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Have you met a Christian that sold/gave up everything they owned? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 week ago by solidheron@sh.itjust.works to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

45 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Im still a salty biznatch about a street preacher saying they didn't have to sell everything they down because Jesus said to one disciple and in that context yeah Jesus said it to that disciple.

Turns out that Jesus did say that you have to give up everything luke 14:25-33

The Cost of Discipleship (Matthew 8:18–22; Luke 9:57–62; John 6:59–66)

Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. 27And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.

Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? 29Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This man could not finish what he started to build.’

Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand? And if he is unable, he will send a delegation while the other king is still far off, to ask for terms of peace.

In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.

But does anyone see a Christian legitimately follow this commandment from Jesus

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[–] digdilem@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well, I'm absolutely certain people have taken lifelong orders for less than your example, but I'm thinking more about situations where someone is left alone, homeless and without any other options. Government aid is often slow to arrive, especially if you're a single man, and homeless charities are always overstretched. Even today, it's not such a stretch to imagine someone turning to God in their hour of need.

(I'm athiest btw, I'm not arguing that it's a good option, only that some people may see it as their only option and honestly, there are worse)

[–] Vanth@reddthat.com 1 points 1 week ago

And I'm also atheist, but raised Catholic and had a few schoolmates who became priests or nuns, and even more who explored it but left before making a permanent commitment.

I've got enough anecdotal evidence to cast a very skeptical eye on your claim that homeless broke dudes are the ones that go into the priesthood. So in an effort to get something a little better than my anecdotes, I websearched the phrase "demographics of men who become priests"

And got this page, https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/over-400-men-in-u-s-to-be-ordained-in-2025-most-felt-called-to-priesthood-by-age-16/100087, which says:

On average, ordinands first started to consider becoming a priest at 16 years old, but 35% said they began to think about entering the priesthood in elementary school between the ages of 6 and 13.

Not lining up with your theory unless you think there's a lot of homeless 16 year olds becoming priests.

And I guess caveat that I'm in US currently, most familiar with Western countries approach to Catholic religious life.