You Shall Not Covet

The last commandment of the Decalogue states: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Ex 20:17 NIV).

It is commonly noted that this last commandment deals not so much with actions (such as theft, murder or adultery) but with the attitude of the heart. “God’s searchlight moves from actions to attitudes, from motions to motives and from forbidden deeds to forbidden desires,” so writes J.I. Packer.

ITS MEANING
The Hebrew word for covet (hamad) is a neutral word which means “desire” or take pleasure in.” We are all creatures of desires. That is what drives us to be what we are – to do our best, be creative, and to pursue ambitions in life, be they in career, sports, marriage or family life. Not all desires or pleasures are sinful as such. Within the church, the apostle Paul tells us to “covet earnestly the best gifts” which will build up the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12:31).

The problem is when our desires become misdirected and disordered. This is what this commandment is all about. When our thoughts and emotions are mixed in the miry clay of our sinful desires, they drag and entice us. Those desires may be sexual (‘covet your neighbor’s wife’), or relating to property or status (‘manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey’). Lest we think we are out of such danger zone, the scriptures add, “or anything that belong to your neighbor.” Coveting, as Philip G. Ryken pointed out, is not simply desiring something that we don’t have, but wanting and hankering after something that someone else has. It is the sin of desire.

Coveting appears harmless and for many, it is only a minor sin. After all it occurs in the depth of the human heart and does no direct harm against one’s neighbour. In today’s terms this may be cars, houses, computers, iPods, clothing, designer labels, appliances, entertainment, fashion or even vacation. Such desires, however, when left unchecked, can become destructive.

ITS DANGERS
King David saw beautiful Bathsheba and desired after her. He brought her in, thus committing the sin of stealing (breaking the 8th commandment). This led to adultery (breaking the 7th commandment). He then arranged for her husband, Uriah, to come back from war front duties on the pretext of showing concern for his welfare (breaking the 9th commandment). Eventually David planned for Uriah to be killed (breaking
the 6th commandment). That one sin of covetousness led to breaking four other commandments. Achan coveted a beautiful set of clothes made in Babylon and some gold and silver from the spoils of Jericho (Josh 7). He hid them in disobedience to God’s clear instructions, and this led to troubles for the entire army of Israelites. We also have the example of King Ahab who wanted the vineyard which was located next to his palace. It led to full scale conspiracies and misuse of the courts to have Naboth, the pious vineyard owner, convicted and killed (1 Kg 21). We can also think of Judas who for 30 pieces of silver betrayed the Lord.
These all began with coveting, and the consequences in each of these instances are tragic.

Today, we live in what someone calls the “cult of the next thing.” We are never satisfied with what we have, and we are always on the lookout for the newest design, newest model, newest look, newest gadgets. In a world of consumerism, the desires of our hearts seem bottomless. And the advertisement is so clever in bombarding us about the things that we cannot live without. We have been injected with what someone else calls “the prosperity drug.” A young British pop singer, Lily Allen wrote in her song The Fear, “I want to be rich; and I want to have lots of money. I want loads of clothes and loads of diamonds; and I heard people die while they are trying to find them ... And I am a weapon of mass consumption. And it’s not my fault; it’s how I’m programmed to function.” People talk about the 5C’s – cash, cars, condos, credit cards, and club. It is part of the prevailing mood of covetousness. We are always comparing with the one next door, and if there is none, it’s the one on TV! Envy is a close cousin of covet.

A ROOT PROBLEM
This last commandment, therefore, exposes a root of our human problem from which springs other evil actions, thoughts and intentions, conscious or unconscious. “For the love of money is a root of all evil” (1 Tim 6:10). The issue is not money per se, but the love of money. It is a major cause of corruption and deceit, and the reason for the present global economic downturn.

We should not imagine that such love or coveting of money is confined to the rich; the poor are subjected to it as well. Neither is it confined to ‘worldly’ Christians. Under the cloak of godliness, one may use it as a means for financial gain (1 Tim 6:5). Indeed, there had been many well-known preachers and pastors who were dragged and blinded by those desires, falling into its traps which had plunged them into destruction. Unholy desires turned into deadly desires. Martin Luther says that this last commandment is, in fact, addressed not to those whom the world considers to be wicked rogues, but to the most upright – to people who wish to be commended as honest and virtuous.

Alec Motyer rightly perceived that “the 10th commandment is where the Decalogue ends, but it is in fact, the point at which every breach of the law begins – when by ‘our own evil desires’ we are dragged away and enticed (Jas 1:14)”. It exposes the reality of sin in the heart. The rich young ruler (in Mk 10) had everything going for him. Not only was he rich, he was a virtuous person – having obeyed the law, it seemed, from young. But when our Lord commanded him to sell all he had and give it to the poor, he went away sad. Jesus had exposed his love for money. Covetousness is idolatry (Eph 5:5; Col 3:5), for the thing coveted becomes a god which controls one’s life. A covetous heart, therefore, almost always dampens our quest for God. The love of this world has the inverse impact on love for God. More than 250 years ago, John Wesley observed, “I fear, wherever riches have increased, the essence of religion has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore I do not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of religion to continue long. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality, and these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches.” Wesley’s words have proven prophetic for our age.

The great lie of coveteousness is the belief that the attainment of what we desire inordinately will bring happiness. John Rockefeller, one of the world’s richest man in his time, was once asked by a reporter, “How much money is enough?” He replied with a sad smile, “Just a little more.” The recent tragic death of the world’s most popular pop singer, Michael Jackson, 50 years old, has shocked the world. He had the world at his feet, and yet happiness appeared so elusive, and he had to take a cocktail of drugs in order to help him find sleep.

Warren Wiersbe puts it in perspective when he wrote: “Money is the ‘god of this world’ and it empowers millions of people to enjoy life by living on substitutes. With money they can buy entertainment, but they can’t buy joy. They can go to the drugstore and buy sleep, but they can’t buy peace. Their money will attract a lot of acquaintances but very few real friends. Wealth gains them admiration and envy, but not love. It buys the best of medical services, but it can’t buy health. Yes, it is good to have the things that money can buy, provided we don’t lose the things that money can’t buy.”

CONTENTMENT
The positive side of this commandment is that there is great value in contentment. Paul said to Timothy, “There is great gain in godliness with contentment” (1 Tim 6:6). Contentment steers one away from the temptation of using people as objects for personal desires, frees one from deceptive talks and conversations,
buttresses one against unhealthy relationships and speculative gains, and prevents one from being easily sucked into a spirit of consumerism. This commandment will also keep us from unethical or questionable means to achieve results. Simon (in Acts 8) wanted the ability to impart the Holy Spirit with all His powers, just as the apostles had. He offered money for that, but Peter made it clear that he was at the edge of a spiritual cliff top.

Contentment is also a key to happiness in life. We do not have to compare ourselves with others. We do not have to over-stress our lives to “keep up with the Joneses.” C.H. Spurgeon has noted, “You say, ‘If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.’ You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.” There will be far less quarrels and fights over things that we don’t have that others might have. With food and clothing, we can be thankful, knowing that naked we come into this world, and naked we will go (1 Tim 6:7-8). With contentment, we are free to rejoice with much or with little that the Lord has provided.

We may note from Phil 4:11-13 that contentment has little to do with our circumstances and more to do with our relationship with God. A contented person is one who finds confidence in God who will provide for all that is needed to accomplish His will. The issue of contentment is therefore a spiritual issue. Faith is the answer to our discontentment. Rather than sinking into worry and despair, our Lord counsels us to believe that “your Father knows that you need them” (Matt 6:32). Contentment, as Philip Ryken pointed out, means wanting what God wants for us rather than what we want for ourselves.

Indeed God is all we need. God had so loved us that He gave us His Son. If we have Him, we have everything. We have His promise in Heb 13:5, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” Commenting on this verse, J.I. Packer wrote, “To realize the promised presence of one’s loving Lord, who both orders one’s circumstances and gives strength to cope with them, is the final secret of contentment.” A contented person finds supreme delight in God, and in all that He has so planned. He is confident because of God. He is well able to say with the psalmist, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance” (Ps 16:6). Indeed, “he who has God and everything has no more than he who has God alone” (C.S. Lewis).

PURSUE GODLINESS
Finally, contentment enables one to stay focused on one’s pursuit and calling in life. There are many distractions in life, and if one is not contented, there is always the temptation to go into tangents. The apostle Paul kept his focus on the one thing – to know Christ supremely, and to make Him known. “For I decided,” he wrote, “that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified” (1 Cor 2:2 NLT). Unfortunately, for many, including preachers, that focus is lost, and the periphery has become central while Christ and Him crucified has become peripheral. For Paul, Christ is the pearl of great value for whom he was willing to lose everything. This enabled Paul to finish the race well. It will do the same for us too.

True contentment breeds a passion for God and His glory, for it focuses on the things that are truly eternal. We cannot, as our Lord made it plain, serve both God and mammon. Only one will control our thoughts and lives, and if we know where our true treasure lies, we will be willing to give everything to lay treasures where it truly counts, which is in heaven. Contentment therefore is a product of an eternal perspective. All treasures on earth are measured only in comparison with the eternal. “I value all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity,” wrote John Wesley. This is why he called on his contemporaries to gain all they could, save all they could, and give all they could. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt 6:33).

Rev Dr Mark Chua
Associate Pastor
Chinese Methodist (Hokkien) Church, KL.