The topic was the rich young ruler. You may remember the story – the Gospel of Mark tells it this way:

As [Jesus] was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

And after hearing that story read, a young guy in the room – richer than 80% of the planet, born the predominant race and the most privileged gender in the most wealthiest country in the world – the very epitome of a rich young ruler to the majority of our planet – it was then that this kid said ”I think the important thing to keep in mind is to have a balanced view¹. After all, God gives us our possessions for a reason, and…”.

It was then that I lost it.

“Hold on”, I said. “God didn’t give you your possessions. You have those things because you paid money for them. You had money to spend because you are employed. You are employed because you are well educated and look trustworthy to employers, two benefits of growing up white and male in a culture built on stolen land with enslaved labor.”

To see the look on their faces, you would have thought I drop kicked a kitten² across the room.

Look – I have a friend who lives in a car. And at night, when it’s 25 degrees and she is shivering and shuddering and wanting to turn the car on for heat but knowing she does not have the money for gas – all the while crying out to God and praying for help… but no help comes.

So if you tell me that God has given this rich young ruler in that overheated living room his possessions while leaving my friend in the car to shiver, I call shenanigans. Because if that is true, then you are saying that God loves this kid more than he does my friend in her car. Or more than he does the 80% of the planet that lives on less than $10 a day.

And a God that would do that, I have no interest in.

¹That he is clearly trying to say Jesus does not mean what Jesus very clearly says is not lost on me.  But that is nothing new – we all try to tone Jesus down. Much worse to me is that he believes his good fortune is a sign of God’s pleasure.

²No kittens were harmed in the making of this post.

Boy, did I.

She came down on very cold day in February and watched us eat biscuits and coffee with some of our friends who live outside. We then went to Starbucks (she was buying – what can I say) and she picked my brain for the next 4 hours or so.

We talked about how a white-bread middle-class guy ended up working directly with the very poor and homeless. We talked about how money screws up our perceptions and how we have turned God into a kindly Santa Clause who loves us more than he does “them” – whoever “them” happens to be right now.

In any event, she went home and worked her writerly magic on my no-doubt rambling thoughts and turned it into a chapter of her newest book – Will Jesus Buy Me a Double wide (‘Cause I Need More Room for my Plasma TV).

Here is the copy from the back of the book:

What does it really mean to be blessed by God? With Southern charm and razor-sharp wit in Will Jesus Buy Me a Double-Wide?, author Karen Spears Zacharias shows how the prosperity gospel has led us astray from true Christianity and helped create people and churches focused on greed. Zacharias unpacks story after story of families and individuals using the name of God as a means to living their own good life. You’ll hear shocking tales of those who exploit the gospel for their own gain, and mega-evangelists who live in million-dollar mansions with children groomed from the cradle to sell the message of Christ while their parents rake in the cash. Discover churches that have modeled themselves on Wall Street and unbridled materialism, and see what is happening to them now. Is this the good life? You’ll also meet some unlikely folks who live with genuine biblical integrity. People who know that God is more than some cosmic genie who gives them an easy life, a fat bank account, and a second home in an exotic location. Come discover stories about authentic Christianity and the true good life in Will Jesus Buy Me a Double-Wide?

I have read it, and I have to tell you, she makes me sound great! Seriously, the book is hitting the shelves the beginning of March – but you can preorder your copy now. In fact, preordering is good for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that all the books that are preorderd count as sales (for bestseller lists, etc.) on the first day. And pretty much, the first week’s sales are what determine if a book is successful or not.

We are going to try to get her to come back to North Carolina to promote this thing. If and when she does, we will promote the heck out of that puppy.