What Was Saddam's Problem?

Can you imagine having total control of an entire country? Can you imagine being so rich that whatever you might want you can get and have? Can you imagine living a life in which not a single person near your sphere of influence would dare to lay down a rule for you which you must follow?

If you can imagine all of those situations existing at the same time, you can imagine the life of Saddam Hussein, the ruler of Iraq, in the 1980’s and 1990’s. As the supreme ruler of an oil rich nation, exercising totalitarian level control over the populace, over everybody, he had it all. What he had, he could use as he wished. If he didn’t have it, he could get it.

But some people are never satisfied. They always want more. No matter how much they have, they still want more, or something that they don’t have. They are driven by acquiring. So Saddam Hussein, living his best life, doing whatever he wanted whenever he pleased, invaded Kuwait. 

Without going into the particulars, suffice it to say that that decision marked the beginning of a long downward spiral for the Hussein family, including Saddam. He had everything anyone could wish for but he wanted more. Why? What leads a person to be that way? Whatever it is, it was active in Saddam to the extent that his insatiable desire for more led to him hiding in a “spider hole” until he was dragged out and executed by the people of Iraq.

Sometimes more really is less. Just ask Saddam Hussein. But you can’t ask him, can you. His insatiable desire for power and wealth led to his death. “More is less” is a lesson he learned too late for it to do him any good.

History is filled with examples of people who could not be satisfied and that insatiable desire leading to their downfall. Marcus Licinius Crassus was a military general in Rome who lived at the time of Julius Caesar. In fact, he was involved in the assassination of Caesar. He was said to be the richest man in Rome. But he wanted more. He didn’t have to, but he led his army into the Battle of Philippi. Thinking the battle lost, he had his lieutenant to take his sword and kill him. His last words were, “Caesar, thou art revenged. Even with the sword that killed thee.”

In the Bible, in Acts chapter 12, king Herod delivered a royal address to the people of Tyre and Sidon wearing his royal robes, sitting on his royal throne, and looking very ‘kingly.” The people, probably in a hypocritically adoring manner, shouted, “This is the voice of a god and not of a man.” I picture Herod sitting on his throne (who sits on a throne to give a speech?) with a smug, self-important look on his face. He was probably thinking., “Yes indeed, that’s me. The voice of a god and not a man. Of course. I am a god.” Verse 21 says. “Because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.” It’s hard to imagine a more disgusting, gruesome picture.

Philippians 2 is a very important passage regarding Christian attitudes. Verses 2-7 read, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

This is not a man wanting to be more, wanting more power, more wealth, more fame and setting out to get it no matter the cost; a man thinking of himself (or a woman of herself), and using others, or trampling over others, to get what they want, even when they already have it all. This is the Son of God, Paul says he was born equal with God. But He made Himself of no reputation and lowered Himself to come to the earth for the purpose of saving sinful man. This is the example for Christians to emulate. This is how we should be.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition. A Christian is never out to promote themselves. Their concern is for others. Their concern is for Christ and His church. Note that there is nothing here that condemns having a high office, or attaining much wealth. That is not the issue. The issue is the heart and the driving force that rules it. Do you have power? Do you have riches? Use them and whatever else you have “in lowliness of mind . . . esteem others better than [yourself] . . . look out . . . for the interests of others.” But Philippians 2 applies as much to those of us who don’t have great riches, or power, or fame, just as it applies to those who do have those things.

What do we have, those of us who are without power fortune or fame? God doesn’t seem to care. In Judges 6 God calls Gideon to lead the Israelites against the Midianites whose presence in the land was so oppressive that Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress so as to hide from the Midianites. Gideon’s response to God regarding Gideon being God’s choice is in verse 15, “. . . how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” Gideon didn’t appear to have a lot of selfish ambition. An interesting part of the story is that when it was time for this humble farm boy to lead Israel. God whittled Gideon’s army down from 32,000 to 300. With that 300 men, each armed with a trumpet, a torch, and an empty pitcher, Gideon (actually God) routed an innumerable Midianite army.

Moses is a good example of most of us. In Exodus 4, after God has told Moses that He has chosen him to go petition Pharaoh for the release of God’s people, Moses begins to make excuses and he starts by saying, “Suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” God said to Moses, “What is that in your hand?” Moses had a rod in his hand. God showed Moses that He could do great things with a rod. Gideon had a trumpet, a torch, and an empty pitcher in his hand. Jesus had only five loaves and two fish and he fed 5,000 people.

Sometimes a small thing can be a big thing. Visitors have been welcomed to the services at the doorway to the assembly, or also while sitting in a pew. That simple greeting was the beginning step of someone responding to the Lord’s invitation later on. I know personally of a sad story in which the reverse occurred. A man with a checkered past was trying to turn his life around. He began attending services at a local church. One of the members who knew vaguely of the man’s past mentioned to a friend that they preferred the man not come; just a casual remark in passing, not a big thing. The remark made its way to the man, and he has not attended a church service anywhere since.

What is that “in your hand”? Can you offer a friendly greeting? Can you be pleasant to the cashier at the grocery store? Can your words be a blessing to those with whom you can interact every day? (See Ephesians 4:29) Can you lend a helping hand to a stranger in the way? Can you do all these things and more while letting the people involved know that you are trying to live a good life to bring glory to God through His church? Can you mail out Bible correspondence courses? Can you grade them for those that do mail them out? Can you let your neighbors know that you are serious about God and His church? Would it be a plus for God and His church if they knew, or would it be a minus?

There are thousands of things you can do. Philippians 2 is telling you to let Jesus be your example. You might have to sacrifice some of your time. You might have to sacrifice some of your money. You may even have to sacrifice some of your pride. Those would all be good things.

A lot can be accomplished by little things. Don’t spend your time chasing the next big thing you want to accomplish while overlooking the little things right there at hand. I can only imagine how much better Saddam Hussein’s life, and more important his eternity, would have been if he had lived by what Philippians 2  says rather than the opposite of what it says.