Covetousness, Which Is Idolatry
By P. M. W.
THE Scriptures of Truth point out many dangers which will threaten the Christian church in the closing days of earth’s history. Among these, the spirit of covetousness stands prominent. Again and again are the Christian believers warned against permitting the love of money, the cares of life, questions of buying and selling and getting gain, to supplant vital godliness and to take the place in their avocations which should be held by God and his work. The Master likens the days of the coming of the Son of man unto the days of Noah and Lot. He says that in the days before the flood “they did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” The same condition existed in the days of Lot. He asserts: “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17: 26, 30. There was no sin in Lot’s day, nor in the days of Noah, in buying or selling, in eating and drinking, in planting and building, in marrying and giving in marriage. It has been necessary ever since the creation of man, for him to partake of food, to provide shelter, and to carry on, in some measure, commerce with his neighbors. Marrying is a divine institution, ordained of God, and it has been right in every age of the church that men and women, under proper conditions, should unite their interests in the marriage relationship. The sin in the days of Noah and Lot did not consist in the doing of these things, but in the doing of them to the exclusion of God—in the spirit of excess that attended them. They bought and sold, not for the sake of proper exchange, but for selfish aggrandizement.4They built houses, not for shelter and protection from the elements, but to minister to their pride. They engaged in marriage, not from motives of pure love, but for the exercise of lust. These conditions are rapidly finding a counterpart in these days, of which they have been set forth as signs. The greed of gain affects not only men in their private relationships, but nations as well. This greed is probably responsible, more than any other contributing factor, for the great war which is now going forward. The apostle declares, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” This love of unlawful gain is responsible for most of the graft, and theft, and robbery, and stealing, and lying, and cheating, with which the world is filled at the present time. As never before in earth’s history, the sacred relationship of marriage is made one of caprice and sentiment. Just to the extent that the world around us is filled with the spirit of excess in these matters, just to that extent are Seventh-day Adventists in danger of imbibing the same spirit. The spirit of commercialism, of worldly gain, of love of money, may affect a poor man as well as the man of means. The day laborer may have the same inordinate desire for gain as does the possessor of thousands. The spirit of commercialism and gain may affect even the worker for Christ. Indeed, it is to be deplored that some who were once workers in this cause have succumbed to this spirit and relinquished their divine call to the gospel ministry, and are found today among those who are earnestly seeking after wealth or position. Let the one to whom God has given the ability to acquire wealth recognize that his ability is an intrusted talent, and that God holds him responsible for its proper and legitimate exercise. He is not to use that talent for his own personal benefit and advantage any more than is the minister to use the talent of preaching for his own glorification. Each is to seek earnestly to serve, in his own sphere and line of work, the glory of God and the interests of the cause of truth. It is for the minister of Christ to preach to God’s glory. It is for the artisan, the mechanic, the shopkeeper, the tradesman, to conduct his business with the same end in view. When William Carey was asked at one time what was his business, he replied that it was to serve God, and he cobbled shoes to pay expenses. This should be the principle actuating every child of God. The Lord has not placed us in this world to lay up for ourselves competences, or to gain for ourselves great names or positions. He has given us a work to do for him. To us has been committed the last warning message to a dying world. Recognizing this responsibility, we must bend every energy of our being, every talent of our minds, to the accomplishment of this work so far as our personal relationship to it is concerned. This country affords, today, great opportunities for money-making. May we see and find in these the opportunities which God affords us of providing means for the carrying on of his work in the earth. It is only as we enter these avenues with this spirit, that we can keep from being carried away by the spirit of gain, and of covetousness, and of commercialism, which exists in the world around us. P. M. W.