Financial Wellness

Above is an account of a young man who seemed to have it all, according to our current standard of success. He was young; he lived a morally good life; and he had great possessions. Yet he, in himself, knew that he needed to seek the Master for something that he was missing on the inside.

As he approaches Jesus, he acknowledges Him as good. The young man obviously held goodness in high esteem. This is how he lead his life. He was a good person and he held goodness in others as a very redeeming quality. Jesus’ response to him in verse 17 begins to deal with the root of this man’s inner issue. He quickly assigns goodness only to God. In other words, goodness is not a quality that man works at or works up. Rather it is a quality that comes directly from God to be bestowed upon those that have a relationship with Him.

Jesus further lets this young man know that in order to obtain life (his original question), one must keep the commandments. The young man was a morally good man for he kept all the commandments from his youth. Yet he was still lacking. He knew and Jesus knew it as well. (Mark 10: 21, Luke 18:22). With all of his good moral upbringing, his youth and his wealth, this man came to Jesus because in his heart he knew that there was something missing. In the world’s eyes, he was a success. In his own heart, he was lacking.

Jesus told him, in verse 21, “If thou wilt be perfect …” The word perfect is from the greek word “teleios” which means complete or of full age: mature. Jesus was not just speaking to this young man’s present heart condition but also to his future. He was answering the question of this young mans heart by basically saying if you want to settle that which is lacking in your heart and also to grow up, “sell that thou hast, and give to the poor.” In this passage, Jesus did not just stop there. He told the young man that he would be rewarded in the present and future by having “treasure in heaven” by being His disciple.

We have the benefit of looking at this account from an outsiders perspective. We can look at the rich young ruler and say that he passed up “an opportunity of a lifetime.” But think about him at that time. He was good, in his eyes. He was young with a bright future; and he had possessions enough to last him a lifetime. He was also troubled in his soul and came to Jesus for answers to his need. This was the last thing that he really wanted to hear. He faced a dilemma; choose his current life and the riches associated with it or choose an uncertain future, giving up his riches and following a man that in some Jewish circles was radical, at best and a heretic, at worst. Honestly, put in his position at that time, what decision would you make?

²⁴ And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

The problem with the young ruler was not that he had riches and possessions. His problem is that he trusted in those riches and possessions to the point where when he had to make a choice between his riches and Christ, his trust in riches outweighed his trust in Jesus Christ. If he would have just unburdened himself, he could have made it through the “eye of the needle.” Let’s also not forget that he also had great trust in his goodness through his upbringing. That only helped to make the decision even harder. He probably believed that because of his goodness that he was “blessed” with possessions. The impossibility came in what this young man was trusting in (youth, goodness and wealth) and not willing to give them up. Had he been a “rotten” tax collector, like Zacchaeus was, he may not have seen his acquisition of wealth and prosperity in quite the same way. Zacchaeus repented when he met Jesus and put that repentance into action (Luke 19: 1-10).

For Jesus’ part, He was not challenging the young man out of spite. Mark 10:21 tells us that “beholding him loved him.” He wanted what was best for this young man. Jesus knew that the very thing that was holding the young man back was the very thing that he trusted in the most. If he would have just surrendered, Jesus was willing to give back to him much more than he ever had. In Luke 18: 29-30, in response to Peter exclaiming that the disciples had left all to follow Him, Jesus says the following:

²⁹ And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,

³⁰ Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

What a return on investment! Jesus was creating a real value proposition. All the young ruler had to do is give up those things that were actually making him empty inside.

So what about us? The same value proposition remains in this day. True financial wellness is not found in how much “stuff” that we have. Rather, true financial wellness is found in the value of where we place our trust. The bible does not speak against prosperity. In John’s greeting to Gaius, he says the following:

² Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

3 John 2

John was acknowledging physical prosperity and health as a by-product of prosperity of the soul. Herein lies the real issue of financial or any other type of wellness. When we work to achieve soundness and prosperity of the soul first then all those other things may follow. Jesus would have given this young man the desires of his heart had he settled the matter in his soul. The only way he could have done that is through full surrender and trusting in Jesus. Which is the only way that it will work for us.

America is seeing prosperity like never before. However, approximately 80% of all Americans carry debt. We are, also, at all-time highs in stress and anxiety levels. Our healthcare system is “stressed” because of our stressful lifestyles and the subsequent illnesses that come from those lifestyles. We have well meaning commentators telling us that all we need to do is to live debt-free and that lifestyle will begin to take care of the stress on us individually and the stress on our marriages. This is great advice and has a lot of merit. However, Jesus did not tell the rich young ruler to live debt-free. He told him to surrender.

Living debt-free is good. Living a life surrendered to Jesus is great. He will help to put all things in order in our lives, including finances. Had the rich young man taken Jesus up on his offer, he would have received “manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.” This principle works at all income levels. The widow who cast in two mites (Mark 12: 41-44) surrendered her all. But Jesus told her story and its a memorial to us all.

Maybe your issue is not money or possessions. Maybe its position in life or a title; maybe its pride; maybe its a relationship; maybe its education. Whatever, we trust in more than Jesus, he wants us to surrender to him. Sin and selfishness are oftentimes at the root of all of those “things” that we hold onto and have a hard time letting go of for fear of losing out. We actually can trust in selfishness (which leads to sin) over trusting in Jesus Christ. We must surrender all to be able to receive the riches of the kingdom of God. Those riches are rooted in peace, love and joy which is of more value than anything that this world has to offer. Again true wellness (of any type) is not found in our selves. True wellness is found in Jesus Christ!