There are over 400 distinct passages in the Bible that address issues of
poverty and greed and wealth and responsibility. Over 3,000 particular verses address
this topic. The Bible is saturated with this over and over and over again.
God calls
his people to practice justice, to have a heart for the poor, to provide housing
for the homeless and food for those who are hungry and to care for the widows and
those that are under oppression. The Bible is saturated, just saturated with that
theme.
In fact, greed is the second most frequently mentioned sin in the Bible.
The first one is idolatry, and I would argue that greed, actually,
is simply a form of idolatry. It's pervasive in the Bible.
In fact, the number one reason why God judges
nations in the old testament
is because of their greed.
Greed is, simply, a matter of hoarding more than you need when there are people who have less than
they need, hoarding more food than you need when there are people who are hungry.
That's called gluttony. Hoarding more resources than you need when there are people
who don't have enough resources, that is
greed. And the number one reason why God judges nations in the old testament, including
Israel, is because of their greed. This is a topic that is central to God's heart.
I don't think you can get a topic that is more central to God's heart than this
one.
The above is a quote by Greg Boyd from his sermon, Seeing What God Sees, 4th October
2009.
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