Yo, Ho, Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me

Exodus 20:15

I was glad to read Steve Rosen’s column in the Kansas City Star

last Sunday

-he describes the problem of children and younger youth who are

regularly involved in illegal downloading of digital music

--to grab your attention, he calls them “accomplices in an

ongoing multibillion-dollar Internet music heist”

-he’s shocked by how many parents are allowing children to have

virtually unlimited, unsupervised access to the internet

--but the article focuses on the actual theft itself...copying music

without paying for it...iTunes and other companies charge for

the service and then pay fees to the artists

---but free sites, like LimeWire, give nothing to the artists

--prosecutors have demonstrated their willingness and ability to

take such music pirates to court and get convictions

---but it’s a rampant problem of epidemic proportions

Christian Retailing journal cites a recent Barna Research study

*81% of teens have illegally downloaded music in the last 6 months

*but what about those who are Christians? 77%

*only 10% of Christian youth believe unauthorized copying of music

is morally wrong

*of those 10% who do believe it’s wrong, 60% of them do it anyway

Do you want to guess what surprised me most?

-Rosen was blasted by readers who were offended by his column

--I can’t quote them because they don’t exactly use church-friendly

language, but it’s important you hear the gist of their complaints

*Mr. Rosen: Please stop making it seem as if we are stealing music

when these same corporations take advantage of us every day.

We’re not thieves. Forget big business! Your ridiculous article just

demonstrates how much they run and ruin our lives.

*Mr. Rosen: You are spreading the wrong propaganda. Fleecing

kids out of disposable income is what's truly unethical. Intellectual

property rights are just wrong. Ideas cannot be trademarked,

patented or copyrighted. Of course, most religious lunatics believe

that there should indeed be a monopoly on right and wrong. If you

are a musician and it’s not enough for you that folks simply enjoy

your talent, then just shut up and stop playing. While you are doing

so, you should contemplate that it is your greed that is the moral

outrage. Maybe terrorist attacks against corporate America will

awaken the children to the necessity to challenge all authority,

including parents. You, Mr. Rosen, and the Star are two more

examples of how Kansas City’s mass media has no conscience.

What’s going on here?

-how can someone logically move from the legality of music piracy

to threatening corporate terrorism?

-how can we, as a church, counter the call to challenge all authority?

-is it right for an individual or a corporation to dare assert exclusive

rights to ideas, music, and art?

-who are the greedy ones? the musicians? the industry? the fans?

-the most important question of the moment is this: so, James, how

exactly do you expect to answer all of those issues in one sermon?

Fortunately, I don’t plan to address all of those because there’s just

not enough time...I’d like to eat a meal before I preach again tonight

-like you, I expected this message to be pretty simple

--after all, the 8^th Commandment is rather straightforward...and

like numbers 6 and 7, this one is just two words: no stealing

-my plan was also going to be simple: discuss the various areas

that most of us don’t automatically consider to be “real” stealing...

--like plagiarism...in writing, speaking, preaching

--cheating at school, cheating on taxes, cheating at sports

--employee theft...pens, pencils, stamps

So...what is the issue then?

-the Hebrew word we translate ‘stealing’ means to take something

that belongs to someone else without their knowledge or consent

--at its core is the deliberate attempt to keep it secret

---that particular aspect can help you determine if an action is,

in fact, stealing...if you want to keep your action a secret

(especially from certain people), it’s a pretty good

indication that you have broken this commandment

So, God is commanding us to respect people and their property

*would you agree that’s what He’s saying?

--that means an inclusive interpretation of this 8^th commandment

includes trespassing (whether to hunt/fish, ride 4-wheelers, or

simply take a shortcut)...and vandalism (even if the property

doesn’t belong to an individual)

Some try to justify stealing by claiming, “It’s a big business. They’re

not going to miss a $35 watch. It’s not like I’m taking a little old

lady’s purse.”

-that sounds like the proverbial “honor among thieves”...but

stealing a pack of gum from Wal-Mart is no better than stealing

your neighbor’s life savings through identity theft

--the law does differentiate misdemeanor and felonious theft

depending on the monetary value of what was taken

--but God’s law makes no such distinction...stealing is stealing

--would Bill Gates notice if I make an illegal copy of Word 2007

rather than purchasing it? hardly...

---do people take software from work and install it on their

computers at home? all the time...

I love the story of when umpire Babe Pinelli called Babe Ruth “out” at

second base. Ruth said, “There are 40,000 people in this stadium

who say that I am safe, you melonhead.” “True,” Pinelli replied, “but

mine is the only opinion that counts.”

-you might say that “everyone” is doing it...sneaking into the

theater, getting research papers off the internet, going ‘mudding’

in someone’s front yard...but as Babe Ruth discovered, just

because something is popular doesn’t make it right

--and as Ruth figured out as he was trotting back to the dugout,

you and I are not the judge

Along those lines, some rationalize stealing premium cable channels

because Time-Warner charges too much anyway

-we figure that if they are too stupid to realize it or so unconcerned

they don’t do anything about it, it’s okay...it’s not like it’s costing

them anything...and if we can get away with it—no harm, no foul

--Hebrews 4:13 à Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s

sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes

of Him to whom we must give an account.

-employees rationalize theft from their company because they don’t

get paid enough and taking something balances out the books a

little...or they take something just so they can feel a little sense of

empowerment over the evil monster of a corporation that runs

their lives, ruins their nights and weekends, and then promotes

the other guy because he parties with the boss

The writer of the second letter to Steve Rosen accuses the music

artists of being greedy

-that very well may be true about some of them...but that’s their sin

and their sin never is an excuse for our sin

That writer then disputes the legitimacy of intellectual property rights

-that’s a valid question for discussion/debate...but, in the meantime,

our legal system has recognized the validity of that concept...so

while we may not agree with it, we are still bound to obey the law

--for example, you may think that a posted speed limit is way too

slow, but you are still obligated to follow it

-Christians in 1^st-century Rome were facing literal life-and-death

persecution...something a tad more serious than whining about

having to pay to download music...and it’s to these believers Paul

writes in chapter 13 (NLT) à Obey the government, for God is

the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in

power by God. So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land

are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow.

We also should obey the law and the commandments because it

reflects on our witness as Christ-followers

-Paul instructs Titus how to guide slaves who are believers

--Titus 2:9-10 à Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in

everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and

not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully

trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about

God our Savior attractive.

-Paul’s not endorsing slavery—instead he’s saying it doesn’t matter

how bad your circumstances are, your faith still compels you to

do what’s right...right is right regardless of the circumstances

--you might work for substandard wages...you might believe you

are oppressed by corporate America...you might say that

Wal-Mart’s destroying the fabric of our free enterprise system

---but none of those are valid reasons for you to steal

--none of us are slaves

---if God expected slaves to bring honor to the name of Christ

by how they lived in their slavery, then we can be sure

that any of our excuses for doing wrong will fall far short

In Romans 13, God’s commands are viewed through the lens of love

-this gives us another reason to live honorable lives

--Romans 13:8-10 à Pay all your debts, except the debt of love

for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your

neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God’s law. For

the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing

and coveting—and any other commandment—are all summed

up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love does no wrong to anyone, so love satisfies all of God’s

requirements.

Ephesians 4:28 gives us the solution for this epidemic à He who

has been stealing, must steal no longer..

-in other words, there’s no excuse to continue in our sin...rather, we

should follow the example of a 1^st-century Jewish tax-collector

--Read Luke 19:1-10

---Jesus should make that much difference!!

----yes, He forgives our sin...yes, He does so because of

His grace, not because of anything we do...but His

forgiveness transforms us into someone new

Don’t live the life of a pirate any longer

-don’t try live with one eye blind to your sin

--instead allow Christ to take off that silly eye patch

-the biblical word, repentance, means to turn around...to do a 180⁰...

to stop living the way you were and start living the way you should

—a life that honors God, honors others, and honors their property

Now’s the tough part: I want to lead you through a couple of steps

many of us need to take—they won’t be easy, but they are

necessary and they are right

Right here, right now we’re going to have silence...first, I want you to

ask God to bring to mind the things you have stolen

-don’t skip this step...some are thinking, “Okay, I already know

what I’ve taken.”...but if you don’t allow God to speak to you, you

may miss something else...God wants to deal with all of it

--hotel towels

--fudging your tax returns

--cheating on a test or plagiarizing a paper

--illegally obtaining software, games, or music

--shoplifting

--vandalism

--something you’ve helped yourself to at work

*Silence*

Now, the second step...confess it for what it is: sin...don’t water it

down, don’t try to minimize or justify, don’t try to excuse it...take it to

God and let Him deal with it

The next step is one you’re going to want to balk on...you’re going to

think, “James, that’s asking a bit too much.”

-I want you—right now—to tell someone what you’ve done and

what you are going to do to make it right

--you might need to move and go to a specific person

-this step is crucial, because despite how much I love you, trust

you, and believe you...I also know that Satan is already working

in your mind, planting convenient, ready-made excuses...they

won’t miss it, I can’t return it, it was too long ago, it’s not that big

of a deal—Am I right or am I right?? You’re already thinking

those things, aren’t you??

William Hendricks à What we do in the small issues of life sets the

stage for bigger issues. What we do at the copier, on the phone, in

front of the mail machine are important and set the stage for how we

will respond to greater temptations that will come! It is also true that

once we violate our conscience in an area it is easier to do it the

next time. Before long, our heart becomes callous.

We need to tell someone so they can help us be accountable to

complete the fourth and final step—make amends

-just like Zacchaeus, even though we’ve been forgiven, we have an

obligation to make things right

--if you confess your sin of music piracy, but then you continue

to listen to that music...well, your behavior would seem to

cast a little doubt on the sincerity of your confession

For example, from that list that I used before:

-hotel towels à return them or pay for them

-fudging your tax returns à talk to an accountant

-cheating on a test or plagiarizing a paper à see your teacher

-illegally obtaining software, games, or music à delete them

-shoplifting à go to the store and pay for it

-vandalism à go to the property owner and clean it up

-something you’ve stolen from work à return it, replace it, pay for it

There may be a situation in which you simply can’t do what needs to

be done...the hotel is out of business, for example...pray about what

God would have you to do with the money, but I’d suggest giving the

money for the towels to Birthright or the women’s shelter or to

someone else in need

Let me clarify something important: this last step is not done to earn,

somehow, forgiveness...neither is it done to complete forgiveness

-God alone forgives...He does so, not because our sin is no big

deal, but only because Jesus’ death on the cross has paid the

penalty for that sin...so it is a big deal, a huge deal

--the Bible is simply teaching that we do the best we can to

remove the consequences of our sin from the one we’ve

sinned against

---God and God alone removes our consequences

---like Zacchaeus, we then have an obligation to make

things right with those we’ve harmed