To Be Rich Toward God Pt. 2 With Carolyn Calupca
Faith & Finance with Rob West
“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’” You may recall that verse from the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12. And what does that mean? A new FaithFi study guide focuses on this topic, and we’ll talk to Carolyn Calupca about it today. Carolyn Calupca was a long-time senior producer at Crown Financial Ministries where she worked closely with Larry Burkett for many years. She’s now a frequent contributor here at Faith and Finance and the author of our new 4-week study guide, Rich Toward God: A Study on the Parable of the Rich Fool.
Show Notes
What does it mean to be Rich Toward God?
It doesn't mean just giving money and possessions away. Anyone can do that. And the spiritual ramifications are different depending on your heart. But Jesus is inviting us to set our hearts on an imperishable inheritance.
So here's the context, a man from the crowd asks Jesus to settle an inheritance dispute, and Jesus deflects that question. He gets to the heart of the issue by telling a parable about man's greed and envy, not just the man who asked the question or had the issue, but ours. So this parable is about a rich man who poured his whole heart into accumulating and essentially worshiping his wealth and died before he could enjoy it. So obviously, perishable worldly inheritance is a false solution.
Where can we find more about this imperishable inheritance?
1 Peter 1:3-9 talks about our inheritance as believers, which calls it imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. And here are a few things the passage says about our inheritance.
It includes a living hope in Christ, which is an eternal hope. Because we have the mind and spirit of Christ, we can also have joy amid trial. And then we have our genuine faith, which it says is more precious than gold. The result of faith in Jesus Christ is what we long for, and that's the salvation of our souls and abundant life. That's our imperishable inheritance.
How should Christians view wealth?
The Bible isn’t saying that money is evil and it’s not even saying that wealth is evil. There is nowhere in Scripture that condemns someone for being rich. Money is just a tool, it’s a matter of the heart. God’s concern is with the use of money and your attitude towards money, not the amount.
Is wealth dangerous?
It definitely can be when it becomes our priority. Paul David Tripp once said, “Money is one of God’s good creations, but this good thing becomes a bad thing for you when it becomes a ruling thing. You simply cannot serve the King of Kings and have acquisition of wealth as the organizing dream of your heart.”So what is Jesus inviting us into?
Jesus is inviting us to set our hearts on imperishable things. Jesus is calling us to make him the desire of our hearts every moment of every day. He's asking us to surrender our lives our plans and our finances to him, to allow Him to be our ultimate treasure. Jesus invites us to say that God is our abundance now and we have an imperishable inheritance in heaven. That's good news for everyone!
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