Kleptomania
Here are my very, very (very) rough notes on the eighth commandment. I didn't have time to clean them up like I wanted (this being the primary reason). But, here they are:
In this commandment, as in the others of the second table of the law, the temptation is for us to moralize the commandment away. God made this, we reason, simply to ensure a modicum of social stability. Theft is prohibited because otherwise society would quickly degenerate into all-out chaos. No one would be able to provide the necessary food for themselves, for example, as it would always be taken by those stronger. This, then, is a necessary component of a larger ?family values? package, an integral piece of social stability.
All of the above are true, to a certain extent. But only viewing this, or the prohibitions against murder, adultery, or lying, as a command for social stability runs the risk of two dangers. The first is that we miss an aspect of how our relationship to God is to be. The second is that we frequently carefully set the standard just high enough for us to meet without too much effort.
We?ll start by taking a look at the first danger, that of missing a piece of the picture God paints of the covenantal relationship between him and his people. This commandment does that by prying open one of the most closely-looked after and private areas of our lives, our finances, and asking ?who is your God??
Consider Matthew 19.16-24. Jesus? uncompromising demand of the rich young man is that he give up all of his possessions to gain eternal life. Jesus? statement showed who was the true master of the young man?s life and thus provides a challenge to all of us: either we will be ruled by God or by money.
Theft is, after all, the ultimate outworking of our worship of the false god of materialism. It is the fullest demonstration that we are not trusting and believing God to provide for our every need but are instead worshipping the god of the material goods and doing everything we can to secure what we want or think we need through ourselves. Outright theft is, of course, the clearest exposition of this worship, but it is really merely the tip of the iceberg. Any time we are placing our financial wants before the kingdom of God, we are breaking this commandment, whether through theft, worry, greed, or materialism.
Since our worship of God determines how we treat those around us, this commandment then teaches us how we are to relate to those around us. Specifically, it requires not just that we refrain from armed robbery, but that we also do all we can to promote the well-being of our neighbors. The Heidelberg Catechism put it this way: God requires ?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 worth faithfully, so that I may share with those in need.? This commandment requires treating our neighbors fairly and truthfully, doing whatever we can to be fair and generous in our financial dealings.
This has particular significance in how we treat the poor and helpless, the ones who are often especially hurt by theft. Job 20.19 describes a wicked man as one who, through theft, has ?crushed and abandoned the poor.? Many other passages in the both the Mosaic law and the prophets speak of the importance of both fair, non-exploitative dealings with the poor and weak and of generosity towards the poor.
So, how does this impact us on a day-to-day basis? For starters, we need to approach money from the standpoint of seeing it all as God?s, entrusted to us to be good stewards of it, and trusting God to provide for all of our needs. Worry and materialism have no place in our devotional lives.
A second thing to avoid is laziness in working. This is not to advocate work addiction, but to encourage all of us to be careful and diligent in the daily tasks that we have.
The last thing to avoid is the oppression of the poor. We might not be wandering the streets of downtown Baltimore beating homeless people senseless, but what if, for example, we found that goods we purchased were produced through exploitative practices? Would we be willing to spend a little more so as to not encourage oppressive worker treatment?
Seen positively, the Westminster Shorter Catechism states that the commandment requires ?the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others.? We are called on to work faithfully and honestly. Doing so will often result in the creation of wealth. Our responsibility then is to work for the well-being of our neighbors, especially our neighbors who are struggling to provide for the basic needs. What are we doing to help those around us who are struggling financially? What about the global church?
In all of this, our calling is to place the kingdom of God before all our worldly possessions. We are to trust God to provide for all of our (true) needs and to recognize that everything we have is because God is providing for us.
March 7, 2005 11:00 AM