The Rich Preacher-man is Not Evil?

Preachers and money, the issue can be confusing.  But, money does not make anyone evil, even a preacher-man; despite Jesus’ words about it being “easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle, than for a rich [preacher] man to enter the kingdom of heaven”.  Jesus followed up the statement by telling his disciples that ‘with God’s will, all things become possible’.

I tend to dispute most book writing preacher-man teachings, even if I am not vocal about it.
Nevertheless, there are some who I respect, e.g. Max Lucado is a book  writing preacher-man, that I respect.  If one is looking for a preacher-man to read, he couldn’t go wrong with Mr. Lucado.
Dr. Lee Camp “Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World” is another, although, I don’t know if Dr. Camp would qualify as a preacher-man.

Dr. N.T. Wright’s book “Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense”  is a good book too, much of Dr. Wrights work is sound, I have not read or heard anything that I can say was unchristian.  Also, if you want, you can listen to NT Wright in my playlist titled “I Volgged these”.

I am subtle about my beliefs on being a warrior.  But, many of The Art of War videos that I’ve done will imply my understanding of how a disciple is to act as a warrior.

Jesus is our example as a warrior King.

1. How did he fulfill his role?
2. What were the goals that Jesus had set? Or asked another way; what did Jesus establish as his measure for victory?
3. Did Jesus prevail in his battles? Did he prevail in his war?
4. Did Jesus have an exit strategy for his “army”? If so, what was the exit strategy?

Watch Chapter 11 part 4 and then try to answer the question I placed at the ending of the video, it should lead to a conclusion about me and my role as a warrior.

One must take the answers for the meaning of life.

No one can give us the answers.  We must take the answers, of our own free will.  The Creator allows us the power to choose what we want; Truth or lie.

Truth is not a gift that “wise” men & women give away, to people with deep philosophical questions.
Truth is the the way reality exists! and it does not change for the wise or the foolish, it doesn’t change for the knowledgeable or the ignorant.
Truth is not dependent upon whether or not one accepts it.

Truth is! and our true power is to accept it, or our true weakness is to believe lies.
Either way we choose to go,  is very powerful, but the ultimate consequences are like night and day.

Yes indeed, the ‘end game’, for each person who makes the choice, is like the difference between heaven & hell.

Anything in the universe

• Wealth & Riches will be used by the adversary, to turn my heart away from bringing glory to Christ.
• Pain & grief will be used by the adversary, to turn my heart away from bringing glory to Christ.
• Poverty & need will be used by the adversary, to turn my heart away from bringing glory to Christ.
• Politics & injustice will be used by the adversary, to turn my heart away from bringing glory to Christ.
• Natural disasters & acts of God will be used by the adversary, to turn my heart away from bringing glory to Christ.
• Anything & everything carnal will be used by the adversary, to turn my heart away from bringing glory to Christ.

Yet, all things work together for good, for those who love God & who are called according to His purpose.

Job 3 & Jeremiah 20

Wondering if a life has value apart from a spirit.

I wonder…; is there intrinsic value in the carnal life of a righteous man?

Can the righteous life of Jesus & his death, offer a clue to the answer, for that question?~~~

Some of my faith opinions are still in flux. In other words there is some circumstantial data that is in harmony with my “fringe” opinions, but my conclusions are, to some degree, a willing “leap of faith”. This is true for just a few of my beliefs.

Nevertheless, all opinions are a mixture of bias and knowledge.

Also, there is so much to my belief, that I will not be able to include everything; otherwise it would be a very long and boring autobiography.

These are the questions that I will address.

* A. Why do I believe in a Creator of the universe?
* B. Why do I believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the actively creative power of this Creator?
* C. Why do I believe that this Creator is the inspiration behind the scriptures?
* D. And, why do I believe that the Church is the body and Bride of Jesus the Creator?

I have focused the question by the modifications above. I think that our answers become more apparent, when our questions become less ambiguous.

ANSWER FOR ITEM “A”

The issue of “Does God Exist?” was a problematic one, in my early adult life, i.e. Age 18 to Age 21. There were some ancillary issues (which are of a personal nature that I won’t include here) that affected my ability to accept “belief.” I have used the term “belief” and not “belief in God”, with intent, which you will see as this answer develops in a later post.

Things that I began to observe in the world, appeared to be out-of-step with what I had been taught by my parents, bible teachers, preachers, etc. And it finally culminated in my 1st freshmen year at Oklahoma Christian College, in the fall and spring of 1983-84. I was in a class that challenged me on my “Belief in God.”
“Genesis”, which was taught by a respected Bible professor and PHD at OC, ironically, challenged my belief in God. Very quickly into the course, the 2nd week, as I recall, we got to Genesis 3. This is the fall of Adam and Eve.

I raised my hand and asked the professor the question, “Did God create the devil?” I thought it was a valid question. Incidentally, I still think it is valid, but I now have the answer that is sufficient to me. (I will give my answer to this at a later date. I believe that this answer is a part of Matt’s “etc.” from his question quoted above.)

We had studied the “creation” episode in the preceding week. But, in Genesis 3:1, we were looking “eye-to-eye” with a talking serpent. The professor gave only a very cursory answer, that I will paraphrase from recollection; ‘Yes, God created all things…, but I don’t have time to go off on “a wild goose-chase.”’

It was my opinion, at that moment, that he had perceived my question as an insolent attempt to divert the focus of his lecture.

And, now that I am 23 years removed from my passions of that morning, I must admit that I was, indeed, a very cheeky college student. And, that I may have, in-fact, been acting mischievous by asking the question to him, in the fashion that I did.
What self-respecting college student wouldn’t take an opportunity to ask an “honest and legitimate” question, which has as an added benefit of pinning the shoulders of an “Ivory Tower” professor to the floor?

I could even feign an indignant offense and by doing so, take the desired excuse for abandoning my faith.

After all there was a “fun” social function coming up in a couple of weeks with a sister club. Hey, if Dr. Blah,Blah can’t answer a simple question about the origin of the devil, then the answer is obvious, right? God, doesn’t exist? And “Come on guys, let’ parrrrrrty!”

It was a very useful Ad Hominem and it opened up my social calendar quite well.

I subsequently dropped out of college that semester, so that I could fully devote myself to hedonism, which had become my new religion.

However, I had not truly abandoned all my knowledge of the bible, which was something that always caused an irritation to my moral conscience, even as I went about my apostate ways.

I won’t go into the dark period of half-life. But, suffice it to say that I awakened one day.

I think it happened when I found my bible in the trunk of my car. There was a lot of symbolism in this storage of what had been a High School graduation gift from the congregation where I’d grown up. The symbolism did not go unnoticed by me. It was a cold shower and demanded that I take a decision on where I was headed. I should either throw away this moldy old book and get on with my life, such as it was, or I should take some serious time restoring the book to a readable condition.

I decided to go the restoration route. The bible had slipped into the lowest part of the trunk, in the fender well. There it got wet from water that seeped up from the drain plug that was in that low area. Each and every page had fused to its neighboring pages. So, the effort to get the pages open was quite time consuming.

But, the pragmatic answer of just disposing of the book and getting a new one, begged the question; Why get a new one? If I don’t care enough about this one that was a gift. I managed to open the bible and I keep it on a prominent bookcase in my living room. It is still misshapen and most of the pages are discolored by mold and water stains. But, it still has the power of life for a seeking heart. And it reminds me of where I have been.

Following my apostasy, a phase that lasted two years, I went back to college and enrolled in a course that had the opposite affect. This course too, was a profound irony.

“Cellular Biology” truly acted as an anchor to my belief in God.
It is one of those ‘paradoxes/paradice’ that this blog highlights.

* I found reason to leave my faith by studying Genesis.

* I found reason to confirm my faith by studying Science, life sciences in-fact; the home of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species”.

God loves teaching us through and by means that are topsy-turvy, upside down and backwards.

This fact is among my personal favorites, for an individual rationale to belief in all of the above questions.

The way that God does things is “foolish” to carnal thinking. But, yet it is logical and orderly in an inexplicable way.

Who hasn’t heard the cliché, “God works in mysterious ways.”? This phrase is a testimony to the fact that there is this “ethereal order” to life that refuses to comport to standard conventions (a.k.a. common sense). Don’t tell me that God expects his people to use “common sense.” God not only doesn’t expect this but he has commanded us to not use “common sense.”

* Luke 6: 27 “But if you are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28 Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30 Give what you have to anyone who asks you for it; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. 31 Do for others as you would like them to do for you.

Which of these is “common sense?”

DSM

A different interpretation of the “Rich Young Ruler.”

Mt 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Is he eternally lost?
Did he die in his sins?

Many folks will tell me that this fellow is lost.
Many folks will say that Jesus has condemned all rich people.
But, I differ fundamentally with the faulty hermeneutics used to put this stake through the souls of so many people.
Look again, at the the passage about the Rich young ruler. Verse 22 says that he went away sorrowful or “sad” because he had great wealth.

Is he sad because he’s rich?
This is not the typical response to having great wealth. Is it?

‘John Doe wins the multi-million dollar lotto, so he goes away sad because he has excessive wealth.’
You just don’t hear this.
My take on this passage is that, the rich man recognizes his deep Spiritual need. In-fact this exchange is the same in all of the synoptic gospel accounts. The man asks Jesus what “he” personally, must do to have eternal life. So, the fellow has a recognition of his need.

Consider this in the context of Mt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The young ruler meets this criterion by simply asking the question of Jesus.

Look further, Mt 5:4. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” The young ruler meets this criterion by going away “sad”. He was not sad because he was rich, but rather, because he knew that there was “one thing” that was coming between himself and God.

Jesus has good news for people who are able to recognize such a sad personal state of affairs, “They will be comforted.”

Look at Mt 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” This young man appears to be getting a lot of good news (gospel) from Christ. The rich man clearly, has a deep hunger and thirst for righteousness, because after Jesus tells him a list of things, which he had followed “religiously” the young man didn’t celebrate and hoop-it-up, but instead he recognized he was still lacking something.

This issue could be expanded further by talking about the impossibility of any rich man’s salvation…on his own merits, versus any rich man’s salvation on God’s merits. But, I am hoping you are getting the idea by now, that this young man met Jesus’ stated criteria for being blessed in Mt 5.

Okay, if you still follow me on this. And if you too have felt “sad” that you have not achieved God’s level of excellence, then I am also hoping that you might recognize that your very deep and earnest desire for perfection is the exact same thing to Christ from Mt 5. If you didn’t care, then there would be a problem. But, that’s not the case. The only thing lacking for you, is the answer to yourself of some important questions:

1. Just How Powerful is this Jesus?
2. Is he really able to forgive anything?
3. Can he heal me, personally, for any & all faults?
4. Can He create, in me, a holy and sanctified soul? Despite my failings.

Don’t forget that Jesus can identify with your loss.