Idols and IdeologiesSample

THE IDOL OF GREED

Diagnosis: The Idol of Greed

Greed is not only concerned with the accumulation of material things for selfish gain. It is more helpfully defined as the desire for more than is good. Therefore, the idol of greed is when we ignore what is ultimately good and are unable to order our desires. The sinfulness of greed lies in the judgment of someone who considers the acquisition of temporal goods to be preferable to eternal goods.

Greed is insidious, it is quiet; we are largely blind to it. Like all idolatry, it’s an issue of the heart. And yet Jesus warns people far more about greed than sex, yet almost no one thinks they are guilty of it. Many of Jesus’ parables point in the same direction: possessions want our worship and turn us into slaves. But every bit of ourselves we give to our stuff we snatch away from our true King. Healing heart issues requires focused effort and unyielding diligence.

In Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 5:3, Paul warns against greed. By equating greed with idolatry, Paul provocatively told the church they didn’t have to go into a rival temple to worship another god. Their greedy hearts created other gods out of every coin they had. Idols always threaten to steal the love, trust, and service God deserves and demands. Idolatry is a trap we need to avoid. (1 Timothy 6:9) Our material possessions so often seduce us into worshiping them like gods, they pose possibly the preeminent threat to worshiping Jesus. (James 4:2-3)

The Remedy: Generosity and Watchfulness

Again, as with all idols, we must acknowledge our deeply broken nature as one that is out of harmony with God’s created world, a nature that is so often disordered; we must repent, realising that God’s grace is abundant and limitless. It is not an erasure of our desires; it is a reordering of our desires towards generosity and watchfulness.

But we have been set free by Jesus—free from all lack. We are righteous heirs, lacking nothing. We fall into idolatry when we forget this and begin to seek fulfilment in things that are not God. We have been liberated from our sinful nature and made a new creation and are therefore enabled to live by the Spirit! We are free to give generously, with love. “For God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). We are free to live with peace, free from worry about not having enough (where will my help come from?). We are free to live a life close to God, having the help of the Holy Spirit in discerning when our habits and choices are resembling wastefulness and when they’re resembling greed. The Christian faith is uniquely positioned to be the most generous entity on the planet, knowing that its source of riches is in heaven and not on earth. (Philippians 4:19)

Scripture: And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19

Prayer Point: Lord, I repent of the love of money, of wanting things more than we want you, God. I thank you that you alone are the one that I look to for my security and you will meet all my needs, Thank you for giving me the virtue of generosity so that I may be blessed to be a blessing to others.