Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:5
“The way of the Trinity is the way of sharing. Father, Son, and Spirit live in sacrifice and self-denial toward one another. The way of greed, the way of Mammon, focuses on the health of one part of a community, while letting others go without clothing and water. The way of greed is not the way of sharing. It is the way of self-interest, not self-denial. In that sense, then, the way of greed and self-interest depict the life of another god or gods. Greed is idolatry. God’s people are supposed to image the life of the Trinity on earth, and when instead, we say we follow the Trinity but actually build communities that politely neglect those in need, we actually image….a social system grounded in self-interest.”
Douglas M. Jones in Dismissing Jesus: How We Evade the Way of the Cross (Eugene: Cascade, 2013) 69.
In the wake of hurricanes and other disasters, Jones helped me see why some people get help and others don’t. The social system of the world is grounded in self-interest. Who is to blame? All of us. It’s the product of our earthly nature, which is why followers of Christ must put that thinking to death.
That’s a powerful word picture. How do we do that? Think of it this way. The Apostle Paul tells us literally to mortify or kill greed, which is the desire for money and things, because if we don’t kill it, it will kill us. If it is present in our lives it will lead us to allegiance to Mammon rather than God. What’s this got to do with generosity?
Generosity is the key to putting greed to death. Followers of Christ put the earthly nature of self-interest to death by living openhanded lives as workers, whose labor meets there personal needs and who deploy any surplus income as sharers with a keen eye for others in need, who do not have clothing, or who need food and water.
This is precisely what the Apostle Paul instructed all the churches to do when some people were starving in the first century (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:1-4). Ask God today what it means for you today to stop politely neglecting those in need and instead walk in the way of sharing.