Greedy people, Business problems, and Christians
For Christ-followers, greed is one of the biggest business problems.
It’s a subtle little poison that inches its way into us without us even knowing it.
- Greed
- Earthly ambitions
- Desires for success that don’t honor God
You get the picture, right?
Business problems such as greed don’t have to sink the ship
Because as a follower of Christ you have the promised Holy Spirit as a help in overcoming those and many other things.
Philippians 3:18-19 tells us:
For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven…
One of the things that I noticed in this passage is the contrast that Paul illustrates between people who he calls “enemies of the cross” and those of us whom he calls “citizens of heaven”.
First off, I see two things that could be temptations for us, even though our citizenship is in heaven. Paul writes that their god is their belly. This means that they are controlled and driven by their appetites and desires – earthy things that they strive after.
In business and entrepreneurship, all of us can get pulled into that trap very easily and quickly. Greed, the desire for success, and the love of money are things we need to be aware of constantly.
We want to be successful and we want our businesses to thrive – for the sake of the Kingdom, for the good of our families, and to bless the world around us. But we don’t want our mindset and attitudes to be drawn toward greed, earthly ambitions or desires for success that do not honor God; so that in our heart we end up loving those things rather than loving God.
Paul then writes that their “minds [are] set on earthly things”. In business, even “citizens of heaven” can easily find our minds setting here, too. There’s the customer who ticks us off; financial troubles; stresses of management and oversight. We need to be aware of these things, but we can’t let them govern our mindset or else our hearts will be consumed by these things.
The Bible tells us that our minds need to be set on the reality of who we are in Jesus Christ. Our mindset should be focused on heavenly things, focusing on the reason behind our business. This reason is to bring glory to God and to bring great gain to the world.
Take a few moments to ponder these verses and prayerfully ask God to remove the things in you that are like what are in “the enemies of the cross” as Paul describes. Instead, we should have a mindset and a heart toward heaven.