Desires and Obligations
September 3rd, 2009
Whether you are watching t.v., walking around the mall, or driving down the road, it would not take long to realize that our society is driven by desire. Now of course this should not come as a surprise to anyone, in fact it is a given. For most the motto is something like, more stuff more happiness, whether it be expensive toys, controlling substances, sexual pleasure, or take your pick the common theme is the more the merrier. All of which seem to contradict the tenth commandment’s instructions: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, wife, servants, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
The advertisers of our day have, however, taken a different approach not only encouraging us to desire our neighbor’s things, but explicitly telling us that happiness comes through getting the things my neighbor has. Perhaps a good explanation for this discrepancy is to look at how people view property. Today property is seen as something that can make me happy because it can do this or that from me. On the flip side, the dominion mandate of Genesis shows we do have rights to property, but more importantly we have obligations that come with property. This obligations is called stewardship. Everything we have or desire to have should be used in a manner that reflects God’s glory and is used in a way that can further His Kingdom.
What can we do to reverse this new norm? First, we can ask ourselves each time we desire to have something, “What obligation comes with this thing, and what action or responsibilities does it give me.” This is perhaps just a first step in trying to overcome the power of coveting. I think their is a deeper level of coveting, one which involves people being jealous of the blessings and responsibilities God has given others, and wishing those obligations for themselves. But that is another discussion for another post, or maybe when I here people saying “Oh, I really wish I had the obligations that come with that property.”
Ryan