The Danger of Materialism and Covetousness

In today's post we are going to cover the topic of Materialism and go over why we as Christians are not to covet things that do not belong to us. I think this is a very important and relevant topic for today because there are just so many ads and temptations to just go and buy buy buy; when the bible teaches us to be good stewards of our resources.

The Covetous Wall of Shame!!

First we shall take a look at some examples in the bible of people who did covet something. First let's start off with Eve in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:6) her desire to partake of the forbidden is what started this whole mess with death being passed on to mankind in the first place. Then there is the story of Achan (Jos 7:21) who coveted of the accursed thing which caused the children of Israel to fall before there enemies, only when Achan and all that pertained to him was destroyed were they able to stand before their enemies again. Joel and Abiah Samuel sons were another example of people who were covetous, they took bribes and went after lucre (1Sa 8:3). One reason that God rejected Saul as king was because he allowed the people to save the animals alive that belonged to the Amalekites and did not utterly destroy them (1 Sam 15:19).

Ahab coveted Naboth's vineyard which eventually led to Naboth being falsly accused and murdered (1Ki 21:2).

Gehazi who was Elisha's servant coveted from Naaman which resulted in him receiving his leprosy (2Ki 5:20).

A man by the name of Demas forsook Paul because he loved this present world (2Ti 4:10), and Titus warns us that there are people who will teach things that they shouldn't just because  they want money (Tit 1:11).

Thou Shalt Not!!!

All throughout scripture we are warned not to Covet, it is the last rule of the ten commandments (Exo 20:17, Deu 5:21).

Jesus himself warned of it in Luk 12:15, this is also reiterated in the New Testament (Rom 13:9, Eph 5:3, Col 3:2-5, 1Ti 3:3, Heb 13:5).

Why we shouldn't be Materialistic

The ideal situation concerning wealth is to be neither rich nor poor; after all we know that rich people may forget God, and poor folk might be tempted to steal (Pro 30:8-9).

The sad truth is those that be lovers of money or material goods won't be satisfied with what they get, but shall ever be seeking more and more (Ecc 5:10 -11). They are ever seeking to fill a void that only God can fill.

Jesus instructs us to not store up for ourselves treasures here on earth; those types of things can be destroyed or stolen. We should be spending our time laying up treasure in heaven instead. Jesus tells us that we shouldn't be worrying about food and clothing anyway: after all God feeds the birds and clothes the lilies. As Christians we should be seeking God's kingdom and his righteousness first and foremost, after all we cannot serve God and Money (Mat 6:19-34, Luk 12:22-34, Joh 6:27).

I fail to see the logic of people who amass a lot of wealth only to selfishly spend it on themselves, they are acting quite ignorant of the fact that those who seek to save their life shall lose it (Mat 16:24-26). There are many people nowadays who are like the rich man in the gospels who refused to give up his stuff (Mat 19:20-24, Mar 10:20-25, Luk 18:21-25). The problem wasn't that he had material goods but that he had turned them into an idol, and wouldn't part with them if God told him to do so. Some of these type of people have gotten so bad that they can't bring themselves to throw away anything. They eventually can't even live comfortably in their house because of the mountains of junk.

The bible describes the type of people who become unfruitful after hearing the word on the count of the cares of this life, being deceived by riches, and the lust of other things as the thorny ground (Mar 4:18-19).

A mark of a true christian is that he is more concerned about the wealth of others than his own (1Co 10:24, Php 2:4, Pro 21:26), in fact we should be content in whatever state that we are in (Php 4:11). The bible teaches us that the Love of money is the root of all evil and that the desire to be rich causes men to fall in a trap.  We should instead be content with food and raiment, for we certainly can't take our riches with us (1 Tim 6:7-11). As Christians we are commanded not to love the things of the world, those kinds of lust will pass away; but those who do God's will shall abide forever (1Jn 2:15 -17).

The Wages of Sin

So what are the consequences for being too selfish with our substance or desiring that which belongs to someone else.

The  righteous man Job called trusting in wealth an iniquity to be punished by the judge (Job 31:24 -28). The bible also tells us that those who love pleasure, wine and oil shall be impoverished (Pro 21:17), and that Hell/Destruction is never filled up because of the insatiable appetite of men's eyes ( Pro 27:20).

In Jeremiah 6:12-13 and Jeremiah 8:10 we learn that those that are given to covetousness will have their wives and fields given to others.

The bible compares a man who accumulates his wealth by improper means to a partridge who lays on her eggs but doesn't hatch them (Jer 17:11). We know that the rich man who had a big harvest was slain because he hoarded all the fruit to himself (Luk 12:16-21, Psa 52:5-7), and that the covetous will not inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 6:10, Eph 5:5 ). It is also true that the end of those that mind earthly things is destruction (Php 3:19). A rich man is compared to withering grass in Jas 1:11. Scripture also warns that the false teachers who lie to people in order to make merchandise of them, their damnation will not slumber (2Pe 2:1-3, Pro 21:6).

What Else Does the Bible Teach us About Coveting?

Back in Moses' day he was instructed to set rulers over the children of Israel who would judge them, the judges however were required to hate covetousness (Exo 18:21-22).

Those that are covetous are abhorred by the Lord (Psa 10:3).  

Even if we are poor as Christians the little that we do got is still better than the wealth of many wicked (Psa 37:16 ). One of the reasons king Jehoiakim wasn't respected in his burial was because of his covetousness (Jer 22:17).

Jesus describes covetousness as one of the things that come out of the heart of man that defiles him (Mar 7:22). The Apostle Paul instructs us not to eat with our brother in Christ if he is covetous(1Co 5:11), we are told however to covet spiritual gifts and to prophesy (1 Co 12:31, 14:39). There are those that appear outwardly righteous but in their heart they are covetous, the apostle Paul was not one such example (Eze 33:31, 1Th 2:5). Men who are covetous or love pleasure  are just a few signs that we are living in the perilous times of the last days (2Ti 3:1-4).  

So in conclusion  we as believers shouldn't place our hopes and happiness on the physical things of this world but rather be content with what we got. It is a fact that true believers of Christ will share what they have with those who are less fortunate (1 Jn 3:17), because true love is demonstrated through self sacrifice. 

More verses for further study.

(Psa 39:6, Psa 73:12, Psa 119:36, Pro 15:27, Pro 28:16, Ecc 5:13-14, Isa 57:17, Jer 51:13, Mic 2:1-5, Hab 2:9, Luk 16:25, Rom 1:29, Rom 7:7, 2 Co 9:5,  Jam 5:1, 2 Pet 2:14 -15, Rev 3:17 )