P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

LAST BUT NOT EASIEST #10

REDIRECTED ENVY

It might be the greatest comic moment in the history of radio. As long as you understand that here on The Voice of Prophecy, we carefully edit out the bloopers that Ken Richards and I make from time to time. But back in the early days, a guy named Benjamin Kubelsky, also known as Jack Benny, was one of the unforgettable kings of comedy, with a radio career that was launched in 1932. Those of you old enough probably remember his line: "Well!" And then later on TV, that little pose with his hand up to his chin. His bad violin playing. Etc.

Probably the most popular, ongoing piece of comedy shtick had to do with how Jack Benny was a tightwad. And he very cleverly, very carefully crafted that penny-pincher image, as a gimmick, because it was so helpful to the routine.

And then one night on the radio show, they gave the joke the ultimate payoff. A burglar accosts him in a dark alley. "Your money or your life!" And there's a long pause. Already the audience is beginning to chuckle. Because Jack Benny's money was the most precious thing IN his life. He loved his money. He counted every nickel before he went to sleep at night. He kept a five-dollar bill in each shoe. That kind of thing. Greed was his middle name. So this threat hangs in the air: "Your money or your life!" And already the audience is laughing.

Well, Jack milks the pause for all he's worth. Meanwhile, the guy with the gun is waiting too. Finally he says: "Well?" And Benny responds: "I'm thinking it over!" And the place just died laughing. Someone measured, and the studio audience, and the applause meter, must have stayed at "10" for something like three minutes nonstop. The hilarity just DID NOT die down.

Well, we've spent a full two weeks here on the radio thinking about the reality of covetousness, and what an un-funny symptom it is in our lives. Because you can't take it with you. Jack Benny died back in 1974, in Beverly Hills, of course . . . but he couldn't take his mansion with him. Or his violin, or his millions. All that survives beyond the grave, friend, is the identity we accept as a redeemed son or daughter of God. That's it. Nothing else.

With just these last few minutes to spend together on this topic, though, let's ask one final question. Is there anything we can do, when jealousy DOES rear its ugly head, when covetousness DOES eat at our heart and soul, to turn those wrong desires into good ones? You know, desire – being a strong, sometimes overpowering force – can sometimes be turned to our advantage.

The Apostle Paul, who writes at some length about this problem of coveting, confesses in the book of Philippians what a force it was in HIS life.

"I once thought all these THINGS were so very important." So envy was a dominant thing to him. He goes on: "But now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the PRICELESS gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage."

Notice that he redirects his passion in a new, better direction. Before he was dying of envy. Now he's dying to KNOW Jesus and to SHARE Jesus. In yesterday's study time we talked about motorboats and Barbie dolls being "priceless"; here Paul says that knowing Jesus is a priceless gain. And he goes after this NEW objective with the same fervor he had before.

In his book, The Ten Challenges, Dr. Leonard Felder takes the Ten Commandments and finds ways that these ten principles actually bring psychological healing to his patients. He had a client named Suzanne, who was frustrated and jealous whenever friends or co-workers of hers got married. Why wasn't a great relationship coming HER way? Why couldn't SHE catch a break? Or a husband? It was tearing her up emotionally, and she was actually spending quite a bit of time obsessing over the things she DIDN'T have.

So Dr. Felder asked her: "What if those feelings could be transformed into a positive force in your life? What if these painful thoughts of ‘Why is it happening right now for everyone except me?' could be a wake-up call that motivates you to try some new ways of finding a great relationship?"

And you know, they tried it together. Suzanne took all the energy, all the emotional "bank account" she'd been spending on jealousy and covetous feelings . . . and with the doctor's help, began to re-channel them into tangible steps she could take in the direction of improving her chances of meeting the right person. By her own admission, she had to "(quote) see a few frogs before she found a prince." But the fact is: within seven months she was engaged to a wonderful man, and they were soon married.

Dr. Felder concludes with this observation:

"Turning painful feelings of jealousy into specific positive, active steps and confronting inner psychological and spiritual blocks invariably improves your overall life."

The same thing happened with a businessman Dr. Felder was counseling. This man was losing HOURS every single day focusing on the successes of others. His peers were hitting the jackpot, pulling off deals. All the while, his own little ship was sinking beneath the waves, heading him toward bankruptcy.

"[Together we were able to] break his focus on other people's successes," Dr. Felder writes, "and . . . turn the energy generated BY those jealous feelings into specific steps for doing a better job at helping customers, cutting costs, and making his own business a lot more profitable."

Sometimes, though, it really does appear like things are hopeless for you. Which certainly makes coveting an even more REAL temptation. Dr. Felder has a strategy he and others have used, called, very simply: Three Good Things. Every evening you spend a few quiet moments with your spouse and best friend and reflect: "Three good things that happened today are . . ."

A couple named Keith and Carol tried this, when things were looking their bleakest. One daughter was very sick with respiratory problems. And oh, they were SO tempted to look across the fence at their neighbors' long list of advantages. One night all Keith could think of was: "Well, our kids, except for the one, are all healthy. The dishes are clean! And Carol, you still have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen. One, two, three. Three things."

And Dr. Felder points out:

"In essence, what the Three Good Things exercise does is to CUT THROUGH the jealousy, comparisons, and other discouraging thoughts that we accumulate each day in our minds."

Dr. Felder's own wife found a prayer that always worked when she was tempted to think God was giving too many blessings to the people across the street.

"Whenever Linda is faced with a frightening situation," he writes, "or an event that looks like it might be difficult or unpleasant, she takes a moment of quiet and says: ‘Please, God, may I be open to something unexpectedly good happening here.'"

That's good, isn't it? And notice that it places our wills and our futures and even our present circumstances back where these things all belong: in the hands of God. Remember how we discussed yesterday God's promise, where He tells us: "All you really need is ME. Not Me PLUS money, or Me PLUS power, or Me PLUS good health and long life and overflowing stock funds. Just Me. Let Me be the totality of your identity."
You know, hiding in that last paragraph is the answer to a very important question. Dr. Felder himself asks it just a few pages back in his book.

"How do you walk the fine line between desiring important goals that can and should be pursued and not obsessing or becoming bitter about plans and dreams that remain out of reach?"

That's a huge question, isn't it? Do you know something? Some of us OUGHT to make more money. Some of us OUGHT to go to school and get a graduate degree. Is it wrong for a major-leaguer to look over at McGwire and Sosa and say to himself, "If I practiced more, if I hit the batting cages, if I watched my diet, I might help my team and my fans by hitting a few more homers myself"? Is that ego and covetousness – or a God-given desire to "(quote) be all that you can be"?

We all treasure the story, going back some seventy-plus years, where a young preacher said to himself: "Man, I'd like to be on the radio. I'd like to launch a coast-to-coast program that teaches the Word of God in an organized, full-gospel way." Were those just grandiose dreams? Was it just ego? Covetousness because Jack Benny was on the air getting all the glory? Important questions, these are, all of them. But that young preacher channeled his desires. He submitted them to the Lord's guidance. And when God made a way, created a door for him, young H. M. S. Richards was ready to walk through and launch the seventy-year miracle you're still tuned into here in this new millennium.

So when is it good ambition versus a breaking of this hard, hard, hard Tenth Commandment? When is it holy zeal instead of coveting? I guess we go back to a garden called Gethsemane where a young Man knelt in prayer. Already He'd turned the world upside-down. He'd preached great sermons, attracted huge crowds. That was hard work, and it took drive to get to where He already was. And now Jesus submitted His past, His present, His future, His eternal destiny, to His Father. "THY WILL BE DONE." To do the will of His Father was the sum total of Jesus' identity. That was everything.

You can't go wrong when you live like that.