A Greedy Person is an Idol Worshipper
Tuesday, May 9
So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshipping the things of this world. (Colossians 3:5)
By and large, those who are struggling with sexual sins are also struggling with greed. And greed is idol worship. Many people think that an idol worshipper is someone who bows before a wooden image or something like that. And most of the time, when people think of idol worship, Africa comes to mind! Though, I must confess, those of us who are from Africa understand the ramification of what it means to worship idols.
Here we see a new narrative. Idol worship goes beyond bowing down to an image made by man. By its very nature, greed is a subtle form of idol worship. But the question is: What is greed, really?
The word “greedy” that Paul used here denotes not merely the desire to possess more than one has, but more than one ought to have, particularly that which belongs to someone else. Paul mentioning this at the end of a list of sexual sins is highly significant, for it is intimately associated with them. It is really another form of the same evil desire, except that it is fixed on the material things of this world.
Often when immorality loses its hold, materialism takes its place. These sins have the same source. Such greed is really the lowest form of idolatry, for nothing could be lower than putting our trust in a material thing and making that our god. Whatever I put my trust in, that is what I worship. Materialism is the true religion of thousands of professing Christians today. There is a sense in which greed is even more dangerous than immorality, because it has so many respectable forms. So often it is the successful greedy person whom we honor and we make our leaders. To be greedy is to worship the things of this world. Are you greedy?