Covetousness

Including covetousness in the Ten Commandments was a brilliant stroke (I know, it borders on blasphemy for me to suggest that God could do otherwise). It not only deals with the First, the need to have only Yahweh as God (to covet something that belongs to another is to express our discontent with what God has given us), it also gets at the root of the sins against others that are proscribed. The Tenth commandment says that we are to not covet anything that is our neighbor’s. And what is murder, adultery, stealing, and bearing false witness, but the fruit of covetousness? The life of the other is desired, his spouse is lusted after, his property is seized by greedy hands, and justice must bend to the transgressor’s will, no matter what the cost to his neighbor. Covetousness is wickedness. It is not surprising that Jesus told those with him, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness” (Luke 12:15). 

What makes the Tenth unique among the commandments is that it is the only one that God alone sees. Of course, all the others emanate from dark regions of the soul, but you and I can’t see covetousness. We can observe what it produces, such as the evils enumerated above, but, “the LORD sees not as man sees . . . the LORD looks on the heart’’ (1 Samuel 16:7). 

How many people, when told of their the need for salvation from sin, have said, “Well, I never killed anyone”? It’s true, not many have gone so far as to murder someone. But who, except Christ, has never coveted what wasn’t theirs. Does God not know this? Certainly he does. Is he not offended at the idolatry? Certainly he is.

We live in a society that promotes idolatry with almost every commercial or glossy print ad. Covetousness is the currency of Madison Avenue. Yet the apostle teaches that, “there is great gain in godliness with contentment” (1 Timothy 6:6).  Being content will go a long way to taming the heart and teaching it to be “rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). If we are satisfied with him, if he is our greatest treasure, then our heart will follow and we will not be deceived by the empty promise of possessions. 

Fear Not

Imagine opening up a letter you received and reading the following, "Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation." I suspect you'd find it pretty unsettling, so much so that your eyes might glaze over and you'd begin to think, "Is this for real? Who sent this to me?" And when you glance back down at the letter you notice the words that follow, "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life."

I can speak with confidence that not one of us in the West has ever opened up our mailbox and found such a letter. But at some point, near the end of first century, the church at Smyrna did (Revelation 2:8-10). Jesus, through the apostle John, was sending a message to this group of believers so that they would be prepared for what was about to transpire. They had already suffered at the hands of some "who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan," but there was yet more to come. Despite the trepidation that they would have initially felt, Jesus told them not to fear. A reward awaited their faithfulness.

In a similar vein, Jesus warns all of his followers to be prepared to suffer on account of him (Luke 12:4-5). And, as he offered to Smyrna, he tells of the reward that awaits those who look beyond the persecutor's threats to the final reckoning. On that Day he will confess the names of those who have acknowledged him before men no matter what had been threatened: "I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God" (Luke 12:8). There, in the courts of heaven, before the judgment seat of God, the roll call of persevering saints will be read and the "Well done, good and faithful servant" pronounced.

The prevalence of such language in the New Testament is to be taken seriously, even by us who live in relative peace. We might never find ourselves in such peril, but there's a good chance that we will be treated with contempt because of our belief in the biblical Jesus. The temptation at that point will be to deny him so that we might not have to suffer scorn. This we must not do. What's the worst they can do? Kill us? This we are not to fear, for we are known by the one who has power to cast into hell. He will uphold our cause even as he lifts our names up before the throne of God.

Tempting Hypocrisy

Jesus leveled some of his most severe criticism against hypocrites. The Pharisees, who presented themselves as guardians of the law of God, had actually supplanted the law by layering on top of it their own interpretation, which, though at times incredibly rigorous, resulted in the real law being obscured. Ironically, their scrupulosity allowed them to neglect the demands of the actual law, which is to love God with all of one’s being and the neighbor as oneself. It’s much easier to spend time assiduously setting aside tithes of all of one’s herbs than to take seriously the divine command to love. In truth, their purported piety was nothing more than hypocrisy. 

Hypocrisy was not just a problem for the Pharisees. It also threatened Jesus’ disciples. He told them to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 21:1). This suggests that hypocrisy can stealthily permeate a people as leaven permeates dough. Jesus understood how tempting it is to settle into hypocrisy. The pride, self-righteousness, feeling of superiority, and freedom to judge others crouches at the door as sin did for Cain. But the community of Jesus was not to let it in. They were to diligently pursue true righteousness, righteousness defined by the true law of God.

The church needs to remain aware of the threat of hypocrisy. As people who have been given a high moral standard by which to live, it is tempting to put on a good show rather than trying to actually fulfill the moral demands (it's interesting to note that the origin of the word hypocrisy comes from the ancient Greek theater; it's the term used for an actor, one who plays a part). Is this because the church is not a safe environment in which people can mess up? It might be - but it shouldn’t be. The church should be the one place in which people recognize that believers are learning what it means to put off the old self and put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-24). We should encourage authenticity and honesty about our struggle with sin. And in relation to our neighbors, we should not preach moral demands at them that we are not willing to pursue ourselves. There is nothing more embarrassing to Christians, or more dishonoring to Christ, than to have someone publicly inveighing against immorality who is then discovered to have been doing the very things he has condemned. The damage to the reputation of the church can feel irreparable.

So how can we guard against hypocrisy? We make a commitment to honesty, humility, repentance when convicted, and thankfulness when pardoned. We covenant with one another to live with these commitments so that we do not become a people in which hypocrisy, leaven-like, corrupts the community. With God’s help, we can be who we are supposed to be.