Envy

Welcome

Well, good morning, Lifepoint! If we haven’t met yet, my name is Dan and I serve as the teaching pastor here at our Worthington campus. I’m grateful you’re here with us today - especially as we’re kicking off a new teaching series.

New Guest Card

Real quick. If this is your first time here, we have a couple things to help you get oriented.

Message Notes + Questions

And last thing, if you have a bible with you why don’t you meet me in the Old Testament book of Exodus. Exodus - second book of the bible - Exodus chapter 32.

Introduction

I wonder if you’re with me in this. One of the questions I hate getting asked is, “What’s wrong?”

I hate it!

Anyone else?

For me, it’s two reasons. 

For starters, it lets me know that I haven’t hidden how I’m actually feeling nearly as well as I thought. I like to think I can play cool way more than I actually can. For whatever reason, “I’m fine” is not a convincing answer…I need to be more creative.

But the other, and I suspect, real, reason I hate it is because, generally, the answer is: I don’t know…at least I don’t really know.

I can tell you how I’m feeling about whatever’s wrong…I can tell you about what I might’ve done because of what I’m feeling…but I have a really hard time explaining why feel what I feel or why I’ve done what I’ve done.

And it’s not just me. For the vast majority of us…more of life than we’d like to admit feels like being stuck in some rut that everyone else seems to have somehow avoided - and to make matters worse, in our current cultural climate, we seem to have precious few moments to pause and actually try and diagnose what’s wrong. We like quick fixes…answers, solutions, and progress!

But what if I told you, there was a way to answer honestly answer the question…and more than just answer it, a way to actually figure out what to do about it…to break out of whatever rut it feels like you’re in…even if you’re convinced you’ve already tried everything else?

For centuries, followers of Jesus have had a tool and a process for coming to that answer - a process of diagnosing what’s actually wrong. And while it’s largely forgotten in the modern era, today we’re starting a new series I am really excited about called “Vice and Virtue” and we will work through the process of diagnosing our hearts.

But, if you’ll indulge me for sec, I think, maybe more than some of the other teaching series we’ve done in the past, this one needs a bit of set up for what this is, where it comes from and why we’re even talking about these things in the first place.

What are they?

So lets start with the obvious question: What is a vice?

Think of it this way - a vice is like the underlying condition of our hearts…it’s a specific spiritual sickness…and in this series, we’re going to be focusing on seven of them: envy, lust, greed, pride, sloth, anger, and gluttony.

Sometimes this list is called The Seven Deadly Sins. I don’t think that’s a particularly helpful title - it makes it sound like these are the worst ones!

Where did they come from?

Now here’s the thing, this list doesn’t show up anywhere in the bible. There’s not a passage that uses the phrase “Seven Deadly Sins.” So where does this come from?

Well, we’re obviously not making it up at Lifepoint - you’ve probably heard the phrase before. But even though we don’t get this list from the bible, what you’ll notice is that all seven of the things we’re talking about actually patterns of brokenness that show up in the Bible. Think of them “spiritual diseases” that we do see all over the bible! More than that, we see them all over humanity!

The list of vices…of spiritual sickness we’re looking at in this series comes down to us from Church History…and is the result of hundreds of years of pastoral care and counsel in peoples lives - helping others diagnose the spiritual sickness in their lives. It’s compiled between 400 AD and 1250 AD…it’s like a spiritual physicians desk reference that’s the result of an 850 year study on the human condition. I’d say that’s a pretty convincing data-set!

Why are we talking about them?

So why are we talking about these things? I think two reasons:

If we’re talking about sin as a sickness…then think about a medical diagnosis. What happens if you ignore it? You can…but ignoring a diagnosis generally makes it worse because you’re not pursuing treatment! In the same way, looking at the vices over the next seven weeks will help us with the diagnostic work of so many of the deeper patterns of brokenness we see play out in our lives today! So that we can look to real treatment - not just of the symptoms, but treatment for the underlying condition. Think of it this way - if you have a headache, you take Tylenol…but that Tylenol will only do so much good if you’ve actually got Thyroid issue!

One of the common critiques of Christianity in the West is that we seem to pick and choose specific issues to make a big deal about while ignoring other issues. (Ie. Why do you talk about sexuality so much and not something like gluttony or “sloth”?) This series gives us space to address the deeper issues of the human heart that just don’t come up as often as others.

The Diagnostic Process

And as I’ve been thinking about how to talk about these each week, I’ve been really struck by how this list of seven vices has been used in church history.

See, long before this modern therapeutic age we now live in, followers of Jesus used this list of vices as a tool for diagnosing the heart and soul…to find the common spiritual sicknesses that seem to show up over and over again, not just in us but in all of humanity! And in a lot of ways, it’s the same process doctors go through today, diagnosing what’s wrong with our physical bodies!

Think about it this way - when you go to the doctor, there’s basically three steps. Your doc will look at the “symptoms”…the issues that brought you there in the first place…but it’s from this list of symptoms that they’ll then talk about underlying conditions…the deeper issue and in many ways, the real issues the symptoms point to…and finally, treatment!

And each week, as we move through this series, talking about the Vices, we’re going to follow this same process…we’ll look at the “symptoms,” the “underlying condition,” and ultimately, treatment!

And my hope is that over the next seven weeks, you don’t just hear about the spiritual sickness over and over again…but that actually, you are equipped with the tools to diagnose your heart and soul…and in so, uncovering the underlying condition and real treatment available to us in following Jesus!

I want you to know from the front end, that while the sickness is real and strong, so is the Gospel treatment…and in Jesus you can and will find healing!

So if you’re not there yet, open with me to Exodus 32, I’ll pray and then we’ll get started.

PRAY

Presenting Symptoms

Alright, let’s go ahead and get started. Exodus 32.

And if we’re using the diagnostic process, first thing we need to do is look at the presenting symptoms in this story.

What’s going on with the people of Israel?

Let’s zoom out for a second. The story of Exodus is the story of God delivering his people from slavery in Egypt; where they’ve spent the last 400 years.

You’ve got Moses…“Let my people go!” You’ve got the 10 plagues… The Red Sea… And now they’re out in the wilderness trying to figure out what’s next.

Moses is called by God to come up to Mount Sinai and gives him what we know as the 10 Commandments.

Here’s just the first two:

Exodus 20:2–6 ESV

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Symptom 1

Here’s where we find the first “symptom.”

Look with me at v. 1 (Exodus 32:1)

Exodus 32:1 ESV

1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

They’re restless waiting for Moses. They’re angry and impatient with his delay

Symptom 2

What else is going on?

Well, not only are they frustrated and angry, there’s also some comparison going on. Where do we see this?

Look at again at v. 1.

Exodus 32:1–2 ESV

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us.

And to our modern ears, it sounds like a random thing for them to do, right? Like after all that’s happened so far…all they have seen God do in bringing them out of Egypt…opening the Red Sea for them to walk through - leading them through the wilderness as a Pillar of Fire…and now, because Moses is taking too long on the mountain, they’re throwing it all away?

Well, there’s a little bit more going on here. A little “patient history” is helpful.

Remember, they’ve spent the last 400 years…that’s about 16 generations…in Egypt…as slaves.

So when they say, “Make us gods who will go before us.” Aaron, Moses’ right hand man collects a bunch of their gold, gets to work fashioning a Calf, and in v. 4 says,

Exodus 32:4 ESV

“These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

This is what they would have seen and heard over and over again in Egypt through the last 400…countless statues and idols all over the place…presumably, some of the very things they would have been responsible for constructing as slaves themselves! They would have heard for generations the Egyptian rulers make the same statement Aaron’s just made to them…These are your gods…

In other words, they are looking back at all their time in Egypt…looking forward to what might be next…comparing the two…and coming to the conclusion: we need what THEY have.

Why?

On the one hand…it’s what they know…it’s what they’ve seen the Egyptians do countless times.

But it’s also because of what this image would mean to them.

And before we kinda throw our hands up at the Israelites - what’s wrong with them - ask yourself if you’ve ever wanted God to give you a sign? Some kind of assurance that you’re following him…that you’re doing the right thing…on the right path…something you could hold on to - some kind tangible reminder He has not left you and still loves you?

That’s what they want! If they can see their god…if they can watch him go with them…and lead the way…THAT’S a tangible assurance that he is with them; that He has not left them…that he loves them because He’s with them and they can see it!

“Up…make us gods who will go before us.” We need what they have…because then we’ll know - that God is with us…then we will know God loves us.”

And as you read through the story…the wild part is that as they are making this calf…which they don’t consider another god…it’s so they have something to look at - Moses is up on the mountain, and God writing out on two stone tablets, You shall have NO other gods before me…and you shall not make an image of me…and says:

Exodus 20:5–6 ESV

“…for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

And we tend to think of Jealousy as a negative thing…but God is rightly jealous over his people…it’s a jealousy that flows from a deep affection for His people whom he has created and called and cared for…whom he has rescued so that they would be with Him! And God’s Jealousy longs for a reciprocal affection from us for Him! The word is zeal…it is the jealous love we are supposed to have for God!

And yet, here are the Israelites in the very first story they show up in after God gives the commandments, breaking them!

He has a jealous love for us…He desires a zealous love from us…and the Israelites pivot and say, we would know we are most loved if we had what they have.

And the result is catastrophic.

And so, if we step back to the diagnostic process for a moment, how might we look at this story and start to compile a list of symptoms?

They’re angry and frustrated…comparing themselves to the Egyptians…believing they need what the Egyptians have…and now find themselves on a fools errand, demanding an assurance they are loved from some created thing that could never provide it.

Underlying Conditions

So now we need to ask what underlying condition best explains all the symptoms?

And of all the things that could be going on in the hearts and minds of the people of Israel, the clear front runner for what best explains what’s going on with them is…

PAUSE

Envy.

And that might sound strange at first…after all, the passage doesn’t use the word Envy?

But just like a physical disease rarely parades itself around, so it is with spiritual disease…all we really get are these symptoms that we have to make sense of.

Envy, as it was talked about in the Ancient World, is the need to have what someone else has. But it’s not just the desire to have the same kind of thing someone else has, it’s having the thing someone else has so that they don’t have it!

I think of it this way: Envy always says, “I am poisoned by YOUR possession.”

In other words, we experience envy like the Israelites here, when we look across the room…across the street…or scroll into someone else’s life…and rather than being able to just move on…there’s something inside of you that says, “No!” They shouldn’t have that…I should have it!

And like a poison!

New York Times columnist, Joseph Epstein said it this way:

“Of all the vices, only Envy is no fun at all.”

Because, you see, it robs us of our ability to find joy with other people - everything becomes a zero-sum game with them…either we’re winning and they’re loosing, or they’re winning and we’re loosing! Envy is the opposite of love! This is exactly what the New Testament says about it…

1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy…”

And almost all of the greatest minds in church history talk about it this way! The brilliant 13th century Philosopher and Theologian, Thomas Aquinas said it this way:

“When you love, you rejoice over other’s good. When you envy, you sorrow over it!”

Friends, Envy is a far more pervasive disease in our modern world than we recognize…because it can take so many forms and attach itself to so many different things that we see around us! You can be envious of anything. And envy might even mascaraed as a completely different issue!

In your marriage…

Some of you know exactly what it’s like…in your heart of hearts…to desperately need something from your spouse…maybe you want your husband to be more intentional…maybe you want your wife to be more “spontaneous”…it is a thin line between simply wanting your spouse to improve in some areas and having an ideal based on someone else’s spouse for what you need YOURS to do.

“Why doesn’t my wife do that like his wife does…”

“Why doesn’t my husband do that like her’s does?”

And it might not happen over night, but slowly we begin to find our selves poisoned by the possession of others for something we are convinced we need!

In your career…

This is a tricky one…and I see this A LOT in my life.

You see, we are rarely envious of the people who are in different stages than we are…it can happen…but more often than not, it’s when we look at people who should be our peers…they’re the ones who started around the same time we did…having been the same kind of work in our field…and for whatever reason, they’re doing it better.

Have you ever had that moment on Facebook or Instagram, you get an update on some accomplishment / achievement or whatever…and your first response is like, “…THAT GUY?! He’s a bum!”

That’s a symptom. And it’s pointing to something deeper…it’s pointing to a very real underlying condition, that for so many of us goes untreated…because we often don’t recognize it for what it is.

You see, beneath every ‘twinge’ of comparison…is a much more subtle whisper that says, “If you had what they had…then you’d be set…then you’d be complete…then you’d be loved.”

And in real time, I’m watching this play out in my own heart right now. I’ve got my own set of visions for what kind of pastor I want to be…and what kind of church I want us to have…and if I’m honest…it looks suspiciously similar to what other peers seem to have right now. And the whisper I hear is that once I achieve that…then I’ll be successful...then I will have arrived…then I will know that I know that God is with me…has blessed me…and loves me.

And, man, is that voice strong.

But it is poison. And every time I indulge that voice, I take another swig, finding myself feeling just a little bit worse.

Gospel Remedy

So what do we do?

If Envy is the underlying condition…what’s the treatment?

Well, for starters, we have to recognize that envy, by its very nature, will keep us on a perpetual journey to find an assurance of love through something else.

Think back to the story of the Israelites for a moment. Remember God had given them the commandments out of his jealous love for them - and He desires our affection back for him…a zealous love…but it’s the vertical relationship that we so often scew…and end up directing our need for love on to something else.

And the end result is always the same…poisoned by the possessions of others…frustrated with them…and angry with God who seems to have given us the short end of the stick…

But, you see, the larger story of the Bible tells us that while we are busy, demanding love from things that could never reciprocate…we have a God who first shows us a perfect love…We have a God who so deeply desires relationship with us that He stepped down into human history…in the person and work of Jesus…and out of his perfect love for us, he lived the life that we, just like the Israelites, failed to live…died the death we should have died…on the cross, in our place…all of this to show us that by faith in Jesus we find our selves more loved than we could possibly imagine!

Friends, at the end of the day…if we want to treat our envy…to cure it…we need a regular dose of the Gospel; reminding our selves over and over and over again, that by faith in Jesus we are finally liberated from the endless pursuit of demanding an assurance of love from people and things that cannot possibly provide what we’re looking for! We are freed from the mirage that God’s favor is just around the corner…if we could only take the next hill…get to the next rung! He is not more loving if we we’re a better spouse or parent…or if we HAD a better spouse or parent!

No!

Now, right now, in Jesus we are perfectly loved and cared for by a Heavenly Father who DELIGHTS over his Children! You see we treat our Envy by aligning our love back to Him!

So What?

So we sing.

We Gather and Celebrate.

Practical Tool:

Personal Diagnostic Process: Symptom-focused: "When I feel/do [insert symptom here], what is the feeling or need I am trying to satisfy? Am I trying to fill a void, avoid something, or gain something?"

Impact-focused: "How does [insert symptom here] affect my relationships with others, my relationship with myself, and my relationship with God?"

Underlying Condition-focused: "If [insert symptom here] is a symptom, what is the underlying condition? What deeper issue might be contributing to this behavior or feeling?"