After 34 years, it almost sounds like a comedy sketch: The Corporate Precious Metals trader fleeing to Fiji to escape justice, while his girlfriend stayed behind to defend his integrity on TVNZ News. His deliberate theft of millions upon millions of dollars from precious metal investors (including my $1000 in silver), was counted as nothing in the end. The NZ government put him, and most of the 1987 Financial Market Crash in the ‘Too-hard basket’ and moved on. His deception and theft did not matter, because it was all deemed ‘legal.
‘There was no thought there of: “You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another” (Lev.19:11).
Honour among thieves is just another way of saying that one thief has not had the opportunity to steal from the other.
A brother had been charged $400 by a Professional Medical Service for something that literally took seconds to enact. He was not happy. However, being a man of God, he was trying to come to terms with his deep disdain for those whom, he felt, had ‘legally stolen’ from him.If the action of taking something belonging to someone else is dishonest in the eyes of God, be it legal or otherwise, it is theft. This is despite what the ‘I have done nothing wrong’ protester says. God does not expect you to believe them, but he does expect you to bless them.
Our temptation to curse them for the ‘thieving liars’ that they are, is strong. Why bless them? Because they have wilfully broken God’s laws and God’s wrath is upon them. (Ex.20:15; Eph.4:28; Rev.21:8).
If we do not seek their salvation, who will? When we are feeling outraged by those who take advantage of us, it is essential that we remember that the only reason that we too are not going to hell is because somebody sought our salvation—at excessive cost to Himself.Our forgiveness of those who lie and steal will not save them; they must sort that out with Jesus. But forgiveness does put us where Jesus wants us to be—amongst those that BLESS and Curse not!
John Staiger
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