Carthage Must Be Destroyed

Roman statesmen, Cato the elder (234–149 BC), had a problem. Carthage was flourishing, and when you’re Rome, who wants to see that?

In its day, Carthage, with its capital in what is now Tunisia, was a growing maritime power and had been slowly establishing colonies in various parts of the Mediterranean. One of those colonies was Sicily – a great location, rich in agricultural and mineral resources.

Actually, to say that Cato had a problem with Carthage is an understatement. He had an obsession. An obsession built on envy and revenge. And so, at the end of any speech or debate he gave, whether the subject was Roman economics or good housekeeping for stay-at-home mums, Cato would end his speeches with the words,

Carthago delenda est. (Carthage must be destroyed).

Envy never likes the prosperity or success of others. And so, if we were to read that Donald Trump had suddenly gone bankrupt, rather than sympathise, many of us would smile.

Why is this? Why do we despise the flourishing of others so deeply?

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles. (Proverbs 24:17)

We justify our envy by pointing out that he might be getting what we think he deserved, or by saying, “Oh well, he can afford it”. In other words, we invoke justice as the justification for our envy.

Here’s a thought experiment. Would you say the same thing about an equally wicked man (By God’s standards) who was dying of starvation in East Africa and had just lost his last loaf of bread? Would you say the same thing about an equally wicked woman who was childless and had just miscarried her son?

Is our rejoicing grounded in the victory of God and the demise of His enemies or is our rejoicing grounded in our envy – and the misery of others? Are the scales tipping according to equal weights and measures, or on account of our envy, lust, revenge or greed?

Why destroy Carthage? Was it because the stink of their sin, like Sodom, had reached the heavens, or is the reason much nearer to the stench of our own dark hearts?

We ought to celebrate when the wickedness of wicked men comes crashing down. We ought to rejoice before God when the evil plans of evil men come to nothing and when God arises and His enemies are scattered (Psalm 68:1). But we also ought to make a distinction between our envy, and God’s enemies.

Do you secretly rejoice when a Christian man in good standing, a man who seems to have it all together, stumbles in word or deed? Do you get a bang out of hearing that his daughter’s marriage is failing?

Perhaps you get an even bigger bang when you had predicted it. “Ah”, you say, hiding an inward smile in false sympathetic tones, “I knew it would come to this”.

Perhaps you’re rejoicing over your ex husband’s third failed marriage. Perhaps you’re rejoicing over the beautiful girl in your class who’s come down with a bad case of acne. Perhaps your inwardly rejoicing over your brother’s failed business venture.

Envy rots the bones. It creeps in under the guise of justice. She deserved her unfortunate circumstances, we might say of one. He didn’t deserve the blessings of prosperity we might say of another.

Our envy not only rots us from the inside out, it robs us of joy. It robs us of peace.

A tranquil heart gived life to the body, but envy rots the bones. (Proverbs 14:30)

Cato the elder, much like Cato in the Hunger Games, (whose resentment of Katniss for her high training score made her death his number one mission) could not be happy until his incitement of genocide had flattened Carthage.

Which is where all envy leads.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?  You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. (James 4:1-2)

Jesus calls us to be content with what we have and to avoid the fatal flaw of comparing ourselves with our neighbour. He calls us to resist the envy of Cain. An envy that’s grounded in the prosperity and inheritance of others.

Those who follow Jesus are to be done with all such envy.

For, what is that to you? You follow Me.