Breaking Down Barns

Two people can hear the same message preached and get different meanings and focus out of it. Kenneth E. Hagin was teaching on how Christians could live prosperous and healthy lives, for their own benefit and so that they could be a blessing to others and to prove that Christian faith works.

But what I saw was an opportunity to control God; to make Him prove to me that I was more special than the rest; to seize an opportunity to heap-up material possessions and money so that I no longer had to rely on a God that I felt had consistently let me down in the past. This concept is conveyed, to some extent, in the parable of the man who wanted to break down his barns and build bigger ones in Luke 12.

¹⁵ And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." ¹⁶ Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. ¹⁷ And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' ¹⁸ So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." ' ²⁰ But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' ²¹ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

Luke 12:15-21 nkjv

The Greek word for “life” in Luke 12:15, is actually the word zoe (G2111) which is the life-giving presence of God. Both E.W. Kenyon and Kenneth E. Hagin believe zoe (G2111) to be the nature of God indwelling man. I believe that it is this experience of the life of God within the soul of man, which produces the experience we know as joy.

John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes includes the following about Luke 12:15.

Luk 12:15 - A man's life - That is, the comfort or happiness of it.

Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible includes the following regarding Luke 12:15.

Covetousness - An unlawful desire of the property of another; also a desire of gain or riches beyond what is necessary for our wants. It is a violation of the tenth commandment Exo. 20:17, and is expressly called idolatry Col. 3:5. Compare, also, Eph. 5:3, and Heb. 13:5.

A man’s life - The word “life” is sometimes taken in the sense of happiness or felicity, and some have supposed this to be the meaning here, and that Jesus meant to say that a man’s comfort does not depend on affluence - that is, on more than is necessary for his daily wants; but this meaning does not suit the parable following, which is designed to show that property will not lengthen out a man’s life, and therefore is not too ardently to be sought, and is of little value. The word “life,” therefore, is to be taken “literally.”

Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible includes the following regarding Luke 12:15.

Inordinate desires. Πλεονεξιας, from πλειον, more, and εχειν, to have; the desire to have more and more, let a person possess whatever he may. Such a disposition of mind is never satisfied; for, as soon as one object is gained, the heart goes out after another.

I suppose the reason for believing God for ability and possessions, was so that if I found that I could no longer control God with my own faith - at least I had my own “nest egg”, which I could rely on later. I decided that I would rely on God so that I could become self-sufficient and I would no longer have to rely on Him anymore.

I suppose this desire for self-sufficiency was born out of a sense of believing that God was mysterious: He would be kind, peaceful, loving and generous the one moment – but as soon as a person did not pray right or they stepped out of line and made a mistake – that was it for them! This misjudgement of God’s character came out of a life of mistakes and disappointments, as well as teaching which mixed law and grace.