Ten Words #8: A Den of Thieves

"You shall not steal." Finally, a command we can all agree with. Who doesn't agree that stealing is wrong? Every society in every place throughout the world and throughout history has had prohibitions against theft.

But the problem is that not everyone agrees on what it means to steal. Is it stealing to download a song you were supposed to pay for? Is it stealing to regularly trim 30 minutes off your work day? Is it stealing to be dependent on welfare rather than on a job? Is it stealing for one country to use the majority of the world's natural resources? Is it stealing to keep the $10-dollar-bill that the clerk accidentally gave you in place of a $1-dollar-bill?

Theft is often relativized according to the position in which we sit:

> Some who would never dream of mugging a person on the street think it is okay to cheat on their taxes or ask their 13-year-old to pretend to be 12 so they can get the kids' price at the movie.

> Some students who would never steal a sweater out of their classmate's locker have no issue with leaning over to steal an answer during a test.

> Some folks wouldn't think of stealing a car but find it acceptable to hide a defect when selling a vehicle on Craigslist.

At the heart of the sixth through tenth commandments is love of one's neighbor. That concern also lies at the heart of this eighth word. If we have concern for our neighbor, we'll do nothing that adversely affects their livelihood or harms their property. We show care for one another not just in words but in real actions that safeguard the things we each possess and share.

Yet the eighth command does more than protect property rights. It also requires us to relinquish property for the sake of others. In anticipation of their acquiring the Promised Land, God reminds the Israelites, "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants" (Lev 25:23). Acting as if we "own" all that we possess is in fact an arrogant path. This robs both God and others of the things God actually owns. A failure to be generous is in fact theft because it's a failure to love God and neighbor.

The commandment against theft is not just about guarding property. It's not about drawing a legalistic line that one shouldn't cross. It's about an attitude of concern for others. 

And to be concerned for others means that we give up the right to judge them. When we truly love neighbors, we aren't allowed to say, "That person already has too much. It doesn't hurt them if I rip them off." When we have genuine concern for neighbor, we shouldn't think, "Those people are lazy and don't deserve any help." 

Instead, the 8th Word points us toward helping others succeed in tangible ways, not just in terms of well-wishes. James writes, "If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,' and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (Jas 2:15-17).

To have a living faith that does not rob others, we should begin to ask, "How can we boost our neighbor's real-life situation?" And if we truly make that our motto, how would that change the way we approach all of life's material goods?

I'm convinced that many Christians throughout the globe are stellar examples of this genuine concern for others. Without their generosity, the world would be a depressing place. It would devolve into nothing more than a den of thieves. Let's continue to seek ways to live out this command by making life better as we help our neighbors.