Dealing With Materialism

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements:

•          Being rich is a blessing from God.

•          Getting rich is a good way to enjoy life.

•          People have the right to do anything they want with their money.

•          People should share what they have with others.

•          It is wrong to have more money than you need when other people are starving.

•          Everything we have belongs to God.

In our materialistic world, it is easy to focus more on the accumulation of things than it is on spiritual issues. But how should Christians think about these things?

Matthew 6:19-21 - Don't collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Verse 19 - Don't collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

•          Jesus said this during His most famous sermon. (The Sermon on the Mount.)

•          He was trying to help people think of things that were more important than possessions.

•          What kind of material things do we treasure?

•          Possessions wear out, or break, or get stolen. Sometimes we just lose interest in possessions as we grow into different season in life.

Verse 20 - But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal.

•          Jesus said that instead of collecting up materials things, we should collect treasures in heaven.

•          What kinds of treasures can we collect in heaven?

•          How do we collect those types of things?

•          Can such treasures be destroyed or stolen?

Verse 21 - For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

•          Jesus reminded us that the things we treasure tend to consume our time, attention and efforts. We put our heart into collecting the things we treasure.

•          If we treasure the wrong things, we must change our hearts so that the right things are important to us.

Mark 8:34-36 - Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, "If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it. For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his life?

Verse 34 - Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.

•          Jesus said if we want to follow Him, we must deny ourselves.

•          Denying ourselves is a difficult thing to put into practice, but it reveals what is truly important to us.

•          What did it mean for Jesus to take up a cross?

•          What does it mean to take up our cross?

Verse 35 - For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it.

•          Jesus said that if we make our life all about ourselves, we will lose our life.

•          What did Jesus mean by that?

•          Jesus said that if we lose our life because of Christ, we will actually find life.

•          What did Jesus mean by that?

•          Does that same thing apply to people who lose their lives for other causes than Christ?

Verse 36 - For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his life?

•          In this verse Jesus asked one of His most thought provoking questions.

•          If people gain the whole world but lose themselves in the process, what they gain is not worth the price. Instead, we must keep our focus on Christ?

•          Matthew 6:33 - But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

•          Jesus said that if we seek His kingdom first, then all the other things in life that we need will be provided to us.

Conclusion:

•          We live in a culture that tells us to take care of ourselves first.

•          Even when we help others, we often do it for reasons that benefit ourselves.

•          When we learn to give of ourselves without expecting anything in return, the Lord blesses us in ways that we cannot understand until it happens.