Tuesday, June 16, 2009

"You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s" (Exodus 20:17).

"You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s" (Deuteronomy 5:21).

IDEA: When the Bible prohibits covetousness, it does not prohibit desire.

PURPOSE: To help listeners recognize that there are legitimate desires.

Sometimes to say something correctly, we have to say the negative to give the positive.

When we say that covetousness is “disordered desire,” what possible conclusions might people derive from that?

I. We may feel that we are more godly if we are ascetics. What do we mean by “ascetics”? 

Mystics in the past went to unbelievable lengths to deny any expression of desire.

In more modern times there has been a withdrawal from entertainment such as great music or motion pictures.

We can commend people for their piety, but not for that expression.

II. Many people have felt that extreme desires of any sort are wrong. They strive for the “golden mean.”

Some classical philosophers felt that the wisest path in life to follow was not to get too excited about anything. Keep feelings and emotions in check.

III. The Bible commends ordered desires directed at what is good.

The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that if you find something good that God has given us, you are to enjoy it to the hilt (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10).

The Old Testament shows us people of markedly strong passions who aren’t censured for them, e.g., Moses, David, Jacob.

Furthermore, in Revelation 3:16, the “lukewarm” do not get good press.