SEVEN DEADLY SINS
DR. JIM DIXON
ENVY
1 PETER 1:23-2:3
JANUARY 14, 1990
Amadeus was the name of an Academy award-winning movie and a critically acclaimed play. The story of Amadeus was not only the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but it was also the story of Antonio Salieri. Antonio Salieri lived in Vienna and was the court musician to the King of Austria. Antonio Salieri longed to use music to glorify the heavenly Father, and he only wanted to lift the hearts of men and women towards heaven. He asked that God would allow him to compose music worthy of God’s great glory. But you see, God didn’t grant Antonio Salieri those kinds of gifts. His music was good, but it was never great. His music was entertaining, but he never wrote a masterpiece. The music he composed would never immortalize the composer.
Now, on the other hand, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was not a devout man. He was oftentimes crude, vulgar, and immature. But you see, God gave him amazing gifts, a rare genius musically. His musical skills began to be manifested almost from the moment of birth. The music he composed was exciting, complex and manifested his mastery of every form of composition. Antonio Salieri began to envy Mozart and that envy became his obsession. In the midst of this obsession, he actually began to plot the demise of Mozart and this envy led solidarity to the very brink of insanity. In the end, Antonio Salieri who once longed to bless God and glorify God, cursed God for not giving him the magnitude of giftedness, given to Mozart. His mind, faith, and ministry, all destroyed by envy. Envy is indeed one of the seven deadly sins.
This morning I’d like us to explore this subject of envy together. The word envy in the Greek is the word thonos. And I’d like us to examine two aspects of this word as our two teachings today. First of all, thonos is always a comparative word. The word envy imply implies comparison. You cannot experience envy unless in some sense you are comparing yourself with someone else. Envy is based on comparison. See, it’s more than desire, it’s even more than coveting. Envy is a special kind of desire and a special kind of coveting that is rooted in comparison.
In 1960, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected president of the United States by a narrow margin over Richard M. Nixon, 114,000 votes. That was the margin of victory out of 69 million votes cast. Immediately after Kennedy’s presidential inauguration and inaugural address, Nixon went to Ted Sorenson, who was Kennedy’s Aid. He said, “You know, there were some things that Kennedy said in his speech that I would like to have said.” Sorenson responded, “You mean like the part where he said, ask not what your country can do for you?” Nixon said, “No. I mean the part where he said, I do solemnly swear.” You see, there is absolutely no doubt that Richard Nixon wanted to be president. He coveted the presidency, but that wasn’t all there was to Richard Nixon. Those who knew him best, those who knew him best tell us that he was envious of John Kennedy, and the envy ran deep. Nixon had just been compared with Kennedy, not only in the voting booths of America, but on national television. It was very clear to most people in this country that Kennedy was younger and better looking. Kennedy could speak better, and he had more charisma. And these things were also very evident to Richard Nixon and we’re told that he envied Kennedy’s youth. Kennedy’s looks, charisma and even wealth.
The Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” Those words are beautiful, high and lofty words. The problem is those words are not true. All people are not created equal for example, some people are born with higher intellect, born with greater beauty or born with inordinate giftedness. Certainly this was true of Mozart. Some people are born into wealth. This was true of John Kennedy and all the Kennedys. Some people are born into abject poverty. This is true of 1 billion people in the world today. We are not created equal.
The Bible tells us that God loves us equally, and we all have equal worth in God’s sight. But God himself knows we are not equally endowed. Now, what God wants is for us to rejoice in whatever has been given to us. What God wants is for us to have joy in whatever endowment we have received and to be good stewards that cultivate and make the most of that for his kingdom’s sake. He doesn’t want us to compare or to envy. You can always find somebody to compare your endowment with somebody who seems better. Doesn’t matter how good looking you are, you can always find somebody better looking. Doesn’t matter how intelligent you are, you can always find someone with more intellect. Doesn’t matter how wealthy you are, you can always find somebody richer. God forbids us to compare. He does not want us to envy. He does not want us to experience the pain that envy brings. Because when you compare and when you envy, you lose joy and you lose grateful hearts. Your grateful heart is lost and your thanksgiving ceases to exist because of envy.
When Sir John Gielgud, the British actor, was asked to define envy, he said, “Well, I can define envy in this way, when Sir Lawrence Olivier performed Hamlet in 1948 and the critics raved, I wept.” See, that’s envy. Painful comparison. Comparison that produces jealousy. you’ve all felt that pain before. God wants us to understand that there is sin in envy.
Leonardo da Vinci, in the year 1501, was asked to paint a battle scene on one of the walls of the Great Hall in the city of Florence. At that time, Leonardo DaVinci was considered the greatest painter and artist in all the earth. He was asked to submit a sketch of the painting that he would paint on the wall of the Great Hall in the city of Florence. However, he wasn’t the only one who was asked to submit a sketch. That same year, Michelangelo was asked to paint another wall in the Grand Palace, the Great Hall city of Florence. At that time in 1501, Michelangelo was very young and not well known. Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci submitted their sketches at the same time. When the leaders of the city of Florence looked at Leonardo da Vinci’s sketch, they knew immediately it was great. Everything he did was great, and they knew that the painting that he would paint of a battle scene on the wall of the of the Great Hall would be great. When Michelangelo submitted his sketch, the leaders of the city of Florence knew immediately his was beyond great; it inspired awe. When the paintings were completed on the walls of the Grand Hall, the prevailing opinion was Michelangelo’s was greater than Leonardo’s DaVinci’s. Da Vinci was never the same. In the final 18 years of his life, He decreased, Michelangelo increased, and he could not bear that. He died in 1519. And in comparison, he felt the pain and the jealousy. And though he painted additional paintings, and though he rendered additional works, and though they were all great, he never had joy again. His joy was lost in those final 18 years and were filled with gloom and despair, all because of envy. God warns us, He warns each and every one of us, do not envy this word.
Now there’s a second aspect of thonos, this Greek word is not only a comparative word but it is a hostile word. Biblically, envy produces hostility. When you envy somebody, you not only want what they have, but you don’t want them to have it. This is at the very heart of the biblical word for envy. You begrudge and there’s a certain hostility that begins to creep in.
Now you see there’s a sense in which I suppose it could be said that I’m envious this morning. I really am. I’m envious of those people who are able to see the first half of the Bronco game. Now I can say that because I’m a Bronco fan. Now that’s one thing. But if I begrudge them the right to see and enjoy, that is what the Bible calls sin, for certain hostility is envy. If I not only wanted to see the game but didn’t want them to see it and resented the fact that they could see it, that’s sin and that’s envy.
When you go to somebody’s house and, you like their house because maybe it’s better than your house, that gives you pain. That’s sin. If you play with that a little bit and you not only would like to have their house, but you begin to resent the fact that they have the house and you begrudge them. If you wished they didn’t have the house, that’s envy. It’s a deadly sin.
Richard of England and Phillip of France were great kings. Two of the greatest kings in history. They both lived during the 12th century, were friends and both went to fight together in the latter portion of the 12th century, Crusades. Richard took the armies of England and Philip the armies of France, and together they went to the holy land to reclaim the sacred sites for Christ. They fought battles together and won victories together. They were friends bonded in a common cause.
As time went by, people began to give more glory to Richard of England because he was the greater warrior. He was the greater military genius, and was considered braver in battle. The people began to call him “cour de lion,” Richard the lionhearted. The people began to look to Richard of England rather than Philip of France and Phillip of France began to experience envy. He began to compare his glory with the glory of Richard. He felt the pain of comparison and jealousy. As that festered in his heart, he began to begrudge Richard his glory and fame. The seeds of bitterness grew from that envy and he began to develop resentment and hostility towards Richard. Phillip began to criticize his ideas, actions, and in rage Phillip of France took his armies out of Palestine and returned to France. Phillip of France resolved he was going to destroy Richard of England. He seized the properties that Richard the lionhearted had in a region of France. Finally, he declared war on England and on Richard, the war lasted five years. May 26th, 1199, Richard Delion hearted was killed by the armies of France. One of history’s great tragedies, a friendship annihilated by envy, two nations at war, all because of envy.
Envy produces hostility. This hostility is not simply characteristic of the secular world, but it’s characteristic of the Christian world. You see, denominations tend to envy each other and churches envy other churches. It shouldn’t be. We have one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one spirit. We are called to a common ministry, the service of the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ. And we’re called as churches to serve Christ together, head to toe until the end of this age and we see our Lord face to face. But somehow the flesh enters in and envy begins to destroy that oneness. Hostility creeps in and churches begin to begrudge other churches and ministers envy other ministers. Instead of rejoicing in God’s blessing, there’s a rivalry, competition, and hostility.
You might have heard the story of the Baptist family who lived in a small country town and had a death in the family. Their Baptist pastor had gone on vacation so they went to the Methodist pastor and asked him if he could do the burial for their family member. The Methodist pastor said, “Well, I don’t know. I’m going to have to ask the bishop.” So he wrote a letter to the bishop and he said, “Is it okay for me to bury a Baptist?” The bishop wrote back and said, “Bury all the Baptists you can.” Well, you see that is what envy produces. When you envy somebody, there’s a part of you that kind of wants to bury them. You can go back to Genesis in the fourth chapter and read about Cain and Abel and how they brought their gifts to God. Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions and Cain brought of the produce of the field. God took pleasure in the offering of Abel and He found no pleasure in the offering of Cain. Something was wrong with Cain’s heart and Cain began to feel envy. He compared himself with his brother Abel, and he feels the pain. He covets his brothers honor and recognition before God. He began to experience the pain of envy, bitterness and hostility. The Bible tells us he resolved in his heart he would kill his brother and he rose up and murdered him. All because of envy.
I assume that most of you are sitting there and you’re thinking, well, what does that have to do with me? I would never murder my brother or my sister or anyone for that matter. I wouldn’t do what Cain did to Abel and I wouldn’t do what Phillip of France did to Richard of England. But you see, God wants us to understand, envy is usually far more subtle and the hostility that produces in our heart is more subtle than that. While you wouldn’t take somebody’s life physically, you might try to destroy them just a little bit verbally. That too is hostility and it’s rooted in envy. In fact, slander is not listed as one of the seven deadly sins because slander is viewed biblically as an outgrowth of envy. In our passage of scripture for today, slander is listed immediately after envy because it’s considered an outgrowth of envy. And if you stop to think about it, when you criticize another human being or you spread a little word of gossip, or you say a word of slander, if you’re honest enough to really examine your heart, usually there’s some sense of bitterness there that is rooted in envy.
As we conclude this morning, I’d like you to listen to a passage of scripture that is found in the book of James in the third chapter. This passage of scripture is, I believe the greatest passage dealing with the abuse of the tongue. And as this passage of scripture describes the abuses of the tongue, I think you will see that from God’s perspective, the abuse of the tongue is rooted in envy. These words are from God. He wants us to hear them. James says, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren. For we know those who teach will be judged with greater strictness. We all make many mistakes in what we say. If anyone makes no mistakes in what he says, he’s a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body. If we put bits in the mouths of horses that we might control them, we guide their whole bodies. And look also at the ships. Though they are so great and driven by strong winds, they’re guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a little member, which boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire and the tongue is a fire. An unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature set on fire by hell. Every kind of beast, and bird, reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind, but no human being can contain the tongue. A restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it, we bless our God and Father and with it we curse man who’s made in his likeness. From the same mouth comes blessing and cursing my brethren, it ought not to be. Can a spring pour forth from the same opening both freshwater and brackish? Can a fig tree, my brethren yield lives or a grapevine, figs? No more can saltwater yield fresh. Who is wise in understanding among you? By his good life let him show forth his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not lie and be false to the truth for such wisdom is not such as comes from above, but is earthly unspiritual and devilish. For where envy and selfish ambition exists there will be disorder in every vial practice.”
Now, have you heard the word of God? Do you see what God is telling us? When we misuse the tongue, when it becomes a destroying fire, what is it rooted in? Bitter envy. God warns us envy is comparative. Comparing yourself to another person. Envy is hostile, begrudging another person, not only wanting what they have, not wanting them to have it, and ultimately wishing them ill. The next time you find yourself saying something negative about another person, if you search your heart, see if there’s not a little bit of envy there. Let’s close with a word of prayer.