Chapter 36. Does this mean no possessions? Set your purpose to gain no more. I charge you in the name of God: do not increase your estate. John Wesley. When Jesus says that we have to forsake all we have, does he mean we cannot own any possessions? We want to always take Jesus' words at face value, unless the context suggests otherwise. So let's look at the context of Jesus' directive.
In the very same passage where he says, "We must forsake all we have," Jesus also says that in order to be his disciple, a person has to "hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters," yes, and his own life also. Luke 14:26. Yet in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says we must love even our enemies. If it's wrong to hate our enemies, how much more so to hate our parents, wives, and children?
So I think it's spiritually and intellectually honest to say that Jesus doesn't mean that we can own absolutely no possessions, any more than he is saying we must literally hate our spouses. He is saying that, in order to be his disciples, absolutely nothing can be more important in our lives than him. He has to come ahead of not only our possessions, but even our spouses and children. We have to dispose of all of these things from our souls if they interfere with following Christ.
This meaning is apparent when we read the passage that follows the conversation with the rich young ruler. After the young man left, Peter declared, "We have left all and followed you," Matthew 19:27. Yet Peter had a wife and home, Matthew 8:14. Surely his home contained a bed, table, and other furniture. No doubt Peter and his wife owned cooking utensils and other such things. So the apostles never understood Jesus to be saying that we can't have any possessions whatsoever.
Jesus' special friends, Martha and Mary, owned a house. Yet Jesus never told them they had to get rid of it, Luke 10:38. Zacchaeus promised to give half of his wealth away and to restore fourfold anything he had taken by false accusation. But he still retained a considerable amount of his wealth. Nevertheless, Jesus declared, "Today salvation has come to this house," Luke 19:9. Throughout Acts, we read of various believers who owned houses. We read that they broke bread from house to house, Acts 2:46.
The apostles preached daily in the temple and in every house, Acts 5:42. Peter lodged at the house of Simon the tanner, who presumably was a believer, Acts 10:6. When the angel freed Peter from prison, he went to the "house of Mary," the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying, Acts 12:12. In his letters, Paul makes frequent references to churches that were meeting in the homes of believers.
Finally, we read of Christians in the New Testament who not only owned houses but also owned slaves, Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 4:1. Disposing things from our soul. Nevertheless, we don't want to minimize what Jesus commanded. I think we can accurately say that Jesus did not mean his words in an absolutely literal sense, that is, that we can't own any property whatsoever. But he intended for his words to be taken very seriously. Zacchaeus didn't rid himself of all his property, but he did give away most of it.
In the book of Acts, we read of various Christians owning houses. Yet we also read that all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold and laid them at the apostles' feet, and they distributed to each as anyone had need, Acts 4:34-35.
Nor should we forget that Paul writes, "Now godliness with contentment is great gain; for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out; and having food and clothing, with these we shall be content." But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows, 1 Timothy 6:6-10. When it comes to talking about dispossessing our souls of things, the human tendency is to think about everyone who owns more than we do. They need to do something about their possessions.
But if a person only earns enough to qualify for the bottom rung of the lower middle class in the United States, he or she is still in the top 2% of all earners worldwide. The rich young ruler was not willing to sell everything he had to follow Jesus. But he would have been more than happy to sell everything he had to change places with most of us. We have far more comforts and marvels than he ever dreamed of.
So rather than comparing ourselves to someone who earns more than us, we need to focus on the beams in our own eyes. Some of those brothers and sisters who have more than us are quietly helping the poor and building up the kingdom in ways we don't realize. That's because they don't blow trumpets to advertise what they're doing. So what can we do? The battle to rid our souls of material possessions is not easy.
It's much easier to never climb up the ladder of materialism than to have climbed it and now have to climb back down. For the first few years after I left home, I could fit everything I owned in the back seat of my 10-year-old beat-up Volkswagen Beetle. Serving the Lord was my primary desire, and I was perfectly happy. I see many young Christians today in similar situations. While they're young and single, they're quite content to own little. They're often involved in missions or other ministries.
However, something happens to nearly all of us once we get married. Suddenly, we want possessions. The more, the better. Some of this is perfectly legitimate. With children, we do need a larger place to live and more furniture. But something seems to happen to our perspective on things.
Here in the United States, most couples want to start living the "American dream." My dictionary defines the American dream as "a life of personal happiness and material comfort." Sadly, the pursuit of material comfort is never-ending. A smaller house gives way to a larger one. Older appliances give way to more modern ones. Things of the kingdom get pushed more and more into the background. Soon, a young couple is going into debt to purchase things they lack the money to buy.
They start viewing certain items as necessities, even though they viewed those same items as luxuries not that long ago. Before long, they're owned by things. Things dictate how long the husband works each week. Things control how much time he and his wife have for prayer and devotional reading. Things have become their master. Living the American dream nearly always becomes a spiritual nightmare. Jesus gets pushed farther and farther into the corner.
As I said, it's a lot easier to never start living the American dream than to have to come down from it. Nevertheless, it is possible to come down the ladder, and we can always count on Jesus' help to do so. Coming down the ladder. I mentioned the fact that for many Christians, the idea of living the American dream doesn't start until after marriage. Coming down the ladder will be significantly easier if both husband and wife are committed to it.
Couples should talk about it together and work out a mutual plan if at all possible. If our spouse isn't ready to come down the ladder, we can still do our part in coming down personally. The first step in coming down the ladder is to simply stop. Stop accumulating more possessions. Stop thinking about new things to purchase. Stop reading catalogs, advertisements, and magazines that will make you want to purchase new and more glitzy things.
Stop exposing yourself to anything, people, magazines, malls, or media that tends to make you dissatisfied with the things you have. Here are some other suggestions. Limit recreational shopping. That is, rarely go into a store unless you're going to buy a specific item that you need. When you go shopping, particularly grocery shopping, make up a list ahead of time and stick to it when you're at the store. This will keep you from impulse buying. If you don't have the money for something, don't buy it.
If your refrigerator breaks down and you can't afford a new one, perhaps you can pay cash for a reconditioned one or for one with fewer features. Unless you're the rare person who can absolutely control his credit card spending, always use cash for your purchases unless you're buying online. I realize that you may be able to earn travel miles or other perks by using a credit card. However, no one is giving you those perks just to be nice.
They know people spend more when buying with a credit card than when handing over actual cash. Physically dispose yourself of as many things as possible. How many things do you have that you can give to a poorer brother or sister? Or to the poor in general? Find a church where it's a virtue to be poor.
That may sound like a strange statement, but the atmosphere in most conventional churches is one of "keeping up with the Joneses." When most of the Christians with whom you fellowship are materialistic, it's going to be hard for you to dispose your soul of things. Follow Jesus' commandment that when you invite others to dine with you, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, Luke 14:13. They will certainly not make you materially envious.
In one of his sermons, John Wesley described one of the early Methodists who was also his close friend and spiritual confidant. When Wesley first came to know this young man, the man had an annual income from his parents' estate of £30 a year, which was slightly more than what a manual laborer earned. The man lived on £28 and gave away £2 to the poor. The next year, his income increased to £60 per year. However, this young man still lived on £28, but now he gave away £32 to the poor.
The third year, he received £90 of income and gave away £62. The fourth year, he received £120, yet he still lived as before on £28. So now he could give £92 to the poor. Imagine the impact if all Christians went through life that way.