What’s Wrong With This Picture?

This series is about making adjustments in our perspective. How can we become more like Christ and see people the way He sees people? How can we get a broader view of “our neighbor”?

The American economy is in rough shape – business closings, unemployment, and foreclosures. But compare this to a global perspective. Today in America, 26,000 children under the age of 5 did not die from preventable causes. Today you and I do not have to spend 3 or 4 hours obtaining water for our families. But in many places in our world, that’s reality.

Between nations and within them, the chasm between rich and poor is growing at an alarming rate. How can it be that 3.6 billion people are living on less than $2 a day, while the average American makes $105 a day? There’s something wrong with this picture.

Most of us wouldn’t consider ourselves greedy. In fact, most of us probably believe we are generous. Let’s look closer.

“Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’ And Jesus replied, ……Watch out!
Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.
A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”
Luke 12:13-15

This man had been arguing with his brother. “Jesus help me! I deserve my share!” But Jesus gives a warning. “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed.”

What are the different kinds of greed?

- Willingness to risk relationships for money, possessions or material things.
- Willingness to put your rights before your brother.
- Willingness to put what you think you’re entitled to before your brother – or
   neighbor.

Do we believe, “I worked hard to get where I am today – I’ve earned it!”? In Deuteronomy it says that it is God who gives the ability to produce wealth. God wants us to work hard - not so we can acquire things, but for character’s sake. When we have the mindset that hard work produces wealth, we lose perspective and the value of people, because that’s not a global truth. Longitude and latitude make all the difference. A hard worker in Africa or Haiti does not have what you have – what he puts in is NOT what he gets out.

"The ground of a certain man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, “What shall I do?

I have no place to store my crop. …..I’ll tear down my barns to build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. … Take life easy.”
Luke 12: 16-19

Why was there a good crop? Jesus said it was because the ground was good. Often we take God’s blessing and think it’s the result of how good we are. The man in the story was blessed – but felt he was entitled.

We have a tendency to define greed by pointing to those we consider very rich. But in the eyes of 98% of the world – we are very rich! Jesus sees greed as having more than enough, and using the excess on our own interests.

The solution to greed is generosity, but there are barriers:

- What I believe and think about “them”:
Do we make unfair or unjust comparisons? False judgments? We must never say “It is their own fault.” (The poor have few choices and even fewer opportunities to fulfill their God-given potential.)

- What I believe about me:
Do we see blessing or entitlement? I have much because I worked hard for it, thus I can do what I want with it. Or, I have much because I have been blessed, thus, I have a responsibility to give to those who have nothing.

How can we be more generous?

- Give your heart to God first. We need to keep Jesus in the center of our Gospel.
- Rub shoulders with “the least of these”. It will cause us to care about what God  

  cares about.
- Make it personal. Touch their pain; share our stories with their stories.
- Become a global Christian. With the click of a button, we can show God’s love  

  around the world.

Greed is the logical result of the belief that there is no life after death.
Generosity is the logical result of the belief that there is life after death.
What does our life reflect of our belief?

 

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