What We Might Have Done – The Eighth Commandment

What We Might Have Done

The eighth commandment

Exodus 20.15; Deuteronomy 5.19

“You shall not steal.”

Exodus 22.6

“If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.”

Making restitution.

What we might have done in this situation is simply allow people to take responsibility for their actions. Those who defaulted on loans they could not pay should seek help from family or friends or declare bankruptcy. Banks that can no longer fulfill their obligations should go up for sale or go out of business. Yes, people whose accounts are tied up in the bad loans of those banks would suffer (they are). And, yes, the creditors of all those multitudes declaring bankruptcy would find themselves in a bind (they are, too). Ultimately, the effects of the sins of a few would end up hurting us all in probably a great many ways (and they are). But at least, at least, we would have said to all and every: Here’s the deal; you break it, you own it. No government bailouts involving additional tax burdens on the innocent public (either in true taxes, devaluing the currency, inflation, deflation, etc.) will be standing in the wings to catch you as you swoon. Think clearly, plan carefully, be realistic, and keep your covetousness in check, because if you don’t, and if the bottom comes out, you’re on your own. I can’t help but think that if we could somehow make that stick, it would help to bridle the rampant greed, overextending, and foolish indebtedness that are endemic in our economy and make simple obedience to the Law of God sound ludicrous, harsh, and uncaring.

What would it look like if we treated all sinners the way we are treating those who have precipitated the current economic crisis?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.