What is materialism?

Give an illustration in our culture.

Give an illustration in your own life.

Materialism

Where riches hold the dominion of the heart, God has lost His authority.

John Calvin

I am the Lord your God.…You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Exodus 20:2-3, 17

Materialism in ScriptureAchan Joshua 7Balaam Numbers 22:4-35Delilah Judges 16Gehazi 2 Kings 5:20-27Judas Iscariot Matthew 26:14-16,

47-50; 27:3-10Ananias and Sapphira Acts 5:1-11Rich man and Lazarus Luke 16:19-31Rich young ruler Matthew 19

The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

Deuteronomy 17:16-17

Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

Luke 12:15

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 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. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

James 4:1-3

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Matthew 16:26

Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.

Psalm 39:6

Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.…Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

Luke 6:20, 25

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed…. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. James 1:9-12

James 5:1-6 Now listen, you rich people, weep

and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your

fields are crying out against you…. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

James 5:1-6

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Colossians 3:5

Question:

In what sense is Materialism or Greed a form of Idolatry?

Lust = Adultery Matt. 5:28Hatred = Murder 1 John 3:15Greed = Idolatry Col. 3:5

“As he thinks within himself, so he is.” Proverbs 23:7

Jesus also said, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

Luke 16:13

Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself.

Revelation 18:7

Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!

Revelation 18:16-17

Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.

Revelation 18:20

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God…for the living God.

Psalm 42:1-2, NASB

My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalm 63:1, NASB

How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

Psalm 36:7-9

If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.

John 7:37-38

How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure.

St. Augustine

Practical and Biblical Arguments Against

Materialism

Materialism prevents or destroys our spiritual life.

You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Revelation 3:17-18

There was once in man a true happiness of which there now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does not obtain in things present. But these are all inadequate, because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself.

Blaise Pascal

“Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the Lord. “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.”

Jeremiah 2:11-13

By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud.

Ezekiel 28:4-5

The abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.

Ecclesiastes 5:12

The abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.

Ecclesiastes 5:12

Materialism brings us unhappiness and anxiety.

I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness.

John D. Rockefeller

The care of $200 million is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it.

W. H. Vanderbilt

I am the most miserable man on earth. John Jacob Astor

I was happier when doing a mechanic’s job.

Henry Ford

Millionaires seldom smile.Andrew Carnegie

Materialism always ends in futility.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 I thought in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives….

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them … I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.…

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Advertising’s job: Persuade you that you need what you really don’t; that you’ll be satisfied with what can’t satisfy.

Study: “Six months after winning lottery, winners were no happier than if paralyzed in a car crash.”

Ecclesiastes 5:10-15

The More You Have…

Whoever loves money never has money enough.

The more you have, the more you want.

Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.

The more you have, the less you’re satisfied.

As goods increase, so do those who consume them.

The more you have, the more people (including the government) come after it.

And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?

The more you have, the more you realize it doesn’t meet your real needs.

The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.

The more you have, the more you have to worry about.

I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner

The more you have, the more you can hurt yourself with it.

or wealth lost through some misfortune.

The more you have, the more you have to lose.

Naked a man comes from hismother’s womb; as he comes, so hedeparts. He takes nothing from hislabor he can carry in his hand.

The more you have, the more you have to leave behind.

Wealth often leads to pride and arrogance—and rejection of God

When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant.

Deuteronomy 31:20

Jeshurun [Israel] grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols….

Deuteronomy 32:15-16

Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me—those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?

Psalm 49:5-6

Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!”

Psalm 52:7

But I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me. I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat. When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.

Hosea 13:4-6

John Wesley Wherever true Christianity

spreads, it must cause diligence and frugality, which, in the natural course of things, must beget riches! And riches naturally beget pride, love of the world, and every temper that is destructive of Christianity….

Now, if there be no way to prevent this, Christianity is inconsistent with itself and, of consequence, cannot stand, cannot continue long among any people; since, wherever it generally prevails, it saps its own foundation.

John Wesley

For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

1 Corinthians 4:7

But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Deuteronomy 8:18

Materialism fosters immorality and the deterioration of the family.

Materialism distracts us from our central purpose.

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.

Matthew 13:22

Materialismin the Church

John 2:13-17 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle;

he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables…. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

John 2:13-17

Acts 8 When Simon saw that the

Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.

Acts 8:18-21

Prosperity Theology: Health and

Wealth Gospel

Questions:

What Bible passages or stories could be used to support prosperity theology (that God blesses his faithful people by making them wealthy)?

What passages or stories could be used to refute prosperity theology?

Old Testament and Prosperity

Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

Genesis 26:12-14

The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes… Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned….

Genesis 39:2-6

Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.

1 Kings 3:13

The LORD made Job prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters.….After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years. Job 42

Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

Deuteronomy 15:10

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Proverbs 3:9-10

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Proverbs 11:25

“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’

“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house…. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see

if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.

Malachi 3:8-12

Deuteronomy 28 If you fully obey the LORD your

God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, then the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock… Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out….The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity… The LORD will open the heavens,

the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. …The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, then you will always be at the top, never at the bottom… However, if you do not obey the all these curses will come upon you and overtake you...

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil.

Psalm 37:35

The other side of the wealth and blessing

paradox:

I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.…This is what the wicked are like—always carefree, they increase in wealth.

Psalm 73:3, 12

In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

Ecclesiastes 7:15

You are always righteous, O Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?

Jeremiah 12:1

Christ and Prosperity

His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

John 9:2-3

* Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Matthew 19:23-25

Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Matthew 8:20

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Matthew 5:45

Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

Luke 6:20-25

…That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: “No servant is greater than his master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

John 15:18-20

Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings…. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it….

Matthew 10:16-20

In this world you will have trouble…

John 16:33

Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:33