And he (Jesus) said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” –
Luke 12:15
Money is a vital necessity for our temporal lives in this world. Housing, clothing, shelter the availability and quality of these resources depend on the amount of money one can chalk-out. The world around us values money and it values individuals with money, riches attract respect, power & the congratulations of the natural man. We live around people infatuated with money, and sadly many “Christians” have bowed to the idol of materialism along with the world. David Platt, founder and president of Radical Ministries warns us that in the Indian Christian community there is at least 82% of confessing Christians who believe in Word Of Faith/Prosperity Theology. To trigger us into action let me put it like this, at least 8 out of 10 Christians you and I see, who claim to be “Christian” are actually worshippers of the false god of materialism, they believe its promises, they believe it is the soul-satisfying need for their lives. So As Christians how should we think about money & material possessions? I believe Jesus Christ gives us a worthy answer to that question, “One’s Life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
In Luke 12:13-21, Jesus meets a young man, who needs Jesus to barter a deal with his brother for inheritance (Estate). There’s nothing wrong with what he asks at all but the man’s heart wasn’t seeking Justice, it wasn’t seeking what was fair, rather it was covetous. Jesus says to the man, to the listers and to us, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness.” How is Jesus able to know the condition of his heart? The answer lies within scripture itself, John 2:24b-25 says, “because he (Jesus) knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” Jesus knows what is in man and he knew this man’s heart, his heart was covetous and worldly. Here is a man who values money more than God, God’s Law and His brother.
But the dialogue with this lost man doesn’t end with Jesus calling for stricter discipline over worldly pleasures. But rather as we read earlier he points him & us to a life of Joy and satisfaction outside the idol that is materialism. He does this by telling a parable, the parable is often called “The Parable of the Rich Fool.” I must say I can’t in any satisfactory manner give an extended exegesis of this amazing parable but allow me to indulge you with a small portion of this parable’s message. I believe there is one powerful truth in this parable that if rightly understood and absorbed into our system can certainly be our safe shelter against the destructive storm that is materialism.
I believe that one truth this parable teaches is The Providence of God. The parable begins with this description, And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, – Luke 12:16
Notice here how Jesus mentions, “This rich man’s land produced plentifully.” Jesus doesn’t say, “This man and his slaves worked hard for many months hence his land produced plentifully”, he says, “The Land produced plentifully.” Why does he do this? Jesus here undoubtedly teaches the Loving Providence of God. God made the land, the earth and the universe and he graciously causes this abundance of crop. The Heidelberg Catechism Explains Providence in this manner, “The almighty and ever-present power of God; whereby, as it were by his hand, he upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, Indeed all things come, not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.”
All things come from a loving Heavenly Father and all things belong to This Heavenly Father (Psalm 24:1). Since everything belongs to God we who possess great or small possessions are only stewards of them and not the actual proprietor. What does this imply? This firstly makes possessions a blessing from God and not evil in any manner, let me quote James Montgomery Boice to further cement my point, Boice says “The Bible does not teach that money/possessions are evil in itself or things in themselves produce evil.” Money and wealth are gifts given to steward well. Understanding providence rightly pushes us to rejoice in God and use wealth and pursue wealth in a God-directed manner. As Boice puts it, “We are not called to relinquish wealth but to use them under God’s direction for the welfare of ourselves, our families, for material aid to others and for promoting God’s truth.”
But the rich fool and the Materialist do not believe these are Gifts given by a Loving God, rather they believe the futile proposition that they have made it, they have created it, hence it logically leads to the conclusion “It’s all by me so its all for me.” And thus they’ve made a god in their own image, a god that the Apostle Paul says will lead to “ruin & destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). And when we read the parable we see this road to destruction (Luke 12:17-20). The book of Ecclesiastes calls this God-hating pursuit vanity (Ecclesiastes 5:10). On the other hand, the prosperity Gospel calls “Christians” to bend the knee to the gifts rather than the giver. Providence makes God the centre of our affections, he is the one who gives, he is the one who owns it all, hence I the steward must rejoice in God and use it for the praise of his glorious name. The prosperity Gospel, on the other hand, makes possessions the affection, in the belief that the health & wealth are divine rights for “Christians.” Providence calls this a gift God doesn’t owe sinful creatures, worth of faith theology calls it a right.
What do you think? What does our life look like? Do we as Christians see money/wealth and health as a gift from a loving God, thus making God the centre of our affections or is our perspective like those of the materialists who worship themselves or are we like those who believe the prosperity gospel among whom many may verbally confess god but by valuing the gift above the giver they are no different than other idolaters.
The cure to the empty promise of materialism and the vain idolatry of the prosperity gospel is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For in the Gospel we see God meeting and providing for our greatest need through his son Jesus Christ (John 3:16, Romans 5:10-11). May we find life not in riches but in God who gives us everything to enjoy and use for his glory.
He Aletheia 