Thoughts on Coveting

My son, Yuri, and I are doing regular reading from Bob Schultz “Boyhood and Beyond: Practical Wisdom for Becoming a Man” as part of his homeschooling. There are a lot of insights from that book about real “practical wisdom” that are worth reading, re-reading and applying in daily life. This morning we came to that chapter on coveting or greed that really struck me as we read it. I would like to share some of Bob’s thoughts here. I hope it will help you fight against this idolatry which is very “rampant” among us and which we should "put away" and replace it with the precious word of God (James 1:21).

“When man covets, he is unable to enjoy the presence of God. Foremost in his mind is the item he wants. He dreams about it. He schemes about how to get it. He becomes so full of his desire that his heart has no room to experience God's presence. The man has lost his trust in God to supply his need ["according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19)]. His focus, his attention, is getting the item he wants. Sometimes he will resort to whining, to deception, and even to outright theft. That is why the Bible says that covetousness is idolatry [Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5]. It is having something in your hearts that holds more of our attention and desire than God holds….

If something doesn't belong to you, don't covet it and don't possess it. If you find an item that was lost or stolen, locate the owner and return it. The usefulness and happiness of a man does not depend upon what he acquires. Fullness of joy depends upon the awareness of God's presence ["You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." ~ Psalm 16:11]. Anything that threatens that awareness is not worth having.”

The Gain of Godliness

by Terry Johnson (a Tabletalk article on August 2009 available at http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/gain-godliness/)

Rich people are materialistic. We all know it. All they care about is their money and things. Or so I thought. My background consists of a blue-collar neighborhood and an inner-city high school in Southern California. My quick judgment of wealthy people, when first I encountered them, was that they were superficial, worldly, and materialistic. They were caught up in things and appearances. They lacked the simplicity of the virtuous poor, the salt of the earth, among whom I numbered myself.

“The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil,” says the apostle (1 Tim. 6:10, NASB). He warns not of money per se, but the “love of money,” and “longing for it.” He addresses not the rich so much as “those who want to get rich” (v. 9), among whom we could add those desperate to hang on to their money or multiply their money and become richer yet.

The money problem that the apostle Paul is addressing is a human problem, not the exclusive hang-up of the upper classes. Often the rich, having grown accustomed to wealth, pay little attention to it. Old money is notorious for modest housing, old cars, and shabby clothing. The acquisitive impulse often is more evident in the poor, the middle class, and the newly wealthy. These classes of people both envy and idolize the rich and famous. They dream of limitless wealth and conspicuous consumption. They become obsessed with getting wealth and long for the opportunity to ostentatiously display it. The reverse snobbery of people of modest means, who loathe people of substance while they pretend virtue, cannot mask the reality that we ordinary folks are not exempt from the apostle’s warnings. We all struggle with the “love of money,” rich and poor alike.

Both then and now there are preachers who will justify materialism and even preach a “health and wealth” gospel, at the heart of which is the promise that “godliness (usually a warped form of godliness) is a means of gain.” The apostle complained of such preachers then, and we still hear of such preachers today (1 Tim. 6:5).

Genuine Christianity offers a different perspective and a better alternative: “But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment” (v. 6).

The gain of godliness is spiritual, not material. True godliness is accompanied not by wealth but by contentment with one’s lot. Contentment is found in becoming indifferent towards wealth. Money is fine. Use it if you’ve got it. But don’t be consumed with its pursuit. Don’t long for it. Don’t love it. Why not? Because we can’t take it with us, the apostle reminds us.

“For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either” (v. 7). Life is short and eternity is long. Why spend one’s life accumulating things that must be left behind, that are useless in eternity? Also, nutrition and shelter should be enough. What else do we really need? “And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content” (v. 8).

Plus, money is a huge distraction and dangerous deception. Many “fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches” (v. 17). Wealth presents many a “temptation and snare.” It arouses “many foolish and harmful desires” (v. 9). Like what? Covetousness, materialism, pride, self-sufficiency, idolatry, selfishness, greed, fraud, deceit, abuse of others, neglect of others, neglect of the soul, and so on. These desires “plunge men into ruin and destruction” (v. 9).

Contented people live simply; they live quietly; they live peacefully. Those who wish to accumulate or preserve wealth are tortured by their options: vacations, cars, houses, clothes. Poor folk don’t wrestle with their options because they have so few of them. The rich are concerned with the progress of their investments and things. They’re terrified of losing it all. Poor folk have little to lose. The rich fear con-artists taking advantage of them, cheating them, or using them. Poor folk are confident that their friends and acquaintances are genuine. Wealth and its pursuit easily becomes an obsession, an idol, which can destroy the soul. The “worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word,” Jesus warned (Matt. 13:22). Didn’t Jesus say something about the futility of trying to serve God and mammon? Didn’t Jesus say something about the futility of laying up treasures on earth rather than in heaven? Didn’t Jesus say where our treasure was, there would our hearts be also (Matt. 6:19–24)? Some who “long for it,” for money, the apostle says, “have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim. 6:10).

Modernity is materialistic. Every day the modern world lies to us in saying that happiness will be found in more things, bigger things, and better things. It projects a very seductive image of satisfaction through consumption. Regrettably, many professing Christians fall prey to the world’s counterfeit vision.

God's Judgment of Man's Senseless Life

(a meditation on Luke 12:20-21)

Luke 12:20-21
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

In v. 20, we can see God’s action in the parable. He looks at the man’s life and His judgment is quite sobering. It's very serious. God calls the man “fool!” The word fool here is not the same word which Jesus forbids His disciple to call a brother (Mt. 5:22). Rather, this word is similar to that term which the book of Proverbs likes to use in contrast of people who are wise. The word fool here therefore may also carry an immoral kind of life.

So in God’s judgment, the rich man’s selfish pursuit of wealth and personal happiness, without any regard of God, is plain senselessness or vanity, a ‘striving after wind,’ as the book of Ecclesiastes calls it.

This is so because, as Jesus said in Luke 12:15b, “a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." The man in the parable obviously did not consider God in all his plans. He did not even think about death or about the life to come. He is preoccupied with all his riches and the pleasures he can get from it.

I am not saying that seeking pleasures is absolutely wrong. But when pleasures are sought apart from serving God and loving others, these pleasures are illegitimate and selfish.

The point here therefore is that, a life that is worth in God’s sight is one that ‘lays up treasure’ not for one’s self but for God and for His kingdom (cf. Luke 12:21).

Foolishness characterizes the lives of those who seek to please and live for themselves in the here and now only. But blessed are those who seek to please God and store up heavenly and eternal treasures for they will surely be satisfied at the right time. Be on your guard against all kinds of materialism!

May the grace of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, enable us to overcome and displace this idolatry of greed in us. May we learn to follow Christ with contentment and simplicity, always seeking to serve Him by serving others.

Man’s Selfish Quest for Earthly Possessions

(a meditation on Luke 12:16-19)

Luke 12:16-19
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

The agricultural setting and terminologies of this parable perfectly fits the situation in Jesus’ life and time. Undoubtedly, the images Jesus presenting to His audience were understandable to them because Israel was largely a rural and agricultural community. So what’s the point of this parable?

The parable can be divided into two sections. Each section contains one major point. Each point is derived from the action of each character mentioned. The two characters are the rich man (v. 16) and God (v. 20). The division would be: (1) the rich man’s selfish quest for earthly possessions (vv. 16-19); and (2) God’s solemn judgment of man’s senseless life (vv. 20-21).

The first section tells us of man’s good agricultural harvest (v.16) and his boasting about the kind of life which he can enjoy as a result of his great material success (vv. 17-19). The second section, however, gives us a sad picture of man’s destiny in the hands of God who will demand a reckoning of his life. This second section is notably marked by the contrasting word ‘but’.

The Rich Man’s Selfish Quest for Earthly Possessions (vv. 16-19)

The point of the first section of the parable is not to show the readers that acquisition of material wealth is sinful, nor to remind them that good stewardship of one’s wealth is wrong. The Bible itself does not condemn money or any earthly goods. What is ‘foolish’ in the rich man’s action was his selfish or covetous pursuit of acquiring wealth.

Covetousness is surely a sin, a breach of the essence of the tenth commandment that says, “You shall not covet.” This surely hinders one’s relationship with God for as Paul says in Col. 3:5, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: ... covetousness, which is idolatry.” A selfish quest for wealth is indeed idolatry for it draws man away from God unto mammon.

Greed also destructs one’s devotion to God for as Paul again warned Timothy in 1 Tim. 6:10 that, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

Indeed the rich man in the parable is preoccupied with self and his quest for more wealth for selfish indulgence. This is obvious by the text’s repeated use of the personal pronoun “I” and the words ‘relax, eat, drink, be merry,’ which also imply a kind of life void of godliness.

In general, the point here, as one author puts it, is that, “A purely selfish accumulation of possessions is incompatible with true discipleship.” The problem with this man is that, in his great material success he did not bother to ask, “How much shall I give to the cause of God?” Nor did he inquire, “How much of this shall I give to the poor?”

Let us always remember that everything we call our own comes from God and they belong to God. He gave them to us in order to serve Him and others better. One day we will give account to Him for the use of these things, whether money, talent or gifts.

Jesus is saying, “If you want to follow me, you must be willing to give up the things in your hands. You must be willing to suffer loss. You must be willing to assume other’s loss and trust me to repay you. You must make me your greatest treasure in life and in death.”

Unless we accept this challenge, we cannot be true followers of Christ. Do you really want to follow Christ? You must be willing to die yourself so Christ could live and rule in your heart. Instead of striving for your self, work hard to help others as well, especially those who are in the family of God.

Giving up our pride is necessary to be able to consider others as important as we are. Sometimes as a pastor, I have the tendency to present myself as if I know a lot. The truth is, I don’t. There are certain areas that others know more than I know. Women know a lot about housekeeping, cooking and baking. I know very little. Our children know more about computers and how to use them than we do.

The world does not revolve around us. We are not the most important people in this world. We must therefore learn to give up our rights and privileges in order to serve others in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let's use our time, our talent and our treasures not to boost our pride but in order to serve our neighbor and fellowmen. Give up anything Christ requires from you. Put Him first. Stop saying, “I will do this and I will do that so I can be happy.” Instead say, “If this is pleasing to the Lord and beneficial to others, I will do it.”

A meaningful and successful life is a life that obeys the will of God and cares for the welfare of others. Christ Himself exemplified this life by living and dying for the glory of God and the redemption of His people. God defines success in life. He is the judge who evaluates our lives. What kind of life do you live? God judged the man in the parable. God’s judgment of this man’s life is that it is a senseless life.

Jesus' Warning Against All Kinds of Greed

(a meditation on Luke 12:13-15)

After Jesus warned His disciples about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (verses 1b-3), He started to teach them many things that pertain to Christian discipleship in the face of hard realities in life. Jesus’ ‘teaching session’ with the disciples was shortly interrupted by someone in the crowd.

The man asked Jesus to act as a judge or an arbiter in an inheritance dispute between him and his brother. The man calls Jesus a “Teacher.” This is significant because the title reflects the people’s common view of Jesus, that is, a respected rabbi.

The man’s request was not totally illegitimate because as a recognized rabbi, Jesus may do such task, as expected from any teacher of the Law. But Jesus declined this man’s request. His response to this man carries the idea of rebuke. The word He used to address the man (“Man”) is harsh in their context. Jesus also recognized that the man’s request is not in line with His mission.

We can also glean from Christ’s next statement the motive behind the request. At the heart of man’s request to divide the property between him and his brother lies greed. Jesus warns those who follow Him to be on guard of this. Excessive focus on possessions or the desire to have more is destructive. It can destroy relationships. It can cause disagreement among brothers.

This is the man’s situation with his brother. Many people do not mind bringing their relatives to court in order to get what they want from them. They usually become insensitive toward others. They do not mind destroying the good relationship with their friends, neighbors or relatives, as long as they can get what they want from them. This insensitivity is usually motivated by greed.

So Jesus warned the people of this danger. Life is more than accumulating wealth. It is far more than having a dream car, brand new house in a lush village, hi tech gadgets, branded clothes, jewelries, and other material things. In Jesus’ words, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possession.”

Our life is not measured by the number of things we own. If you think that life is better if you own everything you want, you are deceived. This is plain covetousness and this is not compatible with Christian discipleship.

So after Jesus refused the man’s request, He immediately turned to the people around Him and sternly warned them against ‘all kinds of greed.’ Obviously, Jesus reinforced this warning when he told the people the parable of the rich fool.

Beware of Greed!

(a meditation on Luke 12:13-21)

Setting the Context

The Christian life is like a journey. There are road signs we need to observe and follow. Otherwise we will be in danger of accident or arrest. As followers of Jesus Christ, there are certain danger signs we need to be particularly aware of. Once ignored these danger signs can bring fatal destruction in our lives as believers.

One of these danger signs is greed or covetousness. The modern term is closely related to materialism. Sometimes we think that only rich people struggle with this problem. But greed is universal. It comes from the heart of every man (cf. Mk 7:20-23), young or old, rich or poor. It enslaves everyone whose ultimate purpose in life is to accumulate things of this world.

Once we measure success or blessed life by the number of material things we possess, by the income we receive, by the clothes we wear, by the cars we drive or by the size of our houses, greed has crept into our hearts.

The good news is, Christ has defeated the power of greed at the cross. He nailed it there. Being united with Christ by faith, we also had been set free from the power of greed. But as a power, as a master who wants to control our heart, we still struggle against it.

Many people today use the name of Christ in order to get rich. There are some people we know who are able to build big houses, even kingdom, using the name of Christ. They look very religious. They are well known. However their lives do not reflect Christ in His self-sacrificing love, compassion, kindness, humility and real concern for others.

Oftentimes these religious men use and manipulate people to achieve their personal agenda. Such selfish people are not worthy to be called Christ’s disciples. They may profess to be His followers but their lives betray their profession. Beware of such people!

In Luke 12, Christ is instructing His disciples to watch out for few things. First, He calls His disciples’ attention to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He compared their hypocrisy to that of the yeast. Why yeast? Yeast is a baking material. A small amount of it can cause a small dough of flour to rise up to several times its original size.

In Scripture yeast is almost always a symbol of evil (cf. 1 Cor 5:6-7). This is why Jesus told His disciples to be on their guard against the ‘hypocrisy’ of the Pharisees. They appear to be godly but deep within they are burning with pride and envy. They seem to follow Christ but their intention was to kill Him and to persecute His followers.

Christ is a threat to their cause and religion. This explains why Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, was so zealous in persecuting the church. This is something scary! So Jesus warns them. But He also said not to be afraid for God the Holy Spirit will take care of them. Trusting Him is all they need to do.

There is real danger in following Christ wholeheartedly. This makes Christianity a radical religion. If you follow Christ consider yourself to be dead. If you want to stand for God's truth and live for the sake of the gospel you will be persecuted. It can cost your life. Remember John Huss? Remember Guido de Bres and many others who stood for Christ and the Christian faith? They professed and lived out their faith in Christ in the hands of their enemies.

Remember our Lord Jesus Himself. He suffered the greatest injustice ever committed by man for the truth of the gospel. He, the sinless Son of God, was unjustly condemned as a worse criminal. Are you willing to suffer the same for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for His gospel?