This morning I want to jump back to a verse that we studied a few weeks ago. Ephesians 4:28 (NIV) says, "He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need." I have to confess that when I first read this verse, I skimmed right over it. It is easy to think that this verse would make a good text for a prison chaplain, or have great relevance to a convicted felon. But for us? Lakeside Christian Church? Very few of us would consider these words as having much, if any, relevance to us.
Last year someone stole the laptop computer that we use for video projection. It was stolen out of the front office. Since that time we decided to be even more diligent about controlling keys, locking doors, and paying attention to who comes and goes. But that was such an isolated incident. It is the only blatant theft I have ever encountered in all my years of ministry. And even then, we are fairly certain it was done by someone outside of our church family. We checked our worship minister’s criminal record and he’s never been caught.
Why did Paul pen this reference to stealing?
But seriously, why did the Holy Spirit pen this verse for the local church? My home newspaper had this section in the paper called the Police Blotter. It was a daily who’s who in criminal activity. It listed home thefts, auto thefts, and armed robberies which occurred in our town. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your name has to appear in the Police Blotter for this verse to have relevance to your life. As one pastor noted, our tendency is to, "...conjure up a picture of a thief that automatically excludes ourselves." We do this with a lot of such statements in the Bible. We make ourselves righteous by only considering a verse’s most extreme application. We think that because we haven’t held up a local White Hen Pantry at gunpoint or committed a felony, we're exempt.
Years ago the music industry was losing millions of dollars because music was being illegally copied, downloaded, and pirated. The industry announced a crackdown. All eyes were on web companies like Napster, who provided the means for defrauding the music industry out of the profits they were rightfully due. And such companies certainly were not let off the hook. But everyone was shocked when lawsuits were announced against petty offenders. These offenders included teenagers, high school students, and parents. Piracy was just as illegal for the small offender as for the large scale offender. No level of piracy would be tolerated.
It is this way with all of the Bible’s teachings. There is a spectrum of application that must be carefully considered. None of us are in a position to dismiss God’s word. Let’s first consider this verse at face value.
"He who has been stealing must steal no longer…"
Paul was identifying people in the church who were actively engaged in stealing or theft. There were believers who were part of the church and who professed the name of Christ who were living in a mindset of sin. They’d never repented of stealing. Their hearts were hardened. Their consciences were seared. Their lives were full of contradiction, proclaiming Christ’s righteousness while refusing to live a holy life.
The Bible is uncomfortably clear about the perils of barefaced sin. Being part of the kingdom of God is a matter of subjecting our whole lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ. How can we hope to be part of the same kingdom that we are living in active rebellion against?
In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NIV) Paul writes, "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."
The Church has become more accepting of sin.
Just consider for a moment how accepting we in the Church have become of sin. It is true that all of us sin and fall short of the glory of God. But we have made that an excuse for willfully living in rebellion against God’s kingdom and against Christ’s authority. It is as if none of the things mentioned in these verses are of consequence to the Christian. We have grown accustomed to leaving entire areas of our lives unsurrendered to Christ.
Sexual immorality is accepted. So what if Christians are promiscuous, live together before being married, or view pornography? Idolatry is accepted. So what if everything else comes before God? Work, leisure, hobbies, sports, and material ambition all take priority over God. Adultery is accepted. We are told that male prostitution and homosexuality are lifestyles for which we are genetically predisposed. We have no choice in the matter, so we're told.
Certain types of theft are acceptable. We all pay too much in taxes, right? And greed? Well good for you. You are to be commended for being shrewd. Drunkenness? So what? It’s a disease, not sin. Slandering? That is protected by the first amendment, right? Swindling? Just don’t break the law. These things are not unpardonable sins against God. In 1 Corinthians 6:11 (NIV) Paul goes on to say, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
God can wash us. God’s Spirit can sanctify us. Christ’s blood can justify us. There isn’t any question about the power of God to completely deliver us from these things. But the issue is that we have found ways of professing the kingdom of God, while denying its reality and power in our lives. We have all found ways of professing Christ as Lord without actually letting him be Lord. We have found ways of deceiving ourselves about the offensiveness of our sin in God’s eyes.
You see, we have to make a choice about participating in God’s kingdom. You are either in or you are out. Christ is either Lord and king of your life or he is not. The one who has been stealing must steal no longer. The one living in sin must stop. The one hardening his heart, who is living in rebellion against Christ’s rule in small and large ways, must repent and submit to Christ’s authority. Every pattern of sin must be broken. Every stronghold of Satan must be demolished. Again, there are no small or large sins in God’s kingdom. Sin in every size and form is rebellion.
On one level, stealing is taking something that doesn’t lawfully belong to you. Stealing can involve borrowing something and never returning it.A tool from a neighbor, a book from the library, or office supplies from work. Stealing can involve taking intellectual property such as illegally copying music, DVDs, photography, or computer software that you haven't paid for. According to the Business Software Alliance, thirty-six percent of software installed on computers is illegal.
Stealing can involve cheating on your income taxes, plagiarizing someone else’s work, not paying someone fairly for their labor, or not putting in an honest day's work. Playing solitaire and talking on the phone can be a form of stealing, especially when your employer is paying you to perform a task. Stealing is using merchandise for a weekend, and then returning it for full refund on Monday. Stealing is overcharging customers. It is covering up problems with your home or car when you sell them or trade them in. It is cheating on tests to get an honor or degree that you do not deserve. It is not telling the waitress to fix an error on your bill.
These things aren’t going to get your name in the Police Blotter, but God sees them. One of the most common forms of stealing is employee theft, which is at an all time high. A police officer told me that stores are installing surveillance equipment not to watch customers, but in order to watch their own employees! A lot of stores are installing "U-Scan" checkout aisles. My first thought was that these self-serve checkout lanes must be costing the store thousands in stolen merchandise. But this is not the case. Human cashiers are a greater risk than the machines. Humans allow their friends to use stolen credit card numbers. They put their friends' merchandise in the bag without charging them for it. They pocket cash out of the cash register.
Ceasing selfish gain.
At its heart, stealing is parasitic behavior. It is sponging off the hard work of others, purely for selfish gain. It is taking something that isn’t due you. Stealing can be subtle, such as making yourself a burden to others. It can involve dodging your personal and social responsibilities so others have to pick up your slack.
In 1 Timothy 5:4 (NIV) Paul takes issue with some believers who were pushing the needs of their families onto the Church instead of stepping up to the plate themselves. Paul says, "But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God." In 1 Timothy 5:8 (NIV) Paul continues, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."
Stealing, or being a parasite, is the complete antithesis to the example set by Jesus Christ. God’s grace should compel us to give, not selfishly take. It should cause us to fill others up, not bleed them dry or rob them blind in our greed. God's grace should cause us to step up to our responsibilities and not abandon them. The one who has been stealing must steal no longer, whether in great or small ways. No pocket of sin, no matter how miniscule, must be left unchallenged. It must be confessed and it must be exposed to the light. We must repent of all wickedness.
Now, Paul builds on this prohibition against stealing in a most unique way. It is one thing to put off sin, but it is quite another to talk about righteousness.
Pursuing righteousness.
"He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need."
Just because we abstain from the stealing doesn’t mean that we are pursuing righteousness. Furthermore, just because we abstain from stealing and are now working, doing something useful with our hands, doesn’t mean we are pursuing righteousness. You can be just as greedy and self absorbed when working as you can be when stealing from others.
A lot of us are working for ourselves, looking after our own interests. We are paying our bills, saving for our retirement, putting our kids through college, paying off our dream homes, and maintaining the life of luxury we have been convinced we need and deserve. The righteousness bar for stealing is not only a matter of not taking from others. The righteousness bar is a matter of working in order to share something with those in need. John Wesley put it this way. "Make all you can; save all you can; give all you can."
Negatively, we are to stop stealing. But positively, we are to do something useful with our hands for the purpose of having something to share with those in need. You see, we want to totally cut out the last part of Ephesians 4:28. We can make ourselves feel righteous by focusing on the first half of the verse. Butin reality, we wind up inGod's spiritual policeblotter by not considering the last part.
Share with those in need.
One of the reasons we are always grasping for more is our lack of faith. We have this idea thatGod hasn’t given us enough. We enumerate the jobs we're holding. We name the kids we're supporting. We bemoan our paychecks and the mounting bills and our dire circumstances. We point over the fence at those who have more, and question why they're not giving more.
We have this idea that we must also possess what God has given to someone else. Or that we should only start giving when we reach a certain strata of income. So we take the shortcut of stealing. We go to work for ourselves. We abstain from giving, promising that everything will change when we reach a certain level of income or lifestyle. Justify it as you may, it all falls along the vast continuum of stealing. It all falls short of the standard of righteousness that Jesus Christ calls us toward.
You can think of this as two competing mindsets at work .The thief works for himself. Compelled by greed, he sets aside resources only for himself and his desires. He clenches his palms. He is a stranger to generosity and sacrifice. He marshals his strength to steal from the weak, to benefit himself, to gain at the expense of others, and to supply his own needs,
In contrast, the Christian works hard. Compelled by God’s grace, he sets aside resources for the purpose of meeting other’s needs. He generously opens his hands and supplies for the needs of others. He marshals every ounce of his strength to serve and to give sacrificially. He works for the good of others at his own expense. He lives under the lordship of Jesus Christ, in complete faith, and typifies the generosity God demonstrated by sending Jesus Christ to die for the sins of the world.
It has been said that giving is one of the best indications of a changed heart. Giving reflects a life that has been renewed by God’s Holy Spirit. This transformation is seen in the lines of our checkbooks. It is measured by the lifestyles we live and by what we do with the possessions God has entrusted to us. Transformation is evidenced by who we serve with the time God has given us. In 2 Corinthians 8 Paul holds up the example of the Macedonian churches. They raised the bar of righteousness from stealing to generosity. They excelled in their giving.
In 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (NIV)Paul writes, "And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of their most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will."
Ephesians 4:28 (NIV) says, "He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need."