Attention rich born again christians --if you truly believe how come you have not given up ALL possessions?

Question

to follow Christ as He commanded in the New Testament?? Don't you believe Christ when He told you it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven?

memo to the mentally challenged christians that can't read--no where do I use the word "impossible" in the question. it is "easier" for ......learn to read before you speak

Jesus saith to him: If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. Matthew 19:21
And again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to pss through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 19:24

and the first shall be last, and the last shall be first Matthew 19:30

memo to those who are "qualifying" and "interpreting" on their own. The words are clear--SELL WHAT YOU HAVE, GIVE TO THE POOR, AND FOLLOW ME. He doesn't say sell SOME of it, he doesn't QUALIFY it. Get a clue--these are DIRECT QUOTES. Notice the spin the born again fundamentalists try to give everything?

more spin by the born again fundamentalists--is there any fundamentalist Christian out there who can give a straight answer without their wimpy spin on it?

Answer 1

Because the preachers never mention that "give up all your earthly belongings and follow me" was part of the deal

Amazing how all these "fundamentalists" all of a sudden subject the scriptures to all sorts of revisionist interpretation.

Answer 2

I come from a very well off family, I married into a very well off family and I wouldnt change a thing. I dont believe god would NOT want me living on the streets that is why I havent given up all my possessions. Maybe a camel can pass through the eye of a needle before a rich man gets to heaven {though I dont ever recall this in my bibles} but this rich girl wont lay out in the freezing cold when I can be in a warm home with my children.

Answer 3

I don't believe Christ commanded all Christians to give up ALL their possesions. Jesus told the rich man to "go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me" (Matt 19:21b). He told him to sell his possessions because they were hindering his relationship with God. The rich man didn't have his priorities straight. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus also says "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Jesus advised the rich man to sell his possessions because he was emphasizing his wealth too much and not his relationship with God. Christ didn't want us to sell ALL of our possessions. If wealth is a hindrance to you in your relationship with God, then you should consider living within your means or trying poverty. Not everyone struggles with wealth, although it can taint your priorities.

I do believe that it "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" (Matt 19:24). Again, "no one can serve two masters" (Matt 6:24). Either you love God or you love money.

In summary, while Jesus did not tell all Christians to give up ALL possessions, materialism is probably one of the most destructive things affecting the Church today, and worldy possessions are, in view of eternity, essentially worthless when compared with a better relationship with Him who saves you.

Answer 4

Most excellent. You pen a challenging question in our age of obscene materialism. You rightly, though somewhat rudely, demand accountability and authenticity in the answers.
So, let us do likewise in your question. Context. The "Give..." is part of a conversation w/ a rich young man. Theology and economic policy is not mandated by taking a singular comment and universalizing it. If we read after the camel quote, we note that obtaining salvation, rich or poor, is impossible for humanity. Only God can save, riches interfere frightfully w/ that belief.
Nowhere in the Bible are we asked to give up ALL our possessions - that would be far to easy and simple. We are invited to give up all our strength, heart, mind, and soul - much more precious in God's eyes.

Answer 5

You need to read further down in Matthew 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18: Jesus didn't say it's "impossible" for a rich person to go to Heaven; He said it's "difficult." That's because God will not permit us to serve two masters: He's a jealous God and will not share us with anyone or anything else. If a person has the tendancy to be greedy and idolize his or her money, then that person should sell all he has, like the "rich young ruler" with whom Jesus spoke. If a person is rich but uses his or her money to support the poor and give to other deserving causes, there's nothing wrong with it. It's all about the level of importance your wealth has in your life.

Peace.

Answer 6

Being a disciple of Jesus does'nt mean you have to become a socialist. He said that to the rich man cos he could see that the riches that the rich man had was affecting his view of God.

There could also be the issue that how the rich man got his riches was suspect - ie they were ill-gotten.

Also it says that those who are poor in this world, God has blessed with faith. Cos they rely more on Him, through necessity.

Riches don't automatically mean that you have to be poor in faith. Many of the richest people are very humble and have a great relationship with God. People like Abraham and Job were enormously wealthy - in their day they were considered among if not the richest in the land - equivalent to todays multi-billionaires.

Yet they were noted for their exemplary behaviour towards God.

But Jesus does say lend whatever your neighbour is in need of, without asking for it back. Reading about their lives, they were exceedingly generous with their material possessions. And were just as completely reliant on God as any of the poorest.

Answer 7

Wow...deep man... when Jesus commanded the man to give up all he had and follow Christ, I'm sure He does not mean for all of the rich people to do that. There was clearly a moral to the story- Put Jesus first. Make the kingdom of God your primary concern. God realises we need to live in this world, and thats why we should treat money as a means to live by, not as the most important thing in the world. God has called some people to be businessmen, just as He has called me to be a teacher. God has called some to make money to provide income to the church and charities etc. But He has not called ANYONE to earn money simply for themselves- it is for the benefit of others.

Answer 8

Your Quote is valid, but think about it. It doesn't say it is impossible to get to heaven. It just implies that wealth tends to lead people astray.

If you believed in Christ and were extremely wealthy would you give it all away? Most likely not. There are wealthy christians that do good things with their money, just as there are those who do not, and some who aren't really christians anyway.

Either way, I don't see too many rich christians just giving all their money away.

Answer 9

Well said ( and don't mind those requestion to quote the bible ecxactly), and this reminds me of the leader of a charismatic church who said: 'I'm a sales-man and I sell Jesus, because I believe in my product.' He also said that he was getting 25000Rand (South-Afica) per month to sell somebody that this not even belong to him. That is 30 times as much as most people earn there. Yet his church was filled, because he preached that it was scriptural OK to be wealthy; because that is what the wealthy want to hear.

Answer 10

That is not a requirement for salvation. Besides, having money is not a sin. Wanting more money than one needs is a sin. Whenever a rich man is spoken of in a negative connotation, it is talking of greed. When Zaccheus became a believer, he gave back money that he had stolen from other people. It wasn't because he had money, but that he had stole the money that made him wealthy.

Answer 11

Another out of context blanket statement. Its not of a needle, its the needle which was a guarded gate in Jerusalam that did not allow camels. Nor was Jesus refering to a spiritual following, he was telling us that self satisfaction isn't the way of serving God. You really must imagine Jesus and the people of his time as being culturally ignorant to think such an absurdity would be taken at face value.