Here we go for today.  Remember, we’re friends, right?  Smile.

“Don’t imagine I’m advocating for no savings.  The Bible has several instructive nuggets on maintaining a cushion, saving for seasons of drought and hardship.  Wisdom plans ahead (that is, if she has the luxury of expendable income; this is a First World extravagance).

But the numbers are so tipped in our favor, I wonder if God doesn’t expect more from the top 20 percent (and most of us are in the top 5 percent) than simply buying 86 percent of the stuff and harboring savings accounts with the rest.  I wonder if there is a graded option somewhere below our means.

As with any healthy conversation, we must look at the whole of Scripture rather than proof texting ones we like.  I took an intricate view of the Bible for so long, I missed the high view, the one where God’s big story comes into focus and the parts become the whole. 

The one where God’s heart for the oppressed is in every single book.

So when it comes to managing money, we must take a holistic approach and ask,

“What is God mostly saying in Scripture?”

Luke tells us a man wanted Jesus to tell his brother to split their inheritance.  Jesus wasn’t dealing with a crooked lawsuit or a spat between enemies.  These were brothers with a rightful claim.

‘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; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’

And he told them this parable:

‘The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  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 all my grain and my goods.  And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things 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 anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.’

(Luke 12:12-21)

This is me now.  I just want to say I know it could be easy to look at this passage and completely dismiss retirement.  I know and have heard of so many people who use retirement to bless others and serve Jesus even more full-time.  I do not think this is an indictment against retirement.  But let’s lean into what it does mean…

Jen now:

“Why do you think Jesus answered the man like He did rather than offer a practical solution [to the inheritance issue]?

What connection do you see between the ‘rightful entitlement’ of these brothers and our attitude toward our wealth and advantages?

Again, Jesus took a swipe at stored possessions, which He understood to be the inevitable end of this argument.  He interpreted this high level of angst correctly; it was for more stuff; this inheritance wasn’t going to land in the hands of the poor.

Nothing can turn humans into thrashing, clawing, desperate enemies quicker than money. 

With precision, Jesus identified why they were fighting (greed) and what the end result would be (hoarded wealth) without asking a single question.

Money makes us super predictable.

What sticks out to you [in the story of the man with a good crop and bigger barns]?

What false assumptions did the man embrace?

Is this like selling perfectly lovely houses for bigger ones because our stuff outpaced our square footage?

Has it become standard protocol to go bigger than live smaller?

I believe we are liquid consumers, able to till any container we pour ourselves into, no matter how spacious it feels at first.

I find Jesus’ take on savings so practical. 

Evidently, there is a limit to what we sock away, ensuring our ease and merriment later.

This flies squarely in the face of the American Dream, but Jesus apparently doesn’t give one whit.

I wish He would’ve given us a clearer formula or income-to-savings ratio, but He did give us clues to check our temperature:

                             Relational distress, specifically among family

     Greed               Abundance                Excessive Wealth                   Upsizing

    Hoarding                       Selfishness                            Spiritual Poverty

                         Striving toward ease and merriment (“Take life easy…”)

How do you need to respond to Jesus’ difficult teaching?”