Over the past two Sunday evenings, we have been reminded of the impossibility of serving both God and money (Matthew 6:19–34). As Chad explained, and as Chris reinforced, there is no neutral ground when it comes to loyalties: It is either the one or the other. This is a truth we must constantly keep before both ourselves and our children. This recently hit me as I read the story of the rich young man in Matthew 19:16–26. I was particularly struck by the thought that parents can make more difficult what Jesus indicated is impossible.
In this well-known story, a rich young man, who was also very religious (Luke 18:18), keenly approached Jesus expressing interest in obtaining eternal life (Matthew 19:16–17). He declared his devotion to God by claiming to have kept the various commandments Jesus enumerated (vv. 18–20). Jesus then confronted him with a final call to discipleship commanding: “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (v. 21). Verse 22 records his idolatrous response: “He went away sad, because he had great wealth” (v. 22).
Almost persuaded, yet so soul-crushingly loaded with possessions that it was impossible for him to enter the kingdom. Jesus said that the likelihood of him entering the kingdom was akin to threading a camel through the eye of a needle. Jesus used this encounter to instruct his disciples, once again, of the impossibility of holding on to the world and worshipping God at the same time. Though, in some ways, “the times they, are a-changin’” (shout out to Bob Dylan), in other ways they remain the same. As I recently commented, over the past two thousand years camels have not gotten any smaller nor the eye of a needle any larger. Parents need to help their children to grasp this unchanging and eternally perilous fact of life.
I wonder where this materialistic young man learned to worship money? Perhaps from Dad and Mom? Maybe. Perhaps they too soon gave him his inheritance—before he was wise enough to treat money as a servant rather than as his master. Perhaps they modelled a worldly lifestyle that made the fallen and fading more attractive than that which is eternal and lasting. Perhaps they practised self-indulgence with money rather than lavish, gracious giving to others. I don’t know. But what I do know is that most members of Brackenhurst Baptist Church are rich in comparison to the rest of the world, and this blessing can make it more difficult for our children to enter the kingdom of God. How we steward our wealth can be either a spiritual stumbling-block or a spiritual stepping stone for our children.
Let me suggest six ways that our wealth can make it more difficult for our children to see the glory of following Christ.
First, when we fill their lives with everything that they want. Even if you can afford it, your child’s soul cannot afford constant indulgence. Beware of filling their lives with so much of the temporal that they have no hunger for the eternal.
Second, when we encourage their education and vocation for the purpose of living comfortably while failing to also teach them to be costly in their giving. John Wesley understood this when he counselled his children to make all the money they can so they can give more away.
Third, when holidays take priority over the God’s holy day. There is an intentional reason why we don’t organise our Sunday school around school holidays. The Lord’s Day is always the Lord’s Day, regardless of the calendar. Sunday is always the Lord’s Day wherever we are in the world. Beware the danger of using God’s gift of wealth to frequently absent yourself from corporate worship.
Fourth, when we make major geographic moves motivated by “more” rather than by the motive of ministry. Moving to another city or to another country is not necessarily wrong. At issue is the motive. Are we making the move because we are seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness—first?
Fifth, when our disposition (“mood”) is determined by the condition of the economy. Christians are to be joyful—always (Philippians 4:4). If the economic landscape determines our joy, we are teaching our children to find their security in the “market” rather than in the Master of the market.
Sixth, when we make derogatory remarks about people who are impoverished. If we teach our children that the value of a person is determined by the value of their possessions, we are making it much more difficult for them to see their need for the Saviour—the one who was rejected by the “ruling class.| Arrogant assertions about those who are poor is a moral petri dish that breeds and feeds the virus of self-righteousness. And self-righteousness blinds one to the need for Christ’s righteousness.
There are many other ways in which we can enlarge camels and minimise the eye of the proverbial needle, but the point of all of this is that the souls of our children are precious and they are sinful. They need the Saviour. They need eternal life. They need to be reconciled to God. They need forgiveness of their sins. They need redemption/rescue from a world that is fallen and fading. This task is difficult enough without adding materialistic obstacles, making it that much harder. When parents model the priority of “things,” they pile on more “stuff” that makes the camel bigger and the impossibility of threading the needle to heaven that much more difficult. On the contrary, parents must live counterculturally, doing all they can to teach and to model that one’s significance and security is found in Christ alone.
So, is there any hope for our children, especially since most of us are, at least, in the top ten percent the world’s wealthiest peoples? The Bible tells us there is. Jesus told his disciples, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (v. 26). Therefore, since God uses means to do the otherwise impossible, parents must purposefully seek first the kingdom of God, prayerfully proclaim, and intentionally portray the unsearchable riches of the gospel before their children. God loves to do the humanly impossible.
Doug