Read Luke 12:13-21. Christian debate over having wealth is not anything new but very intriguing because good Christian people fall on both sides of the issue. It is an issue though that must not be taken lightly because greed, or the love of money and materialism, can easily kill your soul. It is so important that 16 of 38 parables taught by Jesus dealt with money and or possessions. Greed is contagious and cancerous and in this parable Jesus warns us to watch closely so that greed doesn’t destroy our lives and souls.

• Do you think God desires for us to be rich? Why or why not?
• Have you ever watched greed develop into a cancer in your life? Explain.

Read Luke 12:1. To put Jesus’ parable into context, he was warning about hypocrisy – specifically of the Pharisees who were literally playacting their faith in God. They were giving off the appearance of personal passionate faith but really only using God for their own selfish means. Most of us in the church as well have a soft secular worldview in which we believe in God, but try to draw our meaning and security from materialism. This is the essence of idolatry, defining life by our possessions.

• Describe a time in your life when material things were your sole source of meaning and security? Did you ever feel satisfied?
• Just like the rich man, name a time you ‘built a bigger barn’ instead of becoming more generous with God’s blessings.

Read Matthew 6:24. It is clear from this verse and the parable of the rich man, that we can’t serve both material things and God at the same time. When we serve money we become passionate about pursuing wealth versus the spiritual pursuit of God, we pursue happiness when we were created for the pursuit of holiness. When we serve money we actually become a slave to money. Oppositely, however, when we serve God, money serves us and that is where God wants us to be.

• Have you ever bought something expensive and never used it much or regretted spending the money? Explain.
• Name a specific way you have changed from pursing materialism to pursuing God.

Read Proverbs 22:4. Generosity is the antidote to greed and when we become rich toward God we have truly changed to giving our lives for God’s purposes. Our life purpose is not to pursue wealth but God and it is in this pursuit that God takes care of our needs and truly brings us life, honor, fulfillment and sometimes wealth. Generosity also kills that slow growing cancer of greed that slowly takes over our lives even before we truly recognize its destructiveness to our souls.

• How has God been faithful to you financially once you pursued God purposes first?
• Describe a time you were blessed by someone’s generosity.
• How can you become more generous with God’s blessings?