Jesus’ Wealth Warning: Will Your Money Keep You Out of Heaven?預覽

Is Jesus really saying to sell everything & give it away?

Some of Jesus’ words comfort us. Others challenge us. And then there are the verses that make us deeply uncomfortable. Like the following verse and others just like it recorded in the gospels:

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.” – Matthew 19:21

In today’s world, these verses don’t make any sense. Sell our stuff and just give it away to the poor? Even after we worked so hard to earn it? And just give to those who are poor? What if they don’t know how to manage it… isn’t that like throwing pearls to the swine?

Try as we might, we can’t fit these teachings of Jesus into our way of thinking. And, since these words are so confrontational, so illogical, we try to rationalize what Jesus is really saying.

We tell ourselves that the rich young ruler that Jesus was talking to had a money problem, that his heart was in the wrong place, and that he was too focused on his wealth. And then we tell ourselves that we don’t have that problem, so this verse doesn’t really apply…

Seriously, this is what we do, right?

But many of us have just as big or even a bigger money problem than the rich young ruler. After all, he didn’t have credit card debt, car payments and a mortgage like we do. And so we justify Jesus’ words and tell ourselves that we need our money to make payments, to save for retirement and more.

Remember the story of Zacchaeus? He met Jesus and gave half of his wealth away. And what about the first Christians in the book of Acts? So many of them sold their possessions and shared freely.

Why are we not doing this today? Why are we so concerned with what might happen to the money after we give it to others? Why do we think we are responsible to make sure it is used wisely, or that it generates a return?

After all, Jesus never told the rich young ruler to steward his wealth, to invest it, to loan it to others, did he? Jesus said just give it, and give it to the poor.

We say we trust God, but then hold onto our finances with a tight fist. Hmmmm.

Jesus says, “Let go.” Give. Be generous. Stop being in control and start building treasure in heaven by giving to the poor.

How you handle your money reveals who you truly serve – God or wealth. There is only one choice:

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. – Matthew 6:24

Jesus wants to break the power of money over our hearts. That does not mean we all need to live in poverty and reject all forms of money. But it does mean that we need to let go and trust God.

If this verse seems impossible, that’s because it is.

On our own, we are powerless to let go as Jesus suggests. But the more we let go, the more we trust God, and the closer we are to becoming the type of follower Jesus is looking for.