So what made you better or more holy than the rich man or the guy who loved worldly goods?
“So what made you better or more holy than the rich man or the guy who loved worldly goods?”
Different. Not better, or more deserving - all of which attempts to cast believing in Jesus as a meritorious work of the law, which it is not. However, Jesus said what he said. He told the parable of the sower. He loved the rich young ruler, but said his riches made it almost impossible for him to see heaven. He told the religious leaders they loved men more than God, and thus would not come to him to receive life.
He also said, “For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.”
He didn’t say “God didn’t change your mind”, or that “God didn’t give you life in a secret act to make you believe”, but that they did not change their minds and believe. THEY were responsible for their choice, not God withholding his grace because God had chosen to hate them from before creation.
“22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
If God elects people for salvation by individual name from before creation, riches should have no impact. If, however, riches make it easier to focus on this world, then we would expect it to be harder for a rich man to follow God.
In my case, I was a miserable, unhappy young teen who met some kids my age who were overflowing with love and goodness. They were not like anyone else I had met, and I knew whatever it was that made them different was what I wanted - because I didn’t like me.
Maybe I was like the prostitutes, or the woman at the well in John 4. In any case, Jesus said what he said.