Meet the Robinson family: Robert, his wife Robin, and their eleven—year—old son Robby. Robert works for an advertising agency, and his future looks bright. Why, just this week, after seeing Robert’s latest design for a promotional campaign, his boss exclaimed, “Wow, Robert, have you got the touch! You make people who’ve never before heard of a product feel like they can’t live without it. You sure know how to get people to part with their money.“ Robert beamed with satisfaction.
Thursday night, as the Robinsons were finishing supper, Robin said, “Guess what? Mimi Klepto next door just loaned me a bunch of new computer programs and games. She said we can copy whatever we want onto our hard drive. There’s some great new software I think we’ll both like, Robert. And Robby, you’re going to love the games. Oh, and Mimi also loaned me some videos to copy. All that stuff would cost us a fortune if we had to buy it at the store.“
Friday evening, the Robinsons were on the road, hoping to enjoy a weekend away from home. As they drove, Robin patted her purse and said, “The Johnsons paid me today for painting their bedroom. I got paid in cash, as usual. That’s another $400 tax—free that the government will never know about.“
The family pulled into a restaurant and enjoyed a fine meal. It tasted even better when Robert looked at the bill and noticed that they’d been undercharged by $10. He chuckled and said, “Well, if they don’t know how to add, that’s their problem, not mine.“ The Robinsons then checked into a motel, and Robert put the room charge on his company’s expense account.
Saturday morning the Robinsons went to the amusement park. The sign at the entrance said that kids nine and under got in for $5 less than older kids. Robby looked a bit small for an eleven—year—old, so Robin told the person at the gate, “Tickets for two adults and one nine—year—old, please.“
The Robinsons were standing in line, waiting to go on one of the rides, when suddenly Robin’s purse was torn from her hands. Robin whirled around and saw a man racing away. She screamed, “Stop! Thief!“ Robert galloped off in pursuit, but the thief had a head start and disappeared around the corner of a building. By the time Robert got to the corner, the thief had blended into the crowd. People were walking around as though nothing unusual had happened. Panting for breath, Robert hurried back to his distraught wife and son. “The guy got away,“ he gasped. “I can’t believe this! Isn’t there any place that’s safe from crooks? The police ought to catch robbers like that, and lock them up, and thrown away the key.“ Robin and Robby agreed.
Thief in the Mirror
Nobody likes to get robbed, but many of us don’t mind robbing someone else. Even if we’re not burglars or purse snatchers, we’re still thieves. Like the fictional family Robinson, we don’t mind taking what isn’t rightfully ours, but we’re shocked and angry when someone else rips us off. It’s okay to manipulate people to buy stuff they don’t need, it’s okay to copy software and videos we haven’t paid for, to want to get rich quick on a something—for—nothing deal, to take cash income and not pay taxes on it, to keep the money when you’re undercharged, to pad a company expense account, to cheat on the cost of admission for a child. That’s all okay. But a purse snatcher? Now that’s robbery! The police must get tougher on crime!
In the Ten Commandments, God says, “You shall not steal.“ Most of us would say “Amen“ to that——at least when it comes to people who might steal from us. But when we want to grab things we haven’t earned or paid for, we don’t think it’s bad at all. Like the Robinsons, we think robbery is an awful crime——except when we do it ourselves. We like helping ourselves to other people’s money.
The commandment, “You shall not steal,“ means that if you want to make a good living, you ought to work for it and earn what you get. You shouldn’t just grab it from someone else. Most of us agree with that——up to a certain point. Crime is a big concern for many of us. We want to protect our property from thieves. We want more police and more prisons. And we want welfare programs to help only the truly needy, not freeloaders who refuse to work for a living.
These concerns are legitimate, but before get too upset about crime and lazy welfare recipients, maybe we should first look at the thief in the mirror. We may be guilty of a lot more stealing and freeloading than we’d like to admit. We may be as eager as anyone to get rich without working for it, to get maximum income for minimum work. When God says, “You shall not steal,“ he’s not just talking to somebody else. He’s talking to you and me. You and I need to take a hard look into our own hearts and into the values of the society we embrace.
Just about all of us are against stealing and in favor of honest work——at least in theory. We’re fiercely opposed to the ways others might steal from us, but we’re much less upset about the ways we manage to grab other people’s money.
Take Anthony, for example. According to news reports, Anthony walked into a New York bank with a gun and walked out with a bag full of cash. He left the bank and quickly blended in with the people walking down the sidewalk outside. But as Anthony was strolling along, someone brushed against him, grabbed the bag, and ran off with it. Anthony was furious. How dare someone steal the money he had just stolen for himself? He was so angry that he told the police what had happened. The police never caught the man who ran off with the money, but they did arrest Anthony for bank robbery.
We may laugh at a dimwit like Anthony, but is our own approach all that different? When we take from others, it’s okay, but when someone steals from us, we’re furious. Many of us try to get what isn’t ours in just about any way we can get away with, yet we squawk about the evils of crime. We’d like nothing better than to get piles of other people’s money without having to work for it, and yet we complain that welfare bums ought to learn what honest work is all about.
A Steal of a Deal
A certain company was fond of saying in its advertisements, “We make money the old—fashioned way. We earn it.“ I don’t know if the company lived up to that, but it’s a good motto. As a motto, it’s right up there with “Honesty is the best policy.“
But in the nitty gritty of life, dishonesty sometimes looks like the best policy, and we get stuff another old—fashioned way: we steal it. Stealing is rampant in our society. Break—ins, holdups, carjacking, and so forth are the kinds of stealing that make the evening news, but, meanwhile, ordinary people do plenty of outright stealing too. Workers take tools home from a business or factory, figuring a giant corporation won’t really miss them. Businessmen pad their expense accounts, thinking they deserve a little something extra. Citizens don’t report taxable income, thinking they already give too much to the government.
Joy Davidman tells how a shopkeeper explained business ethics to his son: “Suppose a customer buys something in a hurry. I give him change for ten dollars, but the minute he goes out I see he’s given me a hundred dollar bill by mistake. Now here’s the question of business ethics: should I tell my partner?“
So far we’ve been focusing on examples of theft that are pretty clear—cut. They’re common, we often don’t think they’re all that serious, we might not like to call them stealing——but that’s what they are, and we know it. We know we’re ripping someone off. But besides these clear—cut ripoffs, there are other, more subtle forms of stealing.
In the fine art of dealmaking, the seller often pretends an item is worth more than it really is, while the buyer pretends it’s worth less than its true value. In Proverbs 20:14, the Bible describes the process of bargaining: “’It’s no good, it’s no good!’ says the buyer [when he’s bartering about the price]; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase.“ Isn’t that the truth? We like to brag when we get “a steal of a deal.“ Buy low; sell high. “That’s not stealing,“ we tell ourselves, “it’s just good business.“ But what if getting “a steal of a deal“ really is stealing? Not all haggling over price is dishonest, not every good investment is evil, not all dealing is stealing, but sometimes it is——and more often than we’d like to admit.
When we come to the world of business and stock exchanges and futures markets and government contracts and all the rest, it gets more complicated. It’s not always easy to see where smart business ends and stealing begins. It’s almost impossible to make and apply exact guidelines that would cover all the particulars. But just because it’s complicated doesn’t mean we should think anything goes. When a business wins a contract away from a competitor by pulling a few strings; when a company underpays its employees or overcharges its customers; when a corporation uses advertising to manipulate people into buying a useless product; when stock regulations and prices are manipulated for the advantage of insiders; when elected officials give inflated contracts to political contributors, or when government takes more of its citizens’ money in taxes than it returns to them in benefits and services——that’s stealing.
But we can’t just look at the world of business and commerce and government. Sad to say, even religion itself can become the domain of thieves. The Old Testament prophets often condemned religious leaders for using their position to manipulate people for their own profit. And Jesus himself declared that God’s temple had become a den of thieves. He grabbed a whip and went on a rampage through the temple area, overturning tables and driving out the ripoff artists.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the last time manipulators have used religion to rob people. I remember hearing a TV preacher say that if you want to improve your financial situation, all you need is more faith. And how should you show this faith? Well, if you’re in serious financial trouble, said the preacher, what you should do is scrape together $150, and even if you think you can’t afford it, send the $150 to this preacher as proof of your faith. Then God will have no choice but to bless you and make you richer for showing such marvelous faith. Amazing! The preacher said all this with a straight face. He was trying to rob poor people of their last few dollars, using the name of the very Jesus who drove out the moneychangers. We ministers can’t preach “You shall not steal“ when we’re overly eager to use religion to take away people’s money.
Something For Nothing
We’ve seen various ways we steal, cheat and manipulate to get other people’s money. Now let’s look at the attitude behind the actions? Behind all stealing lies the desire to have what belongs to someone else, to take what we haven’t worked for and to get something for nothing. This is the very same attitude that lures people to casinos and race tracks and betting parlors and lotteries, the same attitude that fuels speculation in certain financial ventures. Get rich quick, get something for nothing——that’s the driving motive.
And what’s the result of all this? In a great many cases, the desire to get something for nothing is the road to ruin. Honest work and sensible saving are harder but better. Proverbs 12:11 says, “He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment“ (Proverbs 12:11). Get—rich—quick schemes often make you poor, and what’s more, even if you do make some money at it, you tend to lose it just as quickly. Proverbs 13:11 says, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.“
In saying “You shall not steal,“ God condemns taking other people’s money; he condemns the self—centered, lazy, greedy, something—for—nothing attitude that lies behind it; and he calls us to make our living through honest work. But he takes us even beyond that. According to the Bible, the command against stealing isn’t concerned only with how we get our money. It also applies to how we use our money.
Not Grabbers But Givers
Ephesians 4:28 says, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.“ God shows us that the opposite of stealing isn’t not stealing; the opposite of stealing is sharing. If you’re in tune with God, you won’t just be honest and hard—working; you’ll also be generous. God calls us to be not grabbers but givers. A grabbers attitude is, “What’s yours is mine.“ A giver’s attitude is, “What’s mine is yours.“ If you’re able to make more money than you need, sharing isn’t just an option. It’s an obligation.
Contrary to what many of us think, what we have isn’t just ours. It is God’s. He has loaned it to us, and it should be used the way he intends. When you’re successful, says the Bible, “You may say to yourself, ’My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth“ (Deuteronomy 8:17—18). If God didn’t give you health, if God didn’t give you smarts, if God didn’t give you opportunities to work and do business, you would have nothing. Everything you earn through honest work and productive business is a trust from him.
Maybe God has blessed you with the ability to be very productive and make lots of money. If so, be thankful to him, and be generous with others. The Bible says of a man who is blessed by the Lord, “Wealth and riches are in his house,“ and Scripture goes on to say, “Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice“ (Psalm 112:3,5). It’s a beautiful circle of blessing. God blesses the godly person with wealth to make him a blessing to others. The more God gives him, the more he shares with others. And the more he shares, the more God gives him.
When God says, “You shall not steal?“ he’s telling me to make money honestly and not rip off other people’s money, but he’s not just telling me what not to do. He’s also telling me what I should do. He’s commanding “that I do whatever I can for my neighbor’s good, that I treat him as I would like others to treat me, and that I work faithfully so that I may share with those in need“ (Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 111).
New Life
So where does this leave you and me? How do we measure up to God’s standard or sharing instead of stealing? Not very well, I’m afraid. We rob others in the various ways. We’re often motivated more by self—interest, greed and laziness than by a desire to be honest and productive. And when we think about what to do with our money, sharing is often the last thing that comes to mind.
All this adds up to big trouble in our standing before God. Our stealing may not be a big deal to us, but it is to God. In the Bible God says, “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity“ (Isaiah 61:8). In another place God says that “neither thieves nor the greedy … will inherit the kingdom of God“ (1 Corinthians 6:9). Stealing is sin, and people who remain in sin and selfishness have no place in God’s kingdom. Crime doesn’t pay for long. The final destiny of robbers is in the dreadful fire of hell, shut out forever from God’s goodness and blessing. God hates robbery, as he hates all sin, and his hatred for it is fierce and everlasting and unchanging. If we remain in sin, we will spend eternity in hell.
So how can we escape this dreadful fate? And how can we leave our old self behind and become new? We can’t. It’s impossible. You and I can’t make up for our sins by our own efforts. We can’t turn over a new leaf just by trying a little harder. “With man this is impossible,“ said Jesus, and then he added, “but not with God; all things are possible with God“ (Mark 10:27). Who can save robbers from the pit of hell? Who can change them from grabbers to givers? Jesus Christ can.
Consider the story of Zaccheus. He was guilty of stealing. Zaccheus wasn’t the kind of thief who gets arrested and thrown in prison. He was a bureaucrat, a government tax collector in a corrupt system. He could overcharge people on their taxes and keep the extra for himself. He had the power to take people’s money and seize their property, and they couldn’t do a thing about it. Zaccheus ripped people off; he got rich abusing the system. But an encounter with Jesus changed his life.
Jesus came to Zaccheus’s town and asked if he could come to his house. For some reason, Zaccheus was delighted, and he welcomed Jesus gladly. The people who saw this began griping. They wondered why Jesus would have anything to do with a ripoff artist like Zaccheus. They thought Zaccheus should be written off entirely. He was too wicked to be saved.
- “But Zaccheus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house… For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. (Luke 19:8—9).
Salvation came to Zaccheus’s house when Jesus came to his house. Jesus forgave his wicked, thieving past, and Zaccheus became a new man.
If you’re a thief under God’s judgment, you need Jesus. Do what Zaccheus did. Welcome Jesus into your life. Receive his forgiveness. With his help, start living a new life. When you turn to Jesus, he tells you what he told Zaccheus: “Today salvation has come to this house.“
The Bible tells of another thief who met Jesus at a point when the man couldn’t do anything at all to make restitution to his victims, when he couldn’t do anything to help the poor, because he was dying. This thief was hanging on a cross right next to Jesus. He knew that he deserved to be punished for all his crimes, and yet, somehow, he sensed that the innocent man suffering next to him might still be able to save him. The dying thief said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.“ And what did Jesus say? “Today you will be with me in paradise“ (Luke 23:41—43). That thief is in heaven right now, not because he deserves to be, but because Jesus saved him.
What about you? God says “You shall not steal“ so that you’ll hate stealing as much as he does, and so that you’ll admit your sin and seek a better way. God uses that command to show you your sinfulness and drive you to Jesus Christ for forgiveness. Jesus suffered the agony of hell on the cross so that thieves and other sinners could be saved from hell. So do what the thief on the cross did. Pray, “Jesus, remember me.“ Then trust Jesus and rejoice as he promises, “You will be with me in paradise.“
Once you’ve received that wonderful salvation, keep depending on God’s Spirit to change the way you live. God says, “You shall not steal“ to show us our sin and our need for Christ, and he also give the commandment to direct our conduct once we belong to him. A Christian is someone who trusts in the forgiveness of Jesus and then becomes more and more like Jesus. “You shall not steal“ means that, as a child of God and a follower of Jesus, you need to respect other people’s money and be generous with your own money. Leave behind all stealing and get—rich—quick schemes and instead commit yourself to honest work and sharing with those in need. As the Bible says, “By this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus himself: ’It is more blessed to give than to receive’“ (Acts 20:35).
David Feddes
Dr. David Feddes is pastor of Family of Faith Church and provost of Christian Leaders Institute, which supports mentor-based ministry training through online courses. David is also adjunct missiologist for Crossroad Bible Institute, which provides biblical distance education to more than 40,000 people in prison. Previously he served as broadcast minister for the Back to God radio program, reaching people in more than fifty countries. David earned his Ph.D. in intercultural studies from Trinity International University, Deerfield, IL and is a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Wendy, have nine children (one in heaven).
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