`Don’t covet`: the tenth, final commandment. As we listen to God, coveting and materialism prove unexpectedly major issues for each of us, so we’re feeding on it a second time. `You may be sure of this`, says God, `that everyone who is covetous – that is, an idolater – has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ` (Eph 5). Wow. So this is serious!
It is indeed. Last time we noted how Jesus rephrased `Don’t covet` the positive, constructive way round, as `Love your neighbour as yourself`; and that’s the most vital `great commandment` alongside loving God (Matt 19:19). We can’t both covet and keep this vital `great commandment`. And that’s not all. Let’s never underestimate the destructive power of coveting. In James 4, coveting, wrong desire, is God’s answer to `What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? So you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want; so you quarrel and fight`…
Coveting: J John quotes John Rockefeller’s answer to how much we need for any of us to be truly satisfied and content: Always just a little more… So true?!- `Whoever loves money never has money enough` (Ecclesiastes 5). In fact to be covetous is to be in addiction, in slavery. (The media call the things they want us to covet `must-haves`: must have – slavery.)
Coveting: let’s not underestimate its power. It forces us to live on credit, unlike earlier generations; which means our lives are shaped by debts – something Romans 13:8 explicitly tells us not to let happen. It means we’ve lost control of our lives. Worse still, as J John points out, our continual `wanting more and more` is central to the global environmental crisis that’s becoming increasingly alarming; disaster for our grandchildren. Yes, greed is fatal (Eph 5:5). So how do we break free? Five more practical steps towards loving our neighbour as ourselves, rather than coveting stuff…
• Setting out to `learn`, like Paul in Phil 3, more & more to `be content`, be satisfied. An idea I want to grasp more deeply is that possessions, even if necessary or indeed sources of joy, are still weights. Maybe the flight to heaven has a 20kg weight limit! It’s easier for the camel to get through the needle’s eye than for an affluent person to get to heaven, said Jesus. What?! (Matt 19:24). Well: if we’re on our way to the glory of heaven, we’re called to lives of simplicity and restraint, we’re called to travel light!
• Practising thankfulness – a big part of learning contentment. `Instead of thinking longingly, “I must have this”` (ie coveting), says J John, `say gratefully, “Look at what I have already”… One of the basic attitudes God desires us to have is that of thanks.` (Might now be a good moment to stop reading and thank our Father for `what I have already`?)
• Bothering to expose ourselves to the facts of global poverty; have a look at tearfund.org/en/stories/ . And especially, for our brothers and sisters. I get the regular mailings from barnabasfund.org, and sometimes the facts are overpowering. Expose yourself to them, particularly if you’re struggling with covetousness… `He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord` (Prov 19:17). 30,000 children or more die of hunger and preventable disease every day; they, and their parents, are our `neighbours`. I wouldn’t spend so much on myself if those children lived next door and I could save their lives; nor, if they lived 25 miles away. So – how is it any different if they’re dying in South Sudan?
• Practising – longing – to grow in generosity. Coveting is an addiction, to materialism, and a sign of addiction is that we can’t give the stuff away. In contrast, we break addiction by giving. I’m trying to remember when I go into town to take something to the charity shop (there, I’ve written it, now I have to do it…) The giving habit means freedom for ourselves, besides blessing somebody else. `Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide… treasure in heaven that won’t be exhausted`, said Jesus (Luke 12:33)…
• So in the end, keeping this tenth, fundamental commandment is about faith; learning to think beyond what fades, to long for what lasts forever. The choice of desires, longings, determines our lives. `Seek first God’s kingdom…` We want joy, and this is where real joy comes from. So let’s set up some personal reminders that what we covet in this world is temporary; foster instead the desire to lay up treasure somewhere far more lasting.
(Read Matthew 6:19-21; verses to put on the wall…?)
