The Man God Called a Fool

by: Lou Lotz

There are two things nobody will admit to: having no sense of humor or being a fool. To be called a sinner doesn’t seem to bother people all that much. But, how we squirm at the charge of stupidity. Nobody likes to be called a fool. Yet that is Christ’s assessment of us if we behave like the rich man in the parable.

Jesus does not condemn wealth. Prosperity is not a vice, no more than poverty is a virtue. Money is morally neutral. The question is: What are you going to do with your wealth? Or, an even bigger question: What is your wealth going to do with you? Wealth does pose a danger to those who possess it. Money isn’t bad. But unless you’re careful, it can make you bad: greedy, grasping, self-sufficient, possessed by your possessions, and oblivious to their source. The words “I, my, mine” appear a dozen times in the parable. It just does not occur to the rich man, as it seldom occurs to us, that God is the source of his prosperity.

This parable makes us stop and take stock as the shadows lengthen over our lives. It’s all right for a man to possess things. But it’s not all right for things to possess a man. It’s not all right to make accumulation the driving gear of your life. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” said Jesus (Matt. 6:33). When God has first place in your life, your possessions, and everything else, assume their rightful place.