31 January 2022
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed…” (Luke 12:15)
This warning from Jesus is followed by a parable about a farmer blessed with a bumper crop. Looking at his huge harvest, he asks himself “What shall I do?” His answer is to build bigger barns, keep it all to himself, and “take life easy.” Jesus concludes His story:
"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 those who store up things for themselves but are not rich toward God." (Luke 12:20-21)
God essentially says to him, “You kept what you should have given and shared—and you have been pronounced a fool.” Remember, the man in the parable did not steal, he did not take, he only kept.
While his financial accounts were overflowing, the accounts that mattered were bankrupt. He suffered a total loss. He was rich by any earthly measure and it counted for nothing. He was not rich toward God.
Whether we’re conscious of it or not, every day we assess our resources and ask ourselves, “What shall I do?” And every day our choices answer that question. Let’s start realizing the answer isn’t about us and quit short-selling this life Jesus blesses us with.
Clearly, according to the parable, greed includes not sharing, not giving. Let’s keep what we must and share all we can.
Let’s steer clear of “all kinds of greed” and move toward dreams that are larger than any dream home, adventure that’s deeper than anything advertising promises, and salvation that’s richer than any size savings account.
FROM DR. BERNICE A. KING…
“I must plan to follow Jesus fully or not plan to follow him. ..And does not planning to follow him really differ, before God and humanity, from planning not to follow him?”
Dallas Willard in The Spirit of the Disciplines
FROM MY READING…
I can’t recommend more highly this expansive, exposing look at just how much the American Evangelical branch of Christianity has been tragically intertwined with patriarchy, nationalism, and white racial identity. If as an American Christian you’ve ever wondered, “How did we get in this mess we’re in today?” Dr. Kristin Jobes Du Mez expertly traces the historical, cultural path that’s been carved. Now seeing it clearly, I pray we can commit ourselves to carving new paths.
“When evangelicals define themselves in terms of Christ’s atonement or as disciples of a risen Christ, what sort of Jesus are they imagining? Is their savior a conquering warrior, a man’s man who takes no prisoners and wages holy war? Or is he a sacrificial lamb who offers himself up for the restoration of all things? How one answers these questions will determine what it looks like to follow Jesus. …Today, what it means to be a ‘conservative evangelical’ is as much about culture as it is about theology.”
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WORK WORTH SUPPORTING…
Help end slavery in our lifetime
International Justice Mission is an organization dedicated to rescuing and restoring the victims of slavery and trafficking and bringing criminals to justice while strengthening law enforcement and judicial systems around the world. Tamara and I find their work endlessly inspiring and worth our prayer and financial support.
A PRAYER TO BREATHE…
“Father, all I have comes from You and belongs to You.”