Grand Theft Theo

It was the summer after eight grade and my good friend Stephen and I were exploring the brand new K-Mart - the centerpiece of the new Wayne Hills Mall.  For some unexplained reason we found ourselves in the outdoor sports section when Stephen eyed a fishing lure hanging on a display rack.  

“I’m taking that,” he said.

“Huh,” I asked, quite puzzled.

“Go to the end of the aisle and keep a lookout,” he told me.

“A lookout?”  What were we Alias Smith and Jones here?  It’s a K-Mart.

So I walked uncomfortably to the end of the aisle and pretended to be “looking out” for something.  Meanwhile, Stephen stealthily slipped the fishing lure under his jacket.  He rushed up behind me and said, “Come on!  Let’s get out of here!”

As we hurried to the front of the store, suddenly lights flashed and sirens blared all through the store.  Oh no, I thought, “the jig is up.”  (I don’t even know what a jig is, but that’s what everyone in movies always said in these situations.)  We looked around in a panic.  Blue lights were flashing everywhere.  Yet we were just standing at the front of the store alone.  It took a few moments for it to sink in that we had not triggered an alarm.  It was just another one of K-Mart’s infamous Blue Light Specials.

We breathed a deep sigh of relief and made our way to the door.  There we were met by the store manager, who asked to see what was in Stephen’s jacket.  He sheepishly unzipped his sweatshirt, revealing the fishing lure, tucked against his side.  The manager left me at the door and took Stephen away to the back office, where he called Stephen’s father to come in for a little talk.  Believe when you’re a fourteen year old boy and someone calls your father for a littele talk about you - it’s never good.

As I look back at this story of Stephen stealing the fishing lure, it brings back a lot of different emotions - nostalgia, regret, but most of all, puzzlement.  Puzzlement for this one simple reason: Stephen didn’t fish.  He got into all this trouble for stealing a one dollar fishing lure, which he would never use. 

Why is it that we humans have such difficulty resisting the temptation to take what isn’t rightfully ours?  Sometimes it’s for the meaningless adrenaline rush.  Sometimes it’s because of our indoctrination to never pass up the chance to get something for nothing.  Oh, but that’s not stealing, is it? It’s the reason we can’t help but pick a twenty dollar bill we see laying on the floor, even in a crowded room where it’s rightful owner is probably nearby.  It’s an opportunity for personal gain that’s too good to pass up.  So we put our ethics on hold and grab what we can while the grabbing is good.  It’s the same attitude that often fuels the sin of adultery which we discussed last week.  For many people, especially men, sex can be like money found on the ground.  It doesn’t come along often and it’s too good to pass up. It only makes sense to grab it at any opportunity.

The lure of stealing is that it is a quick and easy fix for our desires.  It’s all benefit with no cost, all reward with no work.  Sounds like a pretty good deal, but it’s really all about our egos.  It makes the world all about us.  It’s why a young boy will risk getting in trouble for stealing a fishing lure, when he doesn’t even fish. It diminishes others and it diminishes us.  It diminishes the image of God within us.  

But we still do it. This commandment, you shall not steal, should stop us in our tracks when we are tempted to take that which isn’t ours.  Yet often, it does not. It’s not because think stealing is a good thing.  Few of us argue that.  No, the way we get around this commandment is to redefine stealing and to rationalize it when we do.

There was another time Stephen and I were walking through our neighborhood and we saw a bicycle laying on someone’s front lawn.  Stephen said, “I can’t believe someone just left this here”

“What do you mean,” I asked. “It probably belongs to the kid who lives in the house.”

“You don’t know that,” Stephen protested. “How do you know somebody didn’t mean to throw it out and just left it here and wants us to take it?”

I didn’t know how to respond.  When I thought about I guess I had no absolute proof that it wasn’t a discarded bike.  Maybe Stephen had a point.  Maybe it wasn’t stealing.

Yeah, right.

Downloading music from an illegal site, it’s not stealing, is it? Installing a pirated copy of software on all the computers in my office, it’s not stealing is it?  Not returning the excess change a cashier gives you, or letting the checkout person miss scanning a few items in the bottom of your shopping cart, it’s not stealing - right? Getting a good deal on a pair of jeans or sneakers in a big box store where they’re sold cheap because they are made in countries with weak  work or pollution laws by cheap labor, maybe even by children.  That’s just good capitalism, right?  It isn’t stealing?

Sure technically, it’s may be stealing but it’s not STEALING.   After all, sometimes stealing is justified.  I know that because I saw Le Mis.

There was another time I was hanging out with Stephen - yeah I know - you think I would have learned.  This time it was me who was the thief.  We were in the Waldenbooks at the mall.  As I looked through the science fiction section, I saw a book with a title I had never heard of before.  It was the novelization of some small unheard-of movie that was coming out in month called “Star Wars”.  I wanted it but didn’t have any money with me, so guess what?  Unlike the fishing lure, I would actually us this book.

In fact, as it turned out that book changed my life.  The book led me to go see the movie and that movie led me to develop an interest in filmmaking.  In turn that led me to film school and eventually to have a career in video, where I met my wife.  That career enabled me to support a family and to buy a house - and if  hadn't met Pam, I never would have heard her idea to start Vision. You know, maybe God wanted me to steal that book so that all these other great things in my life would happen.  Praise Jesus!

Any of you buying all this BS?

It’s the old story, when it comes to downloaded music, after all, those rock stars, they have enough money don’t they?  Why should I have to pay to hear the product of their creativity?  And Bill Gates - isn’t he rich enough?  Why should I buy a group license for Microsoft Office when I have that pirated copy my cousin gave me?  So what if my cheap sneakers are made through unjust labor practices and people losing good-paying jobs in this country.  What am I, a socialist? Isn’t paying for something you can get cheap or for free a waste of money?  In fact, by doing these things, aren’t I actually being a good steward of God’s resources!  

Take my tax return.  Claiming personal expenses as business deductions, what’s the harm in that?  Those idiots in Washington are just wasting trillions anyway.  So a few less of my dollars go into the pot for a bailout of some Wall Street fat cats.  What’s the big deal?

It is amazing how easily we equate our own shallow motivations to have cheap jeans with a man stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family.  How quick we can be to dress up our own greed with an air of nobility?

There are many reasons God gave us this commandment, you shall not steal.  Sure, it’s a necessary rule in order to have a civil society.  However, it’s more than that.  Stealing is one of those evils for which we always blur the line, whether it’s through monkeying with definitions or through rationalization.  That’s what makes it so insideous.  It may seem obvious, but the things we take which aren’t rightfully ours, rightfully belong to someone else.  So when we steal, we are creating injustice in the world and, my friends, the Bible has a lot to say about injustice.

Jesus’ primary message was the Kingdom of God.  That kingdom is the reign of God. At its heart, God’s reign is one of justice and fairness.   When we rationalize our robberies, we are saying that our money is more important than our ethics, and that material possessions are more important than justice.  When we steal, in any form, we are, in essence, taking away from God’s kingdom.  We are undermining and rebelling against God’s reign of justice in the world. 

It’s not just our neighbors from whom we’re stealing.  We’re stealing from the dream of God.

Comments

[Tim]

Great last line.
I rarely comment on your posts but know that they are appreciated.

I know things are busy but I hope all is well. Looking forward to grabbing lunch some time.

[Don Heatley]

Thanks Tim. Let's get together again soon.