Greed. It's a difficult stronghold to overcome because the truth is, greed is hard to see in the mirror. It's really easy to see in other, but for ourselves...not so much. However, recent studies from over last decade, substantiate this claim: "Zogby recently conducted a large benchmark poll in which respondents identified "greed/materialism" as the number one "most urgent problem in American culture." "Poverty/economic justice" finished in second place. In a 2014 Vanity Fair poll, 78 percent of Americans disagreed with the famous Gordon Gekko quote "Greed is good." Only 19 percent agreed. A recent poll of Economist readers asked "What is the deadliest sin?" and, greed ranked number one. But, surprisingly, although everyone thinks greed is a terrible problem, most people don't think they are greedy. The BBC conducted a poll on the seven deadly sins (anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride and sloth), greed was last on the list in answer to two questions: Which sin have you ever committed? and Which sin have you committed in the past month? Plenty of Brits copped to being lazy, proud, envious and angry. But greedy? Seventh out of seven, last on the list. Tim Keller, argues "even though it is clear that the world is filled with greed and materialism, almost no one thinks it is true of them … Greed hides itself from the victim."

The fact is, to a certain degree, we all struggle with greed; no matter how little or much money one may have. What makes greed so dangerous is that it can be a stronghold which keeps us from growing as a disciple of Jesus--which is why he talked so much about it. Even more then the topics of hell and judgement, Jesus had more to say about money and possessions...and it wasn't because he wanted more money and possessions! Jesus taught on this topic so much because he knew it was the greatest obstacles in living as a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Check out part four of our sermon series, Mindset, and discover how Jesus instructs us on how to think differently about our money and possessions.