Every form of government is fallen, but not in the same way or to the same extent. Constitutional democracy and a free market are rooted in many biblical principles, when rightly applied. Socialism (and its end-goal, communism) is rooted in envy, greed, and covetousness. It has bred all kinds of theft and trampling over private property rights (as enshrined in the eighth commandment against stealing), and discourages a biblical work ethic. As Margaret Thatcher famously said: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

You shall not covet” (Exod 20:17). How many Christians realise the political significance of those four words (only two words in Hebrew)? Consider with me for a moment the widespread implications of the tenth commandment. This awful sin and deadly vice of “coveting” includes all forms of greed, envy, and lust—any selfish desire for what is not ours. How different our world would be without coveting!

My Zambian friend and Christian author, Lennox Kalifungwa, recently summed up well the broader ramifications of the 10th commandment for our day:

Socialism is the politicized envy of wealth.
Feminism is the politicized envy of patriarchy.
Post-colonialism is the politicized envy of western civilization.
Statism and globalism are the politicized envy of divinity.
Envy produces great evil, and is inevitably never satisfied.

Biblical Summary

“The leech has two daughters: Give and Give!” (Prov 30:15). “The eyes of man are never satisfied” (Prov 27:20; cf. Eccl 1:8; 4:4). As our Lord Himself warned, “Beware of covetousness!” (Luke 12:15). Paul summed it up best: “covetousness . . . is idolatry” (Col 3:5; Eph 5:5), bringing us back full circle to the first commandment, showing how everything begins with right worship.

In recently catechising our youth in our home-school co-op, the tenth commandment has hit home to our hearts and our society with striking relevance:

Question 80: What is required in the tenth commandment?
Answer: The tenth commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor, and all that is his.

Question 81: What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?
Answer: The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.

Heart Diagnosis

Other ancient law codes cover the morals prescribed in the first nine of God’s commandments. But none have anything like the tenth commandment, climbing into the depths of my being, confronting my desires.

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