My sons sometimes play, “Would you rather?” It’s that game where you ask the silliest questions you can, in order to make a false and ridiculous choice.
Would you rather eat Flaming Hot Cheetos every day for the rest of your life or never eat them again? Would you rather be silent or still all day long?
Recently, the boys landed on a more serious question: Would you rather have more time or more money?
If we were to consider this question outside of playing a kid’s game, it invites us to consider the notion of “The Good Life.”
What Do We Consider as ‘The Good Life’?
What do you think of when you consider The Good Life? Is it a life of time with friends, family, and neighbors, living fully, and giving generously?
Or is it a life of more? More money, more stuff, more vacations, more financial security, more of the brands you like, more influence?
The reality is, even if you aren’t a materialistically minded person, so many of us are inundated with messages about The Good Life.
There are songs about money, advertisements about new cars, and wealth-building. We have influencers online showing off their luxurious lifestyles. We hear and see these messages all the time — messaging that tells us this: “more” is always better.
Furthermore, these messages about The Good Life come with promises of security, stability, identity, a good reputation, peace, and prosperity.
But interestingly, research, data, and most importantly, Jesus teach that’s categorically untrue. Chasing “more” is not the so-called good life and does not deliver on the promises it sells.
What Does Jesus Say the Good Life Really Is?
Thankfully, Jesus has something to say about what The Good Life really is.
In the Parable of The Rich Fool, found in Luke 12, Jesus says this:
“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.”’ “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” (vv. 16-21).
Jesus’ illustration starts out so positive; there is a rich, plentiful harvest — a gift from the land, a gift from God. It’s amazing! This guy has so many crops he can’t even fit them in his barns.
This is reminiscent of Jesus himself, earlier in the Book of Luke, catching all those fish with the disciples. In that story, there were so many fish that the boats and nets were overrun. The point is that God is an abundant God, lavish in resources.
So, the best ending here, in Jesus’ parable, would be for the man to honor God by giving the surplus harvest to neighbors in need.
But the story takes a hard turn. Because the guy in Jesus’ illustration makes a selfish choice, he hoards it all for himself. He doesn’t consider God. He doesn’t think of his neighbors’ needs.
He doesn’t even consider his own death; he’s not thinking about his legacy or eternity. He is concerned only with building his own castle, not with building God’s kingdom. He settles for a false version of The Good Life, “Take it easy; Eat, drink and be merry.”
When it comes to our own attitudes toward money or possessions, or whatever we think of as The Good Life — the right spouse, the right number in the bank account, the right educational institute, the right brands, the right experiences for us or for our kids, the right career, the right car, the right vacations, etc.
It often boils down to these two heart issues, issues that Jesus is pointing out in Luke 12, greed and fear:
- We want more than we have, or we want others have.
- We are afraid we won’t have enough; we don’t trust God to supply our needs.
And so, we operate from a place of scarcity rather than abundance and generosity.
Some of us are like the guy in Jesus’ parable. We’re like, “God, you can have all of me, my heart, my worship, my devotion, my life. But you cannot have my daily budget; you cannot have not my coffee money. Do not touch my finances or my assets. That’s mine.”
And no matter how much or how little we have in the bank, the moment we do that, is the moment we have stopped being rich towards God and have begun to be rich towards ourselves (Luke 14:21). Jesus calls that foolish.
The way of Jesus is the opposite of the world. Again, advertisers say, Get more. Politicians and other leaders say, Do more. Influencers say, Want more.
The world’s message says, Accumulate more, become more, climb the ladder of success and influence and possessions and power. But to live The Good Life according to Jesus, well, that means something else entirely.
The Good Life — the fully alive life, a life of vigor and joy and fruitfulness and freedom — is not found in possessions or gaining more, but in giving more. The truly Good Life is a life of generosity towards God and others. We gain by giving. We find by losing.
So often, we wrap up our pain and heartache and grief with stuff, with materialism. We place our identity in what we have, what others think of us, or what we can do. And we try to bandage our hurts, or find our self-worth, in the idol of “more.”
But the way of Jesus is to say, “Yes, I may be broken, but I am being healed...not by stuff, but by the Spirit of God. Yes, I am grieving, but I do not have to be greedy...because I trust God to supply my needs according to his glorious riches.”
What is “The Good Life,” according to Jesus? It’s not the Rich’s Fool’s philosophy: “Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.”
It’s Jesus’ own words later in Luke 12: “Don’t chase after what you will eat and what you drink. Stop worrying. The pagan world runs after those things. Your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek first his Kingdom, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
How Do We Find the Good Life?
To find The Good Life, be rich towards God. Be lavish in your worship of God through a life of generosity toward others, through giving to the poor and caring for those in need, and through life trusting God’s abundant provision.
Why? Because God has been so lavish in love towards you. On the cross, Jesus gave away everything, even his own life, generously for your freedom, your forgiveness, your flourishing, and your future.
And here’s the good news — if generosity or money or materialism, if greed or fear are struggles for you — there is no shame or condemnation in Christ.
- Jesus is a friend of sinners.
- Jesus is a friend of the greedy.
- Jesus is a friend of the scarcity-minded.
- Jesus is a friend of worriers; Jesus is a friend of the afraid.
- Jesus is a friend of those with a lot; Jesus is a friend of those with not much.
As you submit your resources to Jesus, he will empower you with love and grace to loosen your grip and trust him to supply your needs as you live generously. That’s the good life... the rewarding life...the storing-treasures-in-heaven life.
For further reading:
How Did Jesus View Wealth and Poverty?
Is it Okay for Christians to Ask God for Good in Prayer?
Does the Prosperity Gospel Seek God or Money?
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