The Ten Commandments: #7

Hey folks! As we begin our journey through Lent, our kids are transitioning into a series of lessons about the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments and the moral vision they espouse form the foundation of Christian moral teaching. With a little consideration one can see this everywhere, from the way we think about worship, to the way we think about the value of human life, humility, jealousy, and so on.

Read our introduction to the Ten Commandments (along with a bit about the first commandment) here.

This week, we’re looking at the seventh commandment, “Thou shall not steal” (Ex. 20:15). Note that we're moving past the Sixth Commandment (re: adultery). We'll be sending out some resources on this one later this week, but felt that the subject matter + the age range of the kids in the room were better handled by parents as they felt it would be best.

When Jesus himself summarizes the law, he says that there are, most essentially, two commandments from God: Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.

A glance at the Ten Commandments shows that those two commands—the love of God and neighbor—map nicely over top of them. Commands to worship God only, honoring the Sabbath, and misusing his name are all primarily directed to God; the rest of the commands have our neighbors in view. 

The prohibition against stealing is on the one hand so simple as to be almost unnecessary. Is it not a basic principle of human existence that stealing someone else’s stuff is wrong? Perhaps, perhaps not.

Basically everyone, even in our time, agrees that stealing is a wrong. And basically everyone, even in our time, carries keys that lock our cars, offices, and homes. Why? Surely partly because knowing right and doing right are not the same thing.

Then again, while all of us carry these things, plenty of us know people who (maybe its we ourselves!) who have such trust for their neighbors that they feel no need to lock their homes in their absence.  

The seventh commandment is social in orientation. It suggests a vision for a certain kind of community—one built on trust, respect, and charity. Imagine a community truly committed to both loving God and loving neighbors. That community would not be a place where we lacked trust from those neighbors that our things were only safe when they were locked away. 

But the seventh commandment goes further than that.

It also suggests that respect for persons and property (granting that “property” can be a thing in need of definition) is crucial if a community is to be whole. We can’t be a unity of persons (common-unity) if we are always taking things from our neighbors that aren’t ours to take.

And it isn’t just about what we “own” individually, it’s also about what we share. Hoarding that which ought to be shared—something like clean water, shelter, and the like—is an act that qualifies as a kind of theft, and must be renounced by the people of God. 

Scripture to consider:

• Exodus 20:15

• Luke 20:9-19

  
  

Question for your kids

• Why does God not want us to steal from other people?

• What might it look like to love our neighbors by respecting them and their stuff?

Peace,

Danny+