James Mantz: Guard Against Greed (Luke 12:15)

What do you need? What do you want? There’s a big difference between things that are
absolutely necessary and things that we might enjoy or things that would make our life a
little more comfortable, even though they’re not essential. In 1956, a newspaper columnist
made an interesting observation. He estimated that 100 years earlier, in 1856, man
basically had 72 wants, of which only 16 were necessities, and men of that day were being
urged by advertisers to buy about 200 items. But by 1956, the number of wants had grown
to 474, of which 94 were viewed as necessities, and men were being bombarded with ads
to buy about 32,000 articles. The columnist’s conclusion: Man’s necessities are few; his
wants, infinite. Now, if he’d made the same estimates today, I’m sure the figures would be
a lot higher. The commercial world constantly pressures us not only to buy things but to
view as necessities things that should really be classified as wants. Seeing the clear
difference between our needs and our wants is a key to avoiding the snare of materialism,
and we appreciate the frequent reminders that we receive from “the faithful and discreet
slave.” These help us to have the proper view of material things. For example, the text
today is taken from an article that had the very clear title “Seek the Kingdom, Not Things.”
And the theme scripture was Luke 12:31, where it says: “Keep seeking his Kingdom, and
these things will be added to you.” It’s essential that we have faith in those words. We fully
trust that Jehovah is going to provide for our physical needs as long as we put his worship
first in our lives. There was a simple definition of materialism in the study article; it’s found
in paragraph 3. Now, it didn’t say that materialism is having a large bank account, living in
a big house, or driving a fancy automobile. Rather, it said: ‘Materialism is the preoccupation
‘with material things rather than with spiritual riches.’ So materialism really is a condition of
our mind and our heart. So it’s good to ask ourselves: ‘What am I constantly thinking
about? When I get together with my friends, what is the subject of our conversation?’ As
our commenters pointed out, the spirit of materialism can infect anyone —even pioneers,
even Bethelites. It infected Christians in the first century. Please open your Bibles to
Revelation chapter 3, and we’ll notice here that apparently many in the congregation had
become contaminated by the materialistic environment in the city of Laodicea. And notice
the strong counsel that Jesus gave to those who were putting their trust in material riches.
Revelation 3:17 says: “Because you say, “‘I am rich and have acquired riches and do not
need anything at all,’ “but you do not know that you are miserable and pitiful and poor and
blind and naked.” Now, were these Christians materially rich? Yes. But Jesus said they were
in spiritual poverty. Did they wear fine clothing? No doubt. But in Jesus’ eyes, they were
naked, so we can see that they were in a bad spiritual state. Was there any cure for the
Laodicean’s spiritual sickness? Yes. Look back at chapter 3 and the first part of verse 18.
Interestingly, Jesus told them that the remedy for trusting in riches was to ‘buy gold.’ But
what kind of gold? He said: “I advise you “to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you
may become rich.” Yes, spiritual riches are what are important. Only spiritual treasures are
lasting. Material possessions are merely a means to an end. We need them to keep on
living, and we need them to carry out our worship of Jehovah. So we need to ask ourselves:
‘What are my priorities? Where is my focus?’ Sally and I found ourselves asking these
questions during a recent branch visit. We met brothers in countries where the Kingdom
work is under various degrees of restriction. They have no witnessing carts. They can’t
offer literature door to door. In one country, brothers can be arrested and fined the
equivalent of six weeks’ wages just for witnessing in public. In some places, police would
confiscate your phone or your tablet if they found that it contained the JW Library® app.
In another country, when police would find JW Library® on your device, they would just
erase the app and then give the device back to the publisher. But in spite of these obstacles
and threats, our brothers are finding true joy in serving Jehovah. And you can imagine, it
was inspiring to be able to work with them during this time. In one country, we met with
circuit overseers from three different language groups. I asked them the question, “What
do our brothers need most?” In unison, they immediately replied, “Armageddon.” That
really put things in perspective for me. These brothers are not preoccupied with material
things. For them, every day is a matter of spiritual survival. Stay faithful, meet regularly,
and preach informally —these are the most important things, the things that really matter.
So how fitting is the reminder at Proverbs 11:4, where it says: “Wealth will be of no benefit
on the day of fury, but righteousness is what will rescue from death”! Yes, we may have
some possessions that we view as very valuable. We may treasure them. Maybe it’s
something we received as a family heirloom, but we should not expect that any of our
possessions, regardless of how treasured or how valuable they may be, will survive with us
through the great tribulation. Please open your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 45. We’re going
to read verse 5, and this scripture will help us to maintain the proper viewpoint of material
things. These are words that were directed to Jeremiah’s secretary, Baruch. Jeremiah 45:5
says: “‘But you are seeking great things for yourself. “‘Stop seeking such things. “For I am
about to bring a calamity on all flesh,’ “declares Jehovah, “‘and wherever you may go, I will
grant you your life as a spoil.’” Whether these “great things” Baruch was seeking were
material possessions, we do not know. What we do know is that when the great tribulation
breaks out, all of us will be grateful to come out of that tribulation with our “life as a spoil.”
And whether we survive that great tribulation or not, could very well depend on how we
answer these two questions right now: What do I want? What do I need?

James Mantz: Guard Against Greed (Luke 12:15)

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