Perceptions #9

THE JAVELIN OF JEALOUSY

by Douglas F. Parsons

On all the traditional lists, envy is included as one of the seven deadly sins. I don't suppose any of us would be disposed to deny that envy can be ugly and evil and destructive. Jealousy was unmasked by Williams Shakespeare as a "green-eyed monster." John Dryden called it the "jaundice of the soul." King Solomon left little to the imagination when he commented, "Love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as hell."

Envy is most likely to appear in full strength when people are competitors, either overtly or covertly, and when room at the top is limited. A lawyer, for instance, isn't likely to be troubled by envy when he hears someone say of a surgeon that "Dr. X is the finest surgeon in the city." It might, however, be a different story if someone were to say to him - "You know, in my judgment, Mr. Y - is the best lawyer in town!"

It wasn't David's skill with his harp that Saul envied. As long as David was court troubadour, Saul thought he was a splendid young man. It was when David began to outdo Saul in Saul's own field renown . . . it was when people began to sing, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David has slain his tens of thousands" that envy began to boil in Saul. Saul picked up the javelin and hurled it at David and when he missed the first time, he took up the javelin and hurled it again.

We've come a long way since then; usually we don't throw spears anymore. But if the spears are in the museum, the malice and ill-will that often go with envy are still very much with us. We have the attitude, "If we can't succeed, we don't want anyone else to, either."

For most of us war with envy will probably go on as long as we live. The battle is fought over and over again - now on this front, now on that. What matters is that we win the battles. What can help us whip this jealousy?

1. We are each measured on our own merits not on the scale of another person's talents. God judges us each individually. We don't have to match or surpass another person.
2. The only failure to be feared is failure to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am not saying that competence and distinction in one's line of work is insignificant; what I am saying is that they are not the most important things in the world. But no matter how successful you are in other realms, if you fail in God's economy, you are a failure.
3. The realization that we are in kinship with the very people we have been envying. Especially in the church, we must recognize that our brothers and sisters are not rivals or enemies.

God help us to move forward toward a love large enough to rejoice when others rejoice, and tender enough to weep when others weep.

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