Discussion

We talked about Luke 12 in one of our devotion times: the parable of the rich fool. In the book Crazy Love, Francis Chan talks about this passage like it is so simple. He compares the rich fool and his life to the definition of the American dream, and how we save up for retirement to relax and enjoy ourselves. Chan says, “We shouldn’t worry about our lives, what we’ll eat, buy, or wear. God says the American dream is absolute foolishness. It’s exactly what Christian are doing and defending. God could take your life at any time. Don’t conform to the patterns of this world.”
I know that not everyone who has saved for retirement is a fool or disobedient to God’s teaching, and I know that it means different things for different people, but this kind of rocks my world and everything I have known. I have been taught to save my money but why? Then I think about all the money I spent in the past on things for my self. Maybe this is simple. I must make sure I am “rich towards God” and I must have my faith in God in order to not worry about my needs. Verse 22 and 23 says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” As simply as that is put, I have serious issues with that. With my indecisive nature I can’t count how many times I have had serious trouble trying to find something to wear or eat. I will stand and look at the menu for ten minutes at taco bell and end up making someone else choose for me. The village was nice because it honestly didn’t matter. I didn’t have so many choices to make about what to wear or eat because we didn’t have a whole lot and it was great! I loved it. I wore the few clothes I had and ate what they gave me (fortunately it was soooo good. I love Senegalese food). So with all of that I just want to know what you think about it all. About the rich fool, the American dream, your thoughts and meditations on anything I have said and wondered about.