One of the biggest issues Christians struggle with today is the obsession with what the world pursues. As the world promotes materialism and self, Christians fight to keep their hearts and minds focused on God. In essence, it hampers us from hearing what Jesus has to say.

In Luke 12, a man interrupts Jesus’ sermon on life and death, asking Him to decide how to divide the inheritance between him and his brother. Luke records, “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?”

Back in the Old Testament, priests were often like judges and asked to mediate in what we would today call civil cases.  Sometimes it was a business dealing or a family dispute. This person was trying to put Jesus on the spot with a similar question. Jesus asks him, “Who made me a judge or an arbiter between you?” meaning the man missed the reason Jesus came to earth.

The Jews of Jesus day missed it. They were looking forward to a Messiah, a Savior, a Liberator, and a Conqueror. On one level they had it right. Where they missed the mark was, they were looking for a political messiah rather than a spiritual messiah.

In verse 15, Jesus warns “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Our culture and the media spread a message that life is made up of the acquisition of things. Marketers and advertising agencies tell us “You Need This” and “This will improve your life” and “He who has the most toys wins.”

And much of this angst stems from our struggle with comparing ourselves to others. We look at who has the newer car, the newest phone or even the nicer spouse. It is easy to think only the rich who struggle with coveting, but the reality is, even the poor struggle with it. You only have to look at the police crime reports. We hear and read stories about murders and assaults for basic things like shoes or jackets.

Now it might be easy to conclude that money is the problem. Riches themselves are not evil, nor is having stuff sin, but our obsession with or pursuit of money can bind us to the physical and temporal and blind us to the spiritual and eternal. To help His listeners understand, Jesus begins to tell the story of a wealthy farmer who would have been esteemed in his community because of his success.

Verses 16-19 says, “And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 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 my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

The Bible commends being industrious and working hard, but if we are not careful, it can lead us down the wrong road. The farmer in Jesus’ story is progressive, investing his wealth in capital improvements. However, the progress he makes is still in things, not in people.

Churches can get caught up in a similar trap. In following the world’s ways, churches can pursue bigger buildings, cutting-edge programs, multiple staff members to do the work meanwhile making compromises in their message while prioritizing numbers and giving.

In the movie, “The Second Chance,” we see the story of a church whose ministry grew as did its public image. But as things expanded, they forgot their roots of caring for people for the sake of caring rather than caring for publicity and notoriety and public acclamation. More is not necessarily better.

Jesus goes on to push His point further in verses 20-21. “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 whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

If you live to collect riches and live as though God does not exist, Jesus says, you are a fool. Jesus says in Matthew 16:26, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” The saying, “You can’t take it with you,” rings true in the ears of Jesus.

Jesus goes on about when death visits the farmer unexpectedly and takes all his wealth from him, despite the man’s efforts to bargain for his life. The angel of God walks through the cemetery and writes the word FOOL on his gravestone, for all that the man had collected was left behind.

Maybe your life isn’t that extreme, but I think at times each of us suffers from the green monster and our focus shifts from God as our priority to things. In biblical terms, we commit idolatry and I don’t think we have to dive into the Old Testament to see what God thinks of that? So how should we view life and how should we view wealth?

In verses 22-33 Jesus says, “Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.”

Jesus says you ought to make the kingdom of God, not money, the central concern of your life. Jesus illustrates His point with ravens: if they do not worry, and God feeds them, why should we worry that God will not do the same for us? Earlier in the chapter, Jesus spoke of sparrows and God’s provision…

Again, Jesus uses a metaphor: as lilies in the field grow carefree and beautiful. Solomon and his splendor can’t compare, so are we to trust that God will provide for us. As Philippians 4:19 tells us, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” When people make money, passion, or power the center of their lives end up in ruins because they don’t focus on what is eternal.

It is so easy to fall into the trap of materialism and affluence. I think it is one of the major factors that keep the North American Church from growing and expanding. So in conclusion, I want to ask ourselves this question, “What is my focus in life?”

Christians often talk about asking Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, but after spending time meditating on the final verse of Luke 12, that has changed. Jesus ends off by saying, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” My encouragement to you is to make Jesus your Treasure. Because if Jesus is our Treasure, our hearts are His, our focus is His, and our lives are His alone.