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• Affluenza is the disease of greed; it's the materialistic mindset that says getting more money and possessions is the ultimate aim of life.
• Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables of Jesus deal with money, possessions, their use, and their relationship to us.
• Jesus never condemned wealth in and of itself, but he knows how easily our hearts can make money our god.
• One of the greatest—if not the greatest—hindrances to spiritual life and spiritual growth is material wealth and the temptations that it brings with it.
• In Luke 12 Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool to a man who is worried about how much money he will earn in his inheritance.
• God wants us to see that, when it comes to money problems, our greatest concern should be avoiding the pitfalls of covetousness.
• Transition: Jesus offers three critical lessons in this parable.

• Lesson one: Greed lies to us, telling us that what matters most in life is how much stuff we have.
• In Luke 12:15 Jesus warns us not to fall prey to this mindset, saying: Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness.
• Don't believe the lie of greed, because if you do, you'll pass by what truly matters in life.
• Lesson two: Greed blinds us to what is truly important in life—the more spiritual realities.
• It's important to note that Jesus doesn't say that having money or being skilled at making money is wrong; the critical issue is how we view and use the money that we have.
• The rich man has the "I, I, I, my, my, my" syndrome. (Luke 12:17)
• The lie of greed blinds us to the needs of others.
• All of us need to stop and ask the question: Where is greed blinding me? Am I passing up what is truly important for the sake of fleeting possessions?
• Lesson three: Greed ultimately destroys us.
• Greed doesn't just lead to regret in this life; it ends in eternal loss at the end of life.
• God called the rich man a fool, a title given to those who live their lives without reference to God—those who fail to fear God and his judgment.
• Like the rich fool, it is possible for us to gain the whole world and lose our soul.
• When we understand the eternal consequences of greed, it's little wonder that Jesus warned us so strongly to be on guard against greed.
• Transition: There are at least four ways that we should be vigilant against greed.

• First, we need to recognize our unique vulnerability.
  - Illustration: The book Affluenza shows that we now have more shopping center than schools and that we spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches than we do on higher education.
  - Illustration: If you live in California, you face the reality of earthquakes; if you live in south Florida, you do the same thing for hurricanes; since we live in a consumer-minded America, we have to face the great spiritual danger of materialism and greed.
• If Jesus spoke this solemn warning to Jewish men and women in the first century, many of whom lived day to day, how much more strongly would he speak it to us as Americans living in the most prosperous nation in the history of the world?

• Second, we need to remember that there are "all kinds" of greed.
• We have a tendency to create a caricature of greed, drawing an extreme picture of greed in our mind, so we can say we don't struggle with it.
• Greed takes many forms: you don't have to be rich to be greedy, and you can be broke and greedy.
• We love to identify that place in our life where we're frugal, and we hold that thing up as the shiny example of what we're truly like—all the while ignoring the evidence of greed in our life.
  - Illustration: Harris shares how he doesn't care much for having an extravagant car, but he has three iPods.
• Greed takes many forms. That's why Jesus said: Watch out for the many different ways that greed will deceive you.

• Third, some of us need to get our financial house in order.
• If you're not planning how you're going to save, what you're going to spend your money on, how you're going to give, then you are more—not less—susceptible to the impulses of greed.
• We need to have a plan that in alignment with God's priorities, and we need to stick to it.

• Finally, we need to push back against materialism.
• Illustration: We face a constant onslaught of advertisements, enticing us to believe the lie of greed: from 1980–2004, the amount spent on children's advertising in America rose from $100 million dollars a year to $15 billion a year.
• This culture has a vested interest in making sure that you and your family continue to be ruled by wanting more.
• Guarding against greed involves a tension between enjoying what God has given us—and God's Word tells us he gives all things for us to enjoy—while at the same time watching for the presence of affluenza.
• Parents, are you training your children to have discernment about greed in their own hearts?
• Do you operate with the mindset that you have to spend money to have a good time?
• Are your conversations filled with discussions of what you want to purchase?
• When you turn your eyes to see God's generosity and begin to look for ways to express that same generosity, you're suddenly more aware of God's goodness and all the blessings that you have.

• Illustration: In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis tells the story of the very selfish and obnoxious Eustace Clarence Scrubb who is turned into a dragon because of his greed.
• All of us need the Lord to slice through the layers of greed that we have taken on, because we can't change by ourselves.