The second in my Lent 2026 series on the seven deadly sins.

Greed is right up there with Sloth, Lust and Gluttony as one of the gross sins of the flesh. Like the other three, Greed seems obvious. Greed is the fat cat banker, the shyster, the conman, the slumlord. The greedy person is not only gross in his grabbing but he is cruel in his obvious trampling down of the poor, cheating, cutting corners and conning people out of their money.

But like the other deadly sins, Greed has a deeper and more subtle presence. Its root is the philosophy of materialism. By materialism I do not simply mean “Shop until you drop Grab all the goodies you can.” That sort of greedy lifestyle certainly manifests greed, but the philosophy beneath it is the blind assumption not only that material possessions will make us happy, but that the material world is all there is. The materialist denies the reality of the unseen realm. “What you see is what you get” For the materialist there is only this material realm and it is a stupid waste of time to focus on the spiritual realm.

This is why greed is a deadly sin–not because someone is rich and wants to be richer, and not even because he thinks the money will make him happy, but because his materialist mindset makes him ignorant of God, ignorant of Christ and blind to the need for him to worship God and have regard for his soul.

It is easy for Christian people who live a fairly modest lifestyle to dismiss Greed as not being one of their temptations, but greed is not determined by how much money you have in the wallet or investment account. Greed is determined by your attitude to your material things. In this debate it is all too easy to demonize rich people and canonize the poor. But we should remember that it is possible for wealthy people to be poor of spirit, amazingly generous and genuinely detached from their wealth. Likewise we should remember the poor people can be greedy too. A person is not holy simply because he is  materially poor. Indeed the greed and entitlement evident among poor people is just as disgusting as the greed and entitlement of the privileged and rich. That’s where the Beatitude hits home: :Blessed are the poor in spirit for they know their need of God.” Notice is it not “blessed are the poor” as if poverty in and of itself imparts holiness.

At the heart of greed therefore is the same complacency that is at the heart of sloth–a complacency of heart that supposed one does not need God. The slothful are complacent because they can’t be bothered with God. The greedy are complacent because they think they have everything they need: money, big house, fancy car, nice vacations and all the rest.

If that is evidence of greed, then this deadly sin is far more prevalent than we thought. The remedy for greed is obviously generosity of spirit and action. Do you want to test whether you’re greedy? Ask yourself how you feel about writing a big fat juicy check for your church’s capital campaign. I mean really big, fat and juicy.

Now I’ve pushed a button!

“Ah You don’t understand father! I have family responsibilities! We need to plan for the future! etc. etc.

“Uh huh. In other words you are trusting the Almighty Dollar not Almighty God.”