This is the ultimate question of the gospel: Is the good news a treasure to be buried and protected? or do is it a fortune to be enjoyed and spent?

Treasure has always fascinated us, hasn’t it? People spend a lifetime searching for buried treasure. We grew up hearing stories of pirate treasure that was buried. And there’s that show on the History Channel where they’ve been looking for this “buried treasure” for how many seasons? And of course, they’re never going to find anything because there’s nothing there. This is largely because pirates didn’t actually bury their treasure, did they? What did they do with it? They spent it! Because that’s what treasure is for.

The Gospel is a Treasure

It’s the same way with the Gospel. Sometimes we can get into the mindset that we’re in danger of losing the treasure that God has given us. We need to protect this treasure because there’s encroachment. There’s a war against the Gospel. There’s a war against culture. There’s an invasion of the enemy into our territory. We need to protect it and preserve it and bury it to make sure that it doesn’t disappear.

When we seek to protect what we hold sacred, it’s natural to build systems in theology that feel like vaults—thick walls to bury the treasure of the Gospel where no one can corrupt it. We form coalitions, draft statements, and amplify voices that align with our convictions, stacking stones around what we’ve deemed too precious to risk. Yet in this earnest effort, there’s a tension: We critique culture’s definitions of sin while rarely pausing to examine how our own understanding might be shaped by the very cultural lenses we claim to transcend. It’s easy to conflate vigilance with faithfulness, to mistake burying the treasure for keeping it safe. But what if the Gospel is less a hoard to be guarded and more a fortune to be spent—a currency of grace meant to circulate in the marketplace of human pain and longing? In our zeal to protect, do we risk forgetting that the church’s foundation isn’t ours to fortify? After all, the same Jesus who calls us to discernment assures us the “gates of hell will not prevail.” What if our buried treasure is meant to be dug up, traded, and multiplied—not as a possession to control, but as a gift that grows only when given away?

The thing about treasure is that it maintains its value regardless of the conditions surrounding it. If we read through the stories in the Bible, we realize that there is no need to protect the gospel of Jesus Christ, is there? It does not need protecting. It’s a treasure that’s intended to be spent.

What does Jesus say about the treasure? It’s like a man who finds a treasure buried in a field, and he goes off and spends everything he has to buy that field so the treasure can become his, or a person who finds a precious pearl and sells everything he has so that he can own that treasure so that it can be used, or a woman who loses a coin and expends all her efforts so she can find that coin, or a father who loses his son and spends all his time waiting for that son to return only to have his other son leave — but that’s a story for another day.

Jesus, the treasure, and the fortune.

Jesus confronted this head-on in the mind of Nicodemus, didn’t he? Nicodemus approached him at night and wanted to know what the truth was. And so Jesus says this is what the truth is: God loves the world. This rocked Nicodemus to his core because Nicodemus didn’t believe that the treasure was for the entire world, but that the treasure was only for him and his people. But Jesus said to him, know this: the treasure is for everyone in the world. We need to give it to everyone. Everyone needs to enjoy this fortune. Everyone needs to spend it. Because it’s for everyone in the entire world.

Jesus didn’t just talk about this, he exemplified it. He broke down the barriers between people that existed within his own culture. He also broke down barriers between his culture and other cultures. And of course, finally he commanded his disciples to bring this message to the four corners of the world.

How can I spend the fortune rather than protecting it?

Treasure is meant to be celebrated. There are three stories in Luke that talk about treasure that I mentioned above. One of them is a lost coin. One of them is a lost sheep. One of them is a couple of lost sons. What is common among all those stories is that when the lost is found, there’s a celebration! A party! Juicy steaks! Great drinks! Music and dancing! Neighbours! Celebration!

What’s also common in the stories is that every effort is expended in order to find that treasure so that the celebration can happen.

How am I looking for a hidden treasure? How am I living out the values of the Kingdom of God in my daily life? How am I proclaiming the fact that Jesus Christ is the only solution to the problems in my life, the problems in society around me, and the problems that the natural world itself faces? How am I loving my neighbor as I love myself, which means how am I letting them share in the treasure that I have? And what am I doing to call out the problems that we have in our personal lives, the problems that we have in society around us, and the problems that are brought upon us by the natural forces around us?

And beyond the search for hidden treasure, how can I learn to extravagantly spend the fortune that I already have? So how can I spend my fortune?

There is no greater treasure in the world. We’ve all heard lots of promises haven’t we? Promises of hope for the future. Every election that comes up, in every country, at every level of government, is a promise for a better future. But does that better future ever come about? Not really. The only way that a better future comes out is if the future is based upon the kingdom and values of Jesus Christ and is led by Jesus himself. That’s a treasure worth seeking, isn’t it?

The treasure has great values. And it’s a value that has no price tag. It’s priceless. There’s a famous credit card commercial that talks about the cost of various things but then if you spend your money using that credit card to buy those things, in the end, it leads to something that cannot be charged to a card — something that’s priceless. And that is the value that the Kingdom of God provides to us. It allows us to live lives as people who are transformed. Rather than all the things that we complain about in the world today, we have an opportunity to change that. We have an opportunity to it to express through a variety of values that are priceless. We can love. We can have joy. We can Work for peace. We can have patience. We can be kind. We can be gentle. We can be good. We can be faithful. And we can take charge of ourselves and have control of ourselves. A world that has people who live these values each day is a world that is a priceless treasure.

The treasure helps meet needs. It’s a treasure that’s relevant to the days-in-and-days-out of life. Jesus’ emphasis on healing the sick and raising the dead, his endless teachings on the proper use of finances, his advocacy for the kingdom of God, and his attention and interest in the downtrodden and those on the margins shows that the good news is a treasure that leads to peace and order for our society, to a righteous nation, to public justice, and to economic sufficiency.

The treasure is tangible. It’s just not a story that we hear that makes us feel good. There is actual experience involved in this. We’ve all experienced that haven’t we? I mean the Bible is pretty clear about that. We’ve experienced the understanding that there is a higher power. We’ve all experienced receiving the things that we need in a timely matter. We’ve all, in the midst of darkness and struggle, received hope and kept on keeping on. This is a tangible, real treasure.

So What?

What does the treasure look like for you? How are you experiencing God‘s goodness in your life today? Why not record your thoughts about this in the comments below?

And remember, sharing is what friends do.