We make disciples who
their lives to be formed by Jesus, together, for others.
Jesus’ vision on money is more
&
than the notion that money is evil.
Luke 11:33-36
Those consumed with scarcity tend to look to money as the only way to calm their
and create their
.
Luke 11:37-40
“We really must understand that the lust for affluence in contemporary society is psychotic. We crave things we neither need nor enjoy… This psychosis permeates even our mythology. The modern hero is the poor boy who purposefully becomes rich rather than the rich boy who voluntarily becomes poor. (We still find it hard to imagine that a girl could do either!) Covetousness we call ambition. Hoarding we call prudence. Greed we call industry.” —Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 80-81
Luke 16:13-14
Greed is an invisible
that puts you in an
position to love God and others.
“Think of the misery that comes into our lives by our restless gnawing greed. We plunge ourselves into enormous debt and then take two or three jobs to stay afloat. We uproot our families so we can have a more prestigious job or house. We grab and never get enough. Our flashy cars and sports spectaculars and backyard pools have a way of crowding out much interest in civil rights or inner-city poverty or the starved masses of India. Greed has a way of severing the cords of compassion. The apostle Paul saw this clearly when he warned that lust for wealth causes people to fall into ‘all sorts of foolish and dangerous ambitions which eventually plunge them into ruin and destruction’ (1 Tim 6:9).” —Richard Foster, Freedom of Simplicity, 104
The practice of generosity is living like
who trust the God of abundance by giving like stewards who tithe to God’s kingdom.
Luke 11:41-42
Jesus is not pitting the
versus the
.
The only
to the invisible poison of greed is the visible practice of generosity.
Jesus isn’t interested in creating
who give legalistically and stubbornly, but in making
who give cheerfully and sacrificially.
“Greater generosity is clearly, positively associated with many of the characteristics that most people consider essential to a good life: happiness, health, purpose, and growth… Generosity often triggers chemical systems in the brain and body that increase pleasure and experiences of reward, reduce stress, and suppress pain, which tend to lead to greater happiness and health.” —Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson
NEXT STEPS
This is an
.