The Rich Young Ruler - for today

A creative update by Mike Leake.

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go,shut down your blog, cancel your speaking engagements, back out of that book deal, become an anonymous nobody, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had a large amount of Twitter followers and had gained a good amount of notoriety.

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have a large following to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a celebrity pastor to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” If the guys we go see at conferences aren’t going to make it, what hope do we have? Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:17-27, modernized just a bit)