Selling It All

A while back I was challenged by the story of the young rich man who Jesus told to sell all his possessions and give it to the poor. I realized I wasn’t ready to do that. It was a sad thought for me, to proclaim I love God more than anything, but not willing to give up my paltry worldly possessions.

Then, a few months later, there was the reality that I am one of “those” people living below the poverty level figures. Yet, I’m not willing to give up even that. And what makes me so different from the other poor that people have labeled “those” people?

I recently made a comment that we can love (and help) others without being taken advantage of, but when we worry about being taken advantage of, we lose our ability to love and care for others. You see, when we’re focusing on someone else “using” us, we are focused on ourselves. None of the commandments, Old or New Testament, ever give us permission to focus on ourselves over others. In fact 1 Corinthians 13:3 tells us just the opposite. When we do good things without love for others, it’s nothing.

Then there’s the whole “using” concept ~ it’s just wrong. No one takes things from us we aren’t willing to give them. They may try, but if they take something without our permission, it’s theft, and so we haven’t really been taken advantage of. Now there are times we are not making sound decisions or judgments, or that we don’t have the inner strength to say “no.” But we can’t blame others for our own weaknesses.

If we are totally honest with ourselves when we read James 2, aren’t we all at least a little guilty of some sort of prejudice when we look at others? It may be the way they dress, the way they talk, what we perceive to be their income. In a crowded room (or church), to whom am I drawn?

My mother loved to go out to make an expensive purchase like a car, dressed down, expensive jewelry at home. The salesclerks would treat her terribly. Her husband would be with her and tell the sales staff that they needed to convince Mom to buy the car, not to talk to him. But invariably, my mother was shunned, talked down to, and sometimes just treated rudely. When she pulled out her money to pay cash for a brand new car, their faces must have been worth paying to see!

I wonder what my face will look like when I meet Jesus face to face. Will I have to answer for treating people differently than Jesus wanted me to? Will my own prejudices have won out over my desire to be like Christ? Will I ever reach the level of being able to sell it all and give it to the poor?