Yeah, that title had me too. At first I was thinking, "What?!? Did someone actually just write that as a title to a chapter in their book?" The answer is, "Yes."
The book is "Wasabi Gospel" by Shawn Wood and it is available TODAY for preorder (check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/
This chapter rests pretty much dead center of the book but packs one heck of a punch! In fact, I sent out an update on Twitter saying that "Wasabi Gospel" is a "kick in the teeth & upper cut to the lung."
The main premise of the title "Wasabi Gospel" by Shawn Wood is that Jesus said a lot of kick-your-butt-and-slap-ya-silly types of things that we very easily skim right over without paying attention. However, just like a small amount of wasabi can send your senses reeling, Shawn describes Jesus' words as wasabi for our soul. He states, "I was studying the Bible, just minding my own business, when a small, innocent, seemingly insignificant, cute little dollop of scripture I had read many, many times before became a concentrated, power-packed, punch-you-in-the-gut, life-altering experience."
After reading that introduction, I decided I had to know what the heck Shawn meant by "rich people go straight to hell, do not pass go."
I soon tasted the wasabi of Jesus' words.
After a brief, topical set up through the life and musings of a fictional character, Laura, Jesus' words ring out like a cathedral bell echoing through time. This particular chapter starts with this quote from Mark 10:24-25:
"The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, 'Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'"
Shawn goes on to describe who is considered rich but there is no need to look any farther than my previous posts (here and here too). One of the things that Shawn said that keeps haunting me is, "Apparently my dishwasher decided to break. Annoying, yes, but not a big deal. Until I realized that I would not have a dishwasher for a couple of days. How would the dishes get clean?"
I've been there. How about you?
The first apartment that my beautiful bride and I lived in after getting married had a dishwasher that did not work and I had that exact same thought. We had no idea what to do. Ridiculous, isn't it?
Shawn goes on to say, "Dishwashers, now that's a rich person's problem."
He had me. Maybe it's not a dishwasher for you. Maybe it's the air conditioning or your car or the internet not working or bad cell phone coverage... you get the point. All of these things are rich person problems and we are all rich people. You may not feel rich but you are and so am I.
Shawn goes on to identify why we are in this predicament and then dissects this story that Jesus tells as recorded by Luke:
And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:16-21)
This "Wasabi Gospel" thing was really starting to burn. I've been there too. I've been the guy who made more money one year and decided that it was time for a bigger TV or more furniture or better cars or a vacation. Who in America hasn't really? Isn't that the American dream?
But what if that is exactly what Jesus is talking about? What if Jesus is telling us how not to live? How are we living with an eternal perspective to live out God's dream in rich America?
This chapter was eye-opening and heart-convicting. In fact, most of "Wasabi Gospel" is like this. I highly recommend this book for anyone that wants to really begin to understand why Jesus' words were so revolutionary. I hope that you buy this book and read it. I hope that it shakes you up. But most of all, I hope that you encounter Jesus with a new found passion and willingly chase after Jesus with your heart on fire.
Time for me to go find a spicy tuna roll with a side of wasabi...
For more information about this book or about Shawn Wood, please visit the following:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/
