Jesus' warning against greed

Luke 12:15 (NIV)

Then He said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 

Greed seems to be a buzz word in our society, but always has been in this world.  Recent examples of extreme greed---

·  People who commit murder to collect insurance money

·  AIG----Arrogance, Incompetence, Greed. 

·  Victims of Bernard Madoff—greedy. 

·  Corporate banking and Wall Street executives who made reckless decisions about risky investments---driven by greed. 

·  Athletes who reject multimillion dollar contracts—greed drives them to want more.

·  What’s the motive behind gambling?—greed.

·  In The Wilding of America, Charles Derber targets an "epidemic" of self-centeredness, competitiveness, and greed, in corporate boardrooms and Congress, and on urban and suburban streets.

Greed is one of those words, those behaviors, those attitudes that clearly points out whether a person is a follower of Christ or a follower of the world.  When John wrote “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world (I John 2:15-16) he must have been thinking mostly of greed.  Greed is a terribly bad quality to have and once you have it, like any addictive sin, it is very, very difficult to eradicate. 

That’s why Jesus said to beware of greed, all kinds of greed.  Greed takes many forms and can be deceiving.  You might be thinking to yourself, “I’m not rich enough to be greedy” or “I’m not greedy like others are”.  Ah, be careful, Jesus said that there are all kinds of greed.  You might show restraint in some aspects of materialism, but not others.  How many TVs do you own?  How many pairs of shoes?  To another you might be a hoarder, keeping things that you don’t need.  When is the last time you cleaned out your closet? To another you might be someone who does not buy gifts for others and don’t share anything with others.  To another you might be someone who has to have certain possessions and a lot of them (e.g. books, CDs, “toys”, decorative things, whatever), even if they are not that expensive.  Greed is subtle sometimes and you must take seriously what Jesus is warning you about here—watch out, be on guard, there are all kinds of greed. 

This warning from our Lord relates to covetousness, the tenth commandment, yet most people in this society seem to have little regard for breaking this commandment and most people admire those who are rich and have many things.  John Steinbeck wrote these words, “It always seemed strange to me that the things we admire in men—kindness, generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling-- are the concomitants of failure in our system.  And those traits we detest-- sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest--are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first, they love the product of the second.”

And Mahatma Gandhi once said  “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed”.

Examine yourself, your habits, your life and see if there is any form of greed.  If so, pray and act to remove the greed.  If not, always be on guard against this common and everyday sin that the Lord condemns.