Through the Eye of a Needle | Mark 10:17-31
How many decisions do you make around money? A lot of them. It’s been said that “we got our mind on our money and our money on our mind.” Wall Street Journal columnist, Robert Frank, reports a survey of individuals which have a net worth between $1 million to $10 million, and they asked the question, “how much money would it require for you to feel secure?” The answer regardless was twice as much as they currently have. He says, “The problem with money is that it is always playing bait and switch with us. As soon as you have some, you want more. And the more you have, the more you want. Which is the definition of an addiction.” As Americans, we are the wealthiest 1% of humanity in the world. More of us live better than everyone else. The richest 10% of Americans combined (25 million people) have an income greater than the poorest 43% of the world’s people (2 billion people). Yet for many of us, we feel like we just don’t have enough, and we think someone else has more than we have and is rich. You don’t have to be rich to have money as an idol in your heart. You can be poor and obsessed with money: playing the Lotto, trying to get rich quick or doing illegal things for it. If you want to see where your heart is then follow the money.
We are now on road the to Jerusalem with Jesus, where he will be betrayed, beaten, crucified and rise again. Along the way, Jesus is teaching his disciples what it means to follow Him. Every interaction Jesus has with either his disciples or others challenges the values and assumptions of the world then and today. In this episode, Jesus is going to address how money and possessions have a hold on our hearts. He is also going to deal with the question that bothers us all by giving us an answer that challenges us all.