The Seven Deadly Sins: Covetousness Series

Last week we learned that the “seven deadly sins” are actually basic attitudes or motivating spirits in the human heart that are the root of other sins. Because Achan coveted wealth, he stole; because Ananias and Sapphira coveted material gain, they lied to God’s servants and to the Lord Himself.

Covetousness is a deadly sin because it so often gives birth to other sins. Another prime example in Scripture is King David, “the man after God’s own heart.” Because David coveted his neighbor Uriah the Hittite’s wife Bathsheba, he committed adultery with her and had Uriah, one of his bravest soldiers killed in battle. He then stole his widow Bathsheba by taking her to be his own wife.

Covetousness is subtle and deceptive by nature. We might not actually desire to take our neighbor’s possessions, only to have similar or ever greater ones ourselves. When my best friend’s grandparents gave him a portable television one Christmas, I did not want his television, only one like it for myself. In spirit and in attitude I coveted. Covetousness leads us to “keeping up with or surpassing the Joneses.

I have always appreciated entertainers and athletes who give Jesus the glory when they accomplish greatness. All our talents are gifts bestowed upon us by our Lord, and we are nothing without him. Although the great American miler Jim Ryan never achieved the Olympic gold medal in the 1500 Meter event, his desire was to win it as a Christian and give God the glory. Last year when she won the Oscar as Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in DREAM GIRLS, Jennifer Hudson’s opening remarks were, “This is what God can do.”

Remember the earlier quotation we shared from Colossians 3:5, “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed—or covetousness—(which is idolatry).” We said that covetousness or greed becomes idolatry whenever it leads us to make anyone or anything other than Jesus the lord and god of our lives.

Kathy Griffin, the star of the Bravo show “My Life on the D-List” won the 2007 Emmy for having the Outstanding Reality Program on television. However, she was not humble as were Jennifer Hudson and Jim Ryan. Instead she blatantly blasphemed the Holy Name of Jesus, and said, “A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this. He had nothing to do with this. . . .This (Emmy) is my god now” [SOURCE: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57586]. This is a prime example of how covetousness may lead to idolatry, when a thing becomes your god. Paul furthermore warns us in Ephesians 5:5, “No covetous person, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.” If we let covetousness go unchecked without repentance and seeking divine forgiveness, it will destroy us spiritually, for anyone who worships material things has “no place in the Kingdom of Christ and God.” Without repentance and faith in Jesus, covetousness is indeed a deadly sin.

Bob James of Paint Rock, Texas, shares this story in Leadership, Vol.7, no.4: “Recently I laid a small circle of poison around a hill of stinging ants. Thinking the tiny granules of poison were food, the ants began to pick them up and carry them throughout the colony. I returned later to see how well the poison was working. Hundreds of stinging ants were carrying the poison down into their hill.