CORPS RESOURCES

THE7DEADLYS: ENVYBy Rebecca Walker

GREEN WITH ENVY

Antisthenes, a pupil of Socrates, said, “As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion”. Similarly, Socrates said, “The envious person grows lean with the fatness of their neighbour”. It is well understood that envy eats away at the person who envies, but still our society feeds on this dark desire. The effectiveness of advertising is often through making the viewer envious or covetous for something they do not have. Celebrities are used to provoke an envious desire in us, we want to be like them. And the solution? Buy the product they are endorsing… if you have the right ‘stuff’ you will be just like that celebrity you envy. However, as many products as we buy we never quite snuff out that envious feeling that others have more than we do. Envy eats away at us.

Envy can take many forms. It is not only a desire for material possessions. It can also be a desire for status, or for relationships [1], or indeed for any temporal or spiritual

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blessings which others have that we would like for ourselves [2]. In the workplace, people may be envious of pay “raises, office space, promotions, grants, valued assignments, and promotions... Merely noticing the superior work achievements of another may also result in envious social comparisons between oneself and a colleague” [3].

Envy can feel like a number of different emotions. One can have a sense of “inferiority, longing, resentment of one’s circumstances, shame, depression, helplessness, insecurity, frustration, and ill-will toward the envied person” [3]. Envy can lead us to hate our neighbour, desire to injure them, to take joy at their misfortune, and to resent their good fortune [2]. “At its worst, envy strikes others through slander or gossip or actively tries to cause them to fail. Envy brings tension and conflict into families, schools, offices, parishes, and society” [4].

ENVY VERSUS JEALOUSY

The words envy and jealousy are often used interchangeably. However there is a difference. “In contrast to envy, a resentful desire for what another person has, jealousy is a desire to protect what we do have (or falsely assume that we possess) and which we fear another may take away from us. It results in hypervigilance and hoarding” [1]. Jealousy is a desire to protect what we have, while envy is a desire for what we do not have. Jealousy can be just as destructive as envy, however there are also times when jealousy is godly.

The bible tells us that God is a Jealous God. He becomes angry when his people betray him to other gods. In Ezekiel 23, God describes Israel and Judah as his wives, who have prostituted themselves to other gods. God turns his people over to the Assyrians and the Babylonians out of jealousy for Israel and Judah’s affection. “Depending on the object of our protective desire and the means we use to express it, jealousy can be

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a righteous passion. If someone threatens the divine-human or marriage relationship, a resentful desire to shield the relationship is not only legitimate but honoured. God sets a pattern for threatened spouses: an angry but dignified desire to repel the rival” [1].

ENVYING UNBELIEVERS

A big temptation for Christians can be to envy unbelievers. Sometimes the road of discipleship is hard, and unbelievers seem to get an easier go at it. It can be easy to question why we make the sacrifices that we do, and sometimes see so little return on our investment. Meanwhile unbelievers seem to be having a good time, and seem to get all the perks in life. Rich people rip off the tax man, and get away with it. There does not seem to be much justice in that. In Psalm 73, Asaph shares his envious feelings towards those who seem to have more than he does “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” [1].

However, Asaph recognised that the success of the wicked was short-lived. He knew that his envy could destroy him. “But as for me, my feet has almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold’ (73:2). After struggling with his envy, he concluded that evil people were only apparently well-off. God could ruin them at any time” [1]. Asaph developed a long-range vision of God’s justice. “The vision of divine justice put Asaph back on his feet. It refocused his heart to see all other desires as insignificant in light of knowing God” [1].

“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds” (Psalm 73:23-28 NIV).

This kind of understanding does not extinguish all desire. “In fact, the more we grow, the more we hunger for what only heaven can provide. And yet earthly tastes, senses, and passions provide a picture of the ultimate redemption of all things. To desire heaven is not to desire earth less; it is to desire earth so deeply that it draws our hearts to an anticipation of ecstasy in the light of God’s embrace” [1]. What this perspective gives us is freedom, “We are free to be what God wants us to be, without looking over our shoulders at others” [4]. We do not need to compete for limited love and respect, each part of the body of Christ is of infinite and unique importance [4]. “The Giver of gifts knows us better than we know ourselves. His gifts are more perfectly suited to us than any we could choose for ourselves. Only when we accept our appointed place in this great chorus of praise to God, will the joy of true fulfilment in Him disperse the clouds of envy from our hearts” [4].

NOTES

1 Allender DB, Longman III T. The Cry of the Soul: How our emotions reveal our deepest questions about God. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress; 1994.2 Keenan S. Catechism of the Christian Religion. Boston: Patrick Donahoe; 1852.3 Duffy MK, Shaw JD. The Salieri Syndrome: Consequences of Envy in Groups. Small Group Research. 2000;31(1):3-23.4 Holladay J. Seven Deadly Sins: Envy. [Internet]. 2009 [cited 2010 September 6]. Available from: http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/story.php?id=32915.