The descendants of Jacob under Joshua's leadership were beginning to take possession of the Land of Promise, when they came upon Jericho, a key city (and one of the oldest inhabited cities in the entire world). Its walls were formidable and large enough to support houses built on them. It was a place of great affluence.
Israel's soldiers were instructed to destroy the entire city and not take any of the spoils that were the usual privilege of fighting men. Apparently, only one man, Achan, disobeyed this ban, but initially, no one knew.
Israel was enjoying much success on the battlefield and their confidence was high. God Himself proved to be on their side. The wind got knocked out of their sails when they lost their next battle to an insignificant city. Why would God let them experience failure? Yahweh revealed to them that one man had helped himself to the spoils and his disobedience placed the entire nation at risk and was the reason behind the army's defeat. Through an unusual means of discernment, the guilty party was exposed and Achan did not deny his guilt. When asked about the motivation behind his actions he simply said, "I saw...them (the spoils)...wanted them... and took them" (Joshua 7:21).
There was not a single thing inherently wrong with what Achan took (a beautiful robe, some silver and a bar of gold (7:20). His sin was disobedience, and his disobedience was driven by greed. Greed itself is an expression of a belief that life and security are found in things. Further, greed is fueled by an insufficiency mindset- a belief that one won't ever have enough. It is what has sometimes driven even wealthy people to use fraudulent means to obtain more. No matter how much some people have, it will never be enough.
While money and wealth are not evil (1 Timothy 6:10,17), Paul equates greed with idolatry (Colossians 3:5). The Church is troubled about the influence of what is often called "the Gay Agenda," yet we don't seem to be the least bit concerned about the influence of greed, a prevalent and insidious evil that is effectively seducing American Christians. Are you on guard against greed?