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Stephen Ministry

We have come to the conclusion of our series on the 10 Commandments. Hopefully, over the course of this series you’ve come to a greater appreciation of the 10 Commandments, how they reflect God’s love for us through what He desires to protect us from and provide for our lives and have come to greater awareness of their everyday applications in our lives. Today, last but certainly not least, the commandment against coveting. (Exodus 20:17)

Throughout this series, I’ve made references at various times to how poor our society is at keeping some commandments. Specifically, I’ve suggested our society is very far removed from obeying commandment number four regarding the Sabbath—not just in diminishing numbers of those attending churches, but also in carving out some intentional time for Sabbath rest. And I’ve strongly suggested that our society is so far from obedience to commandment number seven, the prohibition against adultery, that to make a stand today for Biblical standards regarding sexuality will get you laughed out of the room. Also along the way, I’ve suggested that all societies have struggled with this commandment, the prohibition against coveting. For the record, covet means "to have a strong desire to possess something that belongs to somebody else," or "to want to have something very much." All societies have struggled with this. Ever since Eve enjoyed the apple and Adam strongly desired the same experience, societies have struggled with this commandment.

But our society seems particularly afflicted with this disease called coveting. That is due to one word—advertizing. Daily we are bombarded with advertizing that seeks to create a covetous attitude within us. TV, even movies bombard us with advertizing. Driving in our cars we are doubly blasted with the ads on the radio and the billboards we drive by. Reading a magazine or the newspaper—ad after ad. Pop-up ads on the internet! Everywhere we turn some form of advertizing bombards us with a message of "you need this!" We cannot escape it.

All of this advertizing environment led to a new saying in our house. "Let’s define the word need." "Dad, I need…fill in the blank." "Honey, we need…whatever." "Let’s define the word need." Need, by the way, means "a lack of something absolutely necessary for the physiological or psychological well-being of an organism." Throw that one at a family member the next time they come to you with a "need." Leads to some interesting discussions at the very least!

Anyway, the unique situation of our society regarding the daily bombardment of advertizing in our lives makes us particularly vulnerable to violations of the Tenth Commandment. Advertizing is all designed to create an environment of supposed need. And, according to statistics, they’ve been wildly successful at it.

PBS produced a documentary entitled, Affluenza (Isn’t that a great title? Because this covetous environment we’ve created is like a disease!). Affluenza seeks to show the rampant consumerism in our society and its damaging effects on us. The producers suggest that shopping malls have become the cultural center of our communities. Some of the statistics quoted in Affluenza to support this assertion:

-70% of us visit a shopping mall at least once a week, more than the average weekly attendance at church or synagogue

-On average we spend 6 hours a week at the mall, while averaging only 40 minutes a week playing with our children

-By 1987 America had more shopping malls than high schools

Highlighting the fact that advertizing seeks to create a covetous attitude in us, Affluenza showed a sales manager instructing his employees on arranging the proper display in the store. I wish I could show you the scene but I couldn’t pull it together in time for today. But what he says to his display arrangers is, "The displays should make people hungry for as many things as possible, hungry enough to buy a lot more than they planned to." In other words, create an environment where people covet, covet, covet.

Our covetous culture, of course, creates some real problems. These statistics are six years old—from a 2002 Federal Reserve release—and I can only imagine the numbers are worst:

-Consumer credit debt stood at a record $1.6 trillion

-Consumer debt including home mortgages was $7 trillion

-Debt was double what is was in 1990

-The average family, in 2002, spent $400 more than it earned each year

-The average credit card debt for a student graduating from college was $2,748

Again, I can only conclude that the numbers are even worse today, in 2008, than they were in 2002. These are the consequences to a covetous culture.

It should be no surprise to you by now that these are the very things God wants to protect us from and provide for us something better. These things…and more.

To begin with, God gives this 10^th Commandment to us because He wants to protect us from sin. Violations of all of the 10 Commandments begin with coveting. You might remember the "character tree" I used a few months ago to illustrate the importance of what we set our minds upon. The purpose of the character tree is related to a program regarding parenting adolescents and protecting them from addictive behaviors. Certainly, we might rightly think of materialism and the pursuit of it as addictive behavior. Yet, I think the character tree is also illustrative of the progression of all sin and how coveting is at the very root of sin.

A thought enters into our minds, let’s say for now the result of some advertizing, "Wow, that’s a really nice car!" That thought in itself is not a bad thing. It’s what we do with it from there. We start considering the possibility of owning that car, "I’d love to have a car like that!" Soon we find ourselves coveting that car, "I need that car"…and beginning to take the steps toward actually purchasing that car despite the fact we really don’t need it, and, worse, whether we can really afford it or not.

Coveting is at the root of all sin. Admire someone else’s "stuff," pretty soon you begin to covet it and suddenly you find yourself stealing it. Admire the beauty of someone else’s wife, contemplate it long enough and soon you find yourself coveting her, and tragically the pathway leads to adultery. Coveting is the mental assent to sinful behavior Christ speaks about in the Sermon on the Mount. Covet long enough and you will soon find yourself committing the physical act of sin. Covet someone’s reputation and soon you find yourself embellishing your own reputation and/or lying to rob them of their reputation. Covet your authority and freedom to choose long enough and pretty soon you find yourself putting yourself before God, not to mention allowing our "stuff," or our desire for "stuff" to become the gods that drive us.

God gives us the 10^th Commandment to protect us from violating the other nine commandments and to provide for us a less sinful life—none of us will follow the commandments perfectly—providing for us a life less damaged by sin’s consequences.

God gives us the 10^th Commandment to protect us from the ravages of debt and provide for us the liberation of a debt free life. God gives us the 10^th Commandment to protect us from the fickleness of treasures built on earthly things, temporary things, and provide for us instead the faithfulness of treasures built on heavenly things, things that are eternal. And God gives us the 10^th Commandment to protect us from discontentment and provide for us, instead, a contented life.

In the documentary, Affluenza, they note that the percentage of Americans who described their lives as "very happy" peaked in 1957. It’s been falling precipitously ever since. New York psychologist, Paul Wachtel, commenting on that fact says this, "People’s entire orientation to how they are doing is based on comparison." Which leads to coveting, I might add. Wachtel goes on to say, "That’s why as an entire society grows, people don’t feel any better, because they’re still in the same relative position. There’s a sense of being on an endless treadmill and of never getting to where you thought you were going to get."

That’s the kind of thing God wants to protect us from in His 10^th Commandment to us. Providing for us, instead, the contentment of knowing our identity is connected to who we are in Jesus Christ and not on what we have…or don’t have. Let’s take a moment of silent reflection to consider who we are in Jesus Christ, to set our minds on heavenly treasures, not earthly ones, giving thanks to God for the gift of His Ten Commandments and rededicating ourselves to follow and obey them that we might experience more of God’s protection and provision for our lives.