Keeping Up With the Jones's

Exodus 20:13-14 - "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

What's all this about neighbors? And who are our neighbors? I know the first thing that pops into my head are Cathy, Michael, Mark, Claudia, Wayne and Carol. Our neighbors! But I don't think we can stop at neighbors...acquaintances, coworkers, friends might also be considered neighbors in this commandment.

Remember when Jesus asked, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?" when His disciples said they wanted a word with Him? He was in the midst of teaching his followers and, I believe, another lesson was being taught to them at this very opportunity. Today I may not have blood brothers or sisters being an only child, but my brothers and sisters are in Christ, at my church, and other churches who believe in the same relationship with Christ...even from other states or countries. 

Well, not lying against our neighbor encompasses all people. Obviously, it just should not be done, not to save face, not in defense of ourselves, not to injure someone else's reputation, no reason. But now I wonder if gossip couldn't be included in bearing false witness? It makes sense to me. 

I remember a few years ago when there was some unflattering gossip about one of the neighbors. We all did our tsk-tsk'ing. I know there are times we should not allow ourselves access to this type of information or discussion. I also know it's part of our sin nature. Why do we do this? And I know we do...even at the sake of speaking of it to someone else with the "intent" of it being something we should pray about! Another ugh. Where does the line get drawn? The above incident was not about lying; it was just plain gossip. It was showing someone was wrong and "we would not do that." In either case, it just should not be done, and we should walk away from even listening to the discussion, or say it's not right to even be indulging in it. The important words are we should... 

Then there's the command about not envying anything that belongs to our neighbor. Now I can say for sure I would not be envious of any of the women's husbands. I doubt that I would envy any of their wives either. But I'll bet there is at least one thing that each has that is visible from the road that we might admire. When does admiration become envy or covetousness?

I wonder if we don't all do this at times? We see something a neighbor has, like it and decide we need to have the same thing, just because. Or...do a up-onemanship on them. For women it might be a yard or house decoration or flower bed. For men it might be the next best lawn mower, pool or car. Who has the best Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day decorations, if you're interested in that? Keeping up with the Jones's. Thankfully we have no Jones's in our subdivision! None of our neighbors have the donkeys or oxen. That would be more of a zoning problem. But "anything that is our neighbor's" is quite a catch-all for everything else.

I know I admire one neighbor's talent for her garden arrangements and time spent on her annual flowerbeds. It's different every year. She even has pots of annuals all around just adding a delightful array of color from any angle. Another neighbor is in the landscaping business so he has a plethora of trees, shrubs, flowers and bushes around his house that bloom during every season. It's like a mini-preserve. Yes, I totally admire these things. I don't consider it envy. I'm not saying we haven't somehow done something to do a grander thing than our neighbors. 

You know, it really boils down to this: all of this stuff is just that, "stuff." It's material things that mean nothing in this world. They're for our delight and God likes us to delight in some things. But when they become treasured possessions (where our heart is there's where our treasures are) and when they become a means to show off, is where the problems begin. We are not to envy someone else's things and be content with what we have. 

So where do any of us fall in this? Only as individuals do we have the answer. Have you one-upped something of your neighbor's? Have you decided what they have you need to have or do better? Have you looked more than once at your neighbor's husband or wife while they were lounging beside their brand new pool or working in skimpy clothing in the yard? (In our part of the subdivision, we all happen to be on the more mature side, age-wise!) Have you leaned over the fence and talked about what so and so did last week? Food for thought.

Psalm 49:16-17 - Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him.