There’s something religious that people seek whether they know they are looking or not. The rich young ruler in our gospel text wanted something more. He even knew to call it “eternal life.” Today’s rich young rulers are a different breed. Stocks and bonds they know, but what is eternal life? IPO’s and portfolios they know, but what is salvation? Profit and loss they know, but they would be befuddled with Jesus asking, “What will it profit you if you gain the whole world but forfeit your life?” The space that religion normally fills in a human life is already crammed with substitutes, and the biggest substitute seems the pursuit of and/or the possession of wealth. The story of the rich young ruler, in this sense, no longer rings true. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Rich young rulers have changed.
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