Paradox Number Six: Having nothing, but having everything

In 2 Corinthians 6:2-10, the Apostle Paul wrote:

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: great endurance in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity,knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live;as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing,yet possessing everything.

So the guy is crazy, right?

In this world, the answer to that question would be a resounding 'yes!' We work very hard to make certain neither we nor the people we love have to suffer. Calamities? Hardships? Afflictions? Not for us. Beatings and imprisonment, sleepless nights? Hunger? These are things most of us would not wish on our worst enemy, and yet, here is Paul not boasting, but displaying them as a sort of badge of honor for obedience to, and love of his Lord. And then he goes on to claim in verse 10 that even though he has nothing, he possesses everything.

As I said at the beginning of this series, faith in God in Christ seems to be riddled with paradoxes. Here we confront another one: How can we be poor and yet, rich?

There are two kinds of poverty - physical and spiritual. A man may own the world, but have no soul. I thought it was interesting (and telling) when I heard recently that the people who give the most as far as charities, are those who have the least. Sort of like the widow Jesus mentioned who gave all she had, compared to the rich young man who gave up a chance to follow the Savior because he could not surrender his wealth. God, of course, is interested in your 'spiritual' bank account, and not the earthly one on the corner down the street in your home town (the one with the locks and guards). That may be full to the brim, or even overflowing, but it means little if you are spiritually bankrupt.

As a student of history, I know people are people, and gaining wealth and holding onto it have always been foremost in people's minds. The desire to own land and to 'get ahead' was what made America. In the Old World, most of the land was owned by the families who had held it for centuries. There was no way to move up the social and financial ladder other than to go where there was land just waiting to be purchased (never mind that there were already folks living there. That's another post!) The difference today, I think, is in the tempation to have more and more and more, and more that we don't need and can't possibly use. Everyday we are bombarded by commericials - on our tv, on the phone, via books and magazines and on and on - telling us that we NEED this and that and the other thing in order to be safe, well, good, beautiful and perfect. And in order to have all those things, we need money. So focusing on money and making it and hoarding it is good.

But is it?

As our earthly bank accounts grow, often - not always - but often our spiritual bank accounts dwindle. Everyone knows Jesus' words in Matthew (19:28) "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." We don't like those words. They don't fit with our idea of success, of getting ahead, of 'possessing everything.'

Now, God doesn't call on all of us to go without shoes and starve in order to be godly or blessed. And He doesn't say it is 'impossible' for a rich man, just hard. When you think of the state the majority of the people on this planet, aren't all of us in the Western World rich? Shouldn't we all be on notice? It's easy to think this applies to the Donald Trumps of the world, but it applies just as much to all of us. If I have enough money to spare that I can hop on Ebay and buy a CD I just heard just because I want it, I'm rich.

So, when Paul and the Bible speak of being rich but poor, of having nothing, but possessing everything, it isn't really a paradox. It just depends on whether you are looking to pile up those riches on this side of eternity, or on the other.

Art: Christ and the Rich Young Ruler by Heinrich Hofmann