GREED CONFLICT IN COMMUNICATIONS DR. JOE HARVEY JOHNSON UNIVERSITY FLORIDA Jeremiah 6:13-15a

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1 GREED CONFLICT IN COMMUNICATIONS DR. JOE HARVEY JOHNSON UNIVERSITY FLORIDA 2017 Jeremiah 6:13-15a

2 DEFINING GREED Greed! What comes to mind when you hear that word? Stop now and create a mental picture of a greedy person. What does he do for a living? How is he dressed? What makes him different from those who are not greedy? That's what the New Testament Greek word commonly translated "greed" in the New Testament means: "to want more."

3 WHAT ARE WE GREEDY FOR? Praise Stuff Pleasure Excitement Money More Power

4 DESCRIBING GREED Greed creates a restless heart. [Habakkuk 2:4-5] "See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright--but the righteous will live by his faith--indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples." Greed destroys community! [James 4:1-3] "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

5 WHEN THE NORM BECOMES NORMAL Greed Loves Things and Uses People Greed Become a Dominant Attitude Greed Drives Identity He may even see himself in relationship to that which he possesses. If he has more, he feels better about himself. If he has more, he feels better than someone else. If he has more, he doesn't need anyone else. Greed becomes an orientation to life, his worldview! [Luke 12:15-21] Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

6 THE NATURE OF GREED [Colossians 3:5] "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry." Greed is listed here with four issues related to the misuse of sexuality--reminding us of how powerful and pleasurable it is. It is listed as one of the things that Christian must opt out of. We are given the picture of an executioner. Greed is a vicious criminal on a rampage and must be stopped. "Put it to death!" says Paul. Kill it before it destroys your ministry, your family, your life, your relationship with God. PsychologyToday.com

7 ANGER AND COMPANY! Seven Sins Eight Vices 1 1Gluttony 2 2Lust 3 3Greed (Avarice) 4 4Anger 5 5Sloth (Gloominess) 5 6Sloth (Listlessness) 6 7Envy (Boasting) 7 8Pride

8 GREED AS IDOLATRY [Ephesians 5:1-5] "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person such a man is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." A greedy person is an idolater! We don't normally think of people these days as idol worshippers. The idea here is that these people have placed their love, or hope, or trust in someone or something other than God. They have also assumed that they are the rightful owners of things to be used for their own purposes. The contrasting biblical approach is that of stewardship: being a faithful manager of someone else's possessions (i.e., God's). "To act as if everything exists for us is to place ourselves in the place of God himself. All things were created by him and for him (Col. 1:16), and not for us" (Max Anders).

9 GREED AND MONEY

10 GREED-DRVEN CULTURE (OZ GUINNESS) 1. Advertising is biased toward a secular, materialistic, and amoral view of life. It is the art of getting people to buy what they don't need by describing it in ways they know are not true. 2. Advertising is biased against the independent audience and thinker. It generally only promotes things that have large sales potential. 3. Advertising is biased against substantive content. It doesn't provide enough detail in an objective manner to promote a balanced decision. 4. Advertising is biased against thinking and discernment. It encourages impulse buying. 5. Advertising is biased against the advanced and controversial. It promotes the inoffensive and economically safe.

11 WHAT ADVERTISERS BELIEVE ABOUT US We are consumers. We consume to feel good. We consume to feel good about ourselves. We consume because we're bored, lonely, tired, or afraid. We will consume more than we need. We consume more than we can afford.

12 JEREMIAH 2:13 "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."