God’s Answer to Professional Jealousy
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: We talked last Lord’s Day, from Numbers 11:4-34, about the problem of jealousy and intolerance in the church. An individual contacted me after the service and said he wanted to talk about the message. We went to lunch on Tuesday and he shared with me that he agreed with what I said about church, but his struggle was at work. As a research scientist he was wondering how to react in an environment where nearly everyone is consumed by self-promotion. For example, suppose for the good of the research team he shares an idea with a colleague and that colleague is successful in pursuing the idea to a marketable conclusion. But when reports are made, the colleague never gives any credit for the origin of the idea. Not just my friend’s ego is at stake—so are raises, promotions, and career, which affects not only him but his family. How do you handle jealousy in that situation?
The man’s question recalled a personal experience I had in Seminary. I wrote a paper for a professor and got an A+, which was sufficient satisfaction for me until I later discovered my paper as one of the chapters in a book by this same professor, virtually word for word, and my name appeared nowhere! It was irritating to know that he was raking in royalties for something, part of which wasn’t even his. I experienced professional jealousy.
Perhaps nearly everyone here could share a story about how professional jealousy has entered your workplace. And I am not talking just about those out in the business world. It also applies to students, housewives, athletes, everyone. For a student, his career is school, and he can find himself jealous of another student’s grades, friends, skills, or looks. The housewife’s career is maintaining her home and family, and jealousy can easily enter the heart toward another woman who has a nicer home, a maid, an unlimited expense account, a career, and greater freedom.
The athlete has the potential of jealousy toward any other athlete who achieves more, gains more popularity, or gets paid more. Not long ago I read about a big-league athlete who threatened not to play because he was only making $3 million a year, while someone with lesser statistics was making $4 million. I sure felt sorry for him! Even the retired person can experience professional jealousy. Maybe he spent 30+ years for a company, retired just two years ago, and now the company is offering early retirement to much younger employees at a significantly higher pension. In other words, we’re talking about a problem we all face, or will face.
Last Sunday our thesis was that in the church we should replace the sin of jealousy with the grace of tolerance. Today I am suggesting that that’s true even out in the world, where virtually no one plays by the rules or even accepts the Rule Book! I would like for us to begin our analysis this morning by examining four causes of professional jealousy, after which we will consider four consequences, and finally four ways to cure it.
Causes of professional jealousy
There are probably as many causes of professional jealousy as there are people who experience it, and since our emotions are very complex, it is an oversimplification to identify one simple factor as the cause of any specific case of jealousy. Nevertheless, I feel that the four causes listed here are common and worthy of consideration.
Sometimes we suffer real injustice. (Ps. 73) We would like to think that some injustice done to us is always the cause of our jealousies, and indeed, this is often the case. We live in a world that is fundamentally flawed. It’s dog-eat-dog out there, with far more people living by the philosophy of “Winning By Intimidation” or “Taking Care of #1” than there are living by the Golden Rule. Perhaps you’re in the symphony at school, and some gal has just been promoted to first chair violin. You know you’re better than she is, but she’s been working a little overtime with the conductor. I know a man in his fifties who was forced out of a major company here in St. Louis so they wouldn’t have his pension liability (you may think there are laws against such things, but powerful corporations have ways of skirting the laws). There are women in this congregation who do man-sized tasks in their employment, but they don’t get man-sized wages because of sex discrimination.
This kind of thing, friends, is not fiction. If we were to take testimonials on this subject, we could be here all day. Nor is it new. In the 73rd Psalm the writer admits to jealousy caused by injustice. Let’s turn to this passage and read the first 14 verses:
Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.[a]
5 They are free from common human burdens;
they are not plagued by human ills.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.
7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity[b];
their evil imaginations have no limits.
8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
with arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.[c]
11 They say, “How would God know?
Does the Most High know anything?”
12 This is what the wicked are like—
always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
and have washed my hands in innocence.
14 All day long I have been afflicted,
and every morning brings new punishments.
Do you ever feel like that? It isn’t fair, God! You’re right, it isn’t. But hang on. We want to look at some other causes before we consider the Psalmist’s solution.
Now if all our jealousy were the result of injustices done to us, we could perhaps excuse ourselves, because after all, we aren’t the one causing the injustice—we’re merely reacting to it (that, of course, conveniently overlooks the fact that even reactions can be sinful). But the fact of the matter is that most of the causes of professional jealousy are not quite so noble as this first one.
We may lack self-esteem. (Gen. 30:1) This relates closely to the issue of insecurity that I spoke at length about last Sunday. You will recall we observed that insecure people sometimes appear to be dogmatic, authoritarian, controlling, manipulative, critical, and intolerant of all who disagree with them. On the surface they appear strong and secure, but in fact, their blustery behavior may be a defense mechanism to hide underlying feelings of inadequacy and failure. When we don’t feel good about ourselves, anyone who is a success becomes a threat, and jealousy toward that person results.
If you stop to analyze the facts objectively, you may discover that the promotion of your fellow employee, which you attributed to injustice, was possibly a justified recognition of his superior ability and achievement. And the reason you have reacted negatively is that your self-esteem is being threatened by his success. Certainly, this is not always the case, but you should at least consider the possibility.
We have a clear example of this cause of jealousy in Gen. 30. The story concerns Rachel and Leah. Jacob wanted to marry Rachel but was tricked by her father into marrying his other daughter, Leah, instead. Eventually Jacob married both, but Leah had children while Rachel did not. And we read in Gen. 30:1: “When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I’ll die.’ Jacob became angry with her and said, ‘Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?'”
Rachel’s jealousy was not the result of any real injustice. Having children is not a right; it’s a privilege. She could not legitimately accuse God or Leah or Jacob of any injustice, but Rachel was having a problem with her self-image. In those days having children was viewed as proof of real manhood and womanhood. And Rachel saw Leah’s success in having children as a threat to her own self-worth.
We can be envious of the fame and fortune of others. (I Sam. 18) Of the four causes of professional jealousy we have listed here, this one is certainly the most blameworthy, but unfortunately, it is probably also the most common. I suggest that most of our jealousies are simply envy of what someone else has—be it popularity, position, power, prestige, or prosperity. We want it, he’s got it, and so we’re jealous. Rarely, of course, do we realize this is what’s happening and almost never do we admit it. We cover up our envy with rationalizations that justify our feelings toward that person.
We have a rather startling example of professional jealousy caused by plain old envy in 1 Sam. 18. In the previous chapter David had killed Goliath, and now in chapter 18 King Saul brings him to the palace, where he becomes the best friend of the king’s son, Jonathan. Let’s begin reading in verse 5:
“Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the people and Saul’s officers as well. When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. As they danced, they sang: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.’ Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. ‘They have credited David with tens of thousands,’ he thought, ‘but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?’ And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.”
Later in the chapter it indicates that Saul was envious not only of David’s popularity, but also of his relationship with the Lord, and even of his daughter’s love, for Saul’s daughter fell in love with David. Professional jealousy is sometimes nothing but unadulterated envy for what another person has.
Sometimes our friends and family stir us up. (John 3:26) Here I want us to turn to our principal text, John 3, and the story of John the Baptizer. Please follow along I read John 3:22-30:
After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
Between the time Jesus began His public ministry and the time John was thrown into prison and beheaded, there was a short period when their ministries overlapped. This brief passage gives us just about all the information we have on this overlapping period. Jesus and His disciples were baptizing new believers in Judea, while John was baptizing in Aenon near Salem, about 50 miles north of Jerusalem.
In verse 25 we are informed that John’s disciples got into an argument with some unnamed Jew about baptism. Ironically, arguments over baptism are still common in the church 2,000 years later—over who should be baptized, when, and with how much water. We don’t know the exact nature of this dispute, but I would suppose the unnamed man ended the argument by retorting something like this to John’s disciples: “If your leader’s baptism is so great, how come so many of his disciples are leaving him and going over to this new teacher, Jesus, and are being re-baptized by Him?” To that they had no answer; instead, they put their tails between their legs and hurried back to John with the report that Jesus is baptizing and everyone is going to Him.
That’s the last thing John needed to hear—his friends stirring up jealousy in his heart toward Jesus. I doubt that they were trying to drive a wedge between John and Jesus. But John meant a lot to them; he had worked hard getting people to repent; he had put up with a pretty mediocre diet (locusts and wild honey), and he hadn’t seen a tailor in months, wearing just a smelly camel-hair coat. Now just when his crusade team is beginning to see some success, here comes a new guy to town and off go the new converts to dance to a different fiddle. They are jealous for John and come, I believe, to offer their support and their condolences. A lesser man than John would probably have doted upon the innocent remarks of these friends and become jealousy himself as a result.
Have you ever experienced jealousy as the result of innocent remarks by friends? I have. Back in Wichita in the mid-70’s Chuck Swindoll was immensely popular. Several years after I became pastor there, I invited him to come and preach at First Free, which he did. But I almost came to regret it, for some of his followers became even more avid. I distinctly remember one Sunday preaching my heart out on a particular passage, only to have a woman say as I greeted her at the door, “Pastor, you ought to listen to Chuck Swindoll’s tape on that passage!” Ouch! I don’t think she meant it maliciously, but she stirred up jealousy in my heart. Fortunately, I worked through it and came to appreciate Swindoll for his enormous gifts and quit judging myself by his standard.
Well, so far, we have looked at four common causes of professional jealousy. Think about your own personal situation and the one or two people of whom you tend to be most jealous. What causes that jealousy? Knowing its cause should aid you in dealing with it. We turn now to see some of the negative consequences of allowing jealousy to remain in our hearts.
Consequences of professional jealousy
We entertain sinful thoughts and actions. When we become jealousy and envious toward someone, it’s a short step to character assassination and acts of revenge. Envy leads to resentment, which leads to anger, then to hatred, then even to murder. The classic case in the Bible may be Saul and David. If you follow the story on in 1 Sam. 18ff, you discover that Saul’s jealousy became so severe that he tried to kill David on many different occasions.
Many other Scripture passages verify that jealousy leads to unethical thoughts and behavior. Sarah, for example, was so jealous of Hagar that she drove her out into the desert with her child. Rachel was so jealous of Leah that she insisted that Jacob father a child by her servant Bilhah. Cain was so jealous of God’s acceptance of his brother’s sacrifice that he murdered him. Joseph’s brothers were so jealous of their father’s love for Joseph that they sold him into slavery. And if jealousy in our lives is not dealt with, it can lead to similar sinful thoughts and actions. Think about whether you have bad-mouthed someone at work of whom you were jealous or wished him harm or plotted revenge or just hated him.
Relationships are broken. Obviously, if you murder someone the relationship is broken. But even when jealousy doesn’t lead to such drastic action, the relationship is almost always a casualty, for one can’t really love a person and be jealous of him at the same time. Over 300 years ago a French writer observed, “In jealousy there is more self-love than love.” If you allow jealousy to germinate and grow in your heart toward someone at work, you can try all you want to hide it, you can act respectfully, you can even heap verbal praise on him. But the jealousy will eventually be evident.
Emotional and physical stress piles up. You see, it’s not only our relationships that are at stake; it’s also our health. When we find ourselves consumed by jealousy, we begin to look for evil intent in everything the other person says—we can even start interpreting the looks they give us as sinister and evil-intentioned. This in turn causes tension in the body, stomach muscles tighten when we’re around that person, and headaches may become a common occurrence. In Gen. 30:8 Rachel says of Leah, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister.” (NASB). That doesn’t mean she put a half-Nelson on her. It means she went through deep emotional stress. The physical symptoms she suffered are not mentioned, but a modern gynecologist might tell her that her very jealousy and inner turmoil could have prevented her from conceiving. Which brings us to a final consequence of professional jealousy:
Ironically, our performance is usually diminished. Once cannot work or study or do anything effectively when consumed by jealousy. And here’s the irony: the reason we are jealous in the first place is because our colleague has been given greater recognition than we, and yet the jealousy that results so paralyzes us that it causes us to fall even further behind the one who was placed ahead of us, rightly or wrongly! In other words, jealousy is self-defeating.
Well, so far we have discussed some of the causes and consequences of professional jealousy. Are there any cures?
Cures for professional jealousy
What can we do to whip this “green eye’d monster” in our own hearts? What attitudes do we need to work on to counterbalance the jealousy that lurks inside all of us? To answer these questions, I want us to go directly to John 3 to see how the Baptizer dealt with the problem. The first principle given to us here corresponds to the first cause of jealousy we examined, namely that sometimes we suffer injustice.
Recognize that God is in control. (John 3:27) Look at John’s first response to his disciples when they tell him that Jesus is baptizing and everyone is going to Him: “To this John replied, ‘A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.'” Wow! What a concept to get hold of and to digest! A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. That means that if someone has a better job than you, a nicer house, a larger church, more money, greater popularity, more recognition, whatever, he got it because GOD GAVE IT TO HIM! That’s also what James, the Lord’s brother told us: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father.” Friends, to me that means that if we are jealous of what another person has or a position they’ve been granted, we are in essence saying, “God, I don’t like your gift distribution system!”
Now a few of you who have your thinking caps on and are really wrestling with what I’m saying are perhaps arguing in your mind right now, “But what about the person who gets a raise through deceit? Or the person whose success is the result of ungodly attitudes and actions? You can’t say that person’s prosperity or success is a gift from God, can you?” Yes, it is. Not all gifts are directly from God, and not all rewards are rewards for righteousness. Some are allowed by God, temporarily and for a particular purpose. The Psalmist struggled with this possibility in Ps. 73, and after venting his spleen over the prosperity of the wicked, he concludes, “When I pondered to understand this it was troublesome in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God. Then I perceived their end.” You see, he doesn’t question that God allows the wicked man’s prosperity, but rather he realizes that his prosperity is going to be short-lived! What would the Psalmist rather have—short-lived prosperity and long-term misery, or short-term misery and long-term prosperity? He opts for the latter.
There will be times when a colleague or neighbor or fellow student prospers unethically or even illegally, and you may get the short end of the stick in the process. But jealousy, evil thoughts, or violence will not solve the problem; instead, we desperately need to look for eternity’s view and lean on God’s sovereignty. He never promised us that life would be fair. In fact, He promised us just the opposite. He urged us to follow in Jesus’ steps, “who knew no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:22-23)
Is God able to right the wrongs? Of course He is. Will He? He has promised to—in eternity, if not in this life. A second important step in dealing with professional jealousy, corresponds with the second cause—lack of self-esteem.
Know yourself and your own strengths and limitations. (28) John the Baptizer speaks in verse 28, “You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.” John knew who he was and knew who he wasn’t. He was a forerunner, so he had a forerunner’s ability, a forerunner’s calling, a forerunner’s unique gifts. And he had the intestinal fortitude to become the greatest forerunner this world has ever known. But He had no desire to fill a Messiah’s shoes.
How desperately we need to know ourselves and be willing to accept God’s calling for our lives. If God has called you to be a blue-collar worker, then it’s a mistake to try to become a business executive. If God has called you to be a housewife and mother, then it’s a mistake to sell real estate. If God has called you to be a scholar, don’t become jealous because you’re not an athlete. If God has called me to be a small church pastor, then I should never try to become a megachurch prophet.
My point is not that one should have no ambition nor that one should always accept the status quo. If you think God has given you the gifts to rise higher, go for it, but don’t use all means to get there. My point is simply that we must come to grips with who we are, be happy with who we are, and not try to be someone else. If we can accomplish that we will have already dealt with 90% of professional jealousy.
Our third cure corresponds to the third cause, namely envy of the fame and fortune of others.
Be happy with the success of others. (29) Look at John’s words in verse 29: “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.” The illustration is that the Best Man is not the Groom. His whole purpose in being Best Man is to aid the Groom. He doesn’t try to steal the bride; he doesn’t expect the attention the groom receives; he doesn’t demand to go on the honeymoon. Instead, he rejoices as the couple start their lives together. So, too, with John and Christ. Jesus is the groom; the church is His bride; John is just the Best Man, doing what he can to introduce the bride to the groom. If John’s disciples are leaving him to follow Jesus, how can he be anything but happy? He has accomplished his goal.
Try to translate that into your workplace. What is your job? Isn’t it to do your best as unto the Lord, to please your boss, and to make the company profitable? What you’re being paid for is not to advance your career but to help the company. If that means sharing your ideas with someone who may not give you the credit you deserve, can’t you still be happy that the company is profiting, and can’t God be trusted to give out appropriate credit in due time? If that means sitting on the bench instead of playing first string, isn’t it possible to be happy for the guy who is playing? If that means living in a smaller home so you can put your kids through college, can’t you be happy for the housewife who can have both?
Oh, how we need to learn to be happy with the success of others! Most of us are much better at the last half of Romans 12:15 than the first half: “Rejoice with those that do rejoice and weep with those that weep!” We often cry better with others than we rejoice with them.
The final cure really relates to all the causes.
Replace a “protect my rights” orientation with a servant heart. (30) Our whole society is oriented toward rights. We hear about legal rights, women’s rights, gay rights, abortion rights, victim’s rights, civil rights, parental rights, children’s rights, privacy rights, animal rights, etc. Why doesn’t anyone talk about responsibilities? Why do we hear so little about servanthood? John the Baptizer’s whole philosophy, on the other hand, is wrapped up in verse 30: “He must become greater; I must become less.” When jealousy fills our hearts, it’s because our eyes are on the wrong object. We spend so much time trying to get even, it’s no wonder we have a hard time getting ahead. But if we focused on exalting Jesus and being humble in His presence, we wouldn’t have much time left for jealousy. The principle latent here, one found all through Scripture, is that we should be more concerned about serving others than protecting our rights.
It is not true that if we don’t look out for #1, no one will. God will. But if we decide to do His job for him, He might just say, “O.K., you do it.” The problem is we can’t do nearly as good a job as He can. Repeatedly in Scripture we read things like Jesus said to His disciples, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:25-28) Later He said, “No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” (John 15:20).
This is not to say that there is no time when we can legitimately fight for our rights or protest injustice. There are clear biblical guidelines about confronting someone who has offended us. The Apostle Paul used the Roman judicial system and even appealed his case all the way to Caesar. But you don’t get the impression that his appeal was primarily for self-protection; he had a higher purpose—to gain access to the very center of government so that he could spread the good news of Jesus Christ even further. Certainly, great wisdom and discernment is needed as to when we should protest versus accepting unfair treatment without complaint.
Conclusion: My sermon can be stated very succinctly: “The sovereignty of God and the Lordship of Christ are the ultimate answers for our professional lives, as they are for every other aspect of the Christian’s experience.” The last words of John the Baptizer in response to his disciples in John 3 are these: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” The very last thing you want to do is to allow the injustices of life and the resultant jealousies to so consume you that you miss the gift of eternal life, given to all those who believe and trust in the Son of God.
DATE: October 13, 1991
Tags:
John the Baptizer
Jealousy
Injustice
Self-esteem
Envy
Responsibility