Affluenza is the disease of greed. It’s the materialistic mindset that says that getting more money and possessions for yourself is the ultimate aim of life. Affluenza is the spirit of our age and it has infected all of us.

So Josh Harris begins a new series at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD. I highly recommend downloading the first message and checking back in the coming weeks to get the entire series.

This is a topic that’s been getting a bit of press in the “GodBlogger” world. Not only has Josh blogged on it, but DesiringGod‘s Justin Taylor has posted on “A Biblical Theology of Poverty and Almsgiving” and Dan Edelen wants to pool Christian bloggers’ resources so we can actually help some folks (rather than simply lobbing grenades in the latest doctrine war).

My only contribution at this point is my LibraryThing account — since all my books are there now, my brothers and sisters at Chesapeake Community Church can easily browse my collection, and are welcome to borrow whatever they’d like to. (Just please, no highlighting!) Just imagine the resources that could be freed up in a church if a 500-member congregation only needed 10-20 copies of a particular book? (Did the authors in the room just faint? Sorry, guys!)

But it’s a very small start. In Money, Possessions, and Eternity, Randy Alcorn lays out a vision of an Acts 4:32-37 church where there’s a master list of items members have made available to the congregation. (Have a fallen tree in your yard? Don’t go out and buy a chainsaw; Bill Smith’s got one on the list!) It’s like one big family!

Wait… isn’t that what we’re supposed to be?