Episode Details

Some are rich — just in all the wrong ways. Jesus had something different in mind.

Let's unpack what it means to step off the expressway of self and into the off-road adventure of Kingdom generosity. From investing in relationships to leveraging resource for others, living rich toward God is not just a posture. It's a path toward the greatest treasures on earth and beyond and in the New Heavens and New Earth on the horizon.

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See the full episode transcript below.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Rich in All the Wrong Ways. Are You Rich Toward God?

Friend, welcome to Jesus Smart X. I'm Brian Del Turco, your host.

What does it mean to be rich toward God? Jesus coined that phrase. We're going to touch on it today in this short episode. Being rich toward God points to a lifestyle that yields the highest harvest, both now and forever.

This episode is based on a guest post by Matt Peterson, a pastor in North Carolina, published on JesusSmart.com. It might just change how you invest your days and weeks.

A quick encouragement: check out the last episode, Willing and Obedient: The Blessing Is in Motion, a Jesus Smart 180. We looked at obedience as the on-ramp to God's blessing. Today we're staying in that neighborhood, unpacking what it means to live rich toward God.

The question on the table: are you rich toward God? Am I? What does it mean?

Before we get into it, subscribe to the Smart Edit newsletter for weekly Kingdom insight at jesussmart.com/smartedit.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

Jesus was teaching in Luke 12 when someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or arbiter over you?" And then he said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed, for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."

He told them a parable. The land of a certain rich man was very productive, and he began reasoning to himself. Notice what he said to himself. He never once thought, I have a superabundance. Maybe I should give some of it away and help the poor.

Instead he said, "This is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul: you have many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry."

But God said to him, "You fool. This very night your soul is required of you. And now who will own what you have prepared?"

Then Jesus concludes: "So is the man who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

There's the phrase.

The Expressway of Me

Jesus knows that a lifestyle of generosity and sowing reaps the highest harvest, in this life and in the age to come. The question worth sitting with: will our future self thank our current self for how we lived?

Jesus is not saying don't prepare for the future. He's not saying never spend anything on yourself or enjoy life. Paul told Timothy that it is God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

What Jesus is sharing is a secret more important than self-preservation or self-increase. It's the secret of stepping off the wide expressway everyone's