Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 8
The speaker insists the key issue is not only having riches but “trust in riches” and even “desire for worldly possessions” (citing Clement’s explanation of why the disciples panicked); how does that widen the warning to include the non-rich, and how can a person honestly diagnose desire/covetousness without replacing it with mere guilt?
Another way to ask: How does the warning about “trusting riches” also apply to people who aren’t rich? How can you check your own desires for stuff honestly without just sinking into guilt?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript widens the warning by saying a person can be “rich” in desire even if poor in possessions, because it is trust in wealth and covetousness that blocks the kingdom. Diagnosis should move beyond guilt to honest self-examination and asking God for help, since “with men it is impossible… with God all things are possible.”
- Jesus clarifies: “how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.”
- The speaker leans on Clement’s explanation that the disciples panicked because they hadn’t “wholly renounced the desires for worldly possessions.”
- He draws the lesson: “this vice can be found just as easily in a poor man… he can still have those materialistic desires.”
- The hope is stated: God makes it possible—“take our minds off the desires for the world.”
- The speaker’s practical counsel: “judge ourselves, not others,” and “searching our own hearts for seeds of covetousness.”
- He warns against anxious obsession: “Be a little worried, but not too worried… we shouldn’t be anxiously worrying.”