Indians are not strangers to family property disputes. In the Gospel of Luke, a young man turned to Jesus to resolve a property dispute. “Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me” (Luke 12:13).
It is simple for us to relate to his frustration and anxiety. Interestingly, he does not ask Jesus to offer his opinion on the matter. He simply makes the demand, “Tell my brother.”
What do you think is at the heart of this young man’s audacity? Whatever it is, Jesus seems to pick up on it. He re-orients the attention of the young man to a far greater concern.
“Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:14).
He does not solve the young man’s problem. Instead, he uses a parable to offer him a way to think about money, possessions, and resources. “Abundance” is foundational to that way of thinking.
The Abundance Mindset
“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”” (Luke 12:16-19).
Jesus describes an abundant harvest but who yields the harvest? It was the “ground.” It is God-generated abundance.
Consider these examples of abundance in creation. There are 7500 variations of the apple. Why didn’t God create just one kind of apple? There are several hundred billion galaxies in our universe with billions and trillions of stars, planets, moons, meteors, and comets! Why?
Our life does not consist in an abundance of earthly possessions but confidence in the abundance of God’s ability.
At the wedding at Cana, Jesus fills six stone jars with the modern-day equivalent of 1000 bottles of wine—for people who had already been drinking for quite some time.
Why does God create so much stuff?
To have an abundance mindset is to trust that God’s generosity is more than enough for us, no matter what situation we are in—whether in need or plenty (Phil. 4:12-13, 19). Our life does not consist of an abundance of earthly possessions but confidence in the abundance of God’s ability.
As the apostle Paul says, “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8).
The Self-centered Mindset
At first, it seems like the rich man has a good savings plan. But later you see something nefarious in his thinking.
- He thought to himself.
- What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.
- I’ll say to myself: “You have plenty.”
Me, myself, and I.
As F. Scott Spencer notes, “It is a classic problem of egoism. . . .The rich man acts as the sole inhabitant of his circle of life, speaking to himself as if he had complete control over it. He is totally wrapped up in his own egoistic survival and fitness, which fundamentally drive human emotions and actions.”
The self-centred, egoistic “money is about me” mindset perpetuates many twisted narratives around money because we feel like we do not have enough.
- Anxiety: “I have to look out for myself.”
- Greed: “I need to make more so I can have more.”
- Guilt: “I should not be spending on anything nice for my family or myself.”
- Prosperity: “If I give, God will give me more because of what I gave him.”
- Scarcity: “If I don’t live with scarcity, I’m not truly following Jesus”
- Legalistic Fear: “If I don’t give, God will punish me”
- Pride: “Why should I give to God what belongs to me?”
The central problem with all these narratives is that they revolve around the self-centred narrator—me, myself, and I.
Contrasting Mindsets
A mindset of self-centredness says, “I don’t have much time and energy to begin with, so what can I give?” But the abundance mindset says, “Though I feel I don’t have much to give, I can still be generous with what God has given to me.”
The self-centred mindset thinks to itself, “I can do certain things so that God will give me health and wealth.” But the abundance mindset says, “Whether or not God gives what I desire, he will certainly provide all that I need.”
The abundance mindset instinctively gives money, time, and energy with love, thoughtfulness, wisdom, and generosity, even when the situation is scarce. But the self-centred mindset instinctively holds on to what it has with fear, doubt, anxiety, guilt, and self-preservation, even when there is more than enough.
A self-centred mindset can affect how we think about budgeting, investing, saving, wealth generation, and family health. We can end up “hoarding” when we can be giving and spending wisely. Or we can end up “overspending” when we should probably be saving.
But the abundance mindset can change how we relate to money. Even when it does not feel like we have enough, we can still give time, energy, and resources with love, joy, graciousness and confidence. We can learn to be wise with our resources and enjoy them in a way that is strategic and thoughtful.
Changing Mindsets
To showcase God’s abundance of generosity, Jesus says, “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” (Luke 12:24)
Contrast the raven with the rich man. The raven has no storeroom or barns like the rich man, who has many. Both have plenty, both have enough, and neither will go hungry. Yet the difference between them is stark. The raven depends on God’s economy of abundance. But the rich man has removed God from the picture.
Here are some questions we can ask ourselves about our present mindset.
- Are we comfortable inviting God and his church into discipleship conversations around money, time, and energy?
- When it comes to time, energy, and money, do we tend to instinctively respond with self-preservation, anxiety and fear? Or do we possibly give too much, out of a need for approval from people, not love for God?
- What does healthy stewardship of time, money, and energy look like for me in this season?
As we seek to live with an abundance mindset, we do so with a spirit of humility, fixing our eyes on Jesus, seeking his kingdom first, knowing that his generosity toward us is unrelenting and his love for us is infinite.
God’s Abundance Mindset
Any growth in a mindset of abundance only comes from seeing God’s gracious abundance to us in the gift of his Son. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Rom. 8:32)
He has promised to be with his people, sent his Spirit to live in our hearts, made us heirs of the new creation, and brought us to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (Matt. 28:20, John 14:16, Eph. 1:14, Rom. 8:17, 1 Pet. 1:4-5).
Such is his abundance of generosity towards us so we can always have abundant confidence in him.
