Theology 101: Thou Shalt Not Steal

Anthony Horvath is the Executive Director of Athanatos Christian Ministries.  A national pro-life speaker, he blogs at sntjohnny.com.

In this election season it seems like there is a fair number of the American electorate that needs to be asked:  “What is it about ‘Thou shalt not steal’ that you don’t understand?”

 Now, there is little use putting this question to secular humanists and atheists.  While to a man they all very much hope that humanity abides by the general principle (as far as their possessions go), since most of them reject any notion of there being a moral standard, obviously we cannot call them to act according to that standard.

 Christians and others who abide by the Judeo-Christian worldview, however, are another matter.  This column is directed only to those who make it their earnest goal to abide by the Scriptures.  More to the point, it is directed at those who say they want to act in accordance to the Scriptures, but really aren’t.

 “Thou shalt not steal.”  What is theft?  It is taking what doesn’t belong to you, of course.  Sometimes we think we can justify this taking.  A great many Christians in our country today align themselves politically as liberals.    In short, a great many Christians believe that they can take from others, against their will and without their consent, and use it for their own purposes- theoretically to give it to those who are ‘needy.’

 Usually, these Christians haven’t actually bothered to think about the moral and biblical basis for what they are supporting.  They hear Jesus say “Love!” and they figure that no further thought is necessary.  We can take a lesson from the Sermon on the Mount, though, where Jesus said that he didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  Love, certainly.   In the name of Love, though, one does not steal.  This command is still on the table.  Obedience to it does not win you salvation, but it is not obliterated.  People who claim to abide by the Scriptures are not permitted to steal.  Period.

 Astonishingly, American Christians, in particular on the political left, adopt attitudes and positions that are virtually indistinguishable from hard core atheists.  A survey is in order.

 At the end of the 1800s and in the first half of the 1900s hard core atheists actively promoted the forced extraction of wealth and resources from people and then redistributed them (to those fortunate enough to still be alive).  Secular humanists and liberals were appalled at how this Marxist program turned out but their core assumption survives intact.  That assumption is that people and their resources belong to the State.  The State represents the highest order of things.  All humans die and turn to dust and are no more- only the State transcends the trivial lifespans of the humans that compose it and therefore only the State can impart any semblance of meaning to our existence.  Everything belongs to the State.  Our freedoms are granted by the State.  ‘Rights’ can be given and taken away as the State sees fit.  Since even secular humanists and Marxists and atheists are still created by God in His image, they give at least lip service (and some sincerely mean it) to doing good by one’s fellow man.  Ostensibly, then, when they do take resources from citizens, they mean to do good things with them.  In sum, they too believe that they are being ‘loving.’

In the survey above, however, there is no overarching moral standard or concern for abiding by God’s dictates, so one never has to be concerned about balancing competing moral principles when one acts in ‘love’ (or for any other reason… I’m trying to be as charitable as I can).  And since everything belongs to the State, anyway, one doesn’t worry oneself about abstractions like ‘theft.’

 This is the way secular humanists conduct themselves and Christians, liberal ones in particular, tend to adopt the same premise in discussions about what the government should or should not do.  Indeed, nearly the entire ‘social justice’ movement among those taking the label ‘Christian’ act as though it is perfectly fine for the Government to take from its citizens whether they like it or not.

 Unfortunately, unlike the secular humanists, these putative Christians do answer to God (or at least, say they do) and must measure themselves against objective morality.  So, once again, we have to ask the question:  “What is it about ‘thou shalt not steal’ that you don’t understand?”

In flat contrast to the notion that everything belongs to the State and the Government requires no justification for taking resources from its citizens, ‘Thou shalt not steal’ does more than just preclude individuals from taking what belongs to someone else.   In condemning theft, ownership of things is affirmed.  Apparently, God believes that owning private property is proper within his plan for humanity.  If it were not so, the command becomes nonsensical.

 The implications of this are far reaching.  It is not uncommon to find even conservative Christians (citing Romans 13, for example) suggesting that since even godless governments are divinely appointed authorities if a particular government decides to act a certain way- like, for example, enacting oppressive taxation schemes- Christians are obliged to affirm the justice of it.  In point of fact, however, God’s command not to steal, with its inverse affirmation of the morality of private ownership, applies just as much to these godless governments as any other government.

 As an aside, Romans 13 does set up all authorities as being divinely appointed and even insists that Christians ought to pay their taxes without grumbling, but it should be pointed out that the passage also lays out just what areas God gives governments as their proper domain.  Hint:  it is not redistribution of wealth.  Not even in the name of ‘love.’

 I will not dispute that the application of these principles is always easy.  I also won’t dispute that good men can sometimes disagree and remain good men, with both attempting to abide by the same moral principles before the same God.  Unfortunately, that is not where we are at with this topic.  A vast segment of American ‘Christendom’ has forgotten that the very Bible they claim to abide by has affirmed private ownership and they have grown comfortable with the assumption that it is not stealing to take the earnings of Americans so long as it is the Government taking it.

 We will all remember the story of Jesus and the Rich Young Man.  I note that Jesus told the man to sell everything he had and give it to the poor.  He did not say to a bunch of goons, “Go, take everything this man has and give it to the poor.”  One reason, among others, certainly, was because Jesus knew the command:  “Thou shalt not steal.”

 Anthony Horvath is the Executive Director of Athanatos Christian Ministries.  A national pro-life speaker, he blogs at sntjohnny.com.