Letting go or grabbing on?

Ok, I have a theory. Tell me what you think. We’re back on the topic of evangelism here.

I’m wondering if the hardest thing for us humans is to let go of what we’re holding on to, rather than to grab hold of Jesus. In other words, I think that the thing that more often blocks our way is not that we have trouble trusting Jesus, but that we don’t want to let go of what we’re already trusting in.

Think for example of the poor person who thinks he/she is going to make it to heaven somehow because of the good life they’ve lived. Carefully they pile up the good deeds. They go to church, give to the poor, visit people in the hospital. They read their Bible and pray. Then someone comes up to them and says,”Too bad – all your life’s work was for nothing! All you need to do is trust Christ!” Ouch

Think of the rich young ruler. Successful young man, has been strictly obeying what he understands to be God’s law. Jesus knows that this man is holding onto wealth and works, so He suggests that the man give up everything to the poor, and then follow Him. Jesus wasn’t suggesting that he would be saved by a little tax-deductible donation. He was showing the man that he was trusting in the wrong thing. This man had nothing against Jesus, but he did not want to give up his bank account to become a disciple. Perhaps even more than that, he didn’t want to admit that he wasn’t good enough for eternal life.

Wealth, works, whatever it might be, it’s hard to let go, whether you already know the Lord or not. How should this effect the way we share the Gospel? I think it may be that we should not only clearly present who Jesus is, but also gently point out the weaknesses in trusting other things. Maybe we need a little humility and understanding as well. It’s hard to let go, even if what we’re holding onto is killing us. If we look closely enough, we’ll realize we’ve all been there.

(For the story of the Rich Young Ruler, see Matthew 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18)