How Hard it will be…

Richard Hollerman

Most of us have read Christ’s words to the “rich, young ruler” in Mark 10:17-31. It is also found in Matthew (19:16-30 and Luke (18:18-30) but the Mark version seems to be somewhat longer and this is the one that I generally use. This is the account in which a young man who was “moral” in some measure asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Surprisingly, Jesus said that he must give up all of his own possessions, give to the poor, and follow Him.

Probably most of us have wondered about Jesus’ answer. Why did our Lord not tell the young man to do something else? But, no, Christ said that it would be “difficult” for a “rich” man to enter His kingdom. What about you?  Are you willing to sell everything and follow Jesus as He would go from place to place? Probably we have learned that this was a single case that was not applicable to every single person. Many other people in the New Testament didn’t receive such a command. But what about you? How does it read to you?

Today, as I was examining the internet, I found a long article in which many different people with large houses (actually, “mansions”) were viewed and their houses, inside and outside, were displayed. I had to think of this. I don’t know what the average price of a house is in America today, but I would think that my wife and I are in the lower end.  I suppose that some people have properties that cost perhaps $50,000 but many also must have cost $300,000 or $500,000 or even more. For example, from what I’ve read, it is impossible to buy a house in San Francisco for less than $1,000,000.  Perhaps billions of people on earth in various countries would find these figures shocking! We would have ourselves before I did my research.

We paid $55,500 for our house ten years ago. It was built in 2001 and bought in 2011 as a foreclosed house under a program called “Good Neighbor Next Door.” Actually, the house was worth some $110,000. It may be that many of you are shocked at this price and assume that most houses are less than this. I do think that of the 195 countries of the world, a large number of them do have houses for much less than this, while some have dwellings for more.

I suppose that things cost different amounts, depending on where one lives and works. Haiti or Guatemala would be different from Canada, Germany, and England. For example, countries with the highest yearly median income would be:

Luxembourg–$26,321

United Arab Emirates–$24,292

Norway–$22.684

Switzerland–$21,490

United States–$19,306

Canada–$18.652

Austria–$18,405

Sweden–$17,625

Denmark–$17,432

Netherlands–$17,154

In contrast, note the following countries that are at the lower end of the income:

Congo (Democratic Republic of) $395

Madagascar–$398

Burundi–$475

Malawi–$484

Guinea Bissau–$486

Central African Republic–$491

Mozambique–$529

Zambia–$545

Uzbekistan–$591

Rwanda–$621

This doesn’t mean that these twenty countries are based on the same per person income. But, in a measure, it does compare the relative income of the highest and the lowest nations of the world.

The question would be: Would this necessarily mean that the Congo ($395) and Luxembourg ($26,321) are different in God’s sight? We know what we have already discovered in God’s Word that it is “hard” for a “rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Not necessarily impossible at all! In fact, it may be that some people living in Luxembourg are clearly separated from God since they fail to know and do God’s will and people in the Congo are godly and close to God. This sort of study doesn’t tell us the whole story, does it?

On the other hand, it does give us an impression that the Lord will keep these facts in mind in the Judgment. He knows how to work this out. Generally, the ones who are wealthiest will not be interested in God and spiritual things. But those who are the poorest will have some interest in spiritual things. We just don’t know. We can say this: If a person does want to love, trust, submit to, and do the will of God, he or she will want to put Jesus first in all things. He or she will want to run from everything that would be a hindrance to following Jesus.

Earlier we spoke of what we had to pay for this house ($55,500) and the fact that this was higher than what some in the world must pay. There are so many variables in these figures and ones like them that it really is difficult to land of something very solid. For example, some people earn $2.00 a day while others may earn hundreds every day (perhaps even $500 a day or $1,000 a day. Some may not have any children while others may have 12 or so children. Some people may be handicapped while others may be in good health. Some may need to support a family member or several family members who have serious mental or physical problems, while others may have other family members who are able to help to support others with you. Some may have had one or two years of inferior formal schooling while others may have a doctoral degree and a family that could easily pay for this higher education. There definitely are different situations in life. God knows all about this and will keep all of this in mind as He (all-knowing as He is) works all of this out.

This shows that people are in different situations in life. Some have high income while others barely get by. Some live in hovels while others dwell in mansions. Additionally, some poor and sick people know God and want to love and serve him, while others are total unbelievers with no interest in God or His will. I don’t know what category you are in. However, like the “rich, young ruler,” some people think that they are serving God with a true heart, but from God’s estimation, such people may have little or no interest in spiritual things and really have no interest in the Lord or His will.

As we survey the landscape of what is available, we find this regarding the median selling price for houses:

San Francisco—$1,360,000

Manhattan, New York–$950,000

San Jose, California–$983,000

Bethesda, Maryland—$848,000

Brooklyn, New York–$799,00

Los Angeles, California–$760,000

Boston, Mass–$692,000

Oakland, California–$757,000

Seattle, Washington–$751,000

Honolulu, Hawaii–$610,000

We must not conclude from this exercise that these going prices are solid but this is the general price for houses that are being sold. We can probably conclude that some people must pay little (by comparison) for their dwellings while others must pay much for their houses. Yes, this does figure into what Jesus says about the income of people. Some are able to pay perhaps $ 1,200 or $10,000 for their house while others must pay $1,000,000–much more! Let’s remember that surely God would not want His people to live in some high-price areas whereas He probably wouldn’t want them to live in the lowest price, most disease-prone, or crime-filled places either.

Let’s not forget the solemn words of Jesus our Lord: “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:23). He went on to warn His listeners: “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God” (v.24). He then said something quite memorable: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (v. 25). Have you allowed Christ’s word to touch your heart and warn you of the coming Judgment? What He said was true—and is true. Will we heed these remarks even though they may be difficult to hear?

Some of us live in quite affluent countries and affluent neighborhoods in those countries. Do we realize this and are we willing to run from these dangers—run for our lives and run for our place in the Kingdom of God? We do have other articles that we must use to supplement this warning! For now, let’s be careful about the way we conduct our life and what we allow in it. One day we definitely will stand before God and give an account for how we’ve lived and what we’ve done with our income. How are you living? What are you doing?