Fourth Message in the Series The Seven Deadly Sins

Titus 3:3-8

A fable from the desert

The story is that the devil was traveling across the deserts of western Egypt in the ancient days, when the Christian faith had come to the land of the Pharaohs but before the conquests of the followers of Muhammad. He was in disguise with a group of travelers who happened on the home of monk seeking solitude in the desert.

The travelers taunted the monk, and tried to tempt him by telling of all the pleasures they would indulge in when they arrived at their destination, the great city of Alexandria. One spoke of the sumptuous meals they would eat. Another spoke of the dark-eyed maidens who lived there. Another spoke of the unbounded wealth of the city. Another of the adulation he would receive as a member of the royal family. In all this, the monk was undisturbed and serene.

The devil snapped at his companions, "Amateurs!" He walked up and whispered a short sentence in the monk's ear. A look of devastation came over his face, and the dejected and agitated monk went to pack his belongings.

The others, still having no idea that their travelling companion was the devil himself, were amazed. "What did you say to him?"

The devil smiled, "I just asked him this question-'Have you not heard that your brother has been named Bishop of Alexandria?'"

What is envy?

• In classic Greek, two different words were used to convey the idea of envy. One such word was phthonos, which we translate as envy; the other is zelos, which we translate as jealousy.

What's the difference? According to no less an authority than Aristotle, zelos, jealousy, speaks to a desire to have what someone else has, but phthonos, envy, not only wants what the other guy has-envy bears a grudge that the other guy has what he's got. Jealousy wants what the other guy has; envy wants to take it from him. Envy bears a grudge.

• What's the grudge? It's the question: "Why not me?" Why did that guy get the promotion? Why not me? Why did that guy get that girl? Why not me? Why did she get ahead? Why not me? It must be luck, or there's a fix on, or maybe I'm just unlucky. It's just not fair, I tell you. Why is he so popular? I do my job better than that guy does, but he gets all the attention. Some guys get all the luck. How did my brother get to be bishop of Alexandria-I'm way more spiritual than he is! WHY NOT ME?
• You know what the real problem with envy is? Envy lacks an ultimate reference point. When you envy, you're always comparing yourself to someone else who's not all that unlike yourself. Envy is always shortsighted and low-sighted. Envy assumes that God is not involved in our lives, that He has no interest in our well being, and has no hand in our station in life, our successes and yes our failures. Envy forgets God.

Examples of Envy

Scripture is full of teaching on envy. Here's a Whitman's Sampler:

• Our envious spirit (James 4:5)

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

James is giving us a general teaching about the human spirit-the unredeemed human heart. On our own, in our fallenness, our spirit not only envies-it envies intensely.

• The envy of those who plotted against Jesus (Matthew 27:18)

For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.

This was Pilate's observation-that the religious authorities that wanted Jesus crucified did so "out of envy." Jesus was getting the adulation of the crowds, and the Sanhedrin felt, deep in their hearts, "Why not us?" Why follow Him when you can have us as your guide to all things spiritual? Envy played a big role in the motivation for the plot against Jesus.

• The envious preaching of Paul wanna-bees (Philippians 1:15)

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.

In the early 60s, AD, Paul had become the best-known Christian leader. In prison in Rome, he muses on the fact that some people were actually "Paul wanna-bees"-preachers of the gospel who were indeed preaching Jesus, but with the desire that they would be the "next Paul." They looked at Paul and said, "Why not me?"

Two observations: first, again, envy forgets that God has a plan for people-for you. You may be the next Billy Graham or the next Bill Gates, but really that's unlikely. God has a plan for you, but that most likely will not involve fame, fortune or acclaim-which is awfully fleeting anyway.

Second observation: the last two examples of envy were both in the context of envy between religious leaders. I was having lunch with Jon Karn, the pastor of our daughter church in LaCanada, and I mentioned this series and what I was preaching on this week. He made an interesting observation: that envy drives a lot of the strife between churches, church members and church leaders. The reason is we confuse our ambition for the kingdom of God for our own ambition. Church X envies church Y; Pastor X wonders why Bill Hybels and Rick Warren get all the attention; Sunday school teacher A wonders why everybody adores teacher B, and so on. Our spirits envy intensely!

• Another example: according to Jewish tradition (preserved in the apocryphal book called the Wisdom of Solomon, chapter 2:24), Satan's rebellion was due to his envy of God. In other words, Helel the angel (that was his original Hebrew name that comes over in English as Lucifer, the Lightbearer) looked at God, and the way all the angels served and worshipped Him and said, "Hmm…why not me?"
• Here's another example-this time from history. When the city council of Florence, Italy, sought an architect for the new Grand Hall of Florence, they expected that the entry by the aged Leonardo da Vinci would be brilliant-and it was. But then they saw the submission by a new and relatively unknown artist and architect named Michelangelo. Wow! Its originality blew them away, and they selected Michelangelo's design.

Da Vinci was used to adulation, and his loss of the contract to the young upstart Michelangelo was unnerving. Da Vinci's biographers agree that that was a turning point-for that time on, his bitterness and envy of the younger man poisoned da Vinci's own creativity. It was the beginning of the end of his creativity.

• One more--a fable from ancient Greece. The story is told of the envious Greek athlete. He had trained and worked all his life for the games. He arrived at the Olympic games expecting to beat all his opponents when another man, a man from his same village, showed up and entered the games. Wouldn't you know-the newcomer swept the games! When the games were over, the newcomer went immediately home while the dejected athlete took his time, and when he got back the town had erected a pillar in honor of their new hometown hero. The athlete had had enough; in the middle of the night he went out into the Town Square and began battering the column to knock it over. Again and again he pushed at the symbol of his own envy, but it wouldn't budge-it only tottered. Finally, with all his might, he gave it one last push-and the pillar came down-right on him! The moral of the story? Envy can kill!

Redeem and Lift: The Power of the Gospel to Change a Life

There is a passage that speaks of envy and salvation. It is Paul's letter to Titus 3:3-8:

• In verse 3, Paul says that before a person comes to Christ, he lives in the realm of spiritual slavery. 3a At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.
• To be specific, envy was prominent on our moral radar: We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another (3b). What a striking phrase-"being hated and hating one another." That's the outcome of envy unleashed.
• But God did not leave us in that state: in vs. 4-6, the mercy of God appears: 4But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior… That's the wonder of a life made new in Jesus. He makes us right with Himself not because of any good things we have done but because of gives new life-rebirth-by His mercy. It's like standing under a waterfall of God's blessings.
• The final outcome is in vs. 7-8: …so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

Coming to know Christ provides that ultimate reference point that is the enemy of envy. Who am I? A child of the Lord, a servant of Christ, a part of the family of God. I serve an infinitely wise God, and my objective in life is to fit into what He would do in and through me, not what I would choose, or my ambition. I cease asking the question, "Why not me?" and ask a new question instead: "What now, Lord? How may I serve you? What can I do to help others and bring glory to your name?"

What is Envy's Opposite? (The Anti-Envy Virtue)

That brings us then to ask again-if envy is a "deadly sin", then what's the mirror living virtue? Remember the list:

1. Pride and Humility
2. Covetousness and Simplicity
3. Lust and Chastity
4. Envy and Love
5. Gluttony and Self-control
6. Anger and Gentleness
7. Sloth and Faithfulness

I think the real opposite virtue is simply love. Envy seeks what the other has; love seeks the best for the other. Perhaps we can best see this in some examples from Scripture.

Lessons from John the Baptist, Paul and Barnabas

• First, from the life of John the Baptist. John 3 tells us of a time in which Jesus' popularity was soaring while John was being overshadowed by Jesus. John's own disciples were disturbed. John, who knew all along that he was just there to prepare the way for Jesus' ministry, told his disciples that he was just the best man at the wedding-not the groom! "He must become greater; I must become less," said John (John 3:30). He repudiated all envy. It was a gracious act of love on John's part to recede into the background so that Jesus could shine.
• This is exactly the kind of mindset taught by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." This is why I say that the opposite of envy is love.
• Paul had experienced this himself in an amazing way. Recall that Paul was originally known by his Hebrew names Saul, and that he persecuted the church until his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. Despite his conversion, there were a number of believers who were wary about their old persecutor, so Saul went back to his old home town of Tarsus, in what is now southeast Turkey. When Barnabas, one earliest leaders of the church in Jerusalem, came to Antioch years later, he realized that Saul, practically living in a kind of exile, would be a great asset there. Barnabas fetched Saul from Tarsus and the two of them became a team-always known as Barnabas and Saul. (Acts 12:25). However, as they began to journey outward to share the gospel, Saul assumed his Roman name Paul, and after their experience on Cyprus, Paul clearly was the leader. In Acts 13:13, just after their time on Cyprus, it became "Paul and his companions"-later passages always have it as "Paul and Barnabas." And there is every indication that Barnabas was content now to be the second man because he could see that God was using Paul in ways that would never have happened had Barnabas remained the man out front.
• Barnabas redefined in his own life the meaning of success and failure. Success is not having the most, being the most, getting the most. Success is being exactly where God can use you the best. Failure is yearning for any place-any place higher, any place lower, than where God can use you best. This measure of success slays the green-eyed dragon of envy.

How it happens: the grace of God applied

This kind of contentment can only live in a heart filled by the presence of the living God. It can only be real in the life of a person who has turned their life over to the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Do you know this Jesus?

Here's how to know Him:

A: Admit that you are a sinner-you have a spiritual breakdown that runs over the broken bleeding body of Jesus. The Bible says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

B: Believe in Him-not just a nodding belief, but belief the way a dying man grips a lifesaver. "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved."

C: Confess Him before others. That means you go public as a follower of Jesus.

© Copyright 2002, Pastor Glenn Layne, www.templecitybaptist.org