Stealing from God

Taking what isn’t yours can be more far-reaching than you imagine

Here’s a familiar Scripture taken, of course, from the Ten Commandments: “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15) All that we have comes from God, whatever the World tells us. Whether it is money, good looks, family, or life itself, all has a single origin. This means that if we acquire anything unlawfully, outside the functioning of the laws of barter or commerce, then we are not stealing from a person … but from God Himself. And the consequences will ultimately be from God Himself! That is the function that lies at the heart of stealing, an offence against God.

Just think about it. Every paper clip and pen you take from the office, every shampoo sachet you take from the hotel … and every bag of loot you stole from the bank in your latest heist. It’s all the same with God. The matter of degree may seem an issue, but it’s the motivation of the heart that is the driving force. Just as lust can give way to adultery and anger to murder, then the inclination to steal small things can possibly give rise to guilt-free plunder on a much larger scale.

As Christians we are not usually inclined to bank heists or major plunders, (but maybe we are). There are other ways we can steal from others and therefore become an offense to God. Firstly, we can steal time.

It’s about time

In our Greek-influenced world, time is a highly-regarded and jealously-guarded commodity. Time is money. Time flies. Time heals. It is one of the main forms that control our lives. We in the West live our lives governed by the clock (in marked contrast to those who live by the looser definition known as ‘African time’). However we Christians view it or use it, it is still something that can be stolen. We can steal from God in many ways:

• By nurturing the gossip grapevine and wasting time on ‘tittle-tattle’.
• By overloading ministers with problems that we should be solving ourselves.
• By forging ahead on a project without specific Divine approval (the intention may be good, but the timing may be wrong – I have been a culprit many, many times!)
• By failing to discern your function within the Body of Christ and perhaps operating in a function chosen by others or by default because no-one else is doing it. Again good intentions may be keeping you away from the best use of your time within God’s plan for your life.
• By indulging in activities organised by the Church that you feel are not Divinelyapproved, but which you are supporting out of “unity” or “duty” or “giving encouragement”.

Let’s not waste time any longer. I’ve already lost skin cells and brain cells that I won’t get back, just by writing this sentence. We are not getting any younger, entropy has its iron grip of inevitability upon us. Let’s make the days count that we have left. God knows all of the days of our lives in advance:

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16).

There are those who would want to steal time from you. Avoid them if you can, if you have discernment about this. These are people who flit from person to person asking for healing or illumination despite rejecting advice that is not to their liking. They are looking for reinforcement, not completeness (Shalom) and would not hesitate to feed from your own shalom in the process.

Our time is a gift of God and we need to come to a realisation of this before it is too late, when we are close to the end in regret, admitting, what did I really achieve in my life?

Money, money, money!

Of course, in terms of stealing, the commodity that first comes to mind is money. In the first instance, for Christians, whether you are a penniless missionary or millionaire philanthropist, every penny you own – even if it’s the widow’s mite – is a gift from God. You don’t own it, it has been lent to you. He is watching you and deciding whether you are the best custodian for the millions of pounds / thousands of pounds / few pence that he has allowed to pass through your hands. What He expects from you is illustrated by this parable:

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” (Matthew 25:14-30)

The general principle here is to ask ourselves, am I a good custodian of what God has given me? Because, if I am not, is it not stealing from God, who could have chosen someone else to provide a better return? God is not wanting anyone to get rich (despite what prosperity teachers teach and the Catholic church – and others – practise), He just wants souls for His kingdom, not the building of an earthly kingdom, whether it manifests as glitzy cathedrals, huge walled communities for Christian ‘celebrities’ or financial portfolios. Your second holiday this year could have financed a small evangelistic mission in your area that, if it only produced one fresh saved soul, would bring far more rejoicing in heaven than would your topped-up tan in the Maldives.

But, seriously …

I do some work for a Bible teaching mission school for a major denomination. This denomination benefits from the kudos of a worthy ministry in its portfolio but to my knowledge, it has yet failed to give a penny to finance it! Most of the financing has come from the head of mission, from his own secular income . This is despite the head of the denomination being recently outed as one of the richest pastors in the world, with a net worth of $39 million!

This is stealing from the Kingdom on an industrial scale and it is shameful. It is undoubtably one story among hundreds of similar ones and indicates a serious disconnect in the heart of the Body of Christ when it comes to the flow of much needed funds to those who really need it for Kingdom purposes.

“You shall not steal.”

Just four words, but with countless implications. Whether we are consciously adding to our own personal universe at the expense of others, or depriving blessing or functions of others through our failure to give of time or money, it’s all the same to God. All He wants is a functioning Kingdom, not a pale replica of the very worst that the World offers.

It’s not too late for us to do our bit.

This is an extract from Steve’s new book, The Sinner’s Charter, available in April 2020.