‘Tis the season to be shoplifting, or so it would seem from the way the newspapers have printed advice from Fr Tim Jones of St Lawrence and St Hilda in the fair city of York. Apparently it is better to avoid robbery and prostitution and engage in shoplifting as the preferred way of making money and providing this Christmas! I'm this will hold good in the days that follow the season too - don't think it's a new car window sticker he's thinking of.
Now I know what he means, and assume that really this is not what he said, but I would rather that, focussing a little closer,with the realisation that people who engage in criminal actions do so for a number of reasons, move past this and berate the people in power who manipulate unemployment figures, move people from unemployed to long-term sick and back as the need to look good dictates! Then again I might be wrong and it might merely be that he’s been watching Les Miserables and realized that Jean Valjean was merely doing what he must to survive when he stole the piece of bread to stave off his hunger. What he did wasn’t stealing, merely ensuring he could exist! But again, I think we share the same brain cells on this one!
Now, some people find themselves forced to steal because they are outside the benefits system others, in receipts of benefits, continue to engage in stealing whilst others just see it as their ‘job’. Can we decide which is morally right or should we be engaged in dialogue over the government and its flawed social outworkings? In fact can we ever decide that stealing is right, regardless of the beneficiaries of that act? Isn’t this rather like trying to justify the telling of lies because the motive was good? Then again, when you have no bank account, no money and (basic) needs that society ignores, you'll go out and fill them how ever you can - and some ways are less damaging to society and community than others.
Perhaps a ‘Back to basics’ approach is called for here. Let’s all try to remember Exodus Chapter twenty and remember which commandment we might need here. That’s right, it’s number eight, that Big Ted is pointing to through the square window. “You shall not steal”. So this is a simple suggestion, sorry I meant commandment, isn’t it; Unequivocal and easy to assimilate.
Now, had our heroic priest stood up and uttered the words of Ephesians 4:28, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need,” I would have been applauding loudly. Had he followed this with a plea to the government to make sure that those who are in need are catered for I would have been ecstatic. Mind you, the government and those who pay tax are helping those who labour and toil in the banking sector, so not all the nation’s needy are ignored!!!
He could have done this so easily by tossing Romans 13:9 into the ring: “For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” To do this would mean caring for their need – are you listening Mr Brown (it’s easy to have Steve Chalke as a friend but harder to follow the path Jesus draws for us it seems!)
Mind you, my reverend friend ends up portrayed as a foolish fellow when he tells those who would steal to refrain from robbery and to focus upon shops. Not the little, family, shops who would feel the burden of God helping those who help themselves but the ‘Large national chains’ . Why? Because, “The costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices. Of course this is why so many see shoplifting as a 'victimless' crime - after all the companies get their insurance money for the nicked stuff or the prices just go up a few pence to compensate and so everyone wins.
I understand that Tim is looking at the 'lesser' of the evils here but rather than do that should be focussing on the greater. We should be teaching people about faith, about community and caring for our neighbour? At this season of good tidings, fellowship and love we need to be focussing on higher things and not condoning those that deny God’s provision and leave us to help ourselves – literally! We should be asking the question, "Who is our brother?"
I thought the watchmen we’re called to be were to warn people of offence not keep an eye out for the old bill – must have a different Bible version to me. I'm with Tim, who appears to have been yet another victim of trying to make a stand and making sense of where he finds himself.
Mind you, as me old Mum used to say, "God helps those who help themselves" - just make sure the store detectives aren't watching.
Pax
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