Greed - or Generosity?

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy “that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, [and] lovers of money…” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

2 Timothy 3:1-5

¹ But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

Currently, we are entering the dangerous and perilous times that Paul wrote about. The danger and the peril is directly caused by the behaviors and conditions listed in 2 Timothy 3. Can anyone deny that excessive love of money is an absolute hallmark of the age we are living in right now? Even news commentators have recognized that greed is running rampant. Unrestrained greed in all sectors of business and government is beginning to have a very real effect on Americans and the poor around the globe. We in this country may be suffering tremendously at the pump and at the grocery check-out, but in many parts of the world, the very real problem of hunger has again reared its ugly head. Food shortages and high fuel prices are to a large degree caused by individuals succumbing to the cravings for more and more – to people being greedy.

Greed is defined as “An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth:”(AHD). Instead of practicing self-restraint and self-control – which would benefit all of mankind, individuals and businesses have fallen down before the idol that preaches covetousness and greed. Many today believe and practice the same philosophy as Donald Trump: “The point is that you can't be too greedy.”

In his book, Day of Reckoning, Patrick Buchanan characterizes our time as one where the fortunate few are given over to greed. He cites Isaiah 56:11 in describing the super rich, “…they are greedy dogs which can never have enough” (p.207). Buchanan cites numerous incidents of CEOs being paid exorbitant compensation even when their corporations have fared poorly. He writes that “As middle class wages stagnate and the costs of health care, ... gasoline, and heating oil rise, the superrich have wildly prospered. The average CEO of a major company earns more in a day than the average American in a year. In 2006, for the first time, one had to be a billionaire to make the Forbes list of America’s richest 400” (pp. 207-8). Those 400 individuals had assets “greater than the gross national product of all but seven nations.” In 2007, when the new list of Forbes 400 was published, it took $1.3 billion dollars in wealth to make the list - an increase of 30%. The great of the world are quickly acquiring more and more while the poor are growing hungrier and hungrier.

But greed is not a new problem on planet earth. Even Socrates, a pagan Greek philosopher, recognized the problem nearly 2500 years ago. He said, "Wars and revolutions and battles are due simply and solely to the body and its desires. All wars are undertaken for the acquisition of wealth; and the reason why we have to acquire wealth is the body, because we are slaves in its service."

The psalmist wrote in Psalm 10:

Psalms 10:3-4

³ For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire;

He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.

⁴ The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;

God is in none of his thoughts.

When God is rejected and His way of life abandoned, the arrogant and wicked are left with nothing but their heart’s selfish desires and a mind darkened by deceit. In our world today, isn’t it interesting that the more God is denied and thrown out of government and business, the greater the greed and the problems we face?

Erich Fromm, a noted psychologist, saw real problems with greed. He said, "Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction."

The wise King Solomon was inspired to write about the penalty for greed:

Proverbs 15:27

²⁷ He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house,

Proverbs 1:19

¹⁹ So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;

It takes away the life of its owners.

Paul wrote the Colossians that God has something to say about covetousness, which is the root of greed.

Colossians 3:5-6

“…covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,

The commandments of God warn us about falling prey to greed and covetousness. Why? God does not covet. His divine nature is not about wanting more and more and more. Instead, He is a God of love, one who gives and gives, one who is dedicated to generosity. The Bible shows us that God wants us to learn to live as He lives. He wants us to learn to practice giving as our everyday way of life. Instead of living as the superrich, filled with greed, wanting more and more, we are to give more and more, filled with love and generosity.

Solomon wrote in Proverbs 21:26 that “…the righteous gives and does not spare.” A basic character trait of the righteous is generous giving. He further wrote in Proverbs 22:9 that, “He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor.” The person who is looking to be generous receives blessings because he is willing to take the bread off his table to share with the poor. It says bread, not grain in the field or in the silo. The generous person is willing to part with something that is personally his.

Paul told the Corinthians about some basic principles of giving generously.

2 Corinthians 9:6-9

⁶ But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. ⁹ As it is written:

"He has dispersed abroad,

He has given to the poor;

His righteousness endures forever."^*

God is pleased when we want to give, not when we do it because we are forced to. We are to think about giving – we are to have a purpose when we do it. Giving is to be a basic motivation in our lives – it is to always be in our hearts to give. And when we do, God promises that He can make His favor abound towards us and give us what we need, and that we will have sufficient abundance to enable us to do every good work.

This age of greed that we live in needs men and women and children to learn to give and to practice generosity. The world desperately needs to hear the good news that Christ brought and to know that there is coming a time when oil prices will not skyrocket, when food will be in abundance and will not exist just for the profit of the fortunate few, and when the way of giving and generosity will fill this whole earth.