Hebrews Chapter Thirteen, Covetousness & Christ

 

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” [6] So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

 

Conduct, simply put, is our behavior or demeanor. The Hebrew Christians are instructed not to have their behavior and demeanor influenced by covetousness, which is greed, or the desire to amass things. Even our selfless acts can be influenced by this sin. We may not get material things from good deeds, but we may receive laud from it, which panders to sinful self.

The ideation behind Christian action is selflessness. Covetousness is synonymous with selfishness. Envy, greed and materialism all apply when considering covetousness. It can sneak in subtly, coloring our choices and motivations, and human thinking is unfortunately quick to justify its presence when we are enticed by it. “It,” being covetousness, is merely a conveyance. What I mean is, if faith is the vehicle through which the believer apprehends Christ, its object, then covetousness is the vehicle that drives us to apprehend things, a contrary object. The appropriation of material goods is not evil of itself, but an inordinate desire to amass for its own sake is foolishness.

 

Paul wrote that godliness with contentment is great gain, 1 Timothy 6:6. Its opposite is covetousness, which is greed. Jesus our Lord spoke a parable about a certain rich man that was increased in goods, but rather than dispensing them generously to the needy, he desired bigger barns to store his wealth. He wanted to hoard his things for the sake of itself, so he might bask in his accomplishment, while bettering no one, Luke 12:16-19. But what was God’s rebuke to him? “Fool!” He called the rich man, Luke 12:20. The folly of material acquisition that serves only self, is that when one dies, it benefits nobody. While one lives, if it is hoarded, it benefits nobody. The remedy our Lord prescribed is that the saints are to be rich toward God, rather than laying up treasures on earth, Luke 12:21. James goes so far as to say that the treasures the greedy amass will testify against them at the judgment, James 5:3. This indicates that man knows that covetousness is evil; our conscience condemns us when we hoard what is beneficial to our fellow man to satisfy not our need, but our greed.

 

God loves a cheerful giver, it is written, 2 Corinthians 9:7. The fickle giver will reap sparingly, since they have opted to give sparingly, motivated by covetousness rather than love, 2 Corinthians 9:6. The Christian’s impetus is to be brotherly love, not greed, Hebrews 13:1.

 

Returning to motivation regarding good deeds, Jesus our Lord addresses the issue at length, prescribing anonymity. In His own words, we read, “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” Matthew 6:3. Why? So we can escape the snare of man’s praise and receive the praise that comes from God, since the deed was done in love, to glorify God. Philanthropists that publicly donate, tend to ensure that their name is spread abroad. Why? They want the world to know they did this charitable deed. This type of covetousness is more abstract than simple materialism, but no less genuine or selfish. Mind you, this is not a blanket statement indicating that my belief is that no one donates selflessly. God knows. But many, especially those that are rich and famous, do so for self-promotion at least in part. The Hebrew Christians are to shed this manner of thinking and adopt godly thinking, a thinking that puts others before self, and self’s gain from any transaction is inconsequential.