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A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”"Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”"All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, 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.”

[Luke 18:18-25]

When I hear this conversation, I wonder if I would respond the same way as the certain ruler.  He’s looking for eternal life and he finds the right person to talk to about such things.  Yet, the reply Jesus gives him does not bring him much joy.  He leaves dismayed.  Would I be dismayed?

For me, the giving away of my worldly possessions is not such a crazy idea.  I mean, everyone knows you don’t find true happiness in things.  It’s no problem for me wrapping my head around the fact my possessions are never going to be enough for me.  What irks me (and the ruler), though, about Jesus’ words is how He doesn’t just wax philosophical.  It would have been much easier if it went more like this…

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”…

“You almost there Champ!  It’s inside you!  The key to eternal life is understanding the most important things in life are family and relationships, not money and wealth.  Okay?

“Sure, makes sense to me.” said the ruler.

“Nice talking to ya!” waved Jesus smiling gleefully.

When he heard this, he became very happy, because he was a man of great wealth.  He went home and felt even richer than ever now because Jesus liked him a lot.

Yeah!  That’d be easy!  But this isn’t the reality about eternal life.  In response to the ruler’s claims to have lived a life of righteousness under God’s commandments, Jesus challenges him to take his piety further and to seek eternal life by doing something eternal.  What bothers the ruler (and me) most about what Jesus says is how you can’t just flake on it.  Jesus knew this young man’s wealth was King to him - but the way to eternal life is through the only true King - Jesus himself.  Therefore, he tells the ruler to give it all away and follow Him.

Right now, I find myself being called forward to follow Jesus in a new way.  Much of it involves giving away my securities, my wealth, and my rights.  Not only this, but much of it is a logistical mess!  (see selling a house)  Yet, Jesus still calls me.  He is calling me to take my righteous life and my faith in Him and to truly live them out logistically.  Imagine how long it would take to give all your stuff away.  Some stuff would be tough to get rid of.  (We’re hopefully getting rid of some stuff this weekend! Gotta love Craigslist!)  But nothing temporary is worth holding onto when the eternal is within grasp.

Holy Spirit, you are calling us as a family to engage in the mission of Christ and to live the Gospel.
Move us as you moved the first disciples onward from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to…

In college, I had the unmatched pleasure of an economics course (two courses actually). While most economic concepts remain entirely abstract and beyond my grasp, I did take one idea away from the experience: opportunity cost. Defined as (via Wikipedia) the cost of pursuing one choice instead of another. Imagine this situation: you’re the member of an alternative pop garage band. You’ve been together since the 7th grade and you and your band-mates have played out in every dingy, half-empty dive in town. Upon graduating high school (just barely) you meet someone. Yeah, you see where this is going. Sparks fly, she (or he) is everything you’ve ever wanted, and before you know it you’re sharing a kebab and beginning to talk about the future. This future being the very problem with the situation. The plan up to this point was to work a job, practice with the band every night, and keep plugging away until you hit your big break and score a record deal. But now that pretty little thing with the blue eyes on the other side of the table (charred chicken, peppers, and tomatoes-in-hand) is asking you to consider something new - going to college - together. Of course, your Sweetie wants to double-major in French and Journalism (Fashion Journalism to be exact) and must attend a school on the east coast. Here in this new realm of possibilities is where microeconomics comes into play. Going to school with blue eyes is a great idea - for sure - but is it worth passing up on the dream. You’ve worked hard in the band for a long time and was looking forward to putting more serious effort toward that dream. Quitting the band to attend the same college as your BF (or GF) is not what you planned, but it’s kind of on the road toward another dream - getting married. Choices, choices. Two dreams, one future. The cost to pursue one is to forfeit another. Economics.

The life of a Christian is one full of opportunity costs. From the outset of this journey following Jesus, I had no idea what it would cost me - time, energy, money (mostly for prayer cloths - just kidding!), ambitions, dreams, comforts, etc. Although, in reality, everything that I’ve given up has been in lieu of a greater opportunity - meaning, experience, wisdom, fulfillment, peace, and the chance live a life of eternal purposes rather than temporary pleasures. Sure, I had plenty of dreams before, but now my dreams are bigger than I could have ever… dreamed! That’s the beauty of following Christ - He gave up everything for what He valued most - therefore, you and I can do the same.

Yesterday I found this gallery by Jack Radcliffe on Behance Network. The images are selections from photos of his daughter Alison he’s taken over the past 25 years. Take a moment and scroll through the pictures. They’re very well done. As you watch Alison through the years and kind of hear the story being told through these shots you’re likely to find a life of ups, downs, joy, and anguish. Alison has not led a simple, carefree life. Even in her smile you see a grimace of pain and over the span of three or four poses she passes from naive innocence to what I can only describe as the sharp edge of life. She has certainly not taken the safe and popular route, but you can also deduce that she has yet to find what she’s looking for. Her journey is still a very young one, spotted and distressed, but very beautiful. What reaches me most about these photos and the story they tell is how the photographer, Alison’s father, couldn’t help but capture the inner beauty he saw in his daughter. As she stood there with thick mascara, cigarette-in-mouth, with what looks like a boyfriend, he had to long for his little girl. Yet, he couldn’t help himself. In his eyes, she was just as beautiful as ever - and worthy to be captured on film.

As Ruth and I prepare for the arrival of our daughter Addison, I’ve been reflecting on my expectations for her. Little Addi will be a joy to me. I already know that. What I’m not so sure of is how I’ll handle all the growing up she’s planning on doing. While I know she will make me so proud, I also realize that she’ll make mistakes, she’ll fall in love a few hundred times, she’ll fall on her face and look up to me with tears in her eyes, which will then bring tears to my eyes. I can’t deny these things, they’re inevitable. But my prayer is that, as a father, I would be like Jack the photographer who, in my opinion, revealed something of the character of God as he photographed Alison over 25 years. He values her - regardless of the dress she’s wearing. Just as God continues to lavish His love upon us though we rarely return the favor so equitably, Addison will know her father as the one that always loves, always offers his hand, and always finds joy in his daughter.