What Do We Lack?

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:21–22)

The story of the rich young ruler astounds me nearly every time that I hear it or read it because this man doesn’t seem far off from the mindset of God. Quite honestly, in my own estimation of things, this man is better than me because I’m confident the Lord would say I lack more than “one thing.”

One thing.

This man had been keeping the commands of God from his youth (Mark 10:20). And Jesus does not argue with him, doesn’t hastily correct him, on this. Jesus doesn’t say, “That’s what you think!”

His going away grieving is amazing, too, isn’t it? He’s been told that he lacks one thing, but he goes away grieving. This “one thing” was big. Obviously it was big enough to keep him from following Jesus. He went away … 

If we examine ourselves as we should (2 Cor 13:5), what would we come away with? Maybe we fear self-examination, and so we don’t do it — we hope to ignore our sins long enough that they will go away on their own, or maybe even improve without us having to deal with them at all.

Or maybe we succeed in being dishonest with ourselves, and our self-examination never leads to correction. We believe we’re all right as we are, that there’s no room for improvement. This is delusional (James 1:22, 26;  1 Cor 3:18; 6:9;  Gal 6:3, 7;  2 Tim 3:12–13;  1 John 1:8).

In Greek mythology we meet a man who seems invincible. His name is Achilles. The myth is that he was dipped into the river Styx by his mother. He was immersed, except for where she was holding him: his heel. And so today, we talk about a weakness as someone’s Achilles heel.

Everyone doesn’t suffer from the same weaknesses. Some struggle with alcoholism, while others don’t ever find themselves tempted to take one drink. Some are consumed by sex, money or power. Paul urged the Corinthians, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12).

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). As an illustration of this, we will consider Matthew 26:30–35:

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

We remember how tragically this ended for Peter. Thankfully, he was not consumed by self-destruction, nor his desire to repent and make things right with the Lord (see John 21:15–19). I’d suggest that in this story we find Peter’s “Achilles heel” to be over-confidence (pride) in himself.
The point of all this is for us to honestly examine ourselves in light of God’s will. If we lack knowledge of his word, then we need to step up on that immediately and prayerfully (2 Tim 2:15; 3:14—4:5;  James 1:5–8;  2 Pet 1:5–11).

It’s not just that “we know better,” but that we “do better.” James urges us to be doers of the word (James 1:22). But it’s not just about being busy, but being active in a growing faith for the edification of ourselves and our spiritual family (Eph 4:11–16;  Heb 10:24–25).

We need also to remind ourselves that we cannot serve God and mammon (Matt 6:24; also see James 4:4). Mammon could very well be wealth or money, as more recent English translations have it. But some have suggested the word mammon means anything that could serve as an idol and replace God. God wants us to serve him completely (Matt 22:34–40;  Rom 8:5–11;  Col 3:1–11).

What do we lack? Are we willing to see the spiritual obstacles for what they are, or will we continue to ignore them? Judgment is coming for us all (Heb 9:27). We can be ready on God’s terms by knowing his will, and doing it (Php 2:12–13).

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor 5:10).

God's Exception

So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Corinthians 5:9–10).

God has given mankind freewill to act (Joshua 24:15; Romans 12:2), but He will judge everyone impartially (Ecclesiastes 11:9–10; 12:13–14; Romans 2:6–11; Hebrews 9:27). Thankfully, God has not condemned everyone, although we, because of our willingness to sin, deserve it (Romans 3:23; Galatians 3:22).

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:3–7).

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God (John 3:18–21).

God’s exception to eternal condemnation is the humble soul willingly following His commands — seeking Him diligently (Hebrews 11:6). When the apostle Peter preached the gospel to the household of Cornelius, he made is clear “that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34–35).

Doing what is right is not left to us to decide; in other words, we don’t determine what are good and bad deeds — “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

“For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:5–10).

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9–11).

God’s exception is His one and only Son — “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16–17; also see John 1:14, 18). “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36).

Obedience means we’re zealously doing what God commands because His words are eternal life (Titus 2:11–14; John 6:68; 12:48–50). And God’s commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3–5). “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. . . . You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:10, 14).

Judgment is coming for everyone (Rom. 14:12). It will be fair and just. Yes, we all deserve God’s wrath because of our own sins against Him; but He has provided an exception — “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3–4).

God Allows Choice

Our time and culture’s manifested depths into sin are not new. Thankfully, we’re not yet at the point the world was at in Noah’s day when God had enough:

Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” … Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (Gen 6:3, 5–8).

The thing is, mankind has been given the allowance by God who created us to be able to choose evil. I know a lot of people will criticize freewill, but then they would not know what to offer in its place. One of the reasons why bad things happen is because there are over 7 billion people on the face of the earth making decisions — and sometimes those decisions, those choices, are often going to go against others’ decisions. God did not create us as robots who cannot do but exactly what they have been programmed to do.

God allows choices because He is going to judge everything in the end — “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom 14:12). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2Co 5:10). “You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment” (Ecc 11:9 NIV).

Furthermore, God will judge everyone in righteousness, and therefore, His judgments will be true (Acts 17:30–31).

God gave mankind rules by which to live, and they are not burdensome (1Jn 5:2–3; Psa 19:7–14). And He also gave us the ability to choose whether or not to comply with His rules. And again, this choice has been afforded to everyone.

Going back to the very beginning of everything, God gave Adam and Eve the ability to choose, and because of what they chose — and despite Eve being deceived by Satan, mankind’s adversary (Gen 3 and 1Ti 2:11–15) — we bear the consequences but not the guilt of their sin (Rom 5:12).

We must have a God-given, fixed standard so that we may know why we need forgiveness so much. God’s law is not to pat us on the back and tell us what fine fellows we are. God’s law is given to provide a proper shape for our repentance. In moments like this, we are aghast, but our “repentance” is formless and void. We need the shape of God’s holy Word so that we know how shapeless we have become. (Doug Wilson).

The apostle Paul, carried along by the Holy Spirit of God (2Pe 1:21), put it this way:

But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted (1Ti 1:8–11).

“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2Co 9:15; and see Jn 3:16; Eph 2:8–10; 2Co 2:14).

Handling Disappointment

But that doesn't matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice (Philippians 1:18 NLT).

For us to experience disappointment we must first have an expectation. Sometimes our expectations are unclear, maybe even to ourselves. This realization may not help us feel a lot better, but we should at least consider the possibility of our unclear expectations being the reason why we are disappointed. Furthermore, it may also be that we are disappointed because of unrealistic expectations — more often about what we expect of or from others than ourselves.

The apostle Paul reminds us to “not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9). Paul probably understood disappointment and even discouragement — especially when it came from brethren — more than almost anyone, except maybe the Lord himself.

Paul also mentions “danger from false brothers” (2 Cor. 11:26). It’s one thing to have to undergo hardship because of those who do not love the Lord, but it’s quite another level of disappointment — and possibly despair — when hardship comes from false brothers.

It’s hard to imagine that there were brothers who wanted to make Paul’s imprisonment worse, but there were. Paul briefly addresses his situation, and brings up a rather idealistic turn:

And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. (Philippians 1:14–18).

Writing to his preaching protege, Timothy, the apostle Paul reminded him of the reasons why he suffered, and that Timothy’s expectation should very well be the same:

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra — which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:10–13)

Timothy’s imprisonment can be inferred from the writer of Hebrews as he delivered the good news of Timothy’s release — “You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon” (Heb. 13:23). We know nothing about the details surrounding his being detained: whether it was to visit Paul (cf. 2 Tim. 4:11, 21) or for something else.

Getting back on point … We are going to suffer disappointment. Whether it comes from a coworker, neighbor, or friend; and, yes, it will feel worse when it comes from a brother or sister in Christ because we obviously expect better things from them.

So what can we do?

• We can begin by looking for spiritual stability and friendship with the Lord: He is the anchor of our souls (Heb. 6:13–20) and remains the same (Heb. 13:8–9).
• Prayer works (Luke 18:1 / Rom. 12:12 / 1 Thess. 5:17).
• We also need to remember that we, too, disappoint others — and we should give them the benefit of the doubt when we are disappointed by them because of God’s love for us all (Ecc. 7:21–22 / 1 Cor. 13:7 / 1 John 2:1–2, 4:19 / Rom. 3:23).
• We need to remember that God will judge, it’s not our place to exact revenge (Rom. 12:14, 17–21 / Heb. 10:30–31).
• Wait for the Lord (Psalm 27:13–14).