DON’T STEAL—Exodus 20:15
You go out for the evening, and when you get home and walk in the door, something doesn’t seem right. In the next room, the TV is missing, along with valuable electronics.
Or maybe it is not your house. Your purse is gone, or you get a text showing new charges on your credit card. You check your credit report, and your identity has been stolen.
The eighth commandment is short and direct: “Don’t steal.” We totally agree! If everyone would obey this commandment, life would be much better. Yet in Romans 2:21, Paul says, “You who preach against stealing, do you steal?” What did he think they were—cat burglars?
WHAT IS STEALING?
Stealing is taking something that belongs to someone else. It is obvious things like shoplifting, robbing banks, or burglarizing businesses. Less obviously, it is things like copying music or video illegally, or stealing credit for someone else’s work.
Other forms of stealing involve cheating, defrauding, misrepresenting, or deceiving. Maybe someone sells a vehicle, implying that it is perfect condition, when they know it has major problems. Someone files an insurance claim, including items on the claim that were pre-existing damage. A person in sales exaggerates the value or benefits of a product or service, or neglects to mention costs that will be added to the final bill. A student cheats on an exam or paper, stealing a grade that they haven’t earned. A mechanic or technician says work is needed, when it is not necessary or beneficial.
Fraud can take other forms as well. In relationships, Paul talked about taking advantage of others sexually, warning in 1 Thessalonians 4:6 not to “defraud” a brother or sister. This might apply to all kinds of relationships, like pretending to be a friend while using the person to get some benefit.
Stealing can also take the form of not giving what is owed: not paying debts, or delaying payment that is due. It can involve the government; Paul says in Romans 13:7, “Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes…”
Stealing relates to employment as well. Leviticus 19:13 says, “Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.” Deuteronomy 24:14-15 gives the reason: “Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.” Moses says that holding back wages from helpless workers is stealing, just as much as robbing them on their way home.
Employees steal when they don’t give honest hours and honest effort. ***A story is told about a company and union negotiating sick days. The company negotiator held up a newspaper, with a story about an employee who won a golf tournament. “This man,” he announced, “called in sick yesterday, so he could play golf.” The room was silent, until the union negotiator said, “Wow! Just think of what kind of score he could have had if he hadn’t been sick!”**
Stealing from people is bad, but stealing from God is worse. Malachi 3:8-10 says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me." But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse.”
The tithe is an OT obligation (10%), and we are not under OT law, but under grace. (We are so blessed, so rich, that many of us should be giving more than 10% to the church and kingdom work.) God does not ask for 10% of our income, but 100% of what we are and have, to be used wisely for those he loves, and to his glory. Most of our money will then be for our benefit, but we also have obligations to the poor and needy, to the expansion of God’s kingdom, and to the benefit of God’s people. If we squander money on excess (such as entertainment, gambling, extravagance, hoarding), we might be stealing from God.
WHY should we not steal?
• We trust God and his commandments.
Psalm 119:66 says, “Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.”
Maybe you have to deal with a culture of dishonesty at work. The standard behavior is to cheat the customer, steal time from the company, or take credit for the work of others. Whom do you trust: the culture of the workplace, or God? Honesty in your work might pay off, as people learn to trust you. However, If honesty doesn’t pay off as you hope, do you still trust that God’s way is best?
God’s commandments are not just for individuals, but for society. Many of the poorest nations in the world are rich in resources, but wealth is being stolen by powerful, dishonest people. In Russia, where communism tried to root out God, privatization of industries was manipulated for the benefit of a powerful few. Taxes are not consistently collected, and graft is common. As the Russian author Dostoevsky said, “Can man be good without God?”
Is America losing the ethical foundation that has served it well? (Preacher: a current example might work here. I used the recession of 2008, where willful deceit and misrepresentation led to a collapse of the financial markets.) We see the loss of ethics in politics, where special interests take unfair benefits. Cheating on taxes by corporations large and small is commonplace. Yet, do you pay your taxes?
We can’t control what other people do, except to place a high value on integrity when we cast our vote at the ballot box. We can be among those few people who obey God’s commandment regarding honest dealings.
• We value our integrity.
In the movie “The Family Man,” Nicolas Cage is standing in line to get a cup of coffee. The girl in front of him is buying something for 99 cents, and she hands the cashier a dollar. The cashier gives her nine dollars in change. She sees his mistake, but she silently puts the money in her pocket. The cashier realizes his mistake, but not wanting to cause a scene, he looks her in the eye, and says, “Is there anything else you need?” She shakes her head and walks out. Then the cashier looks at the next man in line, and says, “Did you see that? She was willing to sell her character for nine dollars. Nine dollars!” (Note: This story originates with Donald Miller in his book, “To Own a Dragon.” It comes via “Catalyst GroupZine, Volume 2 and Preaching Connection.” Since this is a sermon on stealing, credit is due!)
• We are being watched.
Psychologists constructed an experiment, in which participants took a test, alone in an empty room. They were told that when an alarm went off after five minutes, they should stop work immediately. 71% kept going after the alarm went off. Another group of participants had the same instructions, but they faced a wall with a mirror. Of those who were looking at themselves in the mirror, only 7% went past five minutes! (CT, October 2016)
How foolish! Do we need a mirror to remind us that what we do is actually happening? We are watching ourselves, and God is watching! Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.”
Unbelievers are watching. 1 Peter 2:12 says, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
Children and grandchildren are watching. They hear and see bits and pieces of how we handle ethical decisions. Are we giving them a solid foundation for honest living?
HOW can we maintain our integrity?
• Get to the root of dishonesty.
Jesus identified the root of stealing, in Matthew 15:19, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, THEFT, false testimony, slander.” What evil thoughts cause theft?
A sense of entitlement can lead to stealing. Employees think, “I don’t get paid enough for what I do.” Buyers think, “I give them enough money already.” ***One 19-year-old shoplifter justified her theft by saying, “Sometimes it feels like you’ve settled the score in some way, like the huge department store is out to get your money, but you’ve somehow found a way around that. Taking things without paying for them makes things seem even again.”** Some people feel the same way about the government or huge corporations. A false sense of entitlement is a spiritual problem, which leads to sin.
Greed is similar to entitlement. If getting more money, more success, or more power is at the center of our thoughts, we are in danger. 1 Timothy 6:8-9 says, “If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”
Rationalization can blind us to the reality of what we are doing. We might tell ourselves that we are not stealing, only borrowing or using. Or we justify it by thinking it is not wrong, because everyone does it, or most people don’t see anything wrong with it. We are not most people! Ephesians 4:17 says, “I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as unbelievers do, in the futility of their thinking.” Futile thinking leads to futile action!
• Do what is necessary to live as God commands. What must you do to stop stealing?
Ephesians 4:28 says, “Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.”
Someone owes me money, which I doubt that I will ever see. I helped him out in a desperate situation, which was caused by poor choices. You see, he wanted to be self-employed, so he didn’t look for a steady job with a living wage. When his lack of income reached crisis mode, he was desperate for money.
I once knew a teacher who would take a “sick day” at the end of each semester. He wasn’t sick; he had procrastinated on grading papers, and he had to catch up by taking a day he did not deserve.
If the only way you can maintain your current lifestyle is to cheat in business or rob God of offerings, you need to dial back your lifestyle, so that you won’t be so inclined to cheat.
Keeping this commandment may involve a long-term commitment to obey God. We need to trust God enough to align our lives with his way of life. If we do that, life will be better for us, and those around us. We will have the satisfaction of good character. Most importantly, we will be placing our trust in God.
