Bigger Barn Syndrome

June 10

(Luke 12:13-21 NIV) ““Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." {14} Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" {15} Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." {16} And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. {17} He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' {18} "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. {19} And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' {20} "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?' {21} "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.””

(2 Corinthians 8:13-15 NIV) “Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. {14} At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, {15} as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.””

Sometimes being prudent in how we handle money morphs into greed and we don’t even know it. Any of us can fall prey to “Bigger Barn Syndrome”. This parable does not discourage saving or planning for the future -- it discourages pride, greed, hoarding, and living in self indulgence. It is about what or who we trust in for tomorrow and eternity. Jesus is discouraging the common practice, even among Christians, of storing up things for ourselves, but not being rich toward God. This man's problem was not wealth -- it was thinking that his inner needs could be satisfied by accumulation. He neglected the things of God to build more storage sheds because he thought it would make him secure. He trusted in bigger barns for his future, rather than trusting in the Lord. He thought mostly of himself and failed to consider those who had less. He thought about the things of this world more than he thought about eternity. Be careful -- Bigger Barn Syndrome is a contagious disease. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day