We are the problem. In Thinking Christian, I suggest, “When we have not offered a faithful digital presence, it is, in part, because we did not have a good idea of what it meant to offer a faithful ‘analog’ presence.”
We have always had a problem with greed. We seem to want the wrong things for the wrong reasons, thereby losing any reasonable grip on what it means to choose God over greed.
We cannot lose sight of the fact that exaggerated spectacles like Vegas and the gossip-column-framed-as-investigative-journalism have something in common: they wouldn’t exist without us.
Our desires begin to form us spiritually through economic systems in which we are, to one degree or another, willing participants. Greed often results in the accumulation of wealth. The fact that greed often results in wealth, however, should not blind us to other objects of greed.
Greed, we might say, is about the incessant pursuit of something deemed so valuable that obtaining it pushes out gratitude and contentment. We no longer “seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness” but set it aside to chase what has become the object of our misdirected desires.
Our desire to be fulfilled by something other than God, overreach God-given boundaries in pursuit of our own aims, and set agendas for God that relegate him to second (or third, fourth, fifth, etc.) position reflect the sort of self-centeredness that allows greed to flourish.
While Paul may rejoice at the spread of the gospel even when it is motivated by selfish ambition (Philippians 1:15-18), he isn’t endorsing selfish ambition.
Greed is rooted in our unwillingness to take direction from our Creator so that as we identify the objects of our desire, we give ourselves over to reflect those objects rather than God’s glory.
Arguably, even our most legitimate desires, when left unchecked and redirected by God, can limit our ability to love God and neighbor.
If we (individually or collectively) allow our desire for virtues, such as truth, justice, accountability, holiness, unity, or love, to overshadow God, we offer a false picture of Him to the world.
In our portrayal of God, He begins to look more like us. We suggest that God conforms to our desires and serves our purposes.
Persecution Live 