Greed

GREED

7 Verses on Greed
1. “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Ephesians 5:5)
2. “A greedy man brings trouble to his family” (Proverbs 15:27)
3. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Tim 6:10)
4. “Whoever loves money never has money enough” (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
5. “Then he said to them, "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 12:15)
6. “But godliness with contentment is great gain… if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” (1 Timothy 6:6+8)
7. “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews. 13:5)

7 Quotes on Greed
1. “We are all born brave, trusting and greedy, and most of us remain greedy.”
2. “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed” (Gandhi)
3. “Greed tends to be solitary, miserly, because there is something about Greed that puts us in competition with our neighbors and ultimately in alienation form them.” (Will Willimon)
4. “We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”
5. “Greed turns love into lust, leisure into sloth, hunger into gluttony, honor into pride, righteous indignation into anger, and admiration into envy.” (Ogilvy)
6. “I think that a major theological justification for giving to the church and to the poor, for tithing of our income, is as a remedy for greed… This may be one of the most radical, countercultural, defiant acts the church demands of us” (Will Willimon)
7. “We need the sort of character that is able to look at the world and all it has to offer, and at certain key moments say simply, ‘Thank you, but I’m now satisfied’” (Will Willimon)

In the 1987 film Wall Street, Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) made the following comments about greed:

"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much." (click HERE for Video)

Gekko was right. If the game is competing against one another to win the market, greed is good. If the game is a love for money, greed is good. If the game is to become all that we can be in and of ourselves, greed is good. If the game is becoming the most powerful nation under the sun, greed is good.

But what if that is not the game? What if life isn't a game at all? What if life is bigger than consumerism, materialism, selfishness, and patriotism? What if there is something beyond the sun? Greed makes all the sense in the world if the world is all there is to sense. But Christianity declares that there is someone beyond the sun and that we don't just live for ourselves, but for that someone and for others. And if this is true, then greed becomes a very bad, even a very ugly thing.

Greed, by definition, hurts others. One person cannot gain without another one (or more often, many) losing. Greed, by definition, can't be satisfied. Whatever a man gains, if he is greedy, there will always be something else to acquire. Greed, by definition, can't love. Love is sacrifice of self for others, greed is the sacrifice of others for self. Greed is not good. Rather, it is the very sin that turns good into bad. Ogilvy notes, "Greed turns love into lust, leisure into sloth, hunger into gluttony, honor into pride, righteous indignation into anger, and admiration into envy."