I was reading the gospel of Mark. I don't know how many times I have read this book of the Bible, but it's one of the big 4 so I would say several. It never ceases to amaze me how God will take a scripture no matter how many times you have read it and will make it living and breathing at that moment in your life. Every time I dive deep into scripture I notice something else that didn't strike me before as the Spirit works in my life on that particular day. And I wonder why I don't spend more time diving into scripture and receiving this supernatural life help. Why would I rather watch TV or browse Facebook? But, anyway, as I was reading last night I read a very familiar story in Mark 10 about the man we call "The Rich Young Ruler". You are probably thinking what follows here is a post about materialism. But it isn't. It's about something so much bigger. Here is the excerpt that some of you probably could almost quote from memory:
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’[a]”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
This man clearly knew who Jesus was. He wanted terribly to inherit eternal life. And he was good. Really good. He was what I suspect we would call a "good guy". But he lacked total commitment. He liked his things, and he liked his status. He had done the right things, but perhaps he hadn't given Jesus his whole heart. Back to that in a minute, but what really struck me last night was the beginning of verse 21. "Jesus looked at him and loved him." Jesus looked on this man who was trying and failing to do all of the right things. He looked on this man that He was about to level with the truth of his shortcoming. He looked at this man who He was going to be painfully honest with - AND HE LOVED HIM. Before He spoke - He loved him. Before He corrected - He loved. And those seven words (the number of completion) at the beginning of this verse change absolutely everything.
We don't know if the man did what Jesus asked of him or not. I think we always assume that because he wasn't happy about the prospect of giving up his possessions that meant he didn't comply. Well, I don't know about you, but there have certainly been things Jesus asked of me that I wasn't happy about, but I complied because I love Him. So maybe this young man did what Jesus asked, maybe he didn't. But I would suspect that he saw the love in Jesus' eyes. I would suspect that Jesus treated him with dignity and His love shone through. And I hope that the man followed Jesus' advice and found his life more rich than ever.
And I found myself last night thinking about the fact that I have a Savior that loves me before He corrects me. He loves me while He corrects me. And He loves me even when I am wrong. I found myself thinking about the fact that Christianity has rules and guidelines, but before and after and over and above all of those things it has a Savior who looks on to His followers and loves them. That love that Jesus had for this young man and that he has for each of us is the difference between a miserable Christian and a joyful one. A person can accept a million small parts of what Christianity looks like and miss the giant cornerstone of the entire thing. A person can take the rules and regulations and wear them like a stone around their neck and never get that the One who makes the rules loves them so entirely that he is willing to redeem all of the brokenness without condemning. A person can be so busy making sure that everyone else is keeping the rules that she misses the opportunity to love like Jesus did. And the miserable Christian is miserable because when they look at the people around them they see as they believe they are seen. They see flaw and imperfection and brokenness, and they believe that condemnation is what is required. And they have never seen the look of love in Jesus' eyes that overcomes this way of living. And they haven't felt the complete grace of an unfathomable God that takes over their entire heart. And we give what we know. And if all we know are rules and punishment, then all we can give is judgement. And when we look at a person first through that lens, we forget to look at them and love them. The difference between a miserable Christian and a joyful one is that moment where love gets filtered out in the name of rightness. The difference between a miserable Christian and a joyful Christian is right there in four little letters that couldn't be more simple or more complicated - LOVE. And we have this example of a Savior. He loved so much and so completely that He chose to die instead of to condemn. And this is the cornerstone of our faith. And yet we so often miss the mark. So often we rely on our goodness like the rich young ruler did. So often we look at what we might be giving up and forget about what we will gain when we give Jesus our whole heart. And I believe that God's grace exists even for miserable Christians. And I no longer feel anger toward those people, but rather sadness. And I want to make sure that everyone knows that when Jesus looks at them he does want for them to follow Him. And He does want complete devotion. And He does desire pure hearts and lives. But right before and after and in between He looks right at us just as we are AND HE LOVES US.
