Leaving Everything for Christ: The Normal Christian Life

Introduction

Is following Jesus really worth it? Not just later in heaven, but today, in your everyday life. That's the question Jesus asks his disciples right after the rich young man walks away. Facing the dizzying prospect of a total reordering of our priorities, Jesus doesn't just promise eternity: he also promises an infinitely greater life, here and now. This passage from Mark 10:23-31 reminds us that losing our life to find it again in Christ isn't the Christian life of heroes or apostles, it's simply the normal Christian life.

Sermon Outline

1. The prosperity gospel is a distortion of the good news

• Very famous preachers (Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn) teach that God wants to give us wealth, health, a good-looking spouse, and even a good parking spot.
• This message is appealing because everyone has something they desire and dream of obtaining.
• But the Gospel is something else entirely: we rebelled against God, we deserve his righteous wrath, and yet Christ lived the life we should have lived and suffered the death we deserve, to reconcile us to the Father.
• Following Jesus requires a radical reordering of our priorities, not a guarantee of material comfort.

2. It is hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God

• Few things reveal our heart better than our bank account: wherever our money goes, that is what truly matters to us.
• Wealth itself is not evil, but it's easy to grow so accustomed to pleasant things that living without them becomes unthinkable.
• That was the rich young man's tragedy: it wasn't that he couldn't live without his possessions, but that a life without them was inconceivable to him.
• The disciples are right to generalize the question: everyone has a "wealth", something they desire, something they can't do without, and something God might well ask them to give up.

3. What is impossible for man is possible for God

• No man can, by sheer willpower, stop desiring what he already desires, try it, you'll see.
• But God can take the hardest heart and change it so that he himself becomes more important than everything else.
• The apostle Paul is proof of this: a Pharisee proud of his learning, transformed after a brief encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, to the point of considering everything else rubbish (Philippians 3).
• Peter, for his part, falls into a trap close to that of the rich young man: by insisting on everything he has left behind, he shows that he hasn't given up the need to be recognized for having done so.

4. The promise of a hundredfold, starting now

• Jesus promises two things to those who leave house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, wife, children, or land for his sake and for the gospel.
• First, eternal life in the world to come, unsurprisingly.
• Second, and this is more surprising: a hundredfold in the present time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land. Along with persecutions, he adds, which rules out any prosperity reading.
• This promise is fulfilled in the expansion of our world through the Church: ask a missionary whether he feels he lost or gained by leaving his home country, the answer is invariably that he gained an immense and lasting family.

Key Takeaways

• The prosperity gospel is not the Gospel: Jesus did not promise wealth, he promised to reconcile us with God through his cross.
• What keeps us from following Christ fully is not wealth itself, but the heart's attachment to whatever takes first place in our lives.
• Changing what we desire most is impossible for man, but everything is possible for God.
• Jesus promises that whatever we give up for him, we receive back a hundredfold, in the present time and in eternity, but always with persecutions.
• Losing your life to save your life is not the Christian life for professionals, it is the normal Christian life.

Personal Application

1. Look at your spending over the last three months: what does it reveal about what truly matters to you?
2. Is there something good and pleasant in your life that has become an unthinkable necessity to give up? What exactly?
3. Do you resemble more the rich young man who walks away sad, or Peter who highlights what he has sacrificed? Where is your own trap?
4. Can you name three brothers or sisters in Christ whom God has given you, who would never have been part of your life without the Gospel? Are you aware that your spiritual family will last for eternity?
5. Do you truly believe that what Jesus gives you infinitely surpasses what he asks you to leave behind? Your perseverance in the faith to the end will depend on your answer to this question.

Scripture References

• Mark 10:17-31 (ESV)
• Mark 8:34-35 (ESV)
• Philippians 3 (ESV)
• Luke 18:18-30 (ESV)
• Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV)

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Jesus really ask all Christians to sell everything?

No. What Jesus asked of the rich young man targeted his specific idol. The principle that applies to everyone is that nothing can take first place in the disciple's heart except Christ himself. Depending on the person and the season of life, this can involve money, a career, a relationship, a dream, or anything else you can't imagine giving up.

Is the promise of the hundredfold just prosperity teaching in disguise?

No, because Jesus himself adds "with persecutions" and speaks of receiving "brothers, sisters, mothers, children." The hundredfold he promises in the present time is first and foremost the expansion of the spiritual family through the Church, not material enrichment. Prosperity preachers cite this passage while systematically leaving out the part about persecutions.

Why is Peter corrected even though he really did leave everything?

Peter did indeed leave his fishing trade to follow Jesus. But by highlighting what he sacrificed, he shows that he is still self-centered: he hasn't given up the need to be recognized for his sacrifice. He falls into a trap close to that of the rich young man, at the opposite extreme, one walks away because he wouldn't give, the other stays but wants to be seen as the one who gave.