Greed

Proverbs 23:4-5 says,

Don’t wear yourself out to get rich;

because you know better, stop!

As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears,

for it makes wings for itself

and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Proverbs tells us to be wise enough to exercise restraint in our pursuit for money. It does not say, “Don’t work hard,” but rather it teaches that there should be a rhythm of work and rest in your life. There comes a time when enough is enough (Longman, Proverbs, 424). Do not neglect your family, lose your relationships, or let your happiness fluctuate in pursuit of something that is fleeting. Have the wisdom to recognize that there are things that are more valuable than money. Do not waste your life on things that do not last! Money has wings, and it flies away!

Once my wife and I ( Jon) bought our daughters butterflies to raise. We got them as caterpillars and tended to them and nurtured them until they grew to be butterflies in a net, but at some point we had to let them go. The girls were so sad because they wanted to hold on to them as long as they could, but they could not hold on to them forever. Money is the same way. The saying goes that you never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer.

The fact that you cannot take money and stuff with you should change your perspective on it. Why do we spend so much energy acquiring the stuff of future garage sales? Sure, it shimmers and shines when we get it, but it fades quickly and then we think we need a new one. One big example of this is the story my youth pastor told me about taking his children to Graceland. Elvis had things in his day that were considered unbelievable and decadent. He had a television and a mobile phone in his car. My youth pastor told me when he showed those things to his young sons they were not impressed at all. They were saying, we have a mobile phone and can play Pacman on it, and we have a TV in our car and it plays DVDs. Elvis’s possessions were so exceptional and valuable at the time, but now they have lost their shine. That is why Jesus says that moths and rust will destroy the things that we work so hard for, and we cannot take them with us when we die (Matt 6:19-21).

Proverbs 11:28; 28:25

Proverbs 11:28 says, “Anyone trusting in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage.” Greed is trusting in and finding happiness in money rather than in God. The problem is not wealth but rather our attitude toward it. The parallelism of this verse implies that the person who relies on wealth is unrighteous. How then do you assess whether or not you are trusting in wealth? Ask questions like, “Does my joy or anxiety rise and fall with my bank statement? Am I constantly anxious about money and provision?” The answers to those questions might reveal you have made money or stuff an idol. If your joy is determined by your money and possessions, you are falsely worshiping something other than God. If you are constantly anxious about provision, it reveals that you believe you need something other than God to be happy. When money and stuff are seen as the path to a happy life, you are in idolatry. Jesus says that you cannot serve both God and money (Matt 6:24), and Solomon says the exact same thing.

We see the contrast between greed and belief again in Proverbs 28:25: “A greedy person stirs up conflict, but whoever trusts in the Lord will prosper.” Here’s the bottom line: those who are greedy do not trust God. They trust in money instead of Jesus. That reality is why Jesus said that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Matt 19:23). The rich do not see their need for God. In contrast, those who trust the Lord are content, they do not grasp for other things to make them happy, and they wait for the true blessings that come from God alone.

Trusting in money and possessions will send you to hell because it is unbelief, and we are only saved by grace through faith. Proverbs 11:4 states, “Wealth is not profitable on a day of wrath, but righteousness rescues from death.” God’s wrath will be poured out on the greedy. We will stand before a judge who has access to the hidden cravings of our hearts. On that day, what will it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul (Mark 8:36)? It’s not just that greed will cause things to go badly for you in this life, although it will; but even more than that, greed will send you to hell.

Proverbs 11:28

Here’s the bottom line: greed is a belief and worship issue. You believe and worship your way into greed, and you must believe and worship your way out of it. It’s not just that greed makes you a Mr. Scrooge; it’s that greed shows that you are walking away from Jesus, the Wisdom of God. Proverbs reveals that foolishness is idolatry, and thus the foolishness of greed reveals a heart that does not believe or follow Jesus.

Jesus perfectly avoided greed; he was never greedy, even one time. Satan tried to bribe Jesus with the kingdoms of the world if he would bypass the cross and its suffering, but Jesus perfectly controlled his appetite and refused idolatry. Everything he refused from Satan—and more—was given to him by God later. After all, after his resurrection from the dead he looked at his disciples and said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Matt 28:18). Jesus refused the fleeting pleasures of this life so that he could enjoy eternal ones. He knew what we do not seem to understand—our cravings will never be satisfied in this life. Man does not live by bread or flat screen TV alone; he lives by God alone (Matt 4:4).

Even though Jesus was never greedy, he died because of the greedy and for the greedy. Judas’s greed for silver led him to betray Jesus and enrich himself (Matt 26:15). And yet, if you only look at the death of Jesus from a short perspective, you might be led to ask, Is Proverbs right? The greedy person was enriched while the generous person was killed. But from the post-resurrection perspective, we see that by Sunday morning the tables had turned—righteousness delivered Jesus from death!

Jesus, through his death, provides forgiveness and salvation to those who repent of greed and believe in him. He also grants his perfect record of contentment to those who believe in him. If you are in Christ, this is who you are: the perfectly content son or daughter of God. Now live like it!

Jesus, through his gospel, now empowers us to be content and generous people. The promises of money are powerful, and they are only broken by the power of the gospel’s superior promises—like the fact that God is now for you and no good thing will he withhold from you (Ps 84:11). Do you believe that? Believing that is the means to be content and generous.

According to Hebrews 13:5-6, the only way you will be content is if you believe that God is for you:

Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you. Therefore, we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

If you are not content, it is because you do not trust God to help you. This is a belief issue. You do not trust that your God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19). But when you place your trust in God and find your satisfaction in him alone, you can be content with what you have and praise God for what he has given you.

Not only does the gospel lead you to be content with what you have, it also leads you to be generous toward others. Second Corinthians 8:9 says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” The gospel turns us from takers and hoarders into generous and joyful givers because what we have in Christ is vastly superior to material riches. When God got hold of my dad, he (Danny) sold his car to give more money to the church. You do not have to be rich to be generous; you just have to be changed by Jesus. I remember leading a young couple to the Lord who had nothing and barely scraped by, but they gave away their crib and some baby clothes to help other people. Once you grasp the gospel of Jesus leaving his throne in heaven, then you can let go of the things you hold so dear and give them to others generously.