By Corey
I have been wrestling with the idea of material possessions for quite a while now. In Mathew 19 Jesus interacts with a young rich man that is looking to find eternal life. Jesus tells the young man that to attain eternal life he needs to “keep the commandments”. The young man then tells Jesus that he already does this but he feels that he is still missing something. As a result Jesus states, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21 ESV).
This passage is so challenging to me. I am a college student without much money or a car, but I have so much stuff. I am a collector and a bit of a pack rat. For examp
le, I have a large collection of shoes, socks, bikes, hats, jeans, and wool ties. And these are just my “collections”, the things that I buy more of simply for the sake of having them.
So what am I supposed to do in light of this passage? I see two options. First, I could adopt the American mentality; I could choose to ignore this pa ssage and believe that it doesn’t apply to me because of America’s obsession with material possessions. This approach is easy, safe, and attempts to justify consumerism. Or secondly, I could look at this passage from a much different point of view, a literal one. Réne Padilla in his book, Mission Between the Times states, “If it is clear that Jesus did at times demand literal poverty as a condition of discipleship, why should we take it for granted that in our case his demand to renounce all possessions should be interpreted figuratively?”
This is the heart of my struggle. Can a compromise be made or is it simply one way or the other? And further, if I am actually bowing my knee to Christ each day, do my material possessions need justification? Thoughts?
Corey,
I know what you mean. I sometimes find myself trying to rationalize having more and more money in my savings account because I think I will need it in the future. The fact of the matter is, God will provide all that we need in the future. The key word is “need” there I guess. I try to remember this so that I can be more open to giving but as Rob said, it is a constant struggle. I guess my advice for you (and for myself for that matter) would be to listen to your heart and pray about it. God is good, all the time. I really appreciate your honesty. I think that so many of us struggle with materialism but don’t talk about it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
This is something I have wrestled with too. In high school, I remember a mentor I looked up to giving a talk on this subject. She said that owning things does not necessarily mean possessing them. By possessing things, I think she meant being unwilling to give them up– to follow Christ’s command. But if we are ready to give up the things we own, then we are not possessing them. However, my only issue with this idea is that how are we to know what we are willing to do until we actually do it? There are many things I think I could do, but when presented with the opportunity, I suddenly realize how much harder it is to actually do them.
Materials can definitely be a blessing from God, but can also distract us from Him. Jesus may have commanded us to sell all that we have for our own sakes, because it is only when we depend completely on Him that we find true life. I think maybe St. Augustine had right with his idea of ordered and disordered love– love God first, then others, self, and stuff.
Having similar affection — sock and shoes — I find that I have to live in constant tension. Surrender and retraction – surrender and retraction. Hopefully “surrender” grabs more ground.