Treasure

In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. Luke 14:33

Culturally, we love to create palatable versions of Jesus, sticking with the parts of his life and ministry that we find most agreeable to our postmodern sensibilities. We like the Jesus who pushes back against religiosity and legalism. We love the Jesus who cares for the outcast and exiled members of society, giving dignity and voice to those who have neither. Yet we are quick to brush over and relativize other parts of his ministry. Jesus doesn’t really mean “go and sell all you possess,” does he? Surely this whole “give up everything” language is just a suggestion, one way amongst many?

To run the risk of a massive understatement, we must remember that Jesus perfectly and intimately knows the human condition. He knows our deepest desires and longings, the countless ways in which we are prone to turn to the left and right, failing to give him our full allegiance. It is incredibly easy to treat our Christian faith like a small slice of the pie that is our life. We work it into the mix, but it sits alongside countless other loves and interests: family, work, sports, fitness, on and on we could go. Mindful of this, Jesus, in his kindness and love, boldly and unapologetically asks us to reassess our deepest loves and reorient them (and the priority we give them) around the values and vision of his coming Kingdom.

Until Christ is our greatest treasure, we will struggle to make sense of our world and our place within it. On the other hand, when all that we do and love flows from our union with Christ, our lives find a rooted stability and true freedom. We are liberated from finding our identity and source of hope in the things we do, the people we know, or the possessions we own. Each of these is instead seen as a potential avenue for the outworking of our allegiance. As 1 John 4:19 reminds us, “We love because he first loved us.” His love for us is always foundational, always the font from which our love and service to others flows.

If you find yourself overextended or pulled in multiple directions, take a moment to re-center fully on the love of God and the call upon each of our lives to give ourselves fully to Jesus and his Kingdom. Is he your greatest treasure?