Thou Shalt Not Covet

Almost every Christian in this country, if you ask them, will profess to be generous to a fault, or if not, they used to be until their money ran out. What they don’t know is that they are breaking this commandment of God every minute and yet remain self-justified. 

They say to themselves, “I pretty much keep the law: I do not commit adultery, I do not steal, I do not murder.” It is agreed that avoiding such things is good, and their neighbors appreciate that they do not do such things. But some sins are hidden or not so obvious. Some sins are downright devious. Greed is one of them. Are you greedy? Hardly anyone will admit to this sin. Or conversely, those that admit to greed even see it as a virtue. They twist greed to mean faith, but that is another sermon and won’t be covered here. 

The horrible thing about greed is that it leads to the other sins just mentioned above. The commandment that forbids coveting your neighbor’s wife must have adultery in view, does it not? The commandment against coveting his goods must have thievery in mind, no?And why do people murder? If you look at the root cause, it will be covetousness. You are envious or jealous and murder your neighbor. Or you murder your neighbor because he coveted your wife and stole her heart. All sorts of malice arise from covetousness.  

Maybe your definition of greed and mine do not agree. Let’s look at the American usage for the word “greedy”:  “Wanting or taking all that one can get, with no thought of others’ needs; desiring more than one needs or deserves, covetous.” When I see the average American Christian at his average pursuits, I see greed. He cares little for those that have need, but is in vain pursuit of a new house, a new car, or a new wife. He makes all the claims of Christianity but fulfills only enough to fool himself and others. He pays a tithe, he goes to church regularly, he controls his speech, he does not fornicate, he does not steal, he does not kill, and he even gives a small amount to the poor. But boy, don’t get between him and his possessions! 

One of his virtuous deeds, tithing, is part of his religious function. He has been taught and believes that by tithing, he has fulfilled his obligation to the law that says you must tithe. To him, giving and tithing are synonymous. This tract is not for those. They are already justified in their own eyes and there is no point teaching them anything. Yes, and all of you who feel confident that you are doing enough to fulfill Christ’s commandment to love, stop reading and ask God for mercy. 

The usual church wholeheartedly teaches tithing of some sort and rewards the parishioner for his actions. The more he gives, the more he is rewarded. He obtains power on the church board. He sways the sermons. He has the best parking space. He is in admiration of all. If you think this does not apply to almost every American church, then you are perhaps self-blinded, my friend. They understand that God can be manipulated by giving according to law, so they expect to profit from their covetous intentions. So by the law they break the law, as usual.  

Their testimonials center around their greed. God made them well off because of their generous tithing. It’s funny that they can’t see themselves as the ones who Christ condemned, who practice their alms so they can be seen. It’s funny that we know so much about their generosity. What’s not so funny is that God seems to be going along with their reasoning, at least far enough to let them be deceived by it. 

The religiously correct of Jesus’ day (we call them Pharisees) Jesus himself spoke against, citing covetousness as a hindrance to their belief, or even a prime motivator for their religious hypocrisy. The scribes and Pharisees, who were covetous, hated him for it. After Jesus in a parable had described our wretched condition before God, the Pharisees, “who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And He said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” 

What is it that the Pharisees heard? Jesus told them, and us, to beware of greed. He said that we would either wind up serving and loving money or serving and loving God. The unjust steward in the parable was using not his own money, but his Lord’s.  Jesus says, “Make to yourselves friends of the unrighteous mammon, so that when these fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”  Those who are greedy hate this verse and claim it has some other interpretation than what it plainly states. 

Let’s say that we give in and admit that the verse plainly states what it states: To buy friends with money. However, these are not fair-weather friends. These are not friends you use to get ahead, or use you. These friends do not dump you when your wealth runs out. Conversely, they receive you into everlasting habitations. How did this unusual thing come about? We lost our covetousness. It was replaced by need. Jesus told us not to do good to those who could repay us, but secretly, as it were, to those in real need. This is something unusual indeed for the average American Christian. 

God praises us when we use the debt owed to Him for His glory. The money was never ours anyway. What? God praises us when we forgive the debt that they owe us, but it is really the debt they owe Him. They owe God for everything; we were merely the stewards of their debt. God does not mind it if we forgive them. “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?”

Those who are covetous do not see it this way. They think that they deserve more and more stuff. They are never satisfied with food and clothing. They must be seen of men to be “successful.” The poor just get in the way of that. Or, if they feed the poor, they make sure everyone sees them doing it, so as to accomplish the same praise of men. That’s why Jesus says, “that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God.” 

This is the situation in the United States of America. We have more stuff than the devil himself could carry to hell, but it is not enough. Our culture consists of buying and selling. Christianity has reduced its people to a piece of bread. They even call themselves “consumers,” for indeed, that is what they are. Everyone looks to his own needs. Even when he helps his neighbor, the Christian is hoping to get the favor in return.

These things ought not to be. As real Christians, we should look toward the needs of others and not to our own. We would be a lot happier, that’s for sure. We would have to live by faith, of course. When we come across that debtor who owes us a few bucks, we would have to forgive him the debt. We owe God for our very lives, so it is not a big thing if someone owes us.

This does not mean that church discipline is thrown out. If a brother (not a ‘sinner’) wrongs you by stealing from you or committing adultery with your wife or the list is monstrously long in America then you are supposed to bring the matter to him privately, then with one or two witnesses if he doesn’t repent, then, you know the rest. But this is not done in the church. Why? It is so they can heap up judgment on themselves for being hypocrites and pretending to love. It is driven by covetousness. However, we ourselves, once the brother has been exposed to the church, must forgive him from our heart.

Many would leave the church if they couldn’t keep up the pretense of loving God every Sunday, while they are committing adultery or worse. This explains why “Christian” husbands and wives attend churches like Calvary Chapel separately while one or both of them is in bed with the person sitting next to them. The pastors pat them on the back and assure them that they are saved no matter what, and they’ll get their money when the couple finally divorces and remarries. Of course, the pastors put up a token resistance, but they don’t really mean it, do they? It’s kind of like the real estate business: The broker can resell the same house many times and make his tidy profit. Also, the newlywed adulterous couples tend to tithe well in compensation for their sin.

- Chris Simonson

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