Coveting Hall of Shame – Part 2 – Tenth Commandment

Cain

The coveting Hall of Shame, Series 1

The tenth commandment

Exodus 20.17; Deuteronomy 5.21

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his house, his field, his male or female servant, his ox or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Genesis 4.6

The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?”

I, me, mine!

Recently a local radio station featured a weekend-long homage to The Beatles, during which every song the Fab Four ever wrote was played in alphabetical order. I felt it my duty, as an unreconstructed Beatles fan, to listen in a bit. Interesting: The word most often used in the titles of Beatles’ songs is some variation of “I.” The Beatles themselves seemed to be well aware of the powerful allure of wanting what we want when we want it no matter what, as indicated by their song, “I, Me, Mine.” This was Cain’s problem. He was happy to worship God, but he wasn’t going to be told by God or anyone how to worship. His offering was rejected because he brought it merely mechanically, without any faith whatsoever (as the New Testament explains). What did faith have to do with it anyway? After all, it pleased Cain to worship the way he wanted, and he felt as though that ought to be good enough. Worship’s a personal thing anyway, right? Nobody, not this snotty-nosed kid brother, nor mom and dad, nor even God should try to tell me how to worship. I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul; I, me, mine. The lust for autonomy, Augustine reminded us, is a deadly corrosive.

How much of the way you worship comes from the instruction of God? How much of it is designed merely to satisfy your own ideas about what is or is not true worship?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.