2025-07-20 Generosity: Beware Greed!

Generosity: A Warning on Greed

So, we started our series on / / Generosity last week, and we touched on today’s topic a little bit, but we’re going to do a bit more of a deep dive into it.

I mentioned it last week, but this week we are looking at 1 Timothy 6.

Paul had sent Timothy to Ephesus to take leadership of the church, and things aren’t going so well, so Paul is writing this letter. It’s one of what we call the Pastoral Letters. Encouragement to Timothy as the leader of the church.

Leading up to this passage, Paul is outlining and challenging some of the issues that have come up. For sake of time and relevance we wont’ get into all that, but when he gets to vs 2 he says, / / Teach and urge these things. Both what he was just explaining, and what he’s about to explain. And he gets to this warning, which is our focus today.

Starting in vs 3 of 1 Timothy 6:

/ / If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing… [he imagines] that godliness is a means of gain.

I want you to notice that phrase. / / Imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

On top of pointing out that these guys are preaching to get peoples money, I think what he’s really going after is that “different doctrine” is causing confusion, and the result is that people think godliness is about personal physical and financial gain.

That sounds like the very thing Jesus was correcting in people’s understanding of ‘makarios’, that we talked about last week, what it means “to be blessed”, right?

Jesus was teaching that we are happier and more fulfilled in following the things of God. Not material wealth or riches as a reward for doing the right thing.

Paul is like, “These guys are teaching against the truth!” trying to get people back to the Greek way of thinking about what it means to be blessed. Which was, Be godly, do the right thing and God will bless you financially and physically. Also, pay me for my fantastic teaching.

Now, Paul isn’t against ministers or preachers being paid, in fact, he says the very opposite just a few verses earlier in 1 Timothy 5:17, / / “Let the elders (pastors) who rule well be considered of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”

Paul is warning Timothy, / / don’t let yourself or anyone else be sucked back into thinking that the blessing of God is about financial or physical gain, it’s bad doctrine and is at it’s very core, greed.

Paul turns his attention toward telling Timothy what he must do with the congregation in Ephesus. Throw away the teaching of “blessing is financial and physical” and now let’s look at what following Jesus, a life of godliness, should really look like:

/ / But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 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. 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… (17) As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

We are in a war. I said it last week. The world is out to get you, hook, line, and sinker. They want your money, they want your life, they want you enslaved to them.

Kelley and I were looking into mortgage options in the last couple weeks, and I kid you not, I have been receiving anywhere from 5-10 calls every single day from mortgage brokers and lenders trying to get us to take out any and every loan they offer.

We’ve had our car for a year and a half now, so I’m also getting the, “I’m calling about your cars extended warranty…”

And really - does anyone not find it completely suspect that you can have a conversation about something, and suddenly your phone is advertising to you the very thing you were talking about? Every….Single…Time… And we’re so accustomed to it that we just laugh it off.

Just some ridiculous statistics here on what we are up against:

/ / The average person, and let’s say in our country, America, is exposed to anywhere from 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements every single day.

That’s exposed to, meaning, it’s around you. You could see it, or could not see it, but it’s there.

In a couple experiments that were done the number was around / / 100 ads per day that actually grab your attention.

That means the advertising market only gets about a 1 – 2.5% return on their investment in terms of grabbing your attention. But they’re fine with that.

These are scary, and can also add to our conversation last week about digital screen time:

/ / Facebook processes over 5 million NEW ads per day.

/ / 53% of kids aged two to twelve see advertisements on YouTube.

/ / 70% of all marketing now takes place on digital platforms.

/ / An average mobile user spends 80% of their screen time viewing ads.

I said last week that the / / advertising industry spends $515 Billion annually.

/ / They expect it to reach $1.17 Trillion by 2028.

This stat is just for fun.

The website I got this information from ended with, Grow your Marketing with us… They were a digital marketing agency.

We are in a war for our time, our thoughts, our hearts, our wallets, our very lives.

Jaron Lanier, who is a co-founder of Virtual Reality, said this, / / “What might once have been called advertising must now be understood as continuous behavior modification on a titanic scale.”

What is this all really about? As John Mark Comer says, / / “The human heart has long been prone to believe the Myth of More.”

And it is a lie, and it’s so deep within us, most people don’t even recognize that it’s there.

/ / If we just had a little bit more, we would be happier.

But Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NLT) says, / / Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!

So, last week I said 25% of Jesus’ teachings were on money, but not how to get more, or even how to manage it, but the majority of those teachings were warnings about the danger of it.

He even talks less about generosity than he does about the danger of money.

So, surveying just a few of these verses:

/ / 1. Beware Greed

Luke 12:13-15, Someone in the crowd said to him, / / “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

The NLT says it this way, / / “Watch out! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

Strong’s Bible Dictionary of the Greek word says it means / / ‘avarice’. Not a word we use often. But it means extreme greed for wealth or material gain.

We need to understand inheritance here. The firstborn got a double portion. What that means is that if you have 9 sons, the inheritance isn’t split 9 ways, it’s split 10 ways, but the firstborn gets 2 of those. Twice as much as everyone else.

So, this guy in the crowd is asking one of two things:

“Hey Jesus, There’s just two of us, and my brother is getting 2/3 and I’m only getting 1/3, and that’s not fair.”

or, because we don’t know how many brothers he has,

“There are a lot of us, but I really only care about myself!”, because he doesn’t say, “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with the rest of us.” But, “with me”.

Either way, not a good look, right?

Jesus addresses the man first – listen, I’m not here to help you argue with your brother… but then turns to the crowd around them and addresses the much deeper issue.

Why is this man trying to get him to do this?

The issue isn’t that he isn’t getting anything, the issue is he isn’t satisfied with what he’s getting and he wants more. He wants a rabbi, Jesus, a religious leader, someone of authority, to help him bypass the traditional culture, so he can have more.

It is Greed, avarice, if you will: Greed is…

grabbing at what isn’t ours when we feel like we should be entitled to it.

It’s being consumed by things rather than relationship, in fact, willing for the relationship to suffer because of the things.

It’s willing to do anything to get more, because we have this insatiable desire we can’t seem to fulfill.

“If I just had a little bit more, I’d be ok.”

I’m preaching to myself here this morning.

What is Jesus’ conclusion for this crowd?

One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

Don’t be led astray by greed.

/ / 2. Riches Are Deceitful

In Mark 4 Jesus shares a parable, and the disciples tell him they didn’t get it, which happened quite often. It’s the parable of the sower, if you remember it. Or if you don’t know it, a quick recap. Jesus is talking about his teaching, or about any teaching really, he says it is like a farmer scattering seeds and the results are varied depending on where they fall.

Some falls on a path, and the birds eat it.

Some falls on rocky ground, it tries to take root but can’t.

Some falls among thorns and gets choked out.

And some falls on good soil and produces a great harvest.

Problem is, Jesus hadn’t said it was about teaching, so they are like, “What do you mean?”

So when he finally explains it to them, he says, (14) / / “The sower sows the word.” Ohhh…he’s talking about his teachings.

Verse 18 focuses on the 3rd category, / / “[the seed] sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, (19) but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”

So, Jesus mentions three things here that are working against you to try and rob you of what God wants to do in your life. And notice this is in connection with the Word of God, and the teaching of Jesus. Exactly what we are trying to discern for our lives and put into practice this year through intentional discipleship, so pay attention:

/ / The cares of the world

The deceitfulness of riches

The desires for other things

Notice the wording, deceitfulness of riches. Not the wickedness, or the evil, but the deceit.

Jesus doesn’t ever call money itself bad. He doesn’t call being rich bad. He warns against the deceitfulness of it. Just like Paul says in 1 Timothy 6, it is, the LOVE of money (that) is A root of ALL KINDS of evil.

/ / What makes wealth, or riches, deceitful?

John Mark Comer points out, / / because it promises what it simply can not give.

Wealth promises happiness, satisfaction, contentment, identity, safety, security, respect, honor…the list goes on.

This is the lie, or the ‘myth of more’.

/ / deceit means to deceive by concealing or misrepresenting the truth

/ / Riches and Wealth will try to conceal or misrepresent what it truly means to be happy!

This is what is at stake. Jesus is warning, the deceitfulness of wealth and riches, that lie that more is the answer, will literally try to choke out the truth of His words that are an invitation to follow, put into practice, build a life on what He says that cannot be shaken!

/ / 3. Don’t Lose The Kingdom

Strong statement, but like I said, we are at war.

Matthew 19:16, / / …a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus says, “keep the commandments”, the man replies, “I have. So, what am I still lacking?”

(21) / / “…go, sell what you posses and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” (22) When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possession.

What’s interesting is that Jesus doesn’t run after him and say, “No no, it’s ok, we’ll work something out. Follow me, and we’ll deal with the heart stuff as we go…”

Quite the opposite actually. Jesus is surrounded by people, this man comes, asks him a question, walks away sad and now Jesus turns to everyone else, just like he’s done in passages we’ve already read. He says, (23) / / “Truly I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

A couple things: Truly I say to you – means pay attention…

Then, Again I tell you…

And look at what He says, a rich person CAN get into the kingdom of God, money isn’t the issue, BUT, it is incredibly rare, and incredibly difficult.

Remember what I said last week. It’s easy to think that somehow we are the exception,

“I could totally do it. I could be filthy rich and not be filthy…”

“I could be stupidly wealthy, but not stupid”

I hope for all of our sakes, regardless of what or how much we have, that that is true, that we would keep the first things first, that we would never lose sight of Jesus, that we wouldn’t allow the deceitfulness of worldly gain to choke out his invitation to follow Him in truth.

And Jesus is saying, “That’s not impossible, but it’s really difficult.”

And as much as we don’t want to admit it, I think wanting to be rich is one of the biggest pitfalls we have, especially in our society and our time in history, where we are completely surrounded by this lie that more is better, but / / financial success will often result in spiritual failure.

Now, I’m not wanting you to see yourself as greedy; that’s not why we ask these questions. But I think it almost humorous, and talking to myself here, I tend to think of greed as someone else’s issue. Like, “I’m not greedy. How could I be greedy? I’m not rich?”

We rarely, if ever, think of it as a personal problem.

I’m not the only pastor to say this, but in nearly 25 years of full-time ministry, I’ve never once had someone come to me to confess their sin of greed.

I’ve had people confess all sorts of things to me, which is a wonderful spiritual practice that the bible promises that it brings healing, but not once can I remember someone saying,

“Pastor, pray for me, I’m really just always wanting more.

I never feel like I have enough. It’s a constant struggle.

I see other people and I envy what they have.

I am discontent with my job. I’m discontent with my home.

I always want a new car. I buy whatever I want when I want.

Gosh, I have not checked my credit card balance in a while. It’s just easier not to know, ya know.

You know what, I think this is affecting my relationship because I wonder if my spouse cares as much as I do, and I just wish they would do more…”

None of that. Ever.

Now that’s not to make anyone feel awkward, but it is to prove the point, we don’t like to think about it, or talk about it, let alone recognize WE have an issue with it.

I remember one of the conversations around money used to be that if you made more, you would kind of increase what you spent to match what you make, and then if you make more, you would then increase what you spend to match that. And so on it goes throughout your life, you make more, you spend more.

But I don’t know if you’ve noticed this. The world of debt is so violently after your soul, not your money, your soul, that there has been a cultural shift and the story is no longer, “make more, spend more”, They removed the make more. Now it’s, “get more spending power, fulfill your dreams, you deserve it.”

That’s the new language. “We’ve raised your credit limit, now you have more spending power available to you!”

Spending power? Or they might try, “Purchasing power!”

That’s the language. You don’t have money, but you’ve got spending power. And we’ll spend $515 Billion a year to get you to use what’s not yours, so we can hit you with whatever interest rate we want.

You know the average credit card interest rate across this country is nearly 21% now.

And nobody bats an eye at that, because that’s the average, and a lot of people are living with 27, 28, 29% interest rates on those cards.

And the problem is that like a frog sitting in a pot of water that is slowly being brought up to a boil, we have been so surrounded by this culture that we barely even realize that we live in arguably the most materialistic time in all of human history, and in Miami at that.

But that shouldn’t be our story!

/ / If you desire to be a follower of Jesus your life WILL be counter-cultural.

This is why we are going through these Spiritual Practices. These disciplines that Jesus invites his followers to take part in BECAUSE they combat the very way of the world.

These practices are deeply spiritual, yet incredibly practical. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but Paul also says, he disciplines his body, training it to do what it should.

In 1 Corinthians 10:2-4, Paul says he’s being blamed of “walking according to the flesh.” And he says in vs 3, / / For though we walk in the flesh (other translations say “though we are human”), we are not waging war according to the flesh.

We see this in the disciplines

With fasting, we talked about the physical desires that it fights.

With prayer, I would say the will is a big component there, not my will but yours, in the place of prayer we continually lay down our will for the will of God. The Authority of God in our lives.

So too with Generosity. Using the language of Paul, our fight isn’t carnal, it’s not against money, it’s against the spiritual forces at work to ensnare and control us. So, we fight back, not by making more, or having none, but by making God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit the Lord over our finances, learning to steward well what we have been entrusted with.

/ / Generosity is the key to setting our hearts free from greed, while forming us into people of contentment.

We want to be ike Paul, who could say of his life, “whether I have or have not, I have found a way to be deeply content.”

/ / 4. Does Generosity Destroy Greed?

Luke 11:39-41, Jesus says, / / “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy – full of greed and wickedness!

A few thoughts:

/ / i. “You clean the outside”

Jesus is saying, you work so hard to make yourselves look good to everyone else, but your hearts are a mess.

Jesus mentions two things, greed and wickedness.

Wickedness here is simply a catch-all phrase for evil, sin, bad stuff. It is well translated depravity.

Greed on the other hand, it’s very specific, right? Jesus is pinpointing this specific sin. He kind of calls out all sin, but then greed specifically.

And he gives the solution (40) / / “Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.”

/ / ii. “So clean the inside…”

I’ve said this a few times, it’s not about the money, it’s about what’s inside. Jesus says, the pathway to cleaning the inside, to dealing with the internal issues involving money, or greed, is to be generous to the poor.

The AMP says it this way, / / “But give that which is within as charity (that is, acts of mercy and compassion, not as public display, but as an expression of your faithfulness to God), and then indeed all things are clean for you.”

/ / iii. “The outside will be clean…”

Jesus doesn’t just say do the thing because the thing is good to do. He calls it the fulfillment of godly living, of righteous living.

If you do this, clean the inside, by being generous, you will be also cleaning the outside.

The outside is his way of saying, “your visible life”.

/ / What you do in secret doesn’t always come out, but what you are unwilling to do in secret rarely, if ever, comes out in public.

If you aren’t generous in secret, whatever generosity you may employ publicly will most likely be for likes and shares, and people tend to see through that.

Matthew 6:3-4, / / “when you give to the needy…give in secret…”

When you’re generous in secret, whether it gets found out or not, your life won’t reflect greed, because you’re doing the hard work of internal cleaning by sacrificing your desires for the will and desire of your heavenly Father.

/ / 5. We WILL Be Content

Paul says it that way in 1 Timothy 6:6-8, strong language, / / But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

This is where the biblical writers land. / / Contentment is the place of happiness regardless of our physical state.

Paul says in Philippians 4:11-13, / / I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

A common misinterpretation of that scripture is to only read the last part that says we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Paul is actually specifically saying that to what he just said. / / I can do all things…the things I just said, be content whether I have or have not… because it is Christ who gives me strength.

He’s not saying he can do anything. Like jump tall buildings in a single bound. Or whatever else our wild imaginations can come up with. He’s saying the strength of Christ is what comforts him, strengthens him, gives him what he needs regardless of what is physically in his hands or life – whether he is hungry or full, rich or poor, he IS satisfied with the richness of Jesus Christ.

Paul calls this contentment Great Gain…

Why? Because it’s more blessed to give than to receive. Because when we seek first the Kingdom of God we come to a place of trust in God, both present and future. Because whether we have or have not, we’re ok, better than ok.

/ / 6. A Moment on Inheritance

I know it’s cliche, but Paul says, / / we brought nothing in, we can’t take anything out…

But that doesn’t mean, as I’ve said, that we just give everything away and live with nothing. You don’t have to be Mother Teresa. So, what do we do about provision, inheritance, caring for those close to us, our families?

I said last week I’m a big Dave Ramsey fan, and one of his favorites is Proverbs 13:22, / / A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.

I’ll give you two quick thoughts on that.

First, / / Proverbs is a book of wisdom and poetry, not promise and prophecy. So we need to read it in context.

Second, I think this is more practical maybe. / / Why is it that we immediately think inheritance means physical wealth and financial provision? Isn’t that the very thing Jesus is confronting?

The legacy I want to leave my daughter is not money, although I would love to leave her some of that too.

Just being very transparent with you this morning. We lost Kelley’s dad a couple years ago and there is no dollar amount in the world that could replace the ache in our hearts for HIM.

And I would suspect, even in cases where there is a great inheritance, if there was no love in the relationship that inheritance doesn’t maker the person feel loved just becasue they now have a full bank account.

Don’t get me wrong. There is wisdom in fiscal responsibility, but / / the desire to leave a physical inheritance should never eclipse the here and now of loving your children, or your parents, if you still have them.

I have seen people live with this burden that they won’t be able to leave their kids anything. SO what….who cares…. love them. Love them to the moon and back. Give them your HEART! Take every chance you can to hold them, hug them, love them, care for them!

When Paul says, We will be content. He’s speaking to the heart of contentment. Do we have what we need, and if we have what we need, what more could we want that will add even one moment to our lives, or one moment to our eternity?

Clarity: I want to make a point here, because this can be a heavy topic.

If you have money. If you have fun things. If you have toys. If you like vacations, and nice dinners out, and whatever else. This is not a condemnation of your life. Because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Which is a big weight off our shoulders. There were rich people that funded the ministry of Jesus and he never turned to them and said, “You didn’t give me enough…” or “how dare you have money”

/ / 7. The Warning Signs

(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.

This is four points which include St Augustine’s journey toward sin, If you remember them from last month: The Senses, the Heart, the Body. And before those I will add Desire.

Paul starts with, / / “Those who desire to be rich”.

If you desire to be rich, start there, get on your face before God and ask for a change in your heart. That word, / / desire, it’s not a deep or lust filled word, it’s literally, you want this.

If your desire is for God, contentment, happiness, joy, relationship, not money and riches, you won’t have to worry as much about the rest of this verse.

But, if you desire to be rich, take warning…

/ / “fall into temptation, into a snare…”

Now this, this is Augustines first step toward sin, / / the senses being awakened.

Suddenly that desire has opportunity, your attention is drawn, which leads to the next step…

/ / “fall… into many senseless and harmful desires…”

This is the heart - / / Contemplation, or fixation, where the first time he says desire, it means “you simply just want to be rich”, but he’s saying that leads to this desire, and this time the word is different, it does actually mean to lust after… / / craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust

When we give into this kind of desire, lusting after something because we’ve been so fixated on it in our hearts and minds the only place left for it to reach is the physical act of sin.

/ / “(it) plunge(s) people into ruin and destruction…”

As Augustine says, this is the body – when you give in, Paul here says, when you move from temptation to lust, you are thrown into, plunge into ruin and destruction. Augustine would call it, the act of sin.

Paul warns that this very thing has actually drawn people away from the faith, it’s so strong. And in so doing, are unfortunately suffering being “pierced with many pangs”. In fact, he says they’ve pierced themselves!

This is the reality of money. / / It is powerful. Powerful to do good, powerful to do evil. It is a temptation that is hard to ignore and avoid. Paul uses strong language here to give strong warning, because Jesus gave strong warning. Paul is teaching the way of Jesus.

/ / 8. The Church And Wealth

It’s interesting, Jesus doesn’t really say much at all in way of promoting or endorsing riches and wealth. He doesn’t talk about gaining more wealth. Why is that? I mean, if we’re supposed to do good, wouldn’t he want us to have the money to do good?

And what’s really difficult about this is that like it or not, the world has had a profound and terrible influence on the church and the people of God. We would be remiss to not say that the church, for 2000 years has been rife with financial manipulation and greed.

From Judas selling Jesus to the religious leaders for the price of a slave.

To the indulgences the church sold that eventually were part of the catalyst for the Reformation.

To the scandals we see around us now.

/ / There has never been a time where money wasn’t causing problems…

There are Instagram accounts now dedicated to profiling pastors and preachers who wear wildly expensive clothing.

There are documentaries being made outlining the corruption and greed from behind the pulpit.

There are court cases involving mismanagement, scandal, coverups, and more.

The church has not been immune to the impulse and desire for wealth.

One documentary I saw stated that over 50% of churchgoers say their church is too focused on money…

Trust me, I see the irony as I’m literally preaching about money. But I hope you are seeing this for what it is. This is not some sort of elaborate ploy to get you to give more to the church. It’s not a veiled secret hope that you’ll open your wallets more.

This is our desire as a leadership team here to convey to you the heart of Jesus for your life, and as such for the church as a whole, the body of believers.

We also hold in tension that / / the bible is full of promise, that God is faithful. That God provides. That God provides seed for the sower. And that to be generous we must have something in our hands to give away.

There is just a complexity to this that requires us to continually take Jesus at his invitation to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, / / “Worldly possessions tend to turn the hearts of the disciples away from Jesus.”

/ / 9. The Solutions

How do we move forward, and what do we continue to do about this question of money, of wealth, of following Jesus rightly?

/ / A. Kick Fear To The Curb

I would say, don’t fret, don’t fear, don’t overburden yourself with worry that you’re doing it all wrong. Humbly come to the feet of Jesus and offer your life, your gifts, your talents, your finances, all of who you are to the one who gave all of who He is for you.

Remember, what we’re trying to rally around here is a 5&2 culture, the boy who had 5 loaves and two fish, in the hands of Jesus, saw a miracle… We come with what we have, as little as it might be, and offer it to the Master who does miracles!

/ / B. Be content!

Randy Alcorn of Eternal Perspective Ministries says, / / “[Contentment is] being satisfied in whose you are, who you are, and what you have. Those who love and serve Jesus can be truly content. Those who love and serve money can never be.”

/ / C. Pursue Godliness.

This is what we’ve read today. / / Godliness with contentment is of great gain.

You can be content without godliness. You can pursue godliness without being content. But godliness WITH contentment…THAT is great gain.

John Chrysostom, an early church father, said, and I’m bringing what he said into modern language here, / / “If you don’t have much, but you don’t need much, you’re truly rich.”

/ / D. Generosity IS the Pathway to Contentment.

This is a spiritual discipline for a reason.

/ / Generosity is the physical discipline that produces spiritual results.

It is the mystery of God’s invitation to follow His way.

As we mentioned last week, generosity without money is possible, but it’s a practice you have to build into a habit.

/ / E. Give

Of course, all of this must include the willingness to give.

Literally giving our resources away, freely sharing. And the reality is, / / the more we give away the less control money has over us and the more free we become.

/ / F. Simplify Your Life

This is an avenue for increased Generosity.

We simplify our lives, we look at our lives and ask, Do we have enough? Do we have more than we need?

G.K. Chesterton said, / / “There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.”

Simplicity is often seen as a spiritual discipline in of itself.

Today we might use the word minimalism.

This isn’t doing without. This isn’t forced frugality to the point of torture. It is taking an honest assessment of our lives.

Is this a commandment? NO, it’s not a commandment, it’s a way to fight the good fight against the way of this world that would try to cause you to stumble and fall into the financial trap that Paul talks about in 1 Timothy 6, where we end up piercing ourselves with sorrows.

I don’t know about you, I got enough going on without piercing myself with sorrows.

Listen, part of the difficulty is that our culture has so infiltrated the Christian world that makarios, what it means to be blessed, is still seen as having more stuff.

The Lie is:

Living the good life is living the rich life.

God wants to bless you financially, with more stuff.

Sow a seed and reap a big reward from God.

If you sow into this ministry, you’ll be blessed.

These are the things people are fed up with.

And all of that makes this a very difficult conversation to have.

Professor of Psychological Science, Paul Piff, in his TED talk, Does Money Make You Mean?, he said, / / “What we’ve been finding… is that as a person’s level of wealth increases, their feelings of compassion and empathy go down, and their feelings of entitlement, of deservingness, and their ideology of self-interest increase.”

/ / As a general statistical observation, certain ungodly attitudes and actions tend to characterize rich people.

This can include: pride, entitlement, vanity, egotism, indifference to the needy, indifference to God… etc…

Don’t forget, this is a fight against the way of the world for the way of God’s kingdom. Jesus said, “My kingdom is NOT of this world…”

Part of that is going to be us intentionally and continually laying down the idea that, “Ya, but I still think I’m different, I can handle the riches and the fame and the glory and not let any of it corrupt me.”

/ / Simplicity is a spiritual practice as a way to fight this mentality.

So, / / what is Simplicity?

Contrary to what might sound like the “good Christian answer”, / / simplicity is not poverty. It is not a requirement to be like Mother Teresa, move to Calcutta, and open up an orphanage.

/ / It is not selling everything and giving it away.

I’m not saying Jesus won’t ask that of you or me, he did in Scripture ask at least one person. that we know of.

/ / Simplicity is not having nothing, but it is recognizing and choosing to live with less.

/ / Simplicity is following Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 to seek first the kingdom of God in the face of worry and stress over what we have or have not!

A few ways to think of simplicity:

/ / Limiting the number of our:

Possessions

Expenses

Activities

Apps on our phone

Social obligations

/ / SO we can be free to live joyfully and generously in the kingdom with Jesus.

Instead of asking, “What else do we need?” or “What else can I buy?” or “What else can I get?” we ask, “What can I do without?” “What is it that I have that I don’t really need?” or “What am I doing that I don’t really need to do.”

You might be able to afford all the subscription services you pay for, after all, they’re only 10 or 12 bucks a month, but do you need them? Is the number of shows at your fingertips robbing you from reading, walking with your spouse, playing games as a family?

What if you decided, we’re going to get rid of all streaming for 3 months and connect as a family.

I’m not saying you have to do that, but I am saying, how complicated, busy, and full have our lives become that we rarely sit and think, sit and talk, sit and reflect on the life that God would have us live?

And these questions only make sense, or at least make the most sense, in the context of a worldview as prescribed by Jesus where it is more blessed to give than to receive and where blessed means happier and not having more stuff.

/ / Why simplicity? And why simplicity in the conversation of generosity?

/ / Simplicity enables generosity, because it creates margin.

One of our questions has been, how are you supposed to be generous if you don’t have enough to make it through the week? You’re not wrong for asking the question. Living in Miami is expensive. More than 60% of the country lives paycheck to paycheck and that numbers goes above 65% in our city.

So, to be generous we have to create some margin in our lives.

Our financial budgets need space.

Our time budgets need space.

Kelley and I had TWO conversations this week with GOOD friends that about the fact that we simply do NOT spend enough time with each other…

Our emotional and mental budgets need margin too.

The problem is most people are living beyond their capacity, in all of these areas, regardless of their tax bracket.

Now, hear me on this. This isn’t about what you own or not. It’s not about whether you can own a bmw, or a boat, or a rv, or whatever else you might want or have. It doesn’t mean you can’t go out to eat at nice restaurants, or buy expensive clothes.

/ / The challenge is not in what you do or do not have, the challenge is whether what you do or do not have is causing contentment, joy, and happiness, and does it not just leave room for, but encourage Holy Spirit-led godliness and generosity?

The question is, / / what is consuming us? What has our attention? What is causing pain and sorrow when Jesus is wanting to lead us to contentment and life?

Paul says, “I’ve had plenty…I learned to be content. I’ve had nothing… I learned to be content. And it wasn’t in what I had, it was in Jesus Christ.”

Think about it, most of Jesus’ listeners were not rich. Yet, 25% of his teachings were on money and generosity. And his invitation for contentment is for all of us.

Homework

Hearing a teaching on generosity, simplicity and contentment doesn’t automatically make us any of those things. As we are seeing over and over again with the Spiritual disciplines, there is a very practical, real element that leads toward a very real spiritual transformation.

But it takes work. It takes dedication. It takes honesty.

So, what I feel to encourage you on this week is to take an honest and humble look at your life and ask the question, / / “On a scale of 1 to content, where am I?”

Do I have margin?

If God told me to be generous, would I even be able to?

Where can I make room?

Do I have 1 too many, or 5 too many streaming subscriptions? or any other things…

Could I do with slower internet and have more to give?

Do I need cable TV, the new toy, the thing I’ve been dreaming about?

Is my car payment too much for me, and do I need to think about selling and trading in for something more manageable?

Is it time to look at a budget. Get serious about getting out of debt.

If I want margin so God can work in and through me in this regard, what do I need to begin to do to see that happen?

Then pick one thing. Just one. Maybe it’s make coffee at home instead of Starbucks and begin to save $20-30 a week.

/ / Caution: You can’t muscle your way to contentment,

But you can begin to do things that challenge and fight the war that we are in over this area of our lives, and like any spiritual discipline, I have seen God honor that, and He is true to his word, you will experience His strength and contentment in time.

So, in closing I want to read Hebrews 13:5, / / Keep your life free from (the) love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear…”

Because often times what we are searching for in money, we can only get from God… Let us pray.