Why Did Jesus Tell the Rich Young Ruler to Sell All that He Had?

We all know the story: A ruler comes to Jesus and says “what must I do to inherit the eternal life?” Jesus, instead of saying, “believe in me,” says “You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother” (Luke 18:18-19).

Already, this seems strange. We would expect Jesus to say: “Believe in me.” But instead he seems to say: “Keep the commandments.”

The rich young ruler then responds: “All these I have kept from my youth” (v. 21). To which Jesus responds: “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (v. 22).

Why didn’t Jesus say “believe in me?” Why did he seem to tell this person that he would be saved by obeying the law?

A common interpretation is that Jesus was showing this guy his sin. Jesus’ point was not that he would be saved by keeping the commandments; his point was: “you haven’t kept the commandments, so you must be saved by another way — namely, by faith in me.”

Some people say that this interpretation is importing a theological system onto the text. That it seems too complex of a treatment of the passage.

But I don’t think it is. This becomes clear when you consider the account in Luke. For, in Luke, right before this Jesus had just told the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.

We all know that parable as well: The Pharisee came to the temple and said “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get” (Luke 18:11-12). The tax collector, on the other hand, wouldn’t even lift his eyes to heaven, and said “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (v. 13).

Which one of these was justified?

Both?

No. Only the tax collector. “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other” (v. 14).

Here’s the point: The rich young ruler failed to learn the lesson of the Pharisee and tax collector. Jesus had just pointed out how the guy who claimed to have kept all the commandments was not justified. He then told us how we do become justified — namely, by acknowledging that we are sinners, like the tax collector, rather than law-keepers. It is after this that the rich young ruler comes up to Jesus and says “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

When Jesus says “you know the commandments,” and the rich young ruler responds “all these I have kept from my youth,” he is echoing the Pharisee from the passage just a few verses earlier. He, like the Pharisee, thinks he is a law keeper.

This stands out starkly in the text, simply due to the proximity of the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector, and the story of the rich young ruler. I know someone might say “well, these things might not have occurred so close together in Jesus’ actual ministry.” That might be true. But either way, the proximity in which Luke places them in his gospel tells us something about Luke’s intent and the point Luke wants to make.

And so, with the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector coming just before this (with the instance of the children coming to Jesus right in between — which makes the same point as the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector ["whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it"]), it is hard to escape the conclusion that Luke is indeed seeking to drive home the same lesson. It is hard to miss the similarity between what the Pharisee said about himself being a lawkeeper (18:11), and the rich young ruler claiming to be a lawkeeper (18:21).

Since the point of the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector is that the Pharisee was not a lawkeeper, but that all of us are like this tax collector — that is, sinful and in need of mercy (18:13-14), we ought to read the rich young ruler’s claim to have kept the commandments and say “no, you haven’t.”

And that’s what I think Jesus’ point is. When Jesus responds to him by saying “go sell all that you have,” Jesus is challenging him. Jesus is pressing further to make him see that he is not, in fact, a law keeper. Jesus is essentially saying to him: “OK, you don’t get it. So I’m going to show you that you aren’t a law keeper by challenging you on this point.” So he challenges him with the first and tenth commandments — to have no other gods and not to be covetous — by saying “go, sell all that you have.” And when the rich young ruler becomes sad at this, it shows that, like the tax collector, he is not a lawkeeper after all — he has broken the tenth commandment and first commandment by preferring money over God. (And by breaking these commandments, he has broken them all — for the tenth commandment is a restatement of the first, and the first commandment is the essence of all of them.)

But now the rich young ruler is actually in a good position. Jesus has just shown him that he is not a lawkeeper. He should now, like the tax collector, acknowledge his sins and turn to God for mercy. And Jesus even hinted at this when he also said “come, follow me” (v. 22).

Here’s the point: When Jesus said to him “you know the commandments” and even “go, sell all that you have,” Jesus was not saying that we become saved by keeping the commandments. That would contradict the point of the parable he had just told before this about the Pharisee and tax collector (18:9-14).

Rather, his point was to reinforce the point of that parable — that none of us are lawkeepers but are only justified by acknowledging our sinfulness, as the tax collector did (18:13-14). This is what it means to receive the kingdom of God as a child (18:17) — you don’t rely on your own efforts, but simply cry to God for mercy. Jesus was bringing the rich young ruler to see the same point about salvation that he just made in verses 13-14 and verse 17.

One objection: After the rich man goes away, Peter basically says “Hey, look, we did what you told him to do — we did leave our homes and follow you” (18:28). So does this indicate that, since Peter did do what Jesus told the rich young ruler to do, Jesus was actually saying he would be saved by selling all his possessions?

Not in the slightest. For if you look back to when Peter left everything to follow Jesus, you see something striking. After Jesus demonstrated his power by enabling the large catch of fish, notice what Peter did:

“When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’” (Luke 5:8).

Notice that this is also in the gospel of Luke. Luke clearly intends for us to remember this. Here’s the point: Peter entered the kingdom just like the tax collector in the parable. He entered the kingdom by, like the tax collector, acknowledging his sinfulness and looking for mercy. And Jesus gave him mercy, and then Peter left everything to follow Jesus.

Acknowledging our sin and looking to Christ for mercy comes first. Then, lawkeeping follows. Those who think they are following the law without having humbled themselves like the tax collector (18:13-14) or a child (18:17) or Peter (5:8) are not following the law and are not saved.

But those who, like Peter and the tax collector, know that they are sinful and look to Christ for mercy — these people are then able to follow Jesus in radical obedience. But humbling ourselves by looking for justification apart from works comes first. Then, out of that, radical obedience flows — sometimes even to the point of, like Peter, leaving all our possessions in following Jesus.

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Free Martyn Lloyd-Jones Sermons

The Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recording Trust have recently made the messages that Dr. Lloyd-Jones preached at the Hawethorne Bible Church in 1963 available for free download. Here is their summary of the history of these messages:

Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached these at the Summer Bible Conference held at Hawthorne Gospel Church, New Jersey, USA, in 1963; the week before he attended the meetings of the Sixth General Committee of the IFES. Starting with 2 clear sermons on what it means to be a Christian and why Christians continue to preach from the Bible; the series continues with important messages on assurance, evangelism and prayer. May God bless you greatly as you listen to these sermons.

Among these sermons is his well-known message on Ephesians 2:1-10, “But God…” You can find all the messages here, or you can download them below:

MLJ.5771 … What it Means to be a Christian (1 Peter 1:8)

MLJ.5772 … Assurance: Concerning the Word of God (1 Pet 1:13-25)

MLJ.5773 … Assurance: To Those Who are Slow to Believe (Luke 24:13-35)

MLJ.5774 … Assurance: To the Uncertain and to the Discouraged (Heb 4:14-16)

MLJ.5775 … Christians: Living Epistles Written by Christ (2 Cor 3:2)

MLJ.5776 … How to Get the Gospel Across (1 Thes 1:5)

MLJ.5777 … But God … (Eph 2:1-10)

MLJ.5778 … Prayer (Acts 4)

 

One Thing Leads to Another

J.W. Alexander, in Thoughts on Preaching, raises the following sober–yet much needed–warning for ministers of the Gospel to be on guard against spiritual declension:

You will be called, as a minister, to spend much time in laborious study, the tendency of which is to draw the mind off from spiritual concerns; and sometimes in the perusal of erroneous, heretical, and even infidel works, that you may know what it is you have to combat. Your condition in this is like that of the physician, who ventures into infection, and makes trial of poisons. You will need much grace to preserve your spiritual health in such perils. The freedom with which you must mingle in society will expose you to many of the common temptations of a wicked world; and it will require the extreme of reserve, caution, and mortification, on your part, to prevent your falling into the snare. In the present day, out of opposition to the ascetic life, we all probably act too much as if we were ” children of the bride-chamber,” and too much neglect the subjugation of the body. That a man is a minister is no token that he shall not be cast into hell-fire. The instances of apostasy within our own knowledge stare at us, like the skeletons of lost travelers, among the sands of our desert-way. No temptation hath befallen them but that which is common to man. The apparitions of clerical drunkards, and the like, should forewarn us. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall I The apostle Paul expresses his view of this, in terms of which the force cannot be fully brought out by any translation: “But I keep under my body,” ?p?p?a??). I strike under the eye, so as to make it black and blue, a boxing phrase, indicative of strenuous efforts at mortification; as who should say, “I subdue the flesh by violent and reiterated blows, and bring it into subjection,” d???a????; ” I lead it along as a slave;” having subjugated it by assault and beating, I treat it as a bondman, as boxers in the Palaestra used to drag off their conquered opponents. And the reason for this mortification of the flesh is, “lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” 1 Cor. ix. 27. Dreadful words! but needed, to deter us from more dreadful destruction. The tophet of apostate ministers must be doubly severe. It is the “deceitfulness of sin” which hardens so many of us into carelessness about so great a danger. Pride goeth before destruction, till suddenly, like Saul, the careless minister finds himself inveigled into some great sin. This may never be known to the world, yet it may lead to his ruin. “I am persuaded,” says Owen, ” there are very few that apostatize from a profession of any continuance, such as our days abound with, but their door of entrance into the folly of backsliding was either some great and notorious sin, that blooded their consciences, tainted their affections, and intercepted all delight of having anything more to do with God; or else it was a course of neglect in private duties, arising from a weariness of contending against that powerful aversation which they found in themselves unto them. And this also, through the craft of Satan, hath been improved into many foolish and sensual opinions of living unto God without and above any duties of communion. And we find that after men have, for a while, choked and blinded their consciences with this pretense, cursed wickedness or sensuality hath been the end of their folly.”

 

The Secret of Sanctification

One of the most beneficial things I learned from my professors during my seminary days was that ministers must continually preach the message of the cross to the people of God for their growth in grace. One professor in particular constantly exhorted us to preach Christ “for pardon and power.” The longer I have been a Christian, the more I see the wisdom of this counsel. The message of the cross meets our deepest need for pardon, but it also meets our need for power as we seek to overcome indwelling sin.

Few things trouble the soul of the child of God so much as the presence of indwelling sin, and the sober realization of the inability of the flesh to overcome it. True believers often come to an end of themselves and cry out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death” (Rom. 7:24)? Christians grieve over sin and spiritual weakness. They long for victory over it. The Scriptures command us to be diligent in examining ourselves (1 Cor. 11:28; 2 Cor. 13:5), taking heed to ourselves (1 Cor. 10:12), and asking the Lord to “search us…and see if there be any grievous way in us” (Psalm 139:23-24); but they do not stop there. God’s word reveals that the work of Christ is the source of pardon for sin—as well as the source of power to overcome it. Believers possess this power by virtue of their union with Christ in His death and resurrection. In order to grow in Christ-likeness, the believer must remember that sin’s dominion was broken when Christ died in their place and rose again. This is the apostle’s chief concern in Romans 6:1-14—a passage to which we must regularly return.

All of this seems so clear that I marvel at how quickly we forget it, and how seldom it is mentioned in pulpits and Christian literature (a grand exception being Walter Marshall’s Gospel Mystery of Sanctification!). The deficiency is apparent in many seeker-sensitive churches where pragmatism abounds; but sadly, it is also prevalent in many of our more traditional Protestant churches. I often fear that those who are most skillful at diagnosing the complexity and atrocity of sin in themselves—and in pointing it out in others—are the least skillful in pointing themselves and others to the Savior. It is far easier to fixate on the problem than to focus on the solution. It is actually quite easy to focus on sin and quite difficult to keep our eyes steadfastly fixed on Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2). Consequently, it often seems expedient to offer pragmatic—dare I say it, even biblical—advice that does not actually give the power to overcome sin (Col. 2:20-23). In order to progress in Christian living, we must remember that sin’s dominion was broken when Christ died for us at the cross.

Paul began to address the issue of sanctification in Romans (Rom. 6:1-14), by reminding believers of the freedom they have from sin’s dominion by virtue of their union with Christ: “We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom. 6:6). Sin’s power was broken in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Christ came not only to cancel sin’s debt; He came to break its power. Therefore, the apostle exhorted: “You also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom.6:11). When we forget that sin’s power over us was broken in the death of Christ, we will inevitably fail to walk in the newness of life that we have in union with Him. If we neglect this crucial aspect of Christ’s work we will inevitably end up living in bondage, discouragement, fear, doubt, and anxiety—or else we will become self-righteous, judgmental and proud.

Union with Christ truly is one of the most precious doctrines for Christian living. It is mentioned nearly 150 times in the New Testament by use of the phrase “in Christ,” “in Him,” “in Jesus,” or “in Jesus Christ.” The apostles relentlessly remind believers of their position in Christ. By faith, we are united to Him, in whom we receive all the spiritual blessings of God (1 Cor. 1:31).

We do not come to Christ by faith for justification and then depart from Him for sanctification. In Christ our sins are pardoned, and in Him the reign of sin is overthrown. The same Christ who justified us, also sanctifies us; therefore, the same faith that justifies us also sanctifies us (cf. John 15:1-5). John Owen captured this truth magnificently when he wrote: “While by faith we contemplate the glory of Christ as revealed in the Gospel, all grace will thrive and flourish in us towards a perfect conformity unto Him.” By union with Christ, believers have power to put indwelling sin to death (Col. 2:20-3:17). With the apostle we answer the question, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?,” with the joyful exclamation, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

*This devotional first appeared in the September 2011 edition of Tabletalk Magazine.

 

A Prayer for 9/11 Ten Years Later

Ten years ago on this day the United States was attacked by Muslim extremists working for the terrorist group Al Qaeda. Two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City, a third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and a fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Almost 3000 American civilians lost their lives on September 11, 2001—a greater number than were killed during the bombing of Pearl Harbor 60 years earlier.

All of us who are adults can remember exactly where we were when we heard about hijacked planes or what we felt as we watched the Twin Towers fall. It’s not an exaggeration to say the events of 9/11 changed this country and the world. That day probably changed us too. On the tenth anniversary of 9/11 there are reasons to give thanks, reasons to mourn, and many reasons to pray. So join me as I lead us in prayer.

*******

O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we worship and adore you, for  you are our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though mountains be moved into the heart of the sea. We will not be afraid though skyscrapers tumble and fall, though terror alerts are raised and the constant noise of wars and rumors of wars is all around us. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; you utter your voice; the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

We live in an uncertain, sad and dangerous world. We always have and always will. But your sovereignty is secure, your loved is fixed, and your promises are altogether sure.

We turn to you, heavenly Father, as our rock and our refuge, as our King and our comforter. We pray that you continue to sustain all those who lost loved ones on 9/11. Show them mercy. Give them comfort. For those who believe in you, minister by your Spirit and the truths of your word. For those who are far from you, use this tragedy in a new way a decade later to draw these broken-hearted men, women, and children to yourself.

We thank you Lord for the fire men and police officers who risked their lives, and often gave their lives, to search for and rescue the victims of 9/11. We thank you for the opportunities many have had, like Lisa Beamer, to witness to the hope of the gospel in light of 9/11. We thank you for the men and women of our armed services who have fought bravely in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere during these ten years, some of them paying the ultimate price, so that we can have security at home and others can have freedom abroad. Thank for the yearning for freedom in parts of the Arab world. Thank you for the downfall of evil men like Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. Thank you that despite many threats and scares, we have not had another 9/11 in this country. This is an undeserved gift and we praise God from whom all blessings flow.

We ask that you give wisdom, courage, humility, safety and strength to President Obama, to his cabinet, to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and to all who are responsible for making tough choices to try to keep this country safe and prevent needless suffering in the world. We pray for good policies, good intelligence, good character, and good decisions that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way.

We pray for Muslims in this country and around the world. Give them the safety and freedom we all deserve as creatures made in your image. Most of all, give them the eternal safety that only comes through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the freedom that only comes through faith in him.

And finally, we pray that you wage war against the terror in our own hearts—our rebellion against you, our pride, our worry, our disobedience, our hatred, our cowardice, our intolerance and our overtolerance.  May we see every disaster—be it hurricane, earthquake, tsunami, or terrorism—as an opportunity and a summons to repent. Help every American to realize—as well as every Chinese, Korean, and Arab Muslim—that far worse will befall us on that day when the rocks and mountains crumble and people all over the world flee from the wrath of the Lamb. May every moment of adversity and prosperity point us to Christ. Keep our eyes fixed on the Author and Perfector of our faith. Let us run to Christ. Let us cling to Christ. Let us find forgiveness in Christ. Let us find assurance in Christ. For the only true promise of peace, in this life and in the next, is found in Christ. We gladly confess that he is our only comfort in life and in death.

Some trust in chariots; some trust in horses; some trust in the Koran; some trust in their wealth; some trust in their ancestors; some trust in their degrees; some trust in tanks and talks and predator drones. But we trust in the name of the Lord our God. It’s in his name of the Lord Jesus that we live and move and have our being, and it’s in his name we pray, Amen.

 

Daddy, Where Do Jobs Comes From?

Jobs are in the news. The lack of them actually. Unemployment is high and underemployment is higher. So tonight President Obama will address Congress and the nation and unveil a new jobs agenda. The Republicans will follow up with their plan next week.

I’m not interesting in commenting on the specifics of either party’s job plan. There are, no doubt, many good ideas that could help the economy and many bad ideas to avoid. I’ll let you decide which are which.

But I thought it might be worthwhile to think about where private sector jobs come from. Most basically, new jobs come from people with money to spend who want to spend their money on more people. This means:

(1) The employer must have money. He may spend his own money. Or he may borrow money from investors or the bank. But somehow he has to have money.

(2)The employer must believe that spending his money on new employees will be good for his business. We may wish that employers hired people just cuz. But that’s not the way the world works. When employers want to be charitable they give to church or to their alma mater. But with their business they know they need to make money. Consequently, they hire new workers only when they believe that paying more people will eventually be offset by making more money.

(3) The employer must be willing to take a risk. Very few new hires are sure things. Employers don’t know exactly what they are getting with their new employees. More important, they don’t know what will happen with their profits. They follow trends and track receipts and keep money in reserve, but in the end every expansion of business is a risk.

(4) The employer must be somewhat confident in his projection of the future. Yes, risk is inevitable. But shrewd businesses look to minimize risk. They want to know what their taxes will be, whether existing laws will be fairly enforced, what regulations will be like, what’s happening with their competitors, what’s happening with the prices of things they need to buy, what’s happening with markets overseas. There are a thousand things they’d like to know. They can’t know them all. But the more predictable their future looks, the more apt they will be to take risks.

Underneath it All

Of course, none of this matters if the employer is not profitable. Almost no business will expand unless profits are increasing, or it is believed strongly that they will.

So where do profits come from?

People make a profit when they sell goods or services for more than it costs to produce or perform those goods and services. No doubt, many people are greedy and pursue profits at the expense of principle and the good of people. But profits by themselves are not bad. In fact, they tell you that you are delivering a product that people find valuable. Profits help allocate scarce resources toward the goods and services that people want.

When the same goods and services can be delivered more cheaply, profits increase. And with fair competition prices will eventually decrease, which is good for consumers. Productivity is the name of the game. Whenever the same stuff can be produced for less cost, productivity has increased. And when productivity increases, an economy expands. This doesn’t mean everyone will profit equally. One business windfall may spell bad news for some other industry. But over time, with increased productivity, the net effect on the whole economy is positive. And that means more jobs.

Let me illustrate.

Mr. Moo and His Milkmaids

Mr. Moo sells milk. He charges $5 a gallon. Everyone in town wants milk so everyone pays Mr. Moo $5 a gallon. But Mr. Moo wants to make even more money. Maybe he’s greedy. Maybe he wants to give more to his church. Maybe he wants to buy a new car. Maybe he just had a new baby that needs food and clothes. Maybe he wants to bet on horses. No matter the reason, Mr. Moo (like almost everyone) wants to make more money. What should he do?

He could charge more for his milk, but he realizes that at $6 a gallon some of his customers will drive to the next town where milk is only $4.75. So instead he tries to lower his costs. He needs $4 to make a gallon of milk, but he’d like to do better. So next month he replaces his milkmaids with new milking machines. This requires a substantial up front investment, but within a year the milking machines have paid for themselves. Without having to pay milkmaids, his milk only costs $3 to produce. Now he charges $4.25—a savings to his customers and more profit for him.

This simple example shows how productivity fuels profits. Mr. Moo found a way to make the same thing for less money.

But, you ask, how is this good for anyone but Mr. Moo? Well, as the other farmers purchased their milking machines their costs went down too. So they started to lower prices, hoping to attract more customers. Mr. Moo did the same. Even if he is now getting richer, his customers are too. They save 75 cents on every gallon of milk (paying $4.25 when they used to pay $5.00). Now they have the same milk as before but more money. The economy has expanded.

And that’s not all, with more money in his pocket Mr. Moo goes out to eat more, which helps the local burger joint hire one more cook. And all the new machines need servicing, so the local repairmen hires an apprentice. The grocer spends less on milk so he can add another bagger. The doctor, who is saving money on dairy, has more money to spend so he donates to the local art museum which can afford to purchase two new paintings from an aspiring artist. No one knew Mr. Moo’s machines would help so many people and create so many jobs. No one really notices either, but it happens.

But what about the poor milkmaids? True, they are out of work. Their lives, at least in the short run, are worse because of the new innovation. Those dreaded milking machines seemed to have ruined everything. In fact, the mayor almost outlawed them. Others wanted to institute a new milking machine tariff to discourage farmers from buying them and to help save milkmaid jobs. But none of this happened. Instead farmers kept buying milking machines and milkmaids kept losing their jobs. Which was really hard on the milkmaids and their families.

And yet, that’s not the end of the story. Some of the milkmaids went to work for Mr. Pump who manufactures milking machines. His business was booming. He needed more workers to help make more machines. So he hired a few milkmaids. And remember, as the price of milk dropped, so did the price of cheese and pizza and yogurt. Everyone’s grocery bill was less. The whole town had the same stuff but more money. So Mr. Wall and Mr Mart decided to open a new thrift store. Mrs. Lovejoy, who started watching busy Mr. Wall’s and Mr. Mart’s kids during the day, decided to open a daycare. She hired some former milkmaids to help, as did Mr. Wall and Mr. Mart. A few of the married milkmaids decided they didn’t have to work anymore because groceries were cheaper than they used to be and the family could get by on less. It was hard and humiliating to lose their jobs, but five years later the whole town is better off because Mr. Moo bought his milking machines. There are more jobs. Families are able to purchase more things. And there is more ice cream for everyone.

Coming to a Point

The point of this little parable is to highlight the power of productivity. Obviously, my story is hugely simplified. This one example doesn’t take into account that some technologies are morally suspect and some people use them immorally. Virtue is necessary for any flourishing economy. Economists call it social capital. It’s the fancy phrase for trust, honesty, and the rule of law. Economies drag when corruption soars. Every economy needs rules that are justly enforced by impartial rule keepers. All of this is assumed in the story of our capitalist friend Mr Moo.

I don’t believe the Bible mandates a specific economic system. Capitalism is not required by Christianity. But Christian principles do undergird capitalism. And the biggest of these is capital itself. When we hear “capital” we think of money. But that’s not the only, or the most important, kind of capital. Remember, capital comes from the Latin word for “head.” The most important element in capitalism is the human brain. The engine of capitalism is the God-given drive, ability, and responsibility to create, to innovate, to conquer and subdue. When humans make something out of nothing, or when we make the same something more efficiently, we show for the image of God in us. We turn a black gooey mess into gasoline and sand into silicon chips. That’s the result of human ingenuity, which results in increased productivity. And it just so happens, that increased productivity leads to profit, and profits are ultimately where jobs come from.

 

Glory of God: Glorifying our Glorious God

Romans 1:18-23

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God (v. 21a)

God wants to be worshiped. He is worthy to be worshiped. He made us to worship him, and in worshiping him we will find joy for our souls.

But God doesn’t want to be worshiped any old way. We do not worship God rightly unless we worship him as all-glorious. If some generations have conceived of God as an austere kill-joy, other Christians have little sense of the holiness of God. We’ll say “awesome” while playing video games or watching football, but we don’t know what it means to worship One who is awe-full and awe-inspiring. Too often we have a “hang-out” God who is a buddy-therapist-chum and not the Holy One of Israel. When we worship God as a feel-good, safe, squishy God who laughs all the time and hugs us a lot we are not honoring God as God.

We need to know Christ as a tender lover of our souls. And we also need to know Christ as the Son of Man with eyes like a flame of fire, feet like burnished bronze, a voice like many waters, and a face like the shining sun at whose sight we fall down as though dead (Rev. 1:12-17). King David was right: You who fear the LORD, praise him! (Psalm 22:23)