Thou Shall Not Steal Series

After one preacher finished preaching on this subject, a young man came to him and said, “Pastor, you have put me in a bad fix. I’ve stolen from my employer, and I’m ashamed to tell him about it. You see, I’m a boat builder, and the man I work for is an unbeliever. I have often talked to him about Christ, but he only laughs at me. In my work, expensive copper nails are used because they won’t rust in water. I’ve been taking some of them home for a boat I am building in my backyard. I’m afraid if I tell my boss what I’ve done and offer to pay for them, he’ll think I’m a hypocrite, and I’ll never be able to reach him for Christ. Yet, my conscience is bothered.”

Later when the man saw the preacher again, he exclaimed, “Pastor, I’ve settled that matter and I’m so relieved.” “What happened when you told your boss?” “Oh, he looked at me intently and said, ‘George, I’ve always thought you were a hypocrite, but now I’m not so sure. Maybe there’s something to your Christianity after all. Any religion that makes a man admits he’s been stealing a few copper nails and offer to stele for them must be worth having.’”

• Anytime we take things that are not ours from an employer, we are guilty of stealing.

o Whether it is time, or materials, the result is the same!

o Notice what God has to say to employers are well though.

b. As an Employer

• When employees are underpaid, over worked and treated badly, this too is a form of stealing!

• God has certain principles, which are to be followed by employers.

• Take Colossians 4:1 for example, “Masters grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.”

• However, I am of the opinion that there is less theft among employers than there is among employees!

c. In Our Ethics

• Often, we are guilty of stealing in various areas of our lives.

o Things like taxes, keeping our word, honoring our debts, borrowing things and not returning them.

o When we are obligated to do something, we should do it!

o When we don’t, we have stolen.

o When we owe a debt, or taxes etc, then we also must pay that, or, again, we are guilty of stealing before God.

• One Sunday morning, Charles Finney preached a message entitled The Sin of Borrowing Things and Not Returning Them. He said, “When I went to my tool shed yesterday with some men on hand to do some work, I found it practically empty. President Mahan had borrowed my plow and never sent it back. Professor Morgan had borrowed my spade and I haven’t seen it since. Deacon Butcher has had one of my monkey wrenches for so long that I don’t remember how long it has been.

• What does it mean?

o It means that there are some amongst us that are careless concerning our everyday obligations.

• The sermon was extremely effective. The next morning before dawn, one neighbor trying to bring back a workhorse had to be rescued from Finney’s dog. All the rest of the morning, there was a steady stream of people and kids bring back borrowed tools. They even returned things that were not Finney’s.