The Right Kind of Rich
In our recent Faith and Finances class we spent some time around the parable of the rich fool. It is a bit of a confusing parable (like most of parables Jesus shared) because what appears as responsible behavior is not God’s desire. This puts the reader at a crossroads—right where Jesus wants us to be of course. He uses our disequilibrium to open us to other options. Check it out what Jesus does here:
The Parable of the Rich Fool
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 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 my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain 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 whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Is there a “right” kind of rich?
As a child the message I received from my well-meaning middle-class parents was that I should grow to be a responsible and committed contributor to the welfare of my own family. That was our version of filling the barns—take care of your own. It seemed a responsible approach that I unconsciously adopted, and that approach was not necessarily challenged in my young adulthood.
Recently though, I was asked by a young man what my life goals were. I chuckled at the question and commented that my life was 75% over! My answer was something practical that satisfied the question at the time, but it was not completely satisfactory to me. A couple days later, still haunted by the question, I decided to make a list. Just four items made the list (I will not share my list here but would encourage you to pursue this discipline as well).
The answers surprised me.
As I looked at the list I made, I realized that for the most part I had abandoned the approach I grew up with and was instead pursuing my version of being “rich toward God.” I was happier for it; less stressed, more engaged with others, and more in tune with God’s heart.
Some changes happen by force. Others happen by grace.
But what about the barns? We all have “barns” that are crying out to be filled. The world loves when we fill our barns! We hear a LOT more about our economy in the media than we do about loving our neighbor.
When the urgency to fill our barns is bigger than our burden for the things of God, we are pursuing the wrong kind of rich.
The world says pursue security, fun experiences, and social status—Its own version of “eat, drink, and be merry.” The scripture above says the things we are secure in will be taken away when we least expect it.
If our north star is loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, our trajectory will be an orientation toward God and to what He prioritizes. By faith anyone can experience the “riches” of a relationship with our loving God through His son, Jesus Christ—our ultimate security—and source of life now and for the life to come.
But be warned, Jesus is a meddler, and your money is always in his crosshairs.