Is Luke 12:15 really about money?

Thank you sworley, for your comment concerning Luke 12:15. Many people believe, as you put it, “money is the vehicle.” Yes, money is the vehicle, so to speak, of the teaching but money is not the teaching. The passage is not about the man’s finance or money. The man in the parable is already rich. (Luke 12:16) If being rich was the issue, much should be said on his current state of prosperity. However scripture makes no issue over his
stated prosperity, the term rich or being financially rich is not the issue. The issue is the relationship between the fool and his riches.

The fool began to trust in his ability (self-worship) and forgot God’s provisions. He repeatedly makes reference to his crops, his grains and his barns. The problem is not money—it’s about worship. The rich fool began to worship the idol of self and not give praise to God for who
He is—provider and sustainer of life. God’s response to the fool’s idolatry of self was to require his life—He just stopped providing it. The text does not indicate the reason behind the fool’s death other than to advise:

“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God.”[1]

God turned the rich fool over to his god—self. If the rich fool believed in his ability to provide for all his needs, let him provide his own life. This returns us to verse 15 stating that life does not come from possessions. Life comes from God. Just because we make a lot of money and have nice things does not mean we are self-sustaining life givers. We are merely the creation of God
for His glory. God willingly provide life and blessing to all men.

Many well intentioned pastors and Christian financial consultants use this verse and passage as a pull-quote because it contains the words greed, possessions, rich and the phrases, “rich towards God”, and “abundance of possessions.” All of which sound like financial terms and issues, owever the point is not about riches or money directly. If being rich was an issue in scripture, why is Job so highly regarded by God? Abraham, Jacob, Joseph all retained high levels of wealth along with most of their descendants. Money is not the issue with the individual in this parable—idolatry is the issue; his created purpose is toworship and glorify God, not self.

Financial greed or stockpiling goods for the purpose of financial prosperity is not the issue being confronted. Relationship and worship of God is the spiritual matter being addressed in this parable. Just because scripture contains parables using money or possessions does not mean the verse is about money or possessions specifically, most likely it contains a different meaning
altogether. The use of parables in scripture is to use terms and topics familiar to the audience—and what is a more familiar topic than money.

This concept of understanding the meaning of parables is applied every time Jesus used crops as an illustration. Every Christian understands Jesus is not talking about farming when He uses crops in a parable. As with any parable, the direct concepts being taught, whether money or farming are good sound pragmatic views, nonetheless are not the focus of the parable or teaching. Much like a word picture or story to illustrate a point, there is an underlying point being made.

The parable of the wheat and tares, in Matthew 13:25, quickly comes to mind. Although the introduction of the parable is marked with the comparison to the Kingdom of God in verse 24, the reader understands the story is about more than just proper agriculture techniques. Jesus is talking about the kingdom. Always remember:

Parables use real world illustrations to address spiritual matters.

The rich fool’s problem was not that he wanted to store all his grain in new barns or that he wanted to achieve further financial gain from the crop. Remember he was already rich. He replaced God with himself—idolatry.

Another indication Jesus was not addressing a specific issue of money in this parable
is revealed in His transition from the singular to the plural when addressing the statement in Luke 12:13:

“…Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus’ response to the statement transitions from a singular “you” in verse 14 to a plural “you” in
verse 15. This shift signifies a transition from the specific statement to address everyone in the crowd—this became a teachable moment. Jesus used a parable related to the statement to address the underlying spiritual issue of idolatry.

God desires our uncontested love for Him through worship and honor. Our created purpose is to praise God—just as God intended Adam to worship Him and keep his commandments. Adam’s relationship to God was not one of servant; Adams relationship to God was one of love and honor through personal relationship. Adam’s relationship with God is the same personal relationship offered to man today through Jesus Christ.

[1] This statement has a direct association to storing grain for the tithe as stated in Malachi 3.