Heart Transformation (Goodness 2)
The poor don't need you as much as you need them.
Many have struggled with the story in front of us today. This is one of the more uncomfortable encounters in the gospels because we expect that Jesus can fix anything. And he can. But not without our consent. This man runs up to Jesus with earnestness and sincerity - a really good start. But it ends tragically.
I have quite often wondered about Jesus’ curious response: Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. For so long, it has sounded like a deflection to me, like Jesus was saying that he isn’t actually good. Finally though, when studying it in the context of goodness, I’m seeing that Jesus’ question isn’t a rejection of the notion, but an invitation to think deeply about goodness. He is not rejecting the title. He’s asking whether the man understands what goodness even means - “What do you mean when you call me good?”
If goodness is rooted in God’s very being, then calling Jesus “good” is not polite flattery. It is an invitation to consider who Jesus is. And more importantly for this conversation, it forces the man to confront where goodness actually comes from.
Jesus answers the man’s question within the man’s experience and framework: You know the commandments. And the man has done them. All of them. But Jesus then goes beyond actions to the heart: Sell what you own, give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.
This is not punitive as much as it is diagnostic. Jesus doesn’t need the man to give to the poor. And, in this situation, - (careful now) - the poor don’t need the man’s wealth. In this situation, it is the man who needs to follow through with giving to the poor. The need is his.
And though it is a command to do something (isn’t that what the man asked for?), it’s not only about the action. Jesus knows the deeper thing. He exposes the one place the man’s heart is unwilling to go. His actions have the appearance of goodness, but the inner goodness - the goodness shaped by God’s Spirit, the goodness rooted in divine generosity - has not yet taken root.
It’s not about selling everything and giving it to the poor. But it’s also exactly about selling everything and giving it to the poor. Feel free to read this paragraph a few times.
His identity remains tied to possession, to security, to self-protection. Jesus offers freedom, but it requires relinquishing the very thing that holds him captive.
And this is where the story reaches painfully into our own world.
We live in a time when the vast majority of wealth and resources are controlled by a very small number of people. The disparity is staggering, and the systems we inhabit often seem built to preserve such imbalance. It feels mathematically impossible for the world to shift toward justice when those who hold the most have the least incentive to imagine a different future.
And perhaps those hearts will not change, not en masse, not quickly, not soon.
But that does not mean goodness is impossible. Nor does it mean the Spirit cannot cultivate goodness in us, in the small places, the ordinary choices, the daily encounters where God’s kingdom still whispers possibility.
Goodness, as Paul names it, is not merely good behavior. It is the inward moral essence shaped by a divine Spirit. It is a heart increasingly free from the illusions of security and the need to be impressive. There is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying abundance and beauty. But enjoyment is hardly what those with wealth are actually seeking.
What those of us with resources have in front of us is a choice to trust that something, someone other than myself will do just fine with what I otherwise want to control. Integrity of character. A posture of openhandedness rather than self-preservation.
To be clear, the tragedy of wealth both in this passage and in the world today is not that wealth exists. It’s that when it is coupled with fear and distrust, it results in greed. It is that the rich ruler walks away from Jesus, despite the right lip service to Christ (maybe he even invited popular worship leaders to have worship services right in his own palace!). A mouth can say the right things with a heart still untransformed, prideful, heavy, and unwilling to receive the goodness that God is ready to give.
But the invitation remains open to us.
The goodness of God still seeks a home in the human heart. The Spirit still cultivates character where we will allow it. But we have to get over our pride and fear. The ruler was invited to let go and wouldn’t. We are given the same invitation, and by the Spirit’s help, we actually can.
If the world waits for the wealthy to become generous, it may wait a long time. But the world need not wait for us. Goodness can grow right here, in our own spheres of influence, in our own daily lives, in our own hands. It only takes a heart willing to be shaped by the One who alone is truly good.
Mark 10:17-22
As Jesus continued down the road, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”
Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except the one God. You know the commandments: Don’t commit murder. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t give false testimony. Don’t cheat. Honor your father and mother.”
“Teacher,” he responded, “I’ve kept all of these things since I was a boy.”
Jesus looked at him carefully and loved him. He said, “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” But the man was dismayed at this statement and went away saddened, because he had many possessions.
Prayer
God,
Help me to understand your goodness as a means to my heart’s transformation. I’m as good as anyone at looking around and seeing just how much need there is. I’m also real good at expecting those with more than me to take care of it. The injustice!!!
Sigh…help my heart, Lord. Make me good. Make us good. I know it starts with your love.
Holy Father of all creation, I see your loving justice in Jesus of Nazareth. By your Spirit, make me more like him.
Amen.
I love this. So much here! ♥️