Zach’s Theological Musings

  Matthew 19:21:

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Luke 14:25,33:

Now great crowds accompanied [Jesus], and he turned and said to them… “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Many who profess the name of Christ today will ask, “But that doesn’t mean that we today have to forsake everything in order to follow Jesus, does it?” This question reveals a presupposition on the part of the questioner that he views forsaking earthly possessions in order to gain Christ as a burdensome, “do I really have to” sort of thing. But Peter’s response after hearing Jesus’ call to the rich young man reveals a very different heart:

Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” (Matthew 19:27)

The rich young ruler heard Jesus say, “SELL WHAT YOU POSSESS AND GIVE TO THE POOR, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Peter, at precisely the same moment, heard Jesus say, “sell what you possess, and give to the poor, AND YOU WILL HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN; AND COME, FOLLOW ME!” The rich young ruler went away sad and grieved because he thought Jesus had demanded an overwhelmingly burdensome requirement of him. Peter got excited because he heard Jesus offering some overwhelmingly great blessings, and even though Jesus was not addressing him directly, Peter was eager to shove his way in and ask, “Can I get some of that?”

So, do you have to forsake all you possess in order to follow Jesus? No, in a very real sense it would not be right to say that. The followers of Jesus are those who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good… so good, in fact, that the idea of forsaking all they possess in order to be with Him and receive His heavenly treasures is not at all a “have to” sort of thing.

Luke 18:22b-23a:

`… and you shall have treasure in heaven! And come, follow Me.’ But when he heard these things, he became very sad…

Very sad!?! Did we read that right? “[Jesus offered] treasure in heaven … [and] he became very sad”?!? Now what on earth would cause a man to become sad when Jesus promises him not only treasure in heaven, but even better, companionship with Himself? If you’ve read the context, then of course you know just what on earth it was that caused this man to reject such a glorious offer direct from the hands and mouth of Jesus Himself.

  Was my last post too negative? Well, on the one hand I would say no. I don’t hesitate to say that the American church has left her first love. Sure we still have some love for God, and we still believe the gospel to a large extent. And so did the Ephesians. But the preeminence of love for Christ has waned in the American church just as surely as it did in Ephesus. If God threatened to remove the lampstand of His presence from the church in Ephesus, then we need to stop and take the implications for us very, very seriously.

  But as needed as a sharp-cutting diagnosis is, it is not enough. How can hearts be ignited, or reignited, with zeal for Jesus? One answer is found on the Emmaus road:

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. … They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” - Luke 24:27, 32

The hearts of the disciples burned when they listened to Jesus interpreting to them the ultimate subject and focus of all the (Old Testament) Scriptures — “the things concerning Himself.”

  Therefore it is my hope and prayer that teachings like those at http://onelord.cn/Jesus/ will be a positive encouragement to help persuade my heart and yours that Jesus really is better. He is better than national security and financial security. Deep and genuine fellowship with Jesus is worth losing that multi-million dollar church building, that home in the suburbs, that summer vacation, and everything else.

  Lord Jesus, open our eyes to see more of you in the Scriptures. Cause our hearts to burn like the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Lead us to repentance, and take away any competing loves until we hate this life and everything in it compared to You.

Luke 9:24-26:

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

  Investment analysts tell us that different people have different levels of aversion to risk. Some people like to risk it all with the chance of a large payoff. Some would rather play it safe and have a virtually guaranteed, though much more conservative, return.

  How does risk play out in the spiritual realm? Well, in the upside-down world of Jesus* where the meek inherit the earth, where masters serve slaves, and where the persecuted are the most joyful, “playing it safe” often requires risking or losing “everything”. (* Rather, I mean the right-side up world of Jesus relative to which the ways of this world are upside-down.)

  The first option is to “play it safe” in terms of worldly wisdom. Store up your crops, build larger and larger barns, then sit back and say to yourself, “Self, you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” Whew! That’s safety, that’s security, that’s planning ahead. There’s nothing to worry about. Until your life and your property are all taken away in an instant, and you are left with nothing but the T-Shirt on your back which reads, “This one stored up things for himself but was not rich toward God.”

  Likewise, when the persecution comes, which it will for anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus (II Tim 3:12), the persecutors will probably tempt you with a “safe” way out. “Oh, we don’t hate Christians or Christianity,” they’ll say. “In fact, we think religion is great, and you are free to have whatever beliefs you want within your self. We just want to be assured that your allegiance is first of all to the state and our agenda, and that you recognize that Jesus is just a personal deity in your heart.” Hey great! You can have the best of both worlds, right? Until Jesus comes in glory with the whole host of heaven with Him and looks away from you, ashamed.

  The other option is to lay everything on the line, like the man who found treasure hidden in a field (Matt 13:44). When he found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. The world will say he’s a fool. Jesus will say, “He’s mine.” If there is no resurrection of the dead, then we who have banked everything we have on Christ are to be pitied more than all men. If there is a resurrection of the dead, which there is, then to live is Christ and to die is gain.

  Playing it safe is not an option in this world. We were born into a world at war. Satan seeks to kill, steal, and destroy. The dangers are already real, they are already present whether you like it or not, whether you acknowledge them or not. The more you cling to sources of safety in this world, the more you expose yourself to massive dangers of eternal proportions. Beware of earthly “safety”. It can kill you.