B-TV: Envy

Chris: Hi, this is Chris. We're just about to have a time of wonder, adventure, and excitement. Would you like to join us? Then get ready, because you never know what'll happen when you have an Adventure in Odyssey.
Director: We're rolling. This is B-TV promo, take one. Action!
Bernard Walton: Hi, I'm Bernard Walton, and coming up on B-TV, we've got an incredible show for you and an important subject to talk about. To start off, Sam Johnson is going to—
Courtney Vincent: Wait a minute! Hold it. Hold everything.
Bernard Walton: Courtney, I'm taping a promo. What's going on?
Courtney Vincent: This is going to be another one of those shows where Sam gets to do all the fun and exciting stuff, isn't it?
Bernard Walton: Well, I wouldn't say that.
Courtney Vincent: Oh, come on. Sam always gets to do the fun and exciting stuff. I never do. I want his part.
Bernard Walton: What?
Courtney Vincent: I want his part.
Bernard Walton: Courtney, have you read this week's show?
Courtney Vincent: No, but it doesn't matter. I know he'll get to do the fun stuff and I'll get stuck in the studio. I want his part.
Bernard Walton: Okay, Courtney. I'll just cross out his name and write yours. There. Are you happy?
Courtney Vincent: Yes.
Bernard Walton: Can I tape this now?
Courtney Vincent: Sure.
Bernard Walton: Thanks. Okay, guys, let's try it again.
Director: Right. And we're rolling. This is B-TV promo, take two. Action!
Bernard Walton: Hi, I'm Bernard Walton, and coming up on B-TV, we've got an incredible show for you and an important subject to talk about. To start off, Courtney Vincent is going to the dentist to get a tooth pulled.
Courtney Vincent: What?
Bernard Walton: Welcome to B-TV. Just so you know, neither Courtney nor Sam are going to the dentist to get a tooth pulled. That was just a way for us to introduce the subject we're going to talk about on today's show. Can you guess what that subject is?
Guest (Male): Today's subject is envy.
Bernard Walton: Thanks a lot. I said I wanted them to guess.
Guest (Male): Oh, sorry.
Bernard Walton: Well, it's all right. You see, envy is—
Guest (Male): It's just that I usually have so little to do on the show. Not like Sam Johnson.
Bernard Walton: Oh brother, not you too.
Guest (Male): I want his part.
Bernard Walton: Look, we did this already.
Guest (Male): We did?
Bernard Walton: Yes, before the theme, with Courtney.
Guest (Male): Oh. Well, can I have her part?
Bernard Walton: No.
Guest (Male): Bummer.
Bernard Walton: You see, envy's everywhere. It's going on all around us, especially on daytime TV talk shows. But it's nothing new. In fact, it's as old as the very first humans.
Aphra Heraldo: Hello and welcome to the Aphra Heraldo show. What can turn a brother against a brother? We're going to take a look at that today. With me in the studio are Adam, the first man, and his wife Eve, the first woman. Good to have you both here.
Adam: It's good to be here, Aphra.
Aphra Heraldo: Also joining us via satellite from his exiled home in the land of Nod, just east of Eden, is Adam and Eve's first son, Cain. Cain, are you there?
Cain: Yes, Aphra, I'm here.
Aphra Heraldo: Let's start with you then. Tell us what happened between you and your brother.
Cain: Well, I'm a farmer and Abel, my brother, was a shepherd. At harvest time, we'd both bring the Lord gifts from our work.
Aphra Heraldo: What kind of gifts?
Cain: Well, I brought wheat and corn, stuff like that. And Abel brought meat.
Aphra Heraldo: I see. Go on.
Cain: Well, God always liked Abel's offering, but he never liked mine.
Eve: There was a reason for that, wasn't there?
Cain: Not that I could tell.
Adam: Now, son, tell the truth.
Cain: Oh, all right. Abel always brought the choicest cuts from his best lambs.
Aphra Heraldo: And you?
Cain: I brought good stuff, just not the best. Abel kept getting all the praise and glory, praise and glory that I wanted.
Aphra Heraldo: Tell us what happened on that fateful day, Cain.
Cain: Well, we just made our offerings, and Abel got all the praise again. I just couldn't take it anymore. So I told him to follow me out into the fields. I wanted to make sure no one would see, which wasn't too hard since there weren't many of us on the Earth at the time. Anyway, once we got out there, well, I—
Aphra Heraldo: Did away with him?
Cain: Yeah.
Aphra Heraldo: Let's take some questions from the audience. You, sir.
Guest (Male): Yeah, I just want to know how Adam and Eve feel about what happened.
Adam: Well, we were shocked, naturally.
Eve: It's all my fault.
Adam: Now, Eve, most mothers want to take the blame for their children.
Eve: No, this time it really is my fault. When I ate the forbidden fruit, the serpent told me I'd be like God. I had no idea something like this would happen.
Adam: No, it's both our faults. We brought sin into the world, and envy is one of the worst.
Aphra Heraldo: We'll be back.
Chris: Now on the Adventures in Odyssey Club, Wooten gets a call from an unexpected person.
Wooten Bassett: Dad?
Chris: Which leads to a family mystery.
Wellington Bassett: He didn't go home after he left the office on Friday, and no one's seen him since.
Wooten Bassett: Wellington is missing?
Chris: It's up to father and son to follow the clues.
Wellington Bassett: That is a lot of cash to have inside of a fish.
Wooten Bassett: That's too much money for a petty cash stash. It's more like an escape fund.
Chris: The Bassett men are on the case. Now on the Adventures in Odyssey Club.
Bernard Walton: Envy is wanting what someone else has. Cain wanted the praise God gave to Abel, and when he didn't get it, well, you see what happened. That's the trouble with envy; it causes people to do a lot of awful and even bizarre things.
Singer: Once there was a man named Joe who owned a nice little hardware store.
Joe: Hi there, Joe here. I sell the finest hardware in town, no lie.
Singer: Joe did a nice little business and it provided him with a nice little living.
Joe: I got a fine house, a good car, and money in the bank.
Singer: Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough for Joe.
Joe: Not good enough at all.
Singer: You see, across town there was another nice little hardware store that did a nice little business.
Joe: Yeah, Frank's.
Singer: And even though Frank's store didn't take away any business from Joe—
Joe: Frank's store is newer and in a nicer location.
Singer: So Joe envied Frank.
Joe: I want his store. I want his location. I want his customers.
Singer: And soon, envy poisoned his heart.
Joe: I really want to get that Frank.
Singer: One night, Joe was visited by a fairy.
Fairy: Hello.
Joe: Hi there. Joe's the name.
Singer: The fairy told Joe she was there to grant him a wish.
Joe: A wish?
Fairy: That's right. One wish that will give you anything you want.
Joe: Wow, good deal.
Singer: However, there was one condition.
Joe: I knew it. There's always something. Okay, what is it?
Fairy: Whatever you wish for, your rival Frank will receive double your wish.
Joe: Double?
Singer: Joe thought for a moment, and suddenly a devious smile crept onto his face.
Joe: If that's the case, then I wish for half my business to be destroyed.
Bernard Walton: You see, envy can twist your heart so much that in order to get it at someone else, you'll even hurt yourself. Now, most of us won't have an opportunity to do anything as drastic as Joe did. I mean, fairies don't really appear and grant us wishes.
Fairy: They don't?
Bernard Walton: No, they don't.
Fairy: Bummer.
Bernard Walton: But envy can still make us do some pretty dumb things. And when I say us, I mean all of us. Envy even grabbed one of the most righteous men who ever lived, a man after God's own heart: King David. You see, when David became king, he and his army fought against the enemies of Israel. But before long, the duties of his kingdom became so great, David put Joab, his general, in charge of the army.
David: You are in charge, Joab.
Joab: Yes, sire.
Bernard Walton: And while the army went to war, David stayed home.
David: I believe I'll stay home.
Bernard Walton: One evening about sunset, David was walking upon the roof of his palace. That was his first mistake. He looked down into the garden nearby and saw a woman who was very beautiful. David immediately called to one of his servants.
David: Who is that woman?
Servant: Her name is Bathsheba, sire. She is the wife of Uriah.
David: The wife of my what?
Servant: No, sire. Uriah the Hittite.
Bernard Walton: Oh. Uriah was an officer in David's army. At the time, he was fighting in the war against the Ammonites in Rabbah, near the desert on the east of Jordan.
David: Tell Bathsheba I want to talk to her.
Servant: Yes, sire.
Bernard Walton: Now, that was David's second mistake. For when he finally met Bathsheba, he fell instantly in love with her.
David: My darling, my love.
Bathsheba: Oh, David.
David: I want you to be my wife. Let us be married.
Bathsheba: But David, I'm already married.
David: Oh, yeah.
Bernard Walton: And that's when a wicked thought came into David's heart. David took pen in hand and wrote a letter to Joab, commander of his army.
David: Dear Joab, the next time you attack the Ammonites, send Uriah into where the fighting will be the hottest. Then pull away from him and leave him there so that he will be killed. Love to all, David.
Bernard Walton: Joab did as David commanded. He attacked a fortified city and sent Uriah and several other brave men to a place near the city wall where he knew the enemy would rush out upon them. There was a fierce fight and Uriah and the others were slain. Joab sent a message to King David.
Joab: Dear Sire, the war goes well. However, we attacked the city and sustained heavy losses, including Uriah. Cordially, Joab.
Bernard Walton: When David heard this, he sent another message.
David: Dear Joab, glad to hear all is going well. Don't worry about the men slain in battle; it happens. Keep up the siege. Press forward, persevere. Write back soon. Love, David.
Bernard Walton: So David's wicked deed was complete. And after Bathsheba had mourned her husband's death for a time, David took her into his palace, and she became his wife. Before long, a child was born to them, and David loved the child greatly. But God knew what David had done, and he was very displeased. He sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this.
David: Nathan, how good to see you. What do you have to tell me this day?
Nathan: A story, oh king. There were two men in a city: one was rich, the other poor. The rich man had great flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, but the poor man had only one little lamb. It grew up in his home with his children and drank out of his cup and lay upon his lap and was like a daughter to him. One day, a visitor came to the rich man's house to dinner. The rich man did not take one of his own sheep to kill for his guest. He robbed the poor man of his lamb and killed it and cooked it for a meal with his friends.
Bernard Walton: When David heard this, he was furious.
David: The man who did this thing deserves to die! He shall give back to his poor neighbor fourfold for the lamb taken from him. How cruel to treat a poor man thus, without pity for him.
Bernard Walton: Then Nathan pointed at David.
Nathan: You are the man! You have done this deed. The Lord made you king and gave you a kingdom. Why, then, have you done this wickedness in the sight of the Lord? You have slain Uriah with the sword of the men of Ammon. You have taken his wife to be your wife. For this, there shall be a sword drawn against your house. You shall suffer for it, and your wives shall suffer, and your children shall suffer.
Bernard Walton: When David heard this, he suddenly realized how great was his wickedness, and he was very sorry.
David: Oh, Nathan, what have I done? I have sinned against the Lord.
Bernard Walton: David repented, and God forgave him for his sin. But there was still a consequence. The child that David loved so much became very ill and soon died. This is only part of the story of David and Bathsheba. You can read it all for yourself in 2 Samuel, chapters 11 and 12. The point is, David, a man after God's own heart, lied, cheated, stole, killed, and caused all kinds of grief, all because he let envy take control of his heart. Not a very happy ending to a story, but that's what can happen when envy is involved.
Chris: Don't go away; there's more to come under B-TV. Want to contact us about the episodes you're hearing? Visit our website at adventuresinodyssey.com or talk to someone at Focus on the Family. Call 1-800-A-FAMILY, with a parent's permission, of course. We always love hearing from you.
Bernard Walton: Welcome back to B-TV.
Guest (Male): And now it's time for Did You Know?
Courtney Vincent: Did you know that envy is one of the seven deadly sins listed by the church fathers in the Middle Ages? The others are laziness, lust, anger, pride, gluttony, and greed.
Guest (Male): Well, you know it now, and don't you forget it.
Bernard Walton: I said earlier that envy has been causing problems for a long time. That's why God commanded against it in the Ten Commandments.
God: Thou shalt not envy.
Bernard Walton: Well, God didn't call it envy.
God: Thou shalt not want what other people have.
Bernard Walton: Not quite. God actually said, "Thou shalt not covet."
God: Oh.
Bernard Walton: Exodus 20, verse 17: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house, nor his wife, nor his butler, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor." "Thou shalt not covet" is the last of the Ten Commandments, but certainly not the least. Because if you break it, it can lead to breaking all the others. In fact, you'd need a detective to unravel all the crimes caused by envy.
Singer: Greed, avarice, covetousness. A city gets them all. And when it does, the police department depends on an elite unit to get to the bottom of things. Hold tight as you ride along with NVPD Squad.
Detective Profit: All right, everybody, just stay back. Excuse me, sir, but you're going to have to stay behind the yellow tape here. I'm Detective Profit, NVPD. That's my partner over there, Detective Lipowitz.
Detective Lipowitz: It's all right, officer, let him through. All right, sir. Elijah, what took you so long?
Detective Profit: My camel got a flat. What's the scoop, Lippy?
Detective Lipowitz: Homicide. Victim's name is Naboth. Looks like a mob job.
Detective Profit: Mob? You mean the Mafia?
Detective Lipowitz: No, I mean a mob. This mob. They stoned him. These two guys were the ringleaders. Names are Zilpah and Nabish.
Detective Profit: Zilpah and Nabish, huh? All right, boys, spill. What happened here?
Zilpah: You got nothing on us, copper.
Nabish: Yeah, we always obeying the law.
Detective Profit: What would a couple of thugs like you know about the law?
Zilpah: In this case, plenty.
Nabish: Yeah, we was having a time of prayer and fasting.
Detective Profit: Fasting?
Zilpah: You know, because of the famine and all. We got to see whose sins are responsible for us running out of food and stuff.
Nabish: Yeah, stuff.
Detective Profit: You're telling me Naboth's were?
Zilpah: That's right. Naboth and me heard him curse God and the king. Get that, copper.
Nabish: Yeah, cursed him right out loud.
Detective Profit: And naturally, you let everyone in on this.
Zilpah: Sure, we told everybody. It was our duty.
Nabish: Yeah, and they didn't like him very much, though. They grabbed Naboth by the collar and dragged him out of here and, well, I'm sure you can figure out the rest.
Detective Lipowitz: Lippy, this story checks out. They had permission from the city fathers.
Zilpah: Like we said.
Detective Profit: All right, tell the uniforms to break up the crowd.
Detective Lipowitz: Right. Close the onlookers, Charlie.
Zilpah: Does that mean we can go, too?
Detective Profit: Yeah, you can go, too. But don't leave town.
Zilpah: Yeah, right. Come on, Nabish, let's get.
Detective Profit: I don't like it, Lippy. Two thugs like that hiding behind the law? Something's not right here. Tell me more about Naboth.
Detective Lipowitz: Not much to tell. He was a nice, quiet guy, well thought of before this.
Detective Profit: How was he fixed in the money department?
Detective Lipowitz: Owned a house, a couple of donkeys, a vineyard.
Detective Profit: Vineyard?
Detective Lipowitz: Yeah, not very big, but it's supposed to be nice. Been in the family for generations.
Detective Profit: Where is this vineyard?
Detective Lipowitz: Next to the palace.
Detective Profit: The palace. Ahab.
Detective Lipowitz: The king?
Detective Profit: No one else I know is so completely sold out to the devil. Unless it's Queen Jezebel.
Detective Lipowitz: You don't think they had anything to do with this?
Detective Profit: I don't know, but I know someone who does. Can you wrap up here?
Detective Lipowitz: Yeah, sure. Where you going?
Detective Profit: To get some answers. Oh, right. It just doesn't make any sense. Why would a man who's been devout all his life suddenly curse God and the king?
God: He didn't.
Detective Profit: Is it you?
God: Yes. I'm glad you're here. Naboth did not curse me.
Detective Profit: Did Ahab have anything to do with this?
God: Yes. You must go to him.
Detective Profit: At the palace?
God: No. You will not find him there.
Detective Profit: Then where?
God: He is at Naboth's vineyard, taking possession of it.
Jezebel: Attention, everyone. Attention, please. We are so pleased that you've all come to this little gathering to celebrate my husband the king's good fortune. Ahab.
Ahab: Thank you, Jezebel, my queen. My friends, for some time now, I've been trying unsuccessfully to acquire this lovely little vineyard in which we're now standing. But fate has smiled upon me and it is now mine at last.
Detective Profit: Fate. Don't you mean Jezebel?
Ahab: Elijah. Who let him in?
Detective Profit: Everybody just stay calm. I'm Detective Elijah Profit, NVPD.
Jezebel: This is a closed party, Elijah. You're trespassing.
Detective Profit: Really? And was Naboth trespassing, too?
Jezebel: I warn you, Elijah. Take care or you will die as well.
Detective Profit: What are you going to do, Jezebel? Write another letter?
Ahab: Letter?
Detective Profit: Don't play coy, Ahab. Come clean. You wanted this vineyard, didn't you? Didn't you?
Ahab: Well, of course I did. That's no secret. It's convenient to the palace. I offered Naboth good money for it, far more than it's worth. I even offered him a more valuable piece of land.
Detective Profit: But he said no. And that's when you decided in your envious little heart that you'd do anything to get this vineyard, even let your wife handle it.
Ahab: No, no. She came to me.
Detective Profit: Put a sock in it, Ahab.
Ahab: She said she could get the land.
Jezebel: That's because you were acting like a sniveling coward. I wanted you to act like a king.
Detective Profit: So you wrote letters in Ahab's name, didn't you? You sealed them with his seal and addressed them to the city leaders. You told them to call the citizens together for fasting and prayer and then have two thugs accuse Naboth of cursing God and the king. That way, the people would take him out and do your dirty work for you. Isn't that right?
Jezebel: Who told you these things?
Detective Profit: A still small voice.
Ahab: You mean—
Detective Profit: That's right. And he knows everything. When are you going to learn? You can't hide from God.
Singer: For his crimes, King Ahab was cursed by God to be utterly swept away in a gruesome death we won't describe here because of the gratuitous violence and his entire family destroyed. But because Ahab repented in sackcloth and ashes, God reduced his sentence and allowed trouble to come not in Ahab's life but during the reign of his son. Ahab died a soldier's death in battle. Jezebel was not so fortunate. She too was sentenced by God to a gruesome death that we won't describe here because you know why. And although she outlived her husband, because she never repented, her sentence was carried out just as God described.
Bernard Walton: Okay, we've seen how envy's been around for a long, long time. How it can control even the best of people. How it makes people do really rotten things, and its terrible consequences. There's only one question we haven't answered. How can we avoid it? I mean, thanks to Adam and Eve, we're all fallen creatures.
Eve: It's all my fault.
Adam: It's both our faults.
Bernard Walton: So what can we do to stop envy from taking over our hearts? When we look at our neighbor's yard, how do we stop ourselves from thinking that the grass is greener on his side of the fence?
Guest (Male): Look at Harry's grass. It looks so much better than mine. I sure wish I had his lawn.
Guest (Male): If the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, you need the amazing new product Homegrow with secret formula TTYO. Tend To Your Own. And it's so simple to use. Just shake a little Homegrow with TTYO onto your grass, water every day, mow once a week, trim and weed as needed, and in no time, you'll have the luscious, gorgeous lawn you've always wanted.
Guest (Male): Wow, look at this luscious, gorgeous lawn. It's what I've always wanted. Homegrow with TTYO really works.
Guest (Male): Get Homegrow with TTYO. It really works because if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, it's probably because you aren't properly taking care of the grass on your side of the fence.
Bernard Walton: Well, that's the key. Learn to care for and appreciate the things you have instead of thinking about the things you don't have. In fact, you might want to try this. The next time you start wishing for something someone else has, take out a piece of paper and a pencil. Go some place where you can be alone and make a list of all the blessings you have. Be as complete as you can and don't forget to include things like your health, your family, the freedom we have in this country, and a loving God. When you've written down everything you can think of, then put the list in front of you, bow your head, and thank God for each one of them out loud. Ask him to help you appreciate them more. It's the best way I know of to keep envy out of your heart. Well, that's today's B-TV. Hope you had fun and that you learned something. See you next time.
Chris: Have you ever had a problem with envy? How did you overcome it? Write and tell me about it. Just send your card or letter to Adventures in Odyssey, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80995. Or in Canada, write to Box 9800, Vancouver, BC, V6B 4G3. And when you do, ask about how you can get your own copy of today's episode. It's called B-TV: Envy. Adventures in Odyssey is a presentation of Focus on the Family. B-TV: Envy was written and directed by Phil Lollar. Our production engineer was Bob Luttrell, and our executive producer, Chuck Bolte. And I'm Chris. Hope you'll join us again next time for more Adventures in Odyssey.