Affluenza, Part 5: Guarding Against All Kinds of Greed

Today we return to our series on the deceitfulness and destruction of greed, based on Jesus' parable of the rich fool in Luke 12. In the last post, considering how we can be vigilant against greed, I wrote that we must recognize our unique vulnerability. A second way is this:

We must guard against all kinds of greed.

We need to remember that there are all kinds of greed. The NIV translates Jesus' words in Luke 12:15 this way: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed." The ESV says, "all covetousness."

If Jesus had wanted to just say, "be on the lookout for greed and covetousness," he could have done that, but he goes out of his way to say, "all kinds of greed." He wants us to understand that greed takes many forms. We have to remember this, because I think our tendency is to create a caricature of greed. We draw this picture in our mind, this extreme version of what greed is, and then we look at that and we say: Well, that's not me; that doesn't look like me at all. But greed is not just an old miser counting coins in a basement. We can all say we've never done that.

Greed takes many forms. You don't even have to be rich to be greedy. Sometimes people think: I'm not greedy. I don't have enough money. You can be broke and greedy. It's not as much fun, but you can do it.

Our problem is that we often focus on the greed that we see in others. And we love to identify that place in our lives where we're frugal. We each have some place in our life where we practice restraint, where we are not materialistic. And we hold that thing up as the shiny example of what we're truly like, all the while ignoring all the evidences of greed in our life.

For example, I've never really cared that much about the car that I drive. Now, I drive an okay car, but it's nothing fancy. Cars are not that important to me; I'm not materialistic when it comes to cars. And I like to remind myself of that. I like to congratulate myself about that. I like to pat myself on the back and think, Josh, you're not materialistic. You don't care about cars. Good for you.

But I own three iPods. Now, that's ridiculous. That is completely unnecessary. But I don't drive around thinking, I own three iPods; I am a greedy person. No, I drive around thinking: "I could drive a nicer car, but I don't." I wonder which iPod I should listen to.
Obviously, I have an iPod issue that I need to deal with. What is your issue?

For one person, greed might take the form of wanting more stuff. You're always thinking about the next thing that you want to buy, the next thing you want to get.
For another person, it might look different: You don't buy tons of stuff, but when you buy something, you have to have the absolute best. It's got to be the top of the line, and you won't settle for anything less.

For another person, greed is expressed not in a lavish lifestyle but in a craving to have a huge amount of savings that gives you a sense of security. Someone couldn't look at your life and think: Oh, they must be greedy because they have all these possessions. But if they could look into your heart and soul, they would see that you put your faith in the money that you've put aside for your future. You're trusting in money instead of God.

For another person greed might be expressed in a lack of joy in sharing with others. So you don't buy stuff for yourself, but you don't buy anything for anybody else, either.
Greed takes many forms. That's why Jesus said: Watch out for the many different ways that greed will deceive you.