Yeshua Explored
21st August 2023
Coveting
Are we satisfied with what we have?
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:17)
This has become …
There is nothing wrong with having the ambition to strive to legally acquire what you don’t have. There is nothing wrong in fulfilling your desires.
As we saw earlier, the World has turned this particular Commandment on its head, actively promoting covetousness as a lifestyle choice and a vital cog in the wheels of capitalism and our consumer society. But what about the Church? Are we any different?
Frankly, in a World where a Bible alone is insufficient to leading a fulfilled Christian life, we must concede that our Christian subculture is just a reflection of the World. Worship has transitioned from being a verb (implying action) to a noun (physical objects). We have a globe-hopping cadre of “worship leaders” with their merchandising, including DVDs, downloads or media streams of their “worship music”. We have websites and magazines devoted to this, with reviews and Top Tens and published itineraries. Is this an aspect of covetousness, in the sense of having to have the latest offering, or am I being harsh? To be honest, there’s a touch of devilish advocacy going on here as I am, in my very small way, part of the “Christian subculture” and hence part of the problem.
I write books (too many, some may say). Am I promoting covetousness when I promote and advertise them? Does the Christian world actually need them? Could they live without them? I’ll leave you to judge. I’d like to think that I have something different to bring to the table, but that could just be self-delusion. Do you all really need the latest Steve Maltz book? I suppose if, by owning one or two of them, rather them coveting what you have, they might actually feel sorry for you! Hah!
Of course, as individual Christians we have a choice whether to partake in this circus, or even just to dip in for an occasional ‘splash about’. The ideal situation would be to be in such a close relationship with the Lord that you only purchase resources when He leads you, rather than through an advertising campaign in a Christian magazine, or because your friend has something that you really must read.
So a good plan would be one of contentment. Be satisfied with what you have unless the Lord graciously nudges you otherwise. And, of course, keep away from your neighbour’s wife, ox, donkey and servant. That goes without saying.
And that’s all I am going to say on the subject.
This is an extract from the book, Sinner’s Charter: Are the ten commandments for today?, available for £10 at https://www.sppublishing.com/the-sinners-charter-260-p.asp
