SHOULD CHRISTIANS STOCKPILE TOILET PAPER? by Andrew Menkis for Core Christianity
GNN Note – We are told to be good stewards which is the driving force behind having a “Preparedness / End Times” section on this website.
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As COVID-19 sweeps the globe, we are witnessing shopping habits that are at best amusing and at worst alarming. From hoarding toilet paper to yelling at and fighting with other shoppers, one thing is clear: many people are afraid. Panic-buying, or stockpiling food and supplies, are behaviors that flow out of a desire to create security and stability when the future is uncertain. These days it certainly feels like the future is more volatile than usual, but the reality is that our future has never been certain or guaranteed. How are Christians to live and to shop during a global pandemic? Jesus told a poignant story which helps us to answer this question.
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The Parable of the Rich Fool
In Luke 12:13-21 we find the so-called “Parable of the Rich Fool.” It is a deeply ironic story which begins with a man doing something we might find prudent and wise. This man was rich and his land produced an abundant harvest. Seeing the great excess, he decided to tear down his barns to build larger ones that could store all the food. Once he had done this, the rich man felt that he would be able to say to himself, “You have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry” (Luke 12:19). Jesus actually said that the man makes this statement to his “soul.” This is the great irony of the story. The rich man tells his soul, the core of his being, that his future is stable and it will be full of ease and luxury. It seems that he has made a wise choice to store up food because it will ensure him a safe and happy existence. But that is not the case. God says to the rich man, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20). After this revelation, Jesus gives the punchline to the whole story: “So is the one who lays up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). The rich “fool” illustrates this punchline for us. His focus was entirely on himself, his security, and his pleasure. He did not view his riches as a gift from God to be used in the service of God. Rather, he saw his riches as the means to his own earthly security and happiness. That is why he was a fool.
It is important to note that planning ahead and exercising prudence is not foolish. The ultimate reason the rich man was a fool is not that he was rich or that he had an excess of crops. The reason he was a fool is that he thought he could plan and control his future without considering what God might have planned. He was a fool because he never considered how God might want him to use his riches. The rich man thought that he could relax. He thought that he could finally be free of anxiety and worry because he had stockpiled everything he needed for a luxurious life. He was wrong. He forgot that death comes for us all.
