to the people of Guatemala or Zambia—people who earn $2 per month or less! And don’t worry about matching shoes or having enough closet space because they haven’t the shoes or clothing to fill even a cupboard!
Now, you might feel wealthy!
So which measure should we use when reading this scripture—our status compared to our peers or our status compared to everyone in the world?
Or is this scripture not to be taken literally because of the globalization of our cultures?
Again I ask you, what is meant by “rich”?
Wealth can be counted in many things:
• There is a wealth of knowledge.
• Wealth of monetary or material possessions.
• Wealth of family and friends.
• And wealth of spiritual experience, to name a few!
Wealth and its effects can be seen in the parable of the rich man in Luke 12:16-21….
“And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
There comes a point where—even in a religious sense—we can lay up treasures for our own selves and not for the kingdom of God!
One might hoard or become stingy with one’s finances toward God.
He can measure out his talents as if being used of God is a drudgery or usury rather than a privilege and an honor.
Several modern authors have captured this phenomenon in print. The once popular text, Mars and Venus in Love, states that many marriage relationships are failing because the spouses are keeping score, measuring the relationship in terms of how much “I” give versus how much he or she gives! They then assess a value to each item, becoming ungrateful and stingy with their relational resources.
What this author perhaps does not understand is that this concept has existed in churches for just as long as it has in relationships!
In fact, the attitudes now seen in marriages is a direct by-product of how men have treated God all along.
Quite simply, we keep score.
We keep score with our time: “I already spent fifteen hours at the church this week; I have a life, you know! I can’t believe we’re having choir practice again!”
We keep score with our talents: “I always sing and worship in church but no one notices; I bet people in the world would show greater appreciation for my ability! This church wouldn’t have the services it does without me leading them!”
“So far, I’ve worked in the church as the song leader, a Sunday School teacher, and a greeter! I can’t do all of that at one time so I’ll just keep track of the positions I’ve filled!”
Believe it or not, I’ve even met a man who kept a resume of what he had done in the church to give as his letter of introduction to new pastors whenever he changed churches! For some reason, tallying his contributions, he never quite felt appreciated enough…but could the problem have been his own mindset?
Having a resume is alright if you’re trying out to be music director but never let it become a grudge held against God. “I did this and this for you—now where’s my blessing?”
To be rich in a spiritual and even physical sense can mean all of these things:
• To be increased with goods
• To become stagnant because you feel you’ve grown enough
• To become prideful and compare yourself with other saints
• To keep score as if your ministry is of higher value than that of others
• To feel independent of God or to not even need Him
Wealth has nothing to do with what’s in the bank. It has everything to do with what’s in the heart of a man!
Do you need, yearn for God or have you “mastered” this religion thing?
It’s something to think about as you walk through your day today. Have you become so ‘wealthy’ in religion that you no longer even desire God?
Catch our next segment to learn where this ‘richness’ places us in relation to salvation, redemption, blessing, and even a relationship with God!
