Chapter 38. The Point of the Story. If all that is in the world are only so many empty cups, what does it signify which you take, or how many you take, or how many you have? William Law. Bended knees while you are clothed with pride; heavenly petitions while you are hoarding up treasures upon earth. William Law. True evangelical faith is of such a nature that it cannot lay dormant. It clothes the naked, feeds the hungry, consoles the afflicted, shelters the miserable, and aids and consoles all the oppressed.
Menno Simons. I think we would all agree that Andy Dimwit lives up to his name. But what does this have to do with me? You may be wondering. Actually, the story has everything to do with you and me. That's because many, if not most, Christians are basically Andy Dimwits. Getting a Perspective on Reality. What many people don't grasp is that the instant we die, all of the money we've accumulated on earth turns into Monopoly money. Our houses turn into those little green plastic Monopoly houses. The game is over.
Forever. Of course, these possessions benefit our heirs, but they are of no more use to us. That's why Jesus calls us away from our Monopoly game to do His work. We have a real job to do here on earth. However, most of us are so busy gaining Monopoly money and plastic houses that we neglect the real job. In His parable of the minas, Jesus tells us He expects us to be working on His behalf until His return. He says, "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.
So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business till I come.'" Luke 19:12-13. So we are to be doing business for our King until He returns. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructed us, "Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or, 'What shall we drink?' or, 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:31-33. So our main focus as Christians is to be seeking kingdom interests. Paul exhorted the entire Corinthian church, "My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 15:58. So what is this work of the Lord we should be abounding in? What kingdom interests should we be seeking first?
What is the Lord's business that He expects us to be engaged in? What is our kingdom work? The New Testament describes numerous types of kingdom work that we can be doing until our Lord returns. Here are twenty of them. One, feeding the hungry. Two, providing drink to the thirsty. Three, providing shelter for travelers and the poor. Four, clothing the needy. Five, calling on the sick. Six, visiting ones in prison. Seven, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Eight, church planting. Nine, teaching in the church.
Ten, serving in church leadership. Eleven, mentoring and discipling other Christians. Twelve, ministering to and supporting those serving as leaders, evangelists, and missionaries. Thirteen, interceding in prayer. Fourteen, being a peacemaker. Fifteen, comforting others. Sixteen, showing hospitality to travelers and kingdom workers. Seventeen, administrating churches and ministries. Eighteen, caring for widows and orphans. Nineteen, being an encourager. And twenty, using gifts of the Spirit to advance the kingdom.
In addition to those kingdom services, many Christians today serve in ministries like Bible translation, giving medical care to the sick, curing diseases, teaching improved agricultural methods to farmers, publishing Christian literature, organizing and serving at Christian conferences, cleaning and maintaining church buildings, volunteering to regularly babysit, providing micro-loans to the poor, helping people break addictions, caring for new mothers, and providing shelters for the homeless and abused.
Probably most Christians spend some time in these types of ministries or support them through donations. However, to live the kingdom life, these ministries have to come first in our lives. In saying that, I don't mean that we necessarily spend more time in these ministries than at our jobs or homemaking. I mean that such kingdom service must be our vocation. What is your vocation?
When it comes to work, Jesus instructs us, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life." John 6:27. So which food are we primarily laboring for? The kind that perishes or the kind that endures to everlasting life? Those living the kingdom life already have a vocation: serving the kingdom of God. This is the highest vocation on earth. The early Christians never referred to their jobs and businesses as their vocations. Their vocation was serving God and His kingdom.
Clement of Alexandria writes, "If through the necessity of life he spends a small portion of time for his sustenance, the spiritual man thinks himself defrauded, being diverted by business." The Right Use of Secular Work. Am I suggesting, then, that a Christian shouldn't have a job? Not at all. The New Testament teachings on secular work are quite clear.
Paul writes, "For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread." 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12. So part of our service to God is to provide for our own material needs and the needs of our families. As the Scriptures say, "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good." Ephesians 4:28.
Christians should not be a burden to their church or to the public if they have the ability to work with their hands and provide for themselves. Not only that, jobs and businesses enable us to provide for those who are in need. But it is easy to let our earthly work, whether it's a job outside the home or homemaking, become the central focus of our energy. It's easy to whittle away our time here on earth, accumulating Monopoly money and green plastic houses.
Now, let's return to Jesus' instructions to the rich young ruler. Jesus told him not only to sell what he had, but also to "give to the poor." But is giving to the poor really that important? Surely it's not a salvation issue. Or is it?