Rooting For Rivals: Pursuing A Higher MissionSample

Greed vs. generosity

We serve a God who created plants to bear fruit and animals to multiply, grew a nation through a seemingly barren woman, rained bread in the wilderness, and multiplied a little boy’s lunch to feed multitudes. Our God is a God of abundance, not scarcity. 

Yet many of us tightly close our fists around the good gifts we've received, fearing there will not be enough for us, our family, or our cause. Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann writes, “The central problem of our lives is that we are torn apart by the conflict between our attraction to the good news of God’s abundance and the power of our belief in scarcity—a belief that makes us greedy, mean and unneighborly.” 

Scholar Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung writes, “The greedy are excessive in acquiring and keeping possessions even to the point of depriving others of what they deserve or need. Greed causes callousness toward those in need.” Greed reflects our love back to ourselves rather than toward God and others, blinding us to the needs of those around us.

We slip into a posture of greed when we give in to the false belief that there won’t be enough for all. In contrast, generosity shifts our attention to the source of “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17), inviting us to trust in God’s abundance and use all we have to bless others. A spirit of generosity broadens our focus from our little clans and clubs to the expansive Kingdom of God. 

Overcoming greed isn’t about stifling our ambition for more; it’s about redirecting our ambition to a grander vision beyond our own agenda. God gives us good gifts—not to hoard for our own security but to steward and share for the benefit of the Kingdom. 

We can trust the God who created the universe to provide for our needs, which should cause us to become radically generous with others. 

To fight the vice of greed:

1. Share resources, ideas, and time. Banish the idea of “mine.”
2. Remember and reflect on God’s provision in Scripture and your own life.
3. Name drop on behalf of rivals. Generously and genuinely honor others whose work furthers a Kingdom cause. 
4. Proactively serve rival ministries and churches.