Virus: Hidden Infections of the Spiritual Life
Envy – Green w/ Envy
Review: We’re in a study of the (7) deadly sins – we’ve looked at laziness, lust, anger, and pride. This AM we’re going to examine the virus of envy. The Bible provides many examples of envy: Cain envied Abel so he killed him; Jacob’s sons envied Joseph, so they hated him and sold him into slavery; King Saul envied David so he threw a spear at him. It is as if every time envy appears in the Bible, we see deception, destruction, and violence fostered by a jealous sense of entitlement.
Note: Today, many people share this same jealous sense of entitlement. I think it is b/c our sense of self-worth is based on the possessions and accomplishments we’ve accrued. And in the instance someone else has accomplished or possessed more, we envy what they have gained wanting it for ourselves.
Insert: How else do you explain an 11 year old being beaten and strangled to death for a pair of Jordan Basketball shoes?
Note: Envy – we tend to think that there isn’t much too it, after all, everyone does it, but the Bible says that envy is a deadly toxin that will destroy your life.
Verse: It is healthy to be content, but envy will rot your bones. Pr. 14:30
Note: Now when we think of envy as a color we generally think of the color green. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Green w/ envy.” Some people may think they look good in green, but you never look good when you’re envious. No matter what shade it might be – from lime green to dark pea green, envy is always ugly. When you are envious, you’re really just gangrene w/ evil.
Text: Matthew 20:1-16
I The ROOT of Envy
A Envy EXPLAINED
Define: Envy – to have an evil eye – It is a sin that begins in the eyes and longs to possess what others have. It is jealous attitude that fosters disorder and chaos.
Verse: For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. James 3:16
Word: Disorder – instability and irrational – envy rots your reasoning process. To the degree we’re envious we’re unstable and cannot make a good rational decisions. And as a result, envy ruins relationships.
Note: The most common destroyer of relationships and reason isn’t anger, frustration, pride, or lust – its envy. It rots your reasoning and ruins your relationships.
Note: Nothing good comes out of envy – it destroys everything in its wake – friendships, families, business, family business, churches b/c it fosters an entitlement mentality. It feeds on suspicion and assumption and it fuels gossip and slander. It often masquerades itself as being spiritual.
Note: Envy seeks to level the playing field – either “up” for self or “down” for others.
Note: The light green shade of envy is being jealous of someone else’s blessings thinking that they should belong to you instead. The dark green shade of envy is the attitude that says, “If I can’t have it then neither can they.” As a result, envy seeks to steal the blessings and joy of others so they can’t enjoy life.
B Envy EXPOSED
Note: How does envy get started? How is it planted, nurtured, and harvested?
1 Resenting God’s Goodness
Note: When we’re envious, we’re really in a battle w/ God. B/c envy resents God’s decision to bless someone w/ something we want or think we deserve.
Note: Envy w/ people is the fever while anger w/ God for not giving it to us is the infection. Envy is resenting God’s goodness to others. You have it – God gave it – and I don’t like it – that’s envy.
2 Making God’s Business Our Business.
Text: I can guarantee this truth: When you were young, you would get ready to go where you wanted. But when you’re old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will get you ready to take you where you don’t want to go." Jesus said this to show by what kind of death Peter would bring glory to God. After saying this, Jesus told Peter, "Follow me!" Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved. That disciple was following them. He was the one who leaned against Jesus’ chest at the supper and asked, "Lord, who is going to betray you?" When Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus said to Peter, "If I want him to live until I come again, how does that concern you? Follow me!" Jn. 21:18-21
Note: Jesus has just finished forgiving Peter of his betrayal and denial and before the conversation is finished, Peter is comparing his fate w/ John’s fate. From the beginning, the disciples were always jockeying for position trying to see who was going to be Jesus’ main man. At one point, James and John mother pleaded w/ Jesus to give her sons the royal treatment. Yet here Peter receives the news that he will one day surrender his life on behalf of following Jesus and all he can do is ask, “Well what about John?”
Note: Peter put himself in a position to make God’s business his business by comparing his fate w/ John’s faith. This reality is at the core of envy.
II The REALITY of Envy
Note: Envy is resenting someone who has what you want. It looks at someone who beautiful and says how come them. At someone who is rich, why not me. It doesn’t care how hard someone might have had to work or sacrifice.
Quote: Envy paints the inside of the heart an ugly black.
A Un-HEALTHY
Verse: It is healthy to be content, but envy will rot your bones. Pr. 14:30
Note: Think of envy in the same terms as bone cancer. Rot means to decay – In Hebrew culture life was found in the bones. Thus, envy is a slow death of gangrene that rots you from the inside out.
It kills your contentment.
It slowly siphons the joy out of your life.
It abducts the ability to enjoy what you have
It rots your reasoning
It ruins your relationships
B Un-WISE
Verse: Envy and jealousy will kill a stupid fool. Job 5:2
Note: Job was the richest man in the world and the object of the envy. He lost every thing except his wife, and the Bible says she was the only thing worth losing.
Note: Envy and jealousy are the same word. Notice that envy is the characteristic of a fool – of someone who is empty headed. Also notice that it kills the fool.
Word: kill is the word murder. It will murder you, your reasoning, your relationships, and anything associated w/ you. But the idea is to Slay which places an emphasis on the means of death. It’s a capital offense that puts a person on death row. Only a foolish person envies what someone else has.
C Un-LOVING
Verse: Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. 1 Cr. 13:4
Quote: Love looks through a telescope; envy looks through a microscope. Unknown
Note: It is impossible to envy someone and love them. The Bible calls us to love one another. Now here is the problem. Envy isn’t just jealous it wants to see the demise of another so that if I can’t have, no one else should have it either.
III The REMEDY of Envy
Verse: Therefore rid yourselves of al malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Pt. 2:1–3
A Stop COMPARING
Text: They got the same things we got – Why? It says, “That’s not fair.”
Note: The Bible condemns comparison (see 1 Cr. 4). When we compare it either leads to pride – I am better than you; or it leads to envy – I want what you have.
Story: There is a true story behind the 1st hole-in-one on the 12th hole at Augusta, during the Masters. In 1947, Claude Harmon and Ben Hogan were paired together. While they were good friends, their personalities were worlds apart. Harmon was outgoing and charismatic. Hogan was professional and business-like. Harmon had the honors that day as they came to the 12th. He stepped up to the tee and hit the ball into the cup for the 1st ever hole-in-one on that hole. The crowd went wild. Hogan didn’t say a word. No congratulatory shake of the hand, no tip of the hat, no acknowledgment of any kind. He simply stepped up to his ball in business-like manner and knocked it a few feet from the hole. As they walked from the tee to the green, the crowd roared for Harmon. When he retrieved his ball from the cup, again the crowd cheered. All the while, Hogan was in deep concentration, seemingly oblivious to the historic event he had just witnessed. He surveyed his putt, read the green, and in typical Hogan manner, stroked the ball into the cup for the birdie. As they made their way to the 13th tee, the crowd still buzzing from Harmon’s feat, Hogan finally spoke up. He said, "You know Claude that is the first ’2’ I’ve ever made on that hole."
Note: There is a lesson to be learned from Hogan. We may get so caught up in the achievements and blessings of others that we fail to focus on our own potentials and forget to strive to achieve all that we are capable of achieving. We may not remember to thank God for all the blessings he has given us.
1 God’s PERSPECTIVE
Note: Isn’t that our problem? From our finite perspective we can’t see God’s larger picture. We get ensnared in our own circumstances. We need God’s view. God’s perspective shows that the envy is not a sickness, it is a sin. We must treat sin w/ the proper therapy. 1 John 1:9 is God’s prescription.
2 God’s PURPOSE
Note: God created to serve an important role in His kingdom. In a word, God desires us to be people of love. Love doesn’t look over your shoulder at what you don’t have. Love focuses on the blessings you do have and seeks ways to use those blessings to bless others. His purpose is that our lives count for eternity.
3 God’s PREROGATIVE
Note: Envy distorts our vision. We must comprehend what the Father is like, and recognize His prerogative. God’s choices are based on His righteousness, love, and wisdom. Therefore, they are fair and best. We are locked into the present; God is eternal. You and I are limited in knowledge; He is omniscient.
Note: We’re vulnerable to envy and comparison in that areas we most care about.
Note: Athletes tend to envy other athletes; Dr. other Dr.; speaker other speakers; musicians other musicians; parents other parents; churches other churches.
Insert: If you want to get married and your best friend announces her engagement – you might become envious. If you’re in financial need and your friend gets a raise, you first inclination is likely to be envy. If you’ve been trying to have a baby and your sibling or best friend gets pregnant, you’re going to be tempted to become envious. If you gain weight just looking at a chocolate bar and your friend can eat anything and never gain a pound, you could become envious.
Note: Defeated envy requires that we stop comparing ourselves w/ others, especially in the areas that are most sensitive to us.
B Stop COMPLAINING
Note: Complaining compounds envy. It is like throwing gas on the fire. It is allowing the gangrene to spread.
Text: They grumbled b/c they didn’t think it was fair and that they deserved better.
Insert: Griping and complaining is the first sign of an envious life.
Note: If you will just stop and listen to yourself you can determine if you have envy in your heart. The core is that someone else got a better deal in life than I did.
C Stay CONTENT
Text: Be content w/ what you were promised. The men should have walked up and given the other guys high 5’s and said, “Good for you.” We have to learn how to replace criticism w/ contentment.
Verse: It is better to be satisfied w/ what you have than to be always be wanting something else. Pr.
Note: To be content, you have to learn to be thankful for what you have and to rejoice w/ others in what they have.
Verse: Rejoice w/ those who rejoice. Rm. 12:15
Insert: When your friend drives up in the car of your dreams, can you rejoice…
When someone you don’t like gets a break can you rejoice…
Note: You can REJOICE or RESENT – but to rejoice is the only godly option.
Story: In his short story, "The Window," author G.W. Target tells of two seriously ill men who occupied the same hospital room. The man by the window was propped up for an hour each day to drain fluid from his lungs. The other man spent his entire time on his back. The two men enjoyed each other’s company and talked for hours about all different types of subjects. During the hour one man sat up in his bed, he would describe all the things he saw to his bedfast roommate. Each day great detail would be given to the activities going on outside. He described the park with its lovely lake and grand old trees. He would tell of children playing and lovers walking through the park outside their window. One day, a beautiful parade went by. Even though he couldn’t hear the music, the man on his back could see it all in his mind as his roommate gave exquisite details. But somehow, it didn’t seem quite fair. Although he enjoyed listening to his friend describe the sights, he began to grave the view of his comrade. His desire for the bed by the window became a consuming thought. It even kept him awake at night. Then, in the darkness of one sleepless night, his roommate began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs and was desperately groping for the button to call for help. The covetous roommate could have easily pushed his button to summon a nurse, but instead, he watched the old man die. The following morning the nurse discovered the man’s death. The standard procedure was carried out and the body was removed. The surviving man then asked that his bed be switched so he could see out the window. At last, he would have what he felt he deserved. Painfully and slowly he struggled to prop himself up for that first look at the park. To his disappointment, the window looked out to a blank wall. The venom of covetousness never achieves fulfillment in life. (Laugh Again, Charles Swindoll, 1992, pgs. 50-51)
RESOURCES
Sermons: Jeff Ward – Envy - #5 from the Seven Deadly Sins Series;
David Leavell – The Low Down on Envy
David Moore – 7 Fatal Flaws – Envy
Books: Tony Campolo – The Seven Deadly Sins
PREACHED
Date: 11/20/05 @ FBC White House
