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The Rich Young Ruler and You (Matthew 19:16-24)

By Jeremy Myers
2 Comments

The Rich Young Ruler and You (Matthew 19:16-24)
https://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/983722510-redeeminggod-the-rich-young-ruler-and-you-matthew-1916-24.mp3

Money! Money! Money! It’s the money episode! In this podcast study, I talk about cryptocurrency, a reader email about tithing, and the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-24. We see that Jesus was NOT telling the young man that he had to give up all his money in order to go to heaven. The story is about something else entirely.

Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Dogecoin are in the News!

Have you heard of cryptocurrency? They’re in the news a lot this week, so I decided to talk a a bit about them. I explain what they are, why they’re important and gainin widespread acceptance, and how to get some if you want. Ten years ago, Bitcoin was $1. It hit $48,000 today. Dogecoin is the most entertaining cryptocurrency, which causes many to believe it will be the most successful. It currently sits at $.07, and many believe it will hit $1 this year. Where will it be in ten years?

I personally bought a tiny fraction of one Bitcoin and several hundred Dogecoins this past week.

Best and easiest is Coinbase. Use my link to get $10 of free Bitcoin if you buy at least $100. That’s 10% instant profit though, so you might as well take it.

But Coinbase doesn’t sell Dogecoin. So if you want Dogecoin, use Robinhood. Use that Robinhood link to get a free stock when you sign up.

Reader Email about Tithing

A reader sent me a question about tithing this week. He wanted to know if he is really supposed to tithe 10% to his church or not.

Collection PlateI have written a lot about this before. There’s a whole section on tithing in my book (#AmazonAdLink) Church is More than Bodies, Bucks, & Bricks. Here are some links on my site you can read as well:

  • The Tithing Tax
  • Malachi 3 and Tithing
  • Modern Tithing
  • Tithe for Your Right to Party
  • Tithe 3% to your church
  • What Jesus taught about Tithing
  • Render To Caesar
  • The Widow’s Mite
  • Devouring Widow’s Houses
  • Don’t Tithe to a Decaying Temple

The bottom line truth about tithing is that most of what we have been taught in our churches about tithing is flat-out wrong. In the Bible, tithing is closer to what you and I would think of as income tax. But even then, the tithe went to help local people, rather than to nameless and faceless governmental programs. Most surprisingly of all, that 10% tithe we so often hear about from our pulpits was primarily for the purpose of hosting a large community party for everyone who came. It was to help pay for everybody to come together once a year for a giant music, arts, and food festival.

There’s a lot more to it than that, but there is nothing in Scripture to support the practice we have today of paying 10% of your annual income to cover the costs of an expensive church building and staff salaries. This doesn’t mean you can’t have buildings and church staff. You can. But what you cannot do is defend the practice from the Bible.

Anyway, the bottom line answer to the question is this: “No, the Bible does not command us to give 10% of our income to the local church.” It is smart to use some of your money to support people, ministries, and causes that you believe in, and to help the poor and needy in your community, but also make sure you are using some of your money to make memories with your spouse and children, and to also enjoy life a bit.

Read some of the articles linked to above (or just get the book) to learn more about what the Bible teaches about tithing.

The Rich Young Ruler Matthew 19

The Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-24

I have previously taught about the Rich Young Ruler here and here.

The passages of Matthew 19:16-24, Mark 10:17-31, and Luke 18:18-30 all tell the account of a rich, young ruler coming to Jesus to ask how he can have eternal life. Jesus tells him to give all his wealth away, and then come follow Jesus. The young man went away sorrowful, because he was very rich. After his departure, Jesus and His disciples have a discussion about wealth and the kingdom of heaven.

This is a confusing text for many Christians because many people think that the term “kingdom of heaven” refers to heaven itself. And so many believe that when Jesus taught about how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, He was saying that it is difficult for the rich to receive eternal life and go to heaven when they die.

Thus, it is taught, the rich must give away their wealth in order to have a chance at eternal life.

But this is a works-based message of eternal life and is completely contrary to the free offer of eternal life found everywhere in Scripture.

If eternal life is freely given to anyone and everyone who simply and only believes in Jesus for it, it would be a biblical contradiction for Jesus to also say that the rich must give away their wealth to receive eternal life.

Thankfully, a proper understanding of the concept of the kingdom of heaven helps explain this apparent contradiction. When Jesus teaches about the dangers of wealth, He is not referring to the difficulty the rich will have in receiving eternal life, but to the difficulty they will have in experiencing the rule and reign of God in their life here and now on this earth.

The Kingdom of God is about the Rule and Reign of God in our life NOW

Rich Young RulerThe context of these passages provides numerous lines of evidence to show that Jesus is talking about experiencing eternal life in our present life through the rule and reign of God, rather than about how to receive eternal life and go to heaven when we die.

For example, other than the initial question by the rich, young ruler in Matthew 19:16, the rest of the passage is about inheriting eternal life, following Jesus on the path of discipleship, and entering the kingdom of heaven. So despite how the rich, young ruler phrased his initial question, Jesus answer a more important question for this particular person.

The Gospel authors understood this, and so the parallel versions in Mark 10:17-31 and Luke 18:18-30 have the rich young ruler have the rich, young ruler asking how to “inherit” eternal life. Furthermore, Jesus later clarifies in Matthew 19:29 that He is only talking about inheriting eternal life (which refers to the present age experience of eternal life), Mark and Luke use the word inherit for consistency’s sake when they record the question from the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18).

Now which question did the rich, young ruler originally ask? It is difficult to say. Probably he spoke in Hebrew or Aramaic, and so Matthew translated the man’s word one way while Mark and Luke translated it another. But regardless of what was in the mind of the rich, young ruler, however, Jesus answered his question in a way that reached to the heart of the issue, and the heart of the young man.

Wealth in Jewish society

In Jewish society, wealth was a sign of God’s divine blessing. Due to various promises in the Hebrew Scriptures, it was assumed that if a person was observing the law and was wealthy, God had blessed them with their wealth because of how successful they were in observing the law. This belief would obviously not apply to someone like Zacchaeus, who was clearly making no effort to observe the law, but would absolutely apply to someone like this young ruler.

He believed that he had observed the entire law since his youth (Matt 19:20), and everyone else believed it also (cf. Matthew 19:25).

When Jesus instructed the rich, young ruler to give away all his wealth and then come follow Him, Jesus was challenging this entire way of thinking about the connection between God’s law and human wealth. Jesus was showing that there is no true connection between the two. Wealth is not an outward sign of inner righteousness.

Jesus wanted to show this young man, as well as the disciples, how to truly live in righteousness, which comes through following Jesus in discipleship and living in light of the kingdom of God. But Jesus cannot do this as long as a person is looking to their own ability to be righteous, or to their own wealth as a sign of personal righteousness. So he tells the young man to discard all evidence or thought of personal righteousness and then come follow Him to see what righteous living truly looked like. But the young man went away because he was unwilling to do this.

The Kingdom of God is Entered Through Discipleship

So the answer from Jesus is not about how to receive, gain, or have eternal life, but how to inherit or experience God’s will, purpose, and blessings for our life here and now on this earth. As we follow Jesus on the path of discipleship in this life we will experience the life God wants for us now and also gain treasure for our future life in eternity (Mark 10:21: Luke 18:22).

All of this is about entering into the kingdom of God (Mark 10:23-25; Luke 18:24-25), which is shorthand for entering into the experience of the rule and reign of God in our lives here and now on this earth.

But what about the word “saved”?

Note that the disciples use the word “saved” (Mark 10:26; Luke 18:26), which also causes confusion in the minds of some. But when we recognize that the word “saved” also does not refer to receiving eternal life or going to heaven when we die, then the passage retains its message. Jesus is talking about being delivered and rescued from the problems that wealth brings, so that His followers can experience the rule and reign of God in their life now.

The surrounding context makes it clear that Jesus and the disciples are talking about discipleship and eternal reward rather than justification and receiving eternal life (Mark 10:28-30; Luke 18:28-29).

What Jesus Might Say to Us Today

In modern, Western culture, while some people see wealth as a sign of God’s blessing on a person who is fully obedient to Him, this is not a widely held view. If Jesus were physically walking the earth today, I can imagine a scenario in which a well-known, young pastor comes to Jesus and says, “Good teacher, what must I do to experience God’s life?” The young pastor only asks this because he thinks he is already experiencing God’s life, and believes Jesus will praise Him for his great success at such a young age.

Instead, Jesus says, “Well, what is it that you teach from your pulpit and write about in your books?”

The young pastor would respond, “People must attend church regularly, tithe 10% of their income, read the Bible and pray every day, and not be given to alcohol or drugs. They should also be a good witness at their job by wearing Christian t-shirts, a cross-shaped necklace, and never laugh at crude jokes. Instead, they must hand out Gospel tracts and invite people to church.”

Jesus would respond, “Okay. Go do all of that then.”

To which the young man would proudly boast, “I’ve done all this since I was a kid.”

Pastoral power authority“Well done!” Jesus would say. “Only one thing is left. Resign as pastor. Stop selling books. Quit preaching. Throw out all your gospel tracts and Christian clothes. Stop tithing to the church. Put your Bible on a shelf for a while, and go have a beer at the local pub. Then come follow Me and we’ll see what’s next.” But the young pastor would go away, thinking that Jesus was a false teacher, for the young man had it all figured out.

In this text, Jesus is showing that there is no such thing as an outward manifestation of inward righteousness. However, if we want to truly experience the life of God in us, and all the riches and blessings that entails, we can stop following religion and instead follow Jesus into a life of discipleship. While Jesus always leads in surprising directions, but also leads us toward a true life with God.

Matthew 19:16-24 therefore, is not about how to receive eternal life, but about how to get rid of the things in our life that we rely on as evidence that we are “good” Christians, and instead just follow Jesus wherever He leads. What things do you look to for proof that God loves and accepts you? That you are doing a “good job” for Jesus? Get rid of such things, and then come to Jesus empty-handed, saying, “Wherever You lead, I’ll follow.”

When you do this, Jesus will lead you into a full experience of the kingdom of God.

God is Redeeming Church, Redeeming God, Redeeming Life, Redeeming Scripture, z Bible & Theology Topics: eternal life, kingdom of god, kingdom of heaven, Luke 18:18-30, Mark 10:17-31, Matthew 19:16-21, Matthew 19:16-24, Rich Young ruler, salvation, tithing

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You will never believe how Jesus spent $3,150,000,000 in 2014!

By Jeremy Myers
51 Comments

You will never believe how Jesus spent $3,150,000,000 in 2014!

billions of dollarsArthur Sido recently brought to my attention that in 2014, United States churches spent $3,150,000,000 on church buildings.

$3,150,000,000

And this amount is down 80% since 2002!

I wrote about this in one of my books (I cannot recall which one), and I have written previously on this blog about how churches spend money. See:

  • Money, Missions, & Ministry
  • How Churches can Solve the World’s Water Crisis
  • Tithing $50,000,000,000

But it recently occurred to me that since Christians are the representatives of Jesus Christ on earth, since we are His ambassadors, since we are the “Body of Christ,” this means that when we spend $3,150,000,000 on church buildings in one year, it is Jesus Christ spending this amount of money in one year.

We are spending HIS money.

And it really made me wonder … If Jesus had $3,150,000,000 to spend, do I really think He would spend it on church buildings?

Somehow, I really, really doubt it…

God is z Bible & Theology Topics: church, church buildings, Discipleship, ministry, missions, money, Theology of the Church, tithing

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Tithing $50,000,000,000

By Jeremy Myers
25 Comments

Tithing $50,000,000,000

tithingThere are about 10 million tithing Christians in America who give an estimated $50,000,000,000 annually to their churches and other charitable causes. That’s $50 billion!

Arthur Sido at The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia alerted me to this study, which was originally reported on Christianity Today, and he asks how churches spend this money. He says this:

This gets back to the broader of issue of our love and indeed worship of money in the church, an idolatry that is a near perfect reflection of the broader American cultural obsession with money. I absolutely affirm that we have a serious problem with how money and the church relate but I don’t think it is the same problem we hear about so often. We don’t so much have a giving problem in the church, what we really have is a spending problem. Where is our spending as the church focused? Is it outward or inward and which is more Biblical?

The New Testament church was outward focusing in….

  • Caring for the needy, such as widows among the church.
  • Concerned for the welfare of Christians in other locations that were suffering.
  • Supporting the evangelistic work of apostles/missionaries/evangelists who were traveling and preaching the Gospel.

The New Testament church was not concerned with…

  • Mortgages, interest payments, building projects, utilities.
  • Salaries for religious employees.
  • Material and curriculum for Sunday school.
  • Supporting the hierarchy of religious organizations like denominations and seminaries.

That is right on target! (Go read the rest of the article here: Are We Outward Focused or Inward Focused? Follow The Checkbook To Find Out)

Tithing and Money

I have written similar ideas before about how the church spends money it receives from tithing, and what could be done with this money instead (e.g., How the Church Can Solve the World Water Crisis, Liquidating our Property, and Money, Missions, and Ministry.

What if the churches around the country took JUST ONE TENTH of the tithing money they bring in in tithes every year, and put it toward rescuing young girls caught in human trafficking? If we tithed on our tithing income, we could give $5 billion every single year to some cause. What sorts of causes?

tithing
This is $1 billion in $100 bills

Though there are thousand things we could do with this tithing money, just take one example that has been heavy on my heart in recent years… rescuing girls from human trafficking.

A rescue center was recently started in Seattle called “The Genesis Project.” (It is featured in the movie, Rape for Profit.) As far as I can tell from their financial statements, they started the project and funded it for well under $1 million (2011 Tax Return, 2012 Balance Sheet). To date, they have rescued 87 human trafficking victims.

genesis projectSo imagine with me…. if churches around the country decided to use just 10% of the money they bring in to help start and run other centers like The Genesis Project, we could start 5000 of these centers…. in just one year!

There are only about 600 cities with populations of over 50,000 people, which means we could put one center in every single city with a population of over 50,000, and still have 4,400 centers that could be started in cities with larger populations.

This is just one example. Obviously, there are large number of worldwide needs that could be addressed. World hunger. Water needs. Health and humanitarian disasters. Schools. Orphanages.

Churches often look at these worldwide problems and say, “It’s too large!” But then we go spend billions of dollars on buildings, parking lots, and soundboards.

I am convinced that most of the world’s problems could be solved if we in the church just spent our tithing money in different ways.

Imagine what the church could do with $50 billion if we decided that nicer buildings, better parking lots, and newer soundboard were not a priority? If Jesus had $50 billion every year, how would He spend it?

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: church, Discipleship, human trafficking, ministry, missions, money, Theology of the Church, tithing

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Questioning the House Church

By Jeremy Myers
6 Comments

Questioning the House Church

I am not persuaded that “house churches” are the only way to do church. I think there is very little in Scripture about the “how” of church. As long as disciples are being made, and we are loving God, and loving others, I can be flexible on most other matters of the church.

Questions for the House Church

However, one blog I read has a post of 10 questions that all believers need to ask themselves about the church they attend. (Note: The website this came from no longer exists, or at least, I could no longer find this post. If you know where this post now resides on the internet, please let me know!).

These questions come from a person who thinks that “home churches” are the only way to go, but I think we all need to ask them. Questioning why we do what we do in church can help us focus on what God says in Scripture, and how we can effectively live it out in our world.

Here is my List of the Top 10 Questions to ask our caring friends and relatives who are concerned that we are in a Home Church:

1. Well Uncle John, we do home church because we see it mentioned in the scriptures like Romans 16:5 and 1 Corinthians 16:19. When you’ve studied why you gather the way you do, what did you discover?

2. Sister Suzi, when you gather together on Sundays, how do you all fulfill 1 Corinthians 14:26? And how did you personally exercise your to the edifying of others last Sunday?

3. Yes, Aunt Jenny. Order in the church is very important, I truly agree. And since the Bible is our source of understanding church order, can you help me to find the Scriptures that identify a single pastor of a single church? I see that pastors are one of several different given to the church, but I can’t seem to find where they are in charge of a church…

4. Cory, you bring up a good point about assembling together with other believers. So that we’re both on the same page, how many are supposed to gather together (minimum) before Christ will be in the midst of them? And also which verse tells me which building we must gather in?

5. Just so I understand you Cousin Andy, are you saying that if I don’t go to YOUR church, I’m not in the will of God? What was the verse on that again? And also, which book in the Bible tells me how to create a 501(c)3 non-profit organization?

6. You’re absolutely right, Neighbor Gene, we don’t have a Praise Team, a Vacation Bible School, and we don’t send our tithes to headquarters. Can you help me find the verses that direct me in these matters so I can walk in obedience like you?

7. How do we pay our tithes? Good question, Ronnie. If I remember right, we follow the New Testament. Can you show me one place in the New Testament (which is after the death of Christ because that’s when the New Testaments come into effect) where I’m directed to tithe? Now if you’re asking about our giving, we give as unto the Lord (often times above 10%) to the poor we meet on our way, to ministries the Lord has directed us to give to and to our neighbor who is a widow and a godly woman. Receipts? Well whether or not we get a tax write off isn’t the point is it…?

8. Accountability is important, Brother Doug. And since accountability has in it’s definition rewards or punishments for our actions that we’re accountable for, could you tell me how you personally practice your weekly accountability where you fellowship? Who were you accountable to and what has been your weekly reward or punishment? I guess I thought I was accountable to the Lord (Romans 14:12)

9. Of course we care about our children, Sister Edna. But if I’m not mistaken, the Bible tells us, as little Joey’s parents, that WE are responsible for diligently teaching and training our children in the knowledge of God. We didn’t know we were supposed to delegate that to a Youth Pastor. That’s very interesting. Can you show us that Scripture? Any Scripture that talks about Youth Pastors, Youth Camps, Praise Teams, Youth Leaders, Sunday School would be wonderful. Not these aren’t helpful perhaps, but are they required?

10. Stan, we’ve been praying and seeking God for several weeks about our direction as a family, like you have for yours. And with fear and trembling, we feel that we are walking in obedience to the Word of God concerning meeting together as a church in our home. I know you’re asking me the questions you’re asking because you care about us. Do you see something in what we’re doing that violates the scriptures? Can you show me?

I hope these thoughts are encouraging (and maybe a little humorous). I find that most folks haven’t really studied out why they do what they do, so when I ask for answers according to the Scriptures, I usually get “Uh….” and “Well, I’ve always heard that…”

We all should know why we do what we do. I’ve had to come to grips with each of these questions myself – according to the word. And it’s the word that is our direction, stability and authority. Anything else is opinion, heresay, and rumor.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: attending church, house church, membership, Theology of the Church, tithing

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Money, Missions, and Ministry

By Jeremy Myers
42 Comments

Money, Missions, and Ministry

FBC DallasA pet peeve of mine has been how much churches are willing to spend on buildings, all in the name of “ministry.”

I used to live in Dallas, Texas, the mega-church capital of the world. There are more mega-churches in Dallas, TX per capita, than anywhere else in the world. One street I was driving down recently contained four mega-churches in a one-mile stretch.

I don’t mind the number of churches so much. What gets me going is how much these buildings cost. First Baptist Church in Dallas recently spent close to $50 million to construct a new “ministry” building! They say this will help them better reach the residents and people of downtown Dallas. Truly, I hope it is money well spent, and I wish them well.

But I often wonder what that $50 million could have bought in Africa or Papua New Guinea. If they answer by saying they were trying to reach the people in Dallas, then I wonder how many meals for homeless people in Dallas that $50 million could have bought? If they answer that they were trying to build a place for people to come for education and instruction so they could better their lives and get a good meal, then I have to ask why the building has “clever accessories” (that’s their term) along with 9000 square feet of exterior glass, state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment, wi-fi hotspots, beautiful stain-glass windows, comfy couches and lounge chairs, etc., etc.

Don’t misunderstand. I am not condemning mega-churches. I attend a mega-church. Many mega-churches are doing a lot of good in their communities and around the world with spreading the gospel. I just wonder if all of us (big churches and small churches alike) could be a little wiser with our money.

Churches and Money

I wonder if First Baptist Church in Dallas could have built their building for about $10 million less, and sent the extra $10 million overseas to plant about 2000 churches (It costs around $6000 to build a church in Africa). OR, what if they said to their donors, “This building will cost $50 million, but we need to raise $100 million so we can build churches overseas as well.”? What would happen if a church plant, from day one, decided to give at least 50% of it’s budget to missions?

The issue, of course, is “How do you define ‘missions’? By “missions” I mean anything that is helping you accomplish the mission of the church, which is to make disciples of all nations. If you can really, honestly say that you need a $50 million building to accomplish the mission God has given you in Dallas, then I say “build away!” It’s not what I would do with $50 mil, but if it is truly what you believe God has called you to do, go for it.

First Baptist Church DallasBut here’s what really gets me going… I read today about a church that has alerted its missionaries that after this year, the church will not be able to support them any longer. Why? Because the church needs a new auditorium and can’t do both. You can find out more about this here. Certainly, I don’t have the whole story, and this church definitely does not answer to me for how they use their money.

But one thing I know: American churches are the richest churches in the world.

Yet our primary use of the funds God has given us seems to be to construct bigger and nicer buildings for ourselves and our “ministry,” I am just not sure this is what Jesus had in mind when He said, “I will build my church.”

So what does your church budget look like? What does your church raise funds for? Whose kingdom are you building?

UPDATE: FBC Dallas recently pledged $115 million for further renovations.

2nd Update: The final cost came to $130 million

God is Redeeming Church Bible & Theology Topics: church buildings, Discipleship, ministry, money, Theology of the Church, tithing

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