The rich young ruler

Did a talk on the rich young ruler from Mark 10 in CU yesterday. It was really good reading up on the passage and digging in deep into it. Its amazing how his initial eagerness and enthusiasm melted away when he had to give up his riches. He even walked away grieving. I can't help but wonder whether it is even harder to walk away from wealth or the pursuit of wealth in this day and age. Esp. in a capitalistic society when wealth is everything - power, security... (hmm.. but then wealth has always represented that.)

I hang around with students who are always complaining they are poor. But then, most people I know who complain about being poor - me included, are not really living in poverty. I mean we all have the basics - food, shelter, clothes. warmth. And more. So poor, for us, means not being able to afford a better cell phone, going out to eat more often, getting broadband, buying scotch fillet instead of cheap rump steak, etc. In other words, poor has come to mean not affording luxuries, which we now consider as necessities.

p/s When I got back from my talk I opened an email to find a link to this site. Try and it, and see where you are on the rich list!