The One Thing You Lack – The Story of the Rich Young Ruler

Mark 10 v 17 – 25
17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’[a]”
20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24 This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 In fact, 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!”

What is the one thing you lack?
Everyone lacks something.  It could be a good singing voice, the ability to play an instrument, not good at sport, co-ordination.

In this study we will explore what may be the one thing you lack and not just in your daily life but what is the thing that was holding you back from a relationship with God before you were a Christian or maybe it is holding you back now?

The bible says we are all lacking something.

What’s the Big Deal about Small Groups?
Small groups (which we call Life Groups) are biblical; they are the only way to care for a large congregation; they are the best way to disciple people; they are the best way to develop leaders; and they the best way to grow a strong church.

Our Life Groups are not just a ‘program’. They are about people and relationships. They are beneficial to your life and are not the same as casual relationships. As we grow larger, we need to keep getting smaller.
Is it a transaction with God in order to get into heaven?

The rich young ruler asks “What must I do to get?”  What does he need to DO in order to GET?
The young man was trying to enter into a transactional relationship with Jesus to find out how to GET eternal life. He was seeking but in all the wrong places.

Is there some service that we can do, a donation we can make, how good do we need to be?
So many people treat Christianity like a series of transactions.   They treat church like a shopping mall.  Is there a better church, better youth group, better goods, better teaching or better kids group?

The first mistake the man made was thinking that the gospel was for sale but the truth of the gospel is that it is free for all people.  It’s a gift of grace through the death and resurrection of Christ. 
Unfortunately the rich young ruler had lost sight of this and did not realise that there is nothing he could do to get salvation.  He thought he could make a deal with Jesus.

He did not realise that the free gift of Salvation is for all mankind.

What’s the Big Deal about Serving?
Jesus is not saying in this passage that we cannot have wealth and still have Salvation.  Jesus knows that the man’s focus is his money and position and that these are his idols.

He thought his good deeds were another path and yet he was unaware of the very thing stopping him from a relationship with God. His very own wealth, power and position were what he really worshiped.  Jesus called him out and named what He needed to do to truly be free and follow Jesus. No matter what we hide, no matter how deep we bury it, we can only worship one God.

Jesus is challenging the man to be able to forsake what he has put in his life as a high importance and give it all up to follow Jesus.   Just as we can put our importance into material things, Jesus is warning us that we must be willing to give it all up to follow him.

Jesus telling the rich young ruler that he must sell everything and follow him was not about the wealth. It was about whether he could give that up and lay it aside to follow him.  Jesus knew that this was going to be a request too big for the young ruler to accept because this was his god, his obsession, his focus and so he used the analogy of the camel through the eye of the needle when speaking with his disciples.

The true lesson is what do we lack?  What is our god?  What is holding us back from a supernatural, spirit filled, obedient life fulfilled by our relationship with him where we can say “Jesus is my Lord”.

Discussion Questions
1. Think of a really good person you know, in History or in life who would not call them-selves a Christian and talk about their life. How different are they from us? 
2. Do you agree it’s harder for the rich to get to heaven? 
3. Can you think of another analogy for the camel through the eye of a needle?
4. Is there something you are willing to share with the group that was holding you back from a relationship with God?  How did that make you feel?  How did you overcome it?
5. Is there something in your life taking your focus from Christ now? What do you feel you lack?