We see this right at the beginning of Harvey\u2019s argument when he says:<\/p>\n
In exposing materialism, the real issue for Christ is not the stuff around us but the stuff within. The Savior loves us so much that he comes after our coveting hearts and rescues us from the seduction of a fallen world. ((p. 94))<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, it is true that we have a problem with covetousness within, and that the covetous within is a real problem because of the appeal of the world without. Our souls resonate<\/em> with the world\u2019s melody \u2013 we are of a piece with the world.<\/p>\nBut consider this: is it possible to be materialistic or covetous without being particularly worldly?<\/p>\n
\n- What about misers?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
A miser is someone who we would agree is covetous. We\u2019d call them materialistic, wouldn\u2019t we? Would we think they were particularly worldly<\/em>? I don\u2019t think so, at least not the way we normally use the term.<\/p>\nBut Harvey does score some hits on covetousness:<\/p>\n
But covetousness is a glutton for stuff. Through covetous attractions and distractions of the heart, our stuff takes on meaning in our lives far beyond what God intends. In fact, the apostle Paul makes the point that covetousness is a form of idol worship (Eph 5.5; Col 3.5). Idolatrous cravings maneuver our hearts\u00a0 away from God and affix them to things of this world. ((p. 95))<\/p>\n
Covetousness chains the heart to things that are passing away.<\/em> ((p. 99))<\/p>\nWhen we seek happiness in stuff, we find that no amount of us makes us happy. Life becomes earthbound and chained to things that are passing away. ((p. 101))<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Harvey identifies four \u2018chains\u2019 of covetousness:<\/p>\n
\n- My Stuff Makes Me Happy<\/em> ((pp. 99-101)) \u2013 in this section he attacks the idea that some thing you don\u2019t have will make you happy and complete<\/li>\n
- My Stuff Makes Me Important<\/em> ((pp. 101-103)) \u2013 in this section he addresses the idea of the possessions making a statement about who you are<\/li>\n
- My Stuff Makes Me Secure<\/em> ((pp. 103-104)) \u2013 here, the idea attacked is the complacency and lack of spiritual urgency men develop if they have great possessions<\/li>\n
- My Stuff Makes Me Rich<\/em> ((pp. 105-107)) \u2013 this last chain is a little difficult to understand. He means to say that we become controlled by the things we own, rather than the other way around. I am not sure about his label \u2018my stuff makes me rich\u2019 \u2013 it doesn\u2019t seem to communicate what he is after (but it is parallel with the others!).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
As I mentioned earlier, all of this suffers from the notion that my internal coveting machine = a form of worldliness. While my internal coveting machine is<\/em> a huge problem stemming from my flesh (and could be called my infernal<\/em> coveting machine), by emphasizing the internals, the external problem with the world is minimized and, at points, ignored. We see this even as Harvey turns to his suggestions for a solution.<\/p>\nRemember the \u2018Take care\u2019 exhortation from Jesus. How do we cherish gospel freedom while being on our guard about covetousness. ((p. 107))<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Once again, the focus is internal. ((And note the \u2018gospel\u2019 reference. These are the people who talk about being \u2018cross-centered\u2019, \u2018gospel-centered\u2019 and definitely not \u2018man-centered.\u2019 Yet they constantly think and talk about man. So where is the centre?))<\/p>\n
Here are Harvey\u2019s suggestions for overcoming covetousness. We do agree with the need to overcome covetousness and I agree with most of these suggestions, but we still aren\u2019t talking about the world, and the other weaknesses already noted are still quite evident.<\/p>\n
\n- Consider your true riches<\/em> ((p. 108)) \u2013 this includes a quote from John Owen and \u2018Calvinist contemplative spirituality\u2019 (not the emerging church kind) that is all the rage these days.<\/li>\n
- Confess and repent<\/em> ((pp. 108-109)) \u2013 I really agree with this, but he spends his time talking about confession and says nothing about repentance.<\/li>\n
- Express specific gratitude<\/em> ((pp. 109-110)) \u2013 in which he asserts, \u201cThis gratitude isn\u2019t something mystical that wells up inside of us after forty days of prayer and fasting. It\u2019s simply the obedient response of those who understand their heavenly assets.\u201d ((p. 109)) I agree with this.<\/li>\n
- De-materialize your life<\/em> ((pp. 110-111)) \u2013 this is real repentance. I very much agree with this. We are trying to sell our house and move. A lot of stuff has been packed away and is in storage\u2026 when we move\u2026 a lot of it needs not to come back.<\/li>\n
- Give generously<\/em> ((pp. 111-112)) \u2013 this is 70 times 7 repentance. We need to learn to give and to give again. John Wesley is a prime example for us in this regard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In analyzing this, I have to agree with most of it. I\u2019m not much into mysticism, especially not the Calvinist kind, so the first suggestion doesn\u2019t do much for me. But the rest are good. If a man really put this into practice, I would say that the world wouldn\u2019t have much material hold on him, so to that extent this chapter is successful.<\/p>\n
There is a brief section (pp. 112-114)) about training your children about covetousness. There is some value to this section, but the breezy style and brief treatment only give a hint about what could have been said.<\/p>\n
I have been critical of this chapter in the notes above. In the final analysis, I can\u2019t be absolutely critical because I believe the attempt is sincere. However the misguided re-definition of worldliness is spiritually dangerous and the breezy style cheapens a serious subject.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UPDATE:<\/strong><\/span> Corrected biographical info on Dave Harvey, on the board of CCEF, not CCEL. Thanks to Greg Linscott for bringing my error to my attention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Review: Chapter 4 – \u201cGod, My Heart, and Stuff\u201d by Dave Harvey in Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World, C. J. Mahaney, ed. A friend of mine loaned me his copy of this little book for my review. Since it is a compilation of six essays by five Sovereign Grace Ministries clergymen, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[31,137,68,67],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2fYWj-uB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1897"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1897"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1898,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1897\/revisions\/1898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}