Greed
1 Timothy 6:6-10 6
But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
How big an issue is greed? How problematic is it? We all know people who are like Ebenezer Scrooge and cut themselves off from others because of miserliness. Throughout history, people have written and warned about it.
In 1886, the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy wrote a short story called How Much Land Does a Man Need? How much land does a man need to raise a family, to provide, to be happy? How much is enough? Well, Tolstoy wrote to show how destructive greed can be. The story follows a Russian peasant named Pahom. Pahom eventually buys land and is thrilled. But before long, he wants more. He moves to a place where he can acquire even more land. This is where he encounters a serious temptation. He hears about a tribe offering an extraordinary deal: for a small price, he can have as much land as he can walk around in one day, as long as he returns to his starting point before sunset. Pahom takes the deal and then gets up early and starts walking. At first, he is satisfied with what he has marked out. But then he sees another beautiful stretch of land and thinks, “I can take that too.” So he keeps going. Then he sees another. He keeps expanding his route until the afternoon is nearly gone. Suddenly, Pahom realizes he has gone too far. If he doesn't make it back before sunset, he gets nothing. So he runs. He throws off his coat and shoes and races toward the starting point. The sun is dropping. His heart is pounding. He is exhausted, but he keeps running. Finally, just as the sun is disappearing, Pahom reaches the starting point. He collapses and dies. His servant digs a grave for him. And that is when the irony is seen. How much land does a man need? Six feet of land. That is all that is needed to bury him. And that is why greed is so deadly. It's never satisfied. Greed keeps moving the finish line. It convinces us that the next thing will finally be enough, only to make us want the next thing after that. Greed typically doesn’t say, “I want everything,” but rather it says, “I just need a little more.” Proposition statement: Greed distorts our desires, destroys our lives, and draws us from God—but contentment in Christ sets us free. Greed is a distorted, unsatisfiable desire for more material gain that will ruin us for God’s purposes, and it is remedied with faith and satisfaction in Christ.
Greed Distorts Desires
Distort means it is twisted, changed from what it originally was or should be. It’s not just the things we do, but it’s what drives the things we do.
Several times in this passage, we see the desire for money and riches.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.
And then also in
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation
Epithumia is the word there, and it means to covet, lust, or desire. A strong desire for riches.
At this point in our Seven Deadly Sins series, you should be seeing that a unifying theme of all of these sins is not what they do, but what drives them. What drives our actions is wrong desires and misplaced affection.
Pride desires more praise. Gluttony desires more pleasure. Greed desires more money and riches.
This twisted desire is not new. It goes back to the first sin, and it is articulated in the Ten Commandments. Right there in this command is "you shall not covet" (epithumia). This shows the commands of God are not just what you do, but what you desire.
Exodus 20:17: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
It's been said today that “You are what you eat.” Scripture says “You are what you want.”
Money is not bad. It's not wrong to want to gain money. But when we love riches, it is problematic. Don't love things that can't love you back. When we desire to be rich, there is a problem.
The problem comes when a good thing becomes the thing. When a good thing becomes a god thing.
John Calvin wrote about idolatry and made a powerful observation. He said it's not always that our desires are wrong, but that they are inordinate. It's not that we desire something evil, but rather the evil is found in the strength of the desire for them. That is when money is problematic. That is when it has become an idol.
It's not wrong to want money or riches, but it's when that desire controls us and it begins to own us. It drives us. Robs us of happiness. The love of money becomes greater than our love of God, greater than our love of friends, greater than our love of family.
It is a distorted desire, one that has become too strong, and it will destroy our lives.
Greed Destroys Our Lives
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
Greed is a snare—that's a trap. Ever fall into a trap? Ever stick your hand into a mousetrap by accident? They hurt. And traps are hidden. They surprise you. You are often unaware. This is what Thomas Boston said is one of Satan’s great tactics: he shows the bait and hides the hook. That's how he gets us with greed.
The problem is when you are consumed by greed, you don't even notice it. You are focused on what you are running after. Nothing bad, I'm just running after a little more.
How many people have gone to jail over just a little more? How many marriages are ruined because of just a little more? How many tax returns are fudged for just a little more?
Greed will cause you to write checks that your account can't cash.
Story of Achan in the Old Testament (Joshua 7), who sees among forbidden plunder a beautiful cloak, silver, and gold. He disobeys God, lies, and is found out. He says, “I coveted them and took them.” It cost him his life. His family suffered.
The desire for more is dangerous. Learn to live within your means—with what God has provided. If prone to greed, answer this question:
Are you comfortable in who God has created you to be, or do you feel the need to be more than you are? Are you comfortable? Are you lovable for who you are?
People will do a lot of things to try and be someone else. Money offers them hope of changing who they are, but money only changes the outside. It never changes the heart. That is where God works.
Greed makes us compromise, cut corners, lie, sell our body. Look at what ladies post on social media, willing to dishonor themselves and the Lord in order to gain attention because that attention means profit.
Greed hurts others and the self. A greedy person injures those who would trust him; his clients suffer because it's not about their well-being but his profit, and the kids suffer because the parent is never around, always trying to make more. Greed is a trap.
Billy Graham said greed is the great sin of America. Capitalism fuels it: you can have whatever you want, you just need to work more for it.
Greed leads you to neglect what is most important now. How many guys get to the end of their life and wish they had spent more time in the office? Never been said. They often say they wished they had more time with family and friends and loved ones, that they had more relational wealth than financial wealth.
Greed has a way of causing people to look in directions that they might never have looked otherwise. You push the edge of the envelope, look away from questionable practices, make calloused statements like "the end justifies the means," fail to adequately think things through. Little by little, they become something they never thought they would be.
Few people start out on a path to become a crook or a path to be a lonely person. Nobody wakes up one morning and decides, “Today I'm going to become a crook.” You get there one small step at a time. One compromise. One rationalization. One dishonest decision. One shortcut. Small steps in the wrong direction take you where you never thought you would be.
The greatest trap of greed is that it causes you to trade the eternal for the present.
Don't fall for the trap. The trick is that wealth and riches are most important. Birth and death provide the bookends from which to appraise material wealth—“For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (v. 7).
John D. Rockefeller was one of the wealthiest men in the world. After his funeral, someone asked his accountant, “How much did John D. leave?” The reply was classic: “All of it.” (Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, p. 17).
The point is clear. You can't take your treasure with you.
Job said it first: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return” (1:21). A possessionless entrance and a possessionless exit. Greed for the Christian is irrational. It makes no sense at all.
Greed brings harm because you live for it rather than the Lord.
Matthew 6:19–21: “Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Don't live for things that will decay. Live for what is eternal. What you are so worried about getting today is going to be thrown into the trash tomorrow. You will ruin yourself living for things.
Greed Draws Us from God.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Wandering is to stray (from truth)—err, seduce. In the Word we have truth. But it's the cares of life that pull us away. To wander is to drift. They have not wandered from wealth (as though poor); they have not wandered from sufficiency (as though they can't eat). They have wandered from the Lord and His purposes.
Greed is a dangerous temptation. It's not that one turns from the faith because of a theological proposition. It's not that they just became atheists. Whatever you are focused on is where you are going.
Roots. Paul calls greed a root. And roots are dangerous because you don't see most of what they're doing. A tiny root can grow beneath the surface until it cracks a concrete foundation. Greed works the same way. It starts as a desire, grows beneath the surface, and eventually begins to crack the foundations of our worship, relationships, integrity, and faith.
ῥίζα γὰρ πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἐστιν ἡ φιλαργυρία,
You can't serve God and money. One will prevail. As one rises in importance, the other diminishes. You begin to pay more attention to one and less to the other. It's not an outright rejection. It is something much worse. For you still believe much about the faith to be important, but it just doesn't have your heart. It doesn't feel relevant because you are distant and uninterested.
Greed is ultimately not a money problem. It's a worship problem. Good things become god things.
Where your money is, there your heart will be also. In other words, your money is an indicator of your heart. Your checkbook reflects your heart's desires—true priorities.
Are you a servant of the Lord or an idolater?
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Christ Satisfies Our Desires.
In Christ you are loved. In Christ you are secure. In Christ you have an eternal hope. In Christ you are forgiven.
Greed says: “I need more.” The gospel says: “In Christ, I have enough.”
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain,
You don't have to earn God’s love. You receive it. You don't have to go out and acquire your security. You have it through His work on the cross. Even if you perish, you have hope. In Christ you have an eternal hope. It's not going to change next month or next year. The gospel will not become outdated. And in Christ you can be forgiven for all your sins. You don't have to work your way out of this debt.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” — 2 Cor 8:9
Jesus had the riches of heaven, but became poor so that you might become rich. All you have is because He gave up all His privileges.
I want to give a few remedies to counter greed.
Treasure Christ. If you are in Christ, you are rich! Rest in that. Reflect on it. Relish it.
What would you do if you were a billionaire? I suppose if I were rich and could buy anything I wanted, I think everything would feel so unsatisfying knowing I was going to die and leave it behind. If I had money, I believe one of the first things I would want to secure would be immortality. No matter how good this life is, it will not comfort you one bit if you know it is going to end. That is why happiness is contingent on eternal life.
Practice Contentment Don't let the car fool you; my treasure is in heaven. Don't fall into the trap of needing more than you have. Show restraint and discipline.
“Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it.” — Proverbs 15:16
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received: live below your means. Create margin in your life. Margin to be kind. Margin to save. Margin to provide peace.
“Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.” — Prov 23:4
Don't feel like you always have to have more. Read a great story recently:
After the Revolutionary War, George Washington had enormous prestige. He was the victorious commander of the Continental Army, and many wondered whether he would use his popularity and military power to become America’s permanent leader. On December 23, 1783, Washington appeared before Congress in Annapolis and voluntarily surrendered his military commission. He could have seized power, but he chose to return to private life at Mount Vernon. When King George III heard what Washington had done, the king responded, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.” Washington understood something greed cannot: having the power to take more does not mean you should take more. Sometimes greatness is knowing when you have enough—and being willing to walk away.
Prioritize Faithfulness to God. 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Who is being served in your life? Who is being neglected?
What keeps people from church? "Well, I need to work. I need to get a little more done around the house. I just don't have time." No such thing as not enough time. Time reveals your priorities.
"I haven’t had time to work out." Nah, man. Workouts just are not the priority right now. You give me 30 hours a day and I still wouldn't have time.
In college, I wanted to go into physical therapy, and that meant grad school, and that meant I had to get really good grades. And it seemed my grades were never good enough. I struggled to find time to read my Bible because I needed to study. I struggled to make it to church and Bible studies for the same reason. I even remember a person calling whose car wouldn't start and needed help, and I couldn't help because I had a test that week. It was greed and a lack of trust in God. Grades were a trap for me.
There came a point when I was confronted with my idol and had to make a decision. I was going to trust the Lord, give school my all, but put the Lord first. I found a new peace and joy, and to my surprise, my grades were fine.
Who are you going to serve?
Put God first. Want to kill greed? Then tithe. Is God enough for you? Is His plan good enough for you? You want to start being changed in your heart? Commit to tithe. Say, "God, Your commands are greater than my desire." You will have to give things up. And in six months you won't even know those things are gone. The things you fear to lose won't matter because you will have a deeper walk with God.
And don't just stop there. John Wesley, the Methodist pastor and missionary who lived from 1703 to 1791—Wesley began to limit his expenses so he would have more money to give. One year his income was 30 pounds, and his living expenses were 28 pounds, thus leaving him with two pounds to give away. The next year his income doubled, but he still lived on 28 pounds, which allowed him to give away the remaining 32 pounds. For the next two years his income continued to increase so that in the fourth year he was able to give away 92 pounds to the poor. To put this into present-day figures, Wesley was making about $160,000 a year, but he lived like he was making $20,000 a year. (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, 2013 by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Published by B & H Publishing Group)
Bless Others Don’t be stingy. Stingy people are always worried about the cost. How much will it cost them?
Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies, 7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. — Prov 23:6-7
"Stingy" here is literally “evil eye.” Ever give people the evil eye? How about when they eat your stuff? The light of love in your eye is gone. What's it costing me? I do that when kids break something, ruin my grass, break my fence.
Amanda’s grandma: I am blessing them by providing a safe place where they can play and laugh and have fun. What a joy to give that to someone. Come to my house and enjoy a blessing. God has given me more than I can enjoy by myself.
Jesus never called someone a fool for giving too much and keeping too little; He did just the opposite (see Luke 12:13–34). Not being rich toward God is the foolish option.
Bless people with the gospel. The most rewarding thing to share with others. This is the Great Commission. Invest in this message and mission.
Conclusion: When things get distorted, we work to realign them. A bone gets distorted and we use a brace to realign it and let it grow back. When you begin to follow Christ, He begins to make us new, renewing us and growing us in His image. We begin to grow whole and full. You don't have to be perfect to begin following Christ. You simply have to acknowledge that you are not perfect and that you need help. You need His forgiveness. He died so that you could be healed. You just have to acknowledge your need for more of Him in your life, believe in His lordship and healing hand, and surrender all to Him. He will change you, gradually but surely.
Discussion Questions:
What does 1 Timothy 6:6–10 teach us about the connection between desire, contentment, and greed? Where are you most tempted to believe that “a little more” will finally satisfy you? What would it look like this week to practice contentment in Christ rather than constantly pursuing more? Who in your life might be struggling with greed or discontentment, and how could you share the hope of finding true satisfaction in Christ with them?
