Two or More
People love to make comparisons: “This one is better than that one.” “The original movie was better than the sequel.” “Those are more expensive, but they’re worth it because they’re better made.” These are the kinds of comparisons that people make every day.
When he was younger, one of my boys liked to compare football teams. “Dad,” he would say, “what do you think is the best team in college football?” “What about the pros?” “Who’s better—the Bears or the Eagles?” Finally, in exasperation, I would say, “Look, that’s enough for right now. I’m not going to answer any more questions about which teams are the best.” After a long and thoughtful pause, my son tried another approach: “Dad, who do you think has the worst team in pro football?”
The writers of the Old Testament often used a similar strategy. In order to show the way of wisdom or the path of obedience, they would compare one thing to another. For example, when Samuel wanted to say that loving God is more important than simply going through the religious motions, he said, “To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22). Or when Solomon wanted to praise the harmony of a loving home, he said, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it” (Proverbs 15:17).
The Preacher-King who wrote Ecclesiastes used the same strategy. Given all the trouble there is in the world, sometimes he was tempted to think that it might be better not to live at all, and he said as much at the beginning of chapter 4. Then he made several more comparisons that were based on what he saw happening around him and that give practical wisdom for daily life in this transient world. By the grace of God, it is better for us to live with contentment (Ecclesiastes 4:4–6), to lead with a teachable spirit (Ecclesiastes 4:13–16), and to work in partnership with other people (Ecclesiastes 4:7–12).
The first comparison was about contentment, and it began with an observation about the working world: “Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:4).
Envy is not the only reason that people work, of course, and if we took this verse by itself it would sound like an exaggeration. There certainly are some exceptions that prove the rule. But the Preacher still has a point—one of the reasons we work so hard is to get what our neighbor has. This is why some people shortchange the government on their taxes, or cheat their customers, or get into debt with their credit cards. It is because we envy what other people have and will do anything to get it.
There are many things we are tempted to envy—for example, someone’s looks or abilities or situation in life. Someone else has the job or the grades or the girlfriend that we always wanted. But of all the things that we are tempted to envy, usually our neighbor’s possessions are near the top of the list. Just look at the Tenth Commandment: most of the things it tells us not to covet are things that money can buy. We work hard to get more money to buy more things, or else we pull out the plastic to engage in what one economist has called “retail therapy.” If we get everything we covet, someone else will envy us, and the cycle will continue. The world is full of Joneses trying to keep up with the other Joneses