One Thing Lacking

One Thing Lacking

Leo Tolstoy, the great Russian novelist, had a profound spiritual crisis in midlife. He had wealth, fame, a large estate, and a family. He felt he lacked meaning. He read the Gospels obsessively and felt their pull. But he could not bring himself to full surrender. He gave away his copyrights and distributed much of his wealth — but he kept the estate, kept the aristocratic privileges. He was haunted by the rich young ruler story his entire adult life. He wrote: 'I understand the ruler completely. I am him. Jesus looked at me and loved me and told me the one thing I lack. And I go away grieved because I have great possessions.' He was honest about his failure. That honesty was, in its own way, closer to surrender than denial.

Mark 10:21 contains one of the most poignant phrases in the Gospels: 'Jesus looked at him and loved him.' Before the hard word, there is the loving gaze. Jesus is not trying to expose the man or test his willingness. He is trying to free him. The rich young ruler has kept all the commandments since youth. He is sincere, earnest, and morally serious. But there is one thing — and Jesus knows it. His wealth is not incidental to his identity; it is central to it. The invitation to sell everything is not about poverty as a virtue but about what it means to follow without reservation. What is your 'one thing'? Not necessarily money — it could be reputation, security, a relationship, a comfort. Jesus looks at you with love and names it. The question is whether we will follow or walk away grieved.