The rich man who got a bumper harvest thought he could store and enjoy it for many years. God called him a fool and asked, what will happen to what he had gathered and prepared as he will die that night. (Luke 12:13-21) The great boom could be from the Share Market or lottery in contemporary times.
1) Wrong question: “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.” He asked the wrong question. Instead of asking, “What God wants me to do?”; He asked, ‘What Shall I do?” When there is plenty and surplus, there is always a tendency to pile up for the future instead of being stewards of the present. He said it was ‘my crops’ or ‘my fruits’ without giving credit to God.
2) Wrong approach: His expansion plan was to ‘tear down’ what was already available. Tearing down is a costly expense. He could have expanded that or built a new one. This attitude is very much evident in the culture of disposable things and dispensable people. Many things including food that is abandoned or wasted is precious to someone less in the economic ladder of hierarchy.
3) Wrong philosophy: He wrongly assumed that his life was going to be long so that he could enjoy life. His lifestyle was summarised: eat, drink and be merry. People do not work hard; but want to earn a lot. So, greed and corruption dictate their life pursuit. There is also no dignity of labour or meaning for work. But for Christians work is a joy, not a burden.
4) Wrong concept of God: He is termed a ‘fool’. In the Bible ‘fool’ is the one who does not believe in God or His existence. This rich man ordered his life in such a way with scant regard for God. God was not in his thoughts or lifestyle, or decisions. He was smart and wise by world’s standards but poor, naked, and exposed and condemned by God’s standards. Great boom ended in great gloom for him.
Am I a steward or a selfish consumer?