The Boomerang of Greed
Introduction: The Poisoned Well
We live in an age that is drowning in stuff and yet is gasping for air. Our culture is defined by a frantic, grasping pursuit of more. More money, more security, more influence, more comfort. We are told from a thousand different pulpits, from the television to the university, that the good life is the life of acquisition. But this frantic pursuit is a spiritual sickness, and it has consequences. Like a man who poisons his own well, the modern world is drinking deeply from the waters of greed and is surprised to find itself sick unto death.
Into this confusion, the book of Proverbs speaks with a bracing and unwelcome clarity. Proverbs is not a collection of folksy platitudes for your grandmother's needlepoint. It is a book of divine wisdom, of street-level theology that teaches us how the world actually works under the sovereign hand of God. It shows us that reality has a grain, and if you live against that grain, you will get splinters. Big ones.
Today's proverb is a perfect example of this. It is a sharp, two-sided blade. On the one side, it diagnoses a disease that is endemic to the fallen human heart: the love of unjust gain. On the other side, it presents the cure: a heart that hates corruption and therefore truly lives. This proverb teaches us that our relationship with money is never neutral; it is always a spiritual indicator. It reveals who, or what, we truly worship. And the object of our worship will determine whether we bring trouble or life into the very center of our world, our own homes.
The Text
He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house,
But he who hates gifts of bribery will live.
(Proverbs 15:27 LSB)
The Sickness of Greed (v. 27a)
The first clause lays out the diagnosis and the devastating result:
"He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house..." (Proverbs 15:27a)
Let's be precise here. The Bible is not against profit, or work, or providing for one's family. Diligence is a profound Christian virtue. The "gain" spoken of here is not the fruit of honest labor. The Hebrew often carries the connotation of unjust gain, of profit seized through dishonest or violent means. This is the man who cuts corners, who cheats on his taxes, who squeezes the poor, who builds his business on a foundation of lies. He is "greedy" for it; his heart is captive to it. This is not a man who has money; this is a man whom money has.
This greed is fundamentally a worship disorder. It is idolatry, plain and simple. Colossians tells us that greed is idolatry. It is a violation of the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before Me," and the tenth, "You shall not covet." The greedy man has traded the infinite satisfaction of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever for the cheap, plastic thrill of glorifying himself and enjoying his stuff for a little while. His chief end is not God; his chief end is his 401(k).
And what is the result of this idolatry? He "troubles his own house." This is a covenantal boomerang. The man, as the head of his household, is meant to be a conduit of God's blessing, stability, and peace. He is the priest-king of his little kingdom. But when his heart is corrupted by greed, he doesn't just trouble himself. He imports that corruption, that anxiety, that spiritual chaos, right into the heart of his home. His sin is personal, but the consequences are corporate.
Think of Achan in the book of Joshua. He was greedy for gain. He saw the Babylonian garment and the silver and gold, and he coveted them. He took them and hid them in his tent, right in the middle of his household. And what did God say? "Israel has sinned... Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies." What did Joshua say to Achan? "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." And it wasn't just Achan who was stoned. His sons, his daughters, his livestock, his entire household, were consumed with him. The poison he brought into his tent poisoned his whole family. In the same way, the man who is greedy for gain brings a curse home with him. He troubles his wife with his anxiety, he teaches his children by example that mammon is lord, and he invites the disfavor of God to settle over his roof.
The Antidote of Integrity (v. 27b)
But the proverb does not leave us with the disease. It gives us the antidote, the picture of a righteous man.
"But he who hates gifts of bribery will live." (Proverbs 15:27b)
Notice the stark contrast. The first man is "greedy for gain." The second man "hates gifts of bribery." This is not a man who is merely indifferent to bribes, or who politely declines them. He hates them. There is a visceral, moral revulsion in his soul at the very idea of a bribe. Why? Because a bribe is a tool to pervert justice. It is an attempt to buy a lie. It is a direct assault on the character of God, who is Himself the foundation of all justice and truth. A bribe says, "Reality is for sale." The righteous man knows that reality is owned and operated by God Almighty, and it is not for sale.
This hatred of corruption is the natural fruit of a heart that is truly content in God. Contentment is not a grim resignation to having less. Contentment is the joyful, settled confidence that God is our provider and that His ways are best. The content man is free. He is not owned by his appetites. Because he fears God, he does not have to fear his bills. Because he loves God's law more than gold, he can look a bribe in the face and feel nothing but disgust.
And what is the result for this man? He "will live." This is one of the great promises of Scripture. This "life" is not just about breathing in and out. The Hebrew concept of life is one of shalom, of flourishing, wholeness, peace, and stability. While the greedy man brings trouble and chaos into his house, the man of integrity brings life. His house is built on the rock of God's unchanging law, and it will stand. His children will have a legacy not of hoarded cash, but of unwavering character. He is building a household that is a place of genuine, robust, God-fearing life.
Conclusion: The Great Exchange
This proverb, like all of Scripture, ultimately points us to the gospel. We are all, by nature, greedy for gain. We have all coveted what is not ours. We have all, in our hearts, chosen the idol of self over the one true God. And because of this, we have brought trouble upon our own heads, the ultimate trouble of God's righteous wrath.
But into our troubled house came Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate man who "hates bribes." When Satan offered Him all the kingdoms of the world as a bribe in the wilderness, He refused. He lived a life of perfect integrity, perfect contentment in His Father's will. He was the only man who ever truly lived according to this proverb.
And on the cross, a great exchange took place. He took the trouble that our greed deserved. He became the Achan for us, and the trouble of God's judgment fell upon Him. He did this so that we, by faith in Him, could receive the life that His integrity earned. He took our trouble so that we could have His life.
Therefore, for the Christian, the fight against greed is not mere moral self-improvement. It is spiritual warfare. It is about living out the reality of our salvation. As husbands and fathers, we must ask ourselves: what am I bringing into my house? Am I, through a love of money and a desire for unjust gain, dragging the trouble of Achan's sin into my living room? Or am I, by hating what God hates and loving what He loves, cultivating a household that is marked by the very life of Christ?
Repent of your greed. Hate bribery. Trust in the provision of your Father. Build your house not on the shifting sands of the stock market, but on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. For the man who does this will find that he is building a house that will not just survive, but will truly, gloriously, live.