Is God's Kingdom About Material Blessings Only?

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48b

When we look at this verse, especially without Biblical context, many are prone to think “material:” whoever has been given much materially....and whoever has been entrusted with much materially or professionally...must give back materially.

Is that what this verse is limited to? Because if it is, this is what it means: to everyone who has been given many things--a house, car, clothes, food, water, birthday presents, televisions, computers and iPhones--much will be demanded.

We think to ourselves, “Okay, it must mean that since I’ve got so many things, then I must give many things in return.

Following that line of logic, wouldn’t it imply that we give housing, food, clothing, iPhones and cars to others? 

Understanding this verse in this way, do people actually do that on a regular basis? Do the people who insist on this quite popular and common interpretation of Luke 12:48 buy two iPhones, one for themselves and one for someone who cannot afford one?

See, the main problem with the above interpretation of this verse is that, aside from being interpreted entirely out of context and outside of a systematic Biblical theology, it is transactional.

It gets back to the age-old quandary of good enough: how good do we have to be to get to heaven? Mother Teresa good, or Richard Nixon good?

The same quandary applies when we co-opt these verses to our personal, (and let’s face it, often self-righteous) construct: how much is enough to give? If I buy a boat, who is the recipient of the gift boat? Is fifty bucks in the collection plate at Christmas enough?

For every item we possess, are we to give the same and equal possession to someone else? Are we to not gain anything new for our self until we have provided equal material gain for our neighbor?

If we look at what directly precedes these lines in Luke, we find three entire paragraphs filled with Jesus telling his disciples (that would be us) to not worry about what we are to wear and what we are to eat. He tells us not to worry about our material needs because “your Father knows that you need them.”

God knows everyone’s needs (and those needs are more than just material). 

He knows how to meet those needs: physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Here’s how: by instructing us, his disciples, to “seek his kingdom and these things will be given to you as well.” And that means that when we seek His Kingdom first, those less fortunate will be the recipients as well. 

See, when we seek the material, and make faith and church about the physical provision and reception of blessings only, we are not seeking the Kingdom of God.

Luke 12 is pointing out that people are worrying about the physical and material. God says to stop that and to seek His kingdom. 

This Kingdom, by the way, is the very Kingdom God has already “been pleased to give you” (Luke 12:32). 

So we are to seek what He has already given us! It’s there! Not transactional: the gift of God’s Kingdom to us has already been given! 

It is we who are either seeking it and thus receiving it, or not seeking it and thus not receiving it. The transaction, if there is any, is upon us to simply go after it. God does not withdraw it: the gift of His Kingdom remains for us whether we accept it or not.

And as we shall see, this Kingdom is primarily not simply material. A faith that lives and breathes only in the context of material void or gain is not faith in Jesus Christ, and does not live in the Kingdom of God.

The actual interpretation of the Luke 12:48 verse goes much, much, deeper, to the very core of what it means to believe Christ, not just believe in Christ. 

I’ll write more on that in the coming week.

copyright Barb Harwood

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’

‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” Mark 12:28-30