Do the Right Thing

"Do the right thing" is a thought only considered when doing the wrong thing seems like an easy/better choice. Sometimes doing the wrong thing has perks, and the right thing has consequences. This is why people lie on tax returns. Truth will keep them from financial benefit. It's why people lie on dating profiles, because "divorced, has kids, unemployed, drinks regularly" will limit your responses. It's why people beef up their resumes for job interviews...it's actually why we do nearly everything dishonest. We're looking for a better result than we think we'd get from walking the straight and narrow.

I have a funny story. My family and I went on vacation a few
years ago in Orlando, FL and my sisters and I wanted to take the kids to Disney World. We were a little light on funds and had heard about these deep discount ticket sellers, and decided to check them out. The guy at the booth tells us his price. Reasonable. And then he begins to "prep" us for our entry into Disney World.

Ticket Seller: (pantomimes a happy traveler marching to the beat of a drum) So you walk up to the line, happy, smiling, everything is order.

Which, of course, meant everything was actually out of order. I hadn't realized we were buying partially used multi-day passes. I expressed concern, and he assured us that everything would be fine and continued to tell us what we had to do and what he had to say to enjoy the magic that is Disney.

I was out. I couldn't do it. Needless to say, the kids never went to Disney. We had legitimate multi-day passes to Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, and Harry Potter World. We'd have to be content with that.

Which leads me back to Joseph.*

We left off with Joseph being sold out of the pit into the land of Egypt. He is bought by a wealthy Egyptian official named Potiphar, whose wife is about to have a major issue with contentment.

Can you really blame her?

If you've never read Genesis 39 before, you should check it out. It's the stuff of scandalous Lifetime television. But here's the breakdown.

1. Joseph is bought by Potiphar and becomes like the CEO of this guys business. Joseph is in charge (Genesis 39:1-5)
2. Joseph is super hot. In my mind he's Joe Manganiello...In a tunic. But 17. With a less full beard? Or he's just Joe as he is now. That works for me.  (Genesis 39:6)
3. Potiphar's wife is dropping everything from come-hither looks to blunt requests for a booty call. (Genesis 39:7)
4. Joseph says NO.  (Genesis 39:8)

There's something unique about the way Joseph says no, that really resounded with me:

 “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” 
 - Genesis 39:8-9

Joseph almost waxes poetic about all the good things his master has done for him. So why then would his sin be, not against that master, but against God? Joseph recognized that everything he had was given to him by God. So then, for him to take what God had not given him was a sin against God. I think that's pretty deep. 

Joseph had a lot of power and prestige, but I at the end of the day, he was a bought and paid for slave. We start to feel so big when we get a taste of power, and we hate the thing that makes us feel like "less than". Joseph could have everything but one thing: Potiphar's wife. By having her, he could undoubtedly have more. 

"The tempter was his mistress, one whose favour would help him forward; and it was at his utmost peril if he slighted her, and made her his enemy. The time and place favoured the temptation." - Matthew Henry

To take her up on her offer would be to have more. To pass on it could mean her wrath and fury. Suddenly, there seems to be a pretty steep downside to "do the right thing."

Except, for Joseph there was no upside, because he was already content. Go back to v. 8 and 9 above and see where Joseph's focus is. It's on what he has. It's not on the fact that he was thrown in a pit, sold into slavery, or that he was a servant of God in the service of heathens.

Joseph didn't covet (yearn to possess) that woman/more power/more glory. But...unfortunately, he was coveted. That woman probably had it good. Rich husband, nice house, and servants. It's when she started looking at what she couldn't have that trouble ensued:

1. Potiphar's wife finagles some alone time with Joseph and demands his services. She's even grabbing at his clothes! He runs away leaving his cloak in her hands.  Genesis 39:11-12
2. While he's gone she cries attempted rape, using the cloak as proof. Genesis 39:16-18

Off to jail he goes. At the end of chapter 39, things are looking pretty grim for Joseph. And it makes us mad. He didn't deserve this!  He held on to his integrity and ended up in a freaking dungeon! What's up with that? We'll come to that later, because Joseph's life is a lesson in "everything happens for a reason."

The big deal here is do we have a problem with contentment? Do you behave in the interest of the best result or do you refuse to go outside of God's will for what you don't have (yet)? Are we willing to do the right thing when we know there will be consequences?



*I couldn't think of anything TERRIBLE enough to be of appropriate comparison with Joseph. We lost out on Disney World. Joseph lost out on his freedom, I'm aware of this mismatch in the severity of consequences.