Steal No Longer

         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. (Ephesians 4:28)

 

To steal is:

to take or appropriate without right or leave and with intent to keep or make use of wrongfully

to take away by force or unjust means

to take surreptitiously or without permission

to appropriate to oneself or beyond one's proper share 

to make oneself the focus of

to move, convey, or introduce secretly 

to accomplish in a concealed or unobserved manner

to seize, gain, or win by trickery, skill, or daring (Steal Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster.)

 

Paul’s next idea about starting over is to stop stealing, and we might be tempted to say that because we’ve never robbed a bank or shoplifted, we haven’t stolen.  In this case, we have no need to start over. But would that be honest?

When we’re introduced to someone, do we try make a good (or bad) impression? Some time ago, I realized that when I meet someone, I tend to put on what I call a “freak show.” Part of me says that I’m just trying to be honest, but I suspect that the truth is that I’m trying to take away any opportunity for the person to see me other than as I direct. Often, the direction I choose is that I am a strange person and they’d be better off not adding me to their roster of friends.

Consider the COVID restrictions. Supposedly, it was for everyone’s safety. Still, governors stole the right of businesses to make decisions about staying open, stole the right of people to earn a living, and stole the right of individuals to make decisions about wearing masks or getting vaccinated. Some people might say they had the right, but does that mean it was right to take jobs from 39 million people? We may justify what we do as “being for the common good” or even “being for their own good,” but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t stealing.

Here's a good one. Are you stealing life and health from yourself by eating unhealthfully? Using substances that effectively poison you (nicotine, alcohol, other drugs, food, pornography (including soft porn), vicarious violence, etc.?

One more. Consider the material you see on social media about poor little _______ and how this person or that group is a champion on their behalf. And we might even go so far as to say that the champion cares. But how many ego points or pats on the back – how much prestige does the champion get at the cost of splashing the trials of the poor little _______ across social media? Where does the attention go? To the need? Or to the champion?

It’s probably wise to stop stealing by no longer stealing in an obvious sense, like robbing banks, shoplifting, or mugging. But that’s not the end of the matter. As God brings it to our attention, we need to stop stealing in other ways, too. We’ll look at the second half of this verse tomorrow.