Saturday, August 14, 2021

The Ten Commandments

John Stromgren

The Seventh Commandment

While the first three commandments concern our relationship with God, and the next three our relationships with other people, the last four are about things that belong to others. Stuff, yes, but more than that, as Luther explains in his Small Catechism:

“You shall not steal.”

What does this mean for us? We are to fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or property, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his property and means of making a living.

On the surface, this is another rule that should be really easy to follow: Don’t swipe other people’s stuff. But there’s moral ambiguity around this commandment, just as there is around the previous ones. Some things seem innocuous, like persuading people to buy from us instead of from somebody else. But when does competition become unfair? Is a claim about a product true, or is it just a means of getting our neighbor’s money in a dishonest way? There must be an enormous amount of legal code written around these questions, with teams of lawyers and politicians devoted to avoiding traps or finding loopholes. But this isn’t about politics, or economic systems, or even the law. It’s about what’s in our hearts. Are we as concerned about our neighbor’s financial security as we are about our own? And does anybody really need more stuff?