One thing
Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the incident when a rich young man asks Jesus what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. The man says he’s kept the commandments Jesus names. Jesus then replies, “You just need one thing…” (Mark & Luke), or “If you would be perfect…” (Matthew) The one thing is that the man must give away all his possessions. He’s very sorrowful over this, and goes away. Then Jesus expounds on how extremely hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom.
This incident is disturbing in a couple ways. First of all, I can’t imagine the Lord telling me I’d be perfect if I just did one thing, any one thing. Second, my life here in North America is pretty comfortable, and would be counted as real wealth in comparison with many others in the world, past and present. So from what Jesus says, I could be in real trouble.
Is Jesus laying all this on us as a guilt trip? Arguably we deserve it—I don’t think I’m alone in having more than one thing in need of reform. Or that possessions can interfere. We might take note that he never says either thing to anyone else. So what is Jesus getting at?
Maybe the one thing is actually broader, urging us to get away from a legalistic or transactional view of salvation. The “one thing” is a condensation of “devote all you are to God and His Son.”
This thought is supported by another time Jesus talks about one thing: “But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’ ” (Luke 10:41-42) Jesus doesn’t spell out what the one thing is, but Martha is anxious and distracted by many things. He seems to indicate Mary has it right in sitting at Jesus’s feet and listening to him teach—which I’d say is much more than just keeping a commandment.
Paul also has something to say about one thing: “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it [the resurrection] my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
One thing: get rid of everything and follow Jesus. One thing: sit as Jesus’s feet and listen to him. One thing: ignore the past and strain toward the resurrection.
I think the one thing in all these cases is the same thing, and it’s far larger than obeying one commandment, or listening to Jesus instead of preparing one meal. Paul seems to grasp this, and talks about the one thing as a complete change of life. Interestingly, in the previous verse Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect…” Being perfect is what Jesus said the rich young man could have by means of the one thing. Paul makes it clear the one thing is a lifelong struggle, not an item we can check off.
Paul ends his discussion with the perfect encouragement to join him in the pursuit of the one thing: “Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.” (verse 15)
Get rid of what distracts you, Jesus says. Sit at my feet, Jesus says. Think it over, Paul says, and when your thinking is mature, you’ll come around. And until then, God will help you grow in understanding, as you work toward the one thing.
Love, Paul