For the last 6 months I have been studying the history of many of the ancient Christian spiritual leaders of the faith. I have begun to see church history in the context of real people simply trying to follow God in their times. As I have been doing this, I saw a common thread develop in the lives of many of the most revered heroes of the church. Antony, Augustine, Gregory the great, St. Benedict of Nursia, St. Clare and Francis of Assisi for example.
All of these (and many others) deliberately left wealth, comfort, riches and position with no hope of getting them back. I don't mean they had them taken from them- they chose to give them up willingly. Each one did so, not thinking that God would reward them in kind. Each one did so with a clear statement that they believed a life of discipline, asceticism or forms of monasticism were proper responses to Jesus invitation to follow him.
They assumed Jesus words were to be literally followed when he said:
"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."(Luke 16:13)
The aforementioned people did not think it wise to be "balanced", but instead to leave all hope of their worldly possessions and abandon themselves to Jesus. In fact, some believed that to follow Christ in life meant literally we should live in purposeful poverty, if we are to follow Christ's message and example.
This is a far cry from today's general Christian message of "balance" and "stewardship". I am certainly not saying that God does not call us to stewardship, but most of the times Christ used money or wealth in his teachings, he was using them as symbols in an analogy to teach about faithfulness, stewardship and the like. What he did actually say literally about money is much more similar to the verse quoted above.
But here we are in the 21st century. What is our real concept of devotion to Christ in this regard? Should we leave possessions, money, position and comfort to follow Christ?
How do we honestly think about this today? I seriously would like to hear your thoughts on this.
Sincerely,
Kim Gentes
God,
Reader Comments (1)
Great post Kim!
It's interesting you posted this today. Yesterday, I taught on Luke 8 - primarily centered around the parable of the seed, sower and soils.
In verse 14 Jesus says, "As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature."
This verse caused me quite a bit of pause - mostly because I see how profoundly this plays out in our North American context. I can strongly see both among others and in myself how the cares, riches and pleasures available to us suck up our energies and priorities to the point that Jesus and his Kingdom often take a back seat, if any seat at all.
The sad part of this verse is that the word of God does bear fruit, but it never matures. The seed sprouts but fails to blossom. It's literally strangled. Powerful image. We accept Christ and follow him in some things, but we fail to mature in Christ - especially to the point where mature seed is able to replicate. Our discipleship is marginal and scarcely if ever produces another disciple.
I don't know all the answers. But I do know that if we really do take Jesus and our discipleship to him seriously, his words should make us take serious pause and lead us into some sort of repentance (change).
And you're right. Jesus certainly has a lot to say about the relationship between people and money. I believe there's significant reason why, if we wealthy North Americans are willing to honestly look at them. But I question if we are willing to look at them seriously. Because, we might have to .... change.
Nathan