We are looking into some Parables Jesus told. Parables – are some stories and life lessons from Jesus. It’s often how he encapsulated spiritual truths about the kingdom of God and how God sees things, God’s character and dreams for our life – how God desires things to work and function their absolute best. So each week, we’ll look at a new one and draw some conclusions and actions steps for us

What is affluenza?

Affluenza is a nifty little word that sociologist created by mixing two different words together. The word affluence means having a great deal of money. Influenza is a highly contagious and potentially fatal disease. When you mash these two together, you get affluenza, which is a useful word for describing the problems generated by a rich consumer culture that has an endless hunger for more stuff. Affluenza is the disease of greed. It's the materialistic mindset that says getting more money and possessions is the ultimate aim of life. Jesus never condemned wealth in and of itself, but he knows how easily our hearts can elevate money into “our god”. Jesus knows, and he wants us to understand, that one of the greatest hindrances to spiritual life, vitality and growth is material wealth and the temptations it tends to bring with it.

The man is coming to Jesus with a money problem, and his definition of a money problem is that he doesn't have enough money, or he's not getting the money that he thinks he should be getting. Jesus says to him & us: You don’t have a money problem: You have a heart problem—money has too much of your heart. Jesus then uses this parable to define greed for us...

Jesus seizes this opportunity to help us understand the deceptive work of greed, offering three important lessons: 1) Greed lies to us = It tells us that what matters most in life is how much stuff we have. That is the essential lie of greed. 2) Greed blinds us = it blinds us to what is truly important in life; it blinds us to spiritual realities. We become overly concerned with the things of this world and miss the things that will truly last. 3) Greed ultimately pursued - ultimately destroys, = the Rich Fool made a plan as far out as he could see – *the problem: he just simply didn’t look far enough out. Life is more than just what you accumulate in this world, there’s a world to come where our investments can and should be made.

Those who fear the Lord, who prioritize Jesus – practice living richly toward God so that they benefit here and later, they enjoy the rich blessings God gives for our here and now and for our secure future with him in heaven.

HOW do we fight back against the pull of greed – how do we Watch Out?! As Jesus said too...
#1 We need to recognize our unique vulnerability.
#2 We’re each called to get our financial house in order.
#3 We must push back against materialism.

We live in a culture that is sustained by greed. This culture has a vested interest in making sure that you and I and our families: “always want more.”
In light of this, we CAN’T be passive. We can't just stand still and try to resist the pull. We need to push back.

The gravitational pull of greed will lead us to NOT own our stuff, but our stuff to OWN us if we’re not careful to push back. 2 great questions - we must wrestle the tension in them:
Our culture/economy asks: why don’t I have more?
God’s culture/economy asks: why do I have so much?
Jesus’ parable points out the problem. The problem wasn’t that the guy was rich or that he had extra – the problem was: he didn’t know WHY

Principle:
When I’m blessed with MORE than I need – it’s to partner with God in blessing someone IN need.

GIVE, SAVE, LIVE on the rest
GIVE, SAVE, LIVE on the rest
GIVE, SAVE, LIVE on the rest
– this is the rhythm the Bible lays out for us as we approach the resources we’ve been entrusted to manage.
Be Rich toward God
Be Rich toward Yourself
And then adjust your lifestyle accordingly, to live on the rest.
*That PRIORITIZATION breaks the power & gravitational pull of GREED

Need Prayer? we've got some of our prayer team and pastors available following service to pray with you.