The rich man in the gospel of Luke
There’s a passage we’ve all heard preached about on Sundays. The teachings are clear:
And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (Luke 12:17).
In this passage, we see a demonstration of what the love of wealth can do to a person. But the problem is from the outside – our perspective – we cannot tell the difference between the two. Based on our limited perspective, we do not have the ability to tell the difference between a wealthy person who loves the Lord and one who does not. I believe this is one of the many reasons the Lord tells us not to fret over this.
The Bible has clear warnings on judging others by their appearance
Throughout the Bible, there are warnings from the Lord which instruct us not to base our judgment of others on what we see. This teaching is not just found in the New Testament. It is found throughout the Bible. One of the most well-known and often quoted scriptures is But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). No one would question Samuel’s motives after reading this verse. But we only gain this insight because the Lord inspired man to record it within the Bible.
Within the gospel of John, we have another reminder of not judging others by what we see. Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment (John 7:24). Again, in the case of the two rich men discussed by Solomon in Ecclesiastes, we don’t have enough insight, we don’t know what is on the hearts of either man, to even begin to exercise righteous judgment. Just as a righteous man may not be moved to give to a certain thing we think they should, an evil man may give freely and openly. And if we went by what the wealthy do with the money, our judgment would be flawed.
The Lord calls for us not to speak against others…
It is easy to dismantle others in our mind or even when we are among our closet family and friends. Solomon understood this and was inspired to write, Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter (Ecclesiastes 10:20). Those things we say about others always have a way of being discovered. I’ve often heard students say some of the meanest and harsh things about each other. But what is even more disturbing is the attitude they get when their criticism is brought out into the open.
Paul also warned of this in his second letter to the church in Corinth. Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s (2 Corinthians 10:7). How many times have we passed judgment and shared our opinions based on appearance alone? As a child of Christ, I have been called to a higher standard of living – and at times it means I need to talk less about what I think.
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