Hoarding: A Godly Enough

Are you a hoarder?

In America, greed is pretty much celebrated.  We call it The American Dream.  Those who achieve it are either applauded, congratulated and celebrated.  Or, they are vilified because they "don't deserve it".   (The latter is a phenomenon that has come into the public square only in the last 20 years or so.) One of the mantras of The American Dream is:  "He who dies with the most toys, wins."  The goal, then, is to get as much "stuff" as possible.  And, we worship our "stuff".  Idolatry.

The text for the next 3 posts is Colossians 3:5-11.  Today, we'll focus on verses 5-7 (NET).

5So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry. 6Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. 7You also lived your lives in this way at one time, when you used to live among them.

Paul gives this list of behaviors, the hallmarks of the evil nature.  For the most part, they appear to be lustful and sexual sins.  Then, he throws greed into the mix.  At first glance, it doesn't seem to fit, does it?  When that list of behaviors is examined, at the root of all of them is selfishness. Greed is no exception, as it, too, is fueled by selfishness and stoked by pride.

This is not the way of Jesus Christ, who, by His own admission, had "nowhere to lay his head" (Luke 9:58).  After Christ died, there was no "reading of the will", no disbursement of His assets.  His cloak and His other clothes were his only possessions - - - "the shirt off his back", so to speak.

So, what would Jesus have us do?  How much, in this world, is "enough"?

Should the Christian's goal be to amass as much money and as many possessions as he or she possibly can?  Will doing so win God's approval?  Will doing so draw us closer to Him or to each other?

There is nothing wrong with being materially successful, particularly if we use our assets to further the kingdom of God in this world.  God will often financially prosper people so that they can glorify Him by advancing His kingdom.  Rich people can tithe more, do more, give more.  For example, although not what most would call "rich", I am now a fixed-income retiree.  God led me into a fulfilling career that had at the end of it a retirement benefit.  I'm "living off" that pension now, which frees me up to write this blog most days, to make video blogs and to use my time to further the spread of the gospel.

The problem comes in when we make these material things the focus of our love, time and devotion and/or when they limit our effectiveness for God.  The creep of idolatry is gradual and insidious.  We become "successful" in the worldly sense, after which sinful pride grabs a foothold.  We begin to credit ourselves with our "success", and the vicious cycle of idolatry repeats itself.

Unless we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, are watchful for this "creep" in our lives and when we discover it, take deliberate attempts to slay it, we are in danger of becoming spiritual and material "hoarders".  The Message version states it like this:

And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death:

(vs. 5a)

If we listen to the Holy Spirit, He will let us know how much is "enough".  All we have needed, His hand has provided, because He is faithful.  And, He will direct the use of the tools with which He has graced us. It is up to us as His disciples to obediently follow.

Father, thank you for provision, for giving us everything that we need to do what You have called us to do.  You provide what we need for each day's work.  Now, it is up to us to do it.  Then, you will provide the necessities for tomorrow.  We trust You with our "tomorrows"!  In this, Lord, you teach us about Your lordship and how to walk by faith.  Please give us the discernment to recognize the pitfalls called selfishness and pride, so we can avoid them.  In Jesus' name, amen.