We think there’s a growing sentiment in the world that the idea of right and wrong is somewhat arbitrary. Our institutions have failed us in many ways, and it seems that society is throwing out both the ideas that they represented and those institutions. And we’re left with the idea that morality is really just a cultural concept. It’s culturally defined, and if one is truly enlightened, it’s somewhat irrelevant, right? So, if morality is not defined by our institutions, it’s defined by ourselves, then we make our own choices.
How do you steer through life if that’s your framework? Who makes the rules? Lacking any real guide, society is descending to a mode of operation that’s based on, “What’s in it for me?” That’s how we make our choices. And we all see the impact that this has on society. We don’t like it. We’re enlightened. We’re free to pursue an unabandoned unadulterated self-interest and as a result, we’re watching the world burn. Perhaps we’re ready to try something else.
Fortunately, old-fashioned morality has a lot to offer. There is ancient knowledge available to us and it has merit in a very practical sense. Morality makes society function. So, consider these ideas through the framework of just looking at one of the 10 Commandments from the Bible, specifically the 8th commandment, “Thou shalt not steal,” (Exodus 20:15). And let’s consider the real-world benefits of adhering to this principle. The problem that we’re looking at is “theft” of various types.
So how do we begin to understand the economic consequences of theft? The FBI reports that in the United States, there is about $16 billion worth of damage that is done in the form of theft, burglary and vandalism. Those are reported crimes. But if we look at shoplifting, which is largely unreported, the national Retail Security Survey estimates that last year there was $100 billion of loss from shoplifting. And that’s up from $45 billion in 2015. So, that is a fairly pronounced growth and a lot of that is from organized retail theft.
But that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of how much theft is costing our economy, because the indirect costs are far far greater. Think about the opportunity costs, the wages, the cost of insurance, the cost of security and policing, the cost of our legal system, and our Penal Code. Maintaining that whole edifice is huge, and we couldn’t come to any third-party estimates of what that might cost.
But how would we estimate the cost of that whole infrastructure of enforcing against stealing and theft. If you think about the US GDP, it’s $23 trillion. The US defense budget is $842 billion so it would not be an unreasonable estimate to guess that stealing as an indirect consequence may cost one trillion dollars of potential economic impact.
Many professionals spent a lot of their time dealing with stealing and theft in somewhat indirect ways through all the contract negotiations, the deal making, and the insurance policies. There’s so much professionals do in their day that is based on protecting assets and people from this kind of behavior, but none of its really productive. Best case, you lose less.
Think about the other consequences beyond direct economic issues. There’s just so much that would benefit society if we could fix the idea of stealing. Stealing limits the availability and selection of goods and services, impairs productivity, and diminishes innovation. It creates a general sense of societal distrust and insecurity that comes from the existence of these crimes.
So, what’s the solution? Not stealing is the solution. We have laws but we are not talking about just a snap of the finger utopian issue. There are always going to be people who make mistakes. Rather, we are suggesting that we need a broad commitment to morality, the very idea that right and wrong exist. And that it is not personally or culturally defined. Right and wrong is something we can discover and cultivate. And certainly, this needs to be implemented at a societal scale for us to see the benefits of it. But it really begins at the individual level with a change of heart and a change of intent.
In this context, we are arguing that the Bible is a very useful and practical guide. It’s real knowledge. What if a community was committed to just this one commandment? The economic benefits would be enormous. But how would one begin to understand how society would benefit from those changes? Perhaps it is by comparing the costs of stealing to some of the problems that we face in our society.
What about the problem of homelessness? The United States has somewhere between 500,000 and 600,000 homeless people. In its effort to try and address this issue, Los Angeles is trying to raise, through a recent measure they passed, $1.2 billion for housing and supportive services. So, if we simply ended shoplifting alone, we would create $100 billion of economic opportunity that could be redeployed elsewhere. That would be $200,000 per homeless person per year. If we ended stealing and the total economic burden (our estimate of $1 trillion), that is $2,000,000 per homeless person per year. So, we could solve homelessness in one year. Of course, homelessness is not fundamentally about an absence of housing. It’s fundamentally about an absence of morality itself. But conceptually, if you just put it down to dollars and cents, that’s the scale of the sort of impact that solving stealing could have.
Think about what else we could do with that economic boom in education, environmental issues, and economic development. There would be tremendous productivity gains and an explosion of creativity and innovation which would produce wealth, abundance, social stability, and community trust. The tranquility and happiness that would come from having that sort of a society to live in is not really measurable. That’s all nice as a conceptual idea.
But the point is that this age-old law, “Thou shalt not steal,” is a good and wise piece of knowledge and a society that chose to uphold that concept, that virtue, would thrive. They would thrive economically and culturally. And furthermore, the principle of “Thou shalt not steal,” extends far beyond the simple act of not taking something that’s not yours. It also extends to not withholding something that you ought to give. And understanding that principle through the biblical lens leans into all parts of our families and our society.
Our marital relationships would be focused on building, growing and uplifting each other. And it would develop relationships of honesty and trust. We would be focused on helping those in need, making sure that we’re developing community safety nets and restoring those who have fallen. Tithes and offering, not withholding what God asks us to give to Him, would develop strong community resources and that social safety net. It’s a recipe for not only economic health, but also a strong social fabric.
With all of that, consider what else we might be missing. Is the modern world dismissing the Bible as an obsolete cultural artifact? Is it just literature of antiquity and fables? But that’s admittedly because of Christians, right? We are often the institutions that have called into question the values that we espouse because we embarrass ourselves. Christianity has a long history of abuse. It’s peppered with unhinged fanatics and hypocrites. But we would ask that you don’t let us steal from you the opportunity to benefit from these truths that are given to us in the Bible.
We would challenge you to inspect the Bible, not the Christian religion, to understand what its teachings construct. What do its teachings produce? And we believe if you were to test that by application in your own life, it would be a more revolutionary effort than armed uprising.
A wise man once said, “Where there is no vision, the people perish,” and a modern translation says, “Without guidance from God, law and order disappear, but God blesses everyone who obeys his law” (Proverbs 29:18).
When looking around, we see world economic stagnation, conflict, societal unraveling, and a shadow of hopelessness cast over the world. And that’s because we reject God, and as a result, we are adrift.
We have no understanding of how to succeed at life, or even why we’re trying. Hence, where can we make a simple start? Just a few basic rules would be a great place. Maybe those 10 commandments. They’re timeless, they’re rational, they have practical applications and practical benefits. And it seems hard to do those things at first .
However, once you start to apply them, you find they make life much easier. You get into a difficult situation; how do you handle it? What do you do? You give. Don’t take. You tell the truth. You be content. These are very valuable principles to guide our lives. The product of these instructions is peace, prosperity and happiness. And that’s what God wants for us.
When God set up the family of Abraham as a community, they were to be an example to all the nations around them and what God said to that nation, that community should resonate with us. Concerning His commandments, He said to them in Deuteronomy: “Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people” (Deuteronomy 4:6).
That’s what God intended for humanity when He gave these instructions, prosperity for a people who were intent on obedience to His law. But they failed. We remain very optimistic about the future because God is working out a plan that promises wonderful things for all of humanity. And there is a way that works, that functions for life, and we look forward to a future where God’s way of life covers the whole earth. The result is described in Revelation:
“…Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).
We are looking expectedly, to that future. And with that vision, the way we choose to live today matters.
Staff