Have you ever heard that story from the Bible where the rich guy comes up to Jesus and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal (or abundant) life?” The two men talk for a few minutes, but the punch line of the story is that it is hard for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God or inherit eternal (abundant) life.

When most of us hear this story it gives us pause, but just for a moment, just until we decide that we are not rich, at least not compared to other people that we know or have heard of. Tough luck for those folks though, right?

But what if we were actually financially poor, not America’s version of poor, but truly poor from a global perspective? Would this story of Jesus have anything to say to us? Quite possibly.

What if we were rich in good looks, personality, intelligence, virtue, character, or kindness? What if we were rich in niceness? Just like money, every one of these things could make it hard for us to see our desperate need for God, to develop a sense of self-sufficiency and pride that keeps us from following after Jesus with total abandon … which according to Jesus, is the only way to truly follow Jesus.

How are you rich?