Chapter One--Covetousness, Content

Lesson One COVETOUSNESS, CONTENT

Covetousness The word "covetousness" is from the Greek pleonexia, literally meaning "a desire to have more (pleon, more, echo, to have)." In the New Testa-ment it is used ten times, always in a bad sense: Mark 7:22; Luke 12:15; Romans 1:29; 2 Corinthians 9:5; Ephesians 4:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:5; 2 Peter 2:3; 2 Peter 2:14.

In classical Greek pleonexia means "an arrogant greediness," the atti-tude that seeks to take advantage of one's fellow men. Herodotus wrote of the unfair, greedy advantage the Spartans endeavored to take of the Argives: "The Argives say that they cannot brook this arrogance (pleonexia), and rather than yield one jot to it, they preferred to be under the rule of the barbarians" (History VII.149).

In the Koine pleonexia was widely used by the ordinary people. It is quite common in the papyri, where it is used to designate "grasping ambition," "aggression that seeks advantage of others," and the "rapacity" of a dishonest official who is out to exploit the district of which he is in charge in order to feather his own nest. Two examples of its use are the following: "Since, if any advantage is taken, our weakness will leave us no escape," ". . . in this way their aggression will be made clear."

In the New Testament pleonexia is used to designate "the disposition which is ever ready to sacrifice one's neighbor to oneself in all things , not in money dealings merely" (Lightfoot). It is the grasping, greedy tempter that desires to get whatever pleases one's selfish whims, which is the very antithesis of the loving spirit of Christian liberality and unselfishness, of concern for the rights and valid needs of others. As Richard Trench observed, it is "the fiercer and fiercer longing of the creature which has forsaken God, to fill itself with the lower objects of sense . . . the ever defeated longing of the creature, as it has despised the children's bread, to stay its hunger with the husks of the swine." Theodoret, the early biblical commentator, defined it as "the aiming always at getting more, the snatching at things which it does not befit a man to have."

The verb that corresponds to pleonexia is pleonekteo, meaning "to take advantage of, overreach, make gain of" (2 Corinthians 2:11; 2 Corinthians 7:2; 2 Corinthians 12:17-18; 1 Thessalonians 4:6).

Let us now examine each use made of pleonexia in the New Testament.

1. "And he said, That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness: all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man" (Mark 7:20-23). The word "covetings" in the Greek is the plural of pleonexia, pertaining to the various ways in which covetousness, the greedy, grasping temper , shows itself, whether in regard to money, glory, honor, power, etc. "Covetousness is a sort of mental gluttony, not confined to money but craving honour and feeding on selfishness" (Chamfort). We notice that Jesus places covetings in the same category as the other evil things that proceed from the unclean heart and that defile the man. This passage alone is sufficient to renounce once and for all any notion that covetousness is simply a little fault, a slight moral blemish, not to be compared to such big sins as thefts, murders, adulteries, and such like. When we recognize the heinousness of the sin of covetousness, we will diligently labor to eradicate it from our lives.

2. "And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 12:15). In this utterance Jesus does not condemn the possession of things as such, but the abundance of things. He denounces the attitude that cannot be content with the necessities of life, "food and covering" (1 Timothy 6:8), but that greedily desires more and more, that can never be satis-fied. See Hebrews 13:5.

After exhorting His listeners to keep themselves from all covetousness, Jesus illustrated the folly and heinousness of this sin by presenting a parable concerning a selfishly rich farmer, who said to himself on seeing his fields bring forth plentifully, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry." This farmer , designated by the Lord as a fool, was only concerned with his own whims and desires. Utterly absent from his thoughts was God's will con-cerning the use of his goods. He had no desire at all to help the poor and needy. He was rich in material things but poor toward God, even as every other covetous person is also spiritually impoverished. And as God required his soul of him, with all his material things left behind , so also will he eventually require the soul of every other covetous person.

Donald Miller wrote, "My normal physical impulse is to protect and preserve my life, to acquire all the comforts and conveniences that the world can furnish and do what pleases me. When I stop to think, though , I know that any animal is so motivated. History is replete with accounts of men whose lives were thus directed. The ultimate frustration of such as Alexander the Great and Solomon, highlights the futility of the selfish approach to life.

"Then I read in the Bible of the revolutionary concept of the philosophy of life taught and lived by our Savior Jesus Christ. It involved a selfless dedication to God and concern for his fellowman equal to his self concern. The life of Christ is epitomized in the words of his tearful prayer as he faced the cross, 'not my will, but thine be done.' Later Paul relates how this same selfless spirit captured the poverty-stricken Macedonian Christians. It is no secret--it was no miracle. All they did was to make a complete dedication of themselves to Christ and their fellow Christians. It brought them happiness, and we all seek happiness. Can I do less than they?"

3. "And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness maliciousness;, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers , backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers , without natural affection, unmerciful" (Romans 1:28-31). Here covetousness, pleonexia, is presented as one of the sins of the world without God, of men who have "refused to have God in their knowledge." It is the sin that is diametrically opposed to the perfect generosity of God and Christ. See John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Php 2:5-8. Indeed, the perfect liberality and unselfishness of divine giving to bless mankind is the basic, underlying theme of the entire Bible, and thus it is no exaggeration to say that the covetous man is more unlike Deity than any other person in sin. In his comments on Romans 1:29 Albert Barnes says, "Covetousness is common in the world; but it would be particularly so where the other vices enumerated here abounded, and men were desirous of luxury, and the gratification of their senses."

4. "1 thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your aforepromised bounty, that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty, and not of extortion" (2 Corinthians 9:5). Paul's wish here is that the Corinthian Christians will give to help the poor saints (verse 1) as a matter of bounty or blessing (see footnote in the American Standard Version), and not of extortion or covetousness as wrung out of those who would give grudgingly. The covetous person, devoid of a loving, liberal spirit, never gives cheerfully but always grudgingly, as if he were literally being forced to give. See 2 Corinthians 9:7.

5. "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness" (Ephesians 4:17-19). Greediness or covetousness is here associated with spiritual unclean-ness. The idea Paul may have in mind is the depravity of the pagan world in its greedy desire to abound in unclean activities, or his idea may be that the pagan world works uncleanness with the greedy desire for financial gain, such as in Ephesus, whose principal temple had one thousand prostitutes as its priestesses. Either of these ideas is descriptive of men in every age whose hearts have become so hardened by sin that they greedily seek to do every unclean act imaginable in catering to the desires of the flesh, who will do virtually anything, no matter how vile it may be, for financial gain.

1. "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints" (Ephesians 5:3). It may be that the word pleonexia, covetousness, as used in this passage refers to impure desires, the greedy longing for whatever is involved in the sins of fornication and uncleanness. If, however, the greedy desire for material things is intended here, the apostle shows in its con-text how degrading and abominable a sin it is, not even to be named among the saints.

2. "Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience" (Colossians 3:5-6). No plainer, more pointed description of the heinousness of covetous-ness could possibly be made than this. What is covetousness? It is idolatry! The inordinate love and pursuit of anything to satisfy the cravings of the lower man are pagan, belonging on the same level as the worship of images. The covetous man has turned from the worship of the Creator to the worship of the created, to the objects of his greedy desire. The child of God who is covetous has tacitly denied the faith and cannot possibly be sincere in his participation in divine worship and in other religious activities. It is high time in the church of the Lord that we consider covetousness for what it really is, the God-denying sin of idolatry, and the covetous member for what he really is, a pagan, one who puts his faith in idols rather than in the living God. See 1 Corinthians 5:11; Ephesians 5:5.

3. "For neither at any time were we found using words of flattery God, as covetousness, ye know,nor a cloakof is witness" (1 Thessalonians 2:5); "And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not" (2 Peter 2:3). Pleonexia, covetousness, in these passages describes the person who uses his position to take advantage of the people he should be serving , who sees his fellow men as those to be exploited in order to secure the objects of his greedy desire.

4. ". . . eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; enticing unstedfast souls; having a heart exercised in covetousness; children of cursing" (2 Peter 2:14). Those described here were exercised or trained in covetousness. They had been so consistently and persistently greedy that they were thoroughly competent in avariciously seeking after the things which would pamper the flesh. They are depicted as "children of cursing," not worthy to be called children of God even though they claimed to be members of the Lord's church. See Ephesians 2:3. De we not have covetous souls like them in the church today, people who have so long practiced covetousness that they have become quite expert in avariciously seeking after the things of the world?

Content The word "content" is from the Greek autarkes, meaning "sufficient for one self, strong enough or possessing enough to need no aid or support, independent of extermal circumstances (from autos, self, arkeo, sufficient)." The noun form is autarkeia, meaning "contentment, self-sufficiency, independence." In the papyri autarkes is used only in the simple sense of "enough;" for example, "a sufficient number of jars," "the tenure of one year is sufficient," "it will be sufficient."

In its sole use in the New Testament, autarkes has the literal meaning of self-sufficient or content: "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content" (Php 4:11). There is no egotism in this affirmation. Paul did not claim that his self-sufficiency originated with himself, that it was of his own wisdom and power. He did not claim to be master of his fate. But what he did affirm, and emphatically so, is that he was not dependent on the things of this transitory world for his contentment, but only on the strength that God provided him through Christ, no matter what the vicissitudes of his life may have been. He immediately explained himself by saying, "I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me" (verses 12, 13). Paul affirmed, in effect, that no matter what his state in life may have been , in Christ he had everything he needed to serve God and to be truly content.

Even with a painful physical affliction besetting him, the apostle still received the necessary sufficiency through God's grace to live the abundant Christian life, concerning which he wrote, "And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted overmuch. Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient (arkei) for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

In writing to his Corinthian brethren, Paul stressed the all sufficiency they could receive through God's grace for the practice of every good work: "And God is able to make all grace abound unto you; that ye, having always all sufficiency (autarkeian) in everything, may abound unto every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:8). The key to the understand-ing of Christian contentment or sufficiency is found in the glorious affirmation, "God is able." If we really believe this affirmation, we will have no doubts at all concerning the power of God's grace to sustain us in abundant living, no matter how adverse the circumstances of life may be. It is unthinkable, then, that one who truly depends on the grace of God for victorious, fruitful living should ever be frustrated and unhappy concerning his lot in life. Such a person knows that whatever his needs may be there is always God's presence, help, and inexhaustible riches in Christ to depend on. "And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Php 4:19). "Be ye free from the love of money; content (arkoumenoi) with such things as ye have: for himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee , neither will I in any wise foresake thee. So that with good courage we say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear: What shall man do unto me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6). See Genesis 28:15; Joshua 1:5; Romans 8:31-39.

In contrast to the sorrow that comes from greedily seeking after material things, Paul stresses the contentment that is inherent in godliness, the God-oriented life: "But godliness with contentment (autarkeias) is great gain: for we brought nothing into the world, for neither can we carry anything out; but having food and covering we shall be therewith content (arkesthesometha). But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:6-10).

Questions

• What is the literal meaning of pleonexia?

• How is pleonexia used in classical Greek, the papyri, and the New Testament?

• Discuss each New Testament passage in which pleonexia is used.

• What is the meaning of autarkes as it is used in the New Testament?

• Discuss Php 4:11-13.

• Discuss Paul's reference to the sufficiency of God's grace in 2 Corinthians 12:9.

• In light of 2 Corinthians 9:8; Php 4:19; Hebrews 13:5-6, why can the Christian be content in whatever state he is?

• Why is godliness with contentment great gain?