Ten Commandments Part 15
Commandment # 7 (Protestant 8) “You shall not steal “
Under the surface there is more to this commandment than merely taking
something which belongs to another. It
is a call to honesty and uprightness in our dealing with others. It is a call to live in contentment. There are many ways we can steal. One way we don’t often think of is the theft
of time. This most often occurs in the
workplace when a person works less than the hours he is paid for. We can take trivial materials. A friend who worked for an auto company told
me that they would budget for extra pens, pencils and paper in August, knowing
that employees would take them to give to their kids as they went back to
school. This is a form of theft. Taking a bribe is a form of theft as it often
means another person or company is robbed of business. We can take questionable tax loopholes,
hoping they won’t be noticed. Lying
about the quality of goods we sell, along with underpaying employees or
overcharging customers are also forms of theft.
There
are several types of theft. We can
detain what is due to a person, holding on to it for an extended period of
time. We can waste time (especially work
related). Companies can manipulate
prices to one’s advantage and another’s disadvantage. Oppression, when it takes advantage of
another person which causes them undue harm is another type. Finally, there is sacrilege – taking what has
been consecrated to God for secular use.
Oftentimes
greed and discontent are behind theft.
In a sense, this commandment is tied to the tenth. It is also tied to the first. We can find ourselves so tied to things that
we worship them. The inordinate pursuit
of possessions leads to idolatry.
The
parable Jesus spoke about the man who tore down his barns to build bigger ones
(Lu 12:16-21) teaches us to avoid hoarding.
Property, whether it be in the form of houses, lands, or possessions, is
a gift from God. The purpose of having
them is to be generous. We need to
remember that everything we have ultimately comes from God.
The
Hebrew word ganab occurs seven times
in Genesis 31.[1] Sometimes it is translated “steal” or
“stole.” Other times it’s translated
“deceive” or something similar. Laban
considers Jacob’s deception in leaving unannounced as a form of theft. He stole Laban’s daughters and grandchildren
from him. Deception can be seen as a
form of thievery of the truth.
It is
easy to see what happens to a society where theft is rampant. It becomes self destructive. Businesses close. There is a total loss of trust. Relationships are lost. Human flourishing ends up in shambles.
On
the positive side we are called to live by the golden rule “Do unto others as
you would have them do unto you.” This
attitude promotes human flourishing.
You wanted me
to be able to live contentedly, Lord.
But for me the gifts you gave me were not enough. There was always something else I still
wanted to have: The property of others,
the success of other, the joy of others.
Now my conscience has become all too lax; and I live among people for
whom it is just the same. The unfairness
among us gets nastier and nastier. We deserve it, Lord, that you should let us
perish in our greediness and that we should lose you for all eternity. We cannot help ourselves, Lord, but be
merciful and let us learn to live again.[2]
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