Quick Summary:

A wicked problem is a problem that’s difficult or even impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and ever changing requirements which are often difficult to recognize. Wicked problems resist all attempts at easy solutions, which is why the wealthy man we meet in our gospel today is in a quandary.

Holding onto and trusting our relationship with Christ doesn’t mean that solutions to our wicked problems will miraculously reveal themselves. But what it does mean is that our vision for finding the right direction to move will be clarified.

In this story, Jesus offers the man a relationship that could move him toward the true life he longs for. But all the man sees is what he stands to lose in that proposition. That’s the deep sadness of this story— the loss of what might have been.