Theft is the title of the twelfth episode from season one of The Way of the Master.
Episode Walkthrough
(00:00 - 00:55)
- Kirk "If you are like me, you have people in your life who you know are not saved. Maybe it is your mother, maybe it is your father, maybe it's one of your brothers or sisters. Somebody at school, somebody at work. And you want to share your faith with them. Maybe you have tried in the past and have been shot down. You want to lead them to the Lord, but you are now sure how. Well, that is what this program is all about. We want to put tools into your hands so that you will never be at loss for words again. We want to teach you simple and easy to use principles that Jesus used to help a person understand why they need to become a Christian."
What type of Christian? there are over 30,000 different denominations of Christianity, each claiming to have the correct interpretation of the bible and the best understanding of God.
The Intro to this program shows Ray and Kirk talking about Christianity and salvation.
(01:25 - 02:20)
- Kirk "Just the other day, we were out speaking to some people in Santa Monica, California at a place called the Santa Monica Pier and the 3rd Street Promenade. Lots of people hanging out on a Saturday and Sunday. And these were people who were strangers to us, but we care about them. We want them to know about Jesus. We did not stand on a corner with some sign screaming and yelling at them and telling them things like 'turn or burn.' We struck up friendly conversations with people and in the process of the conversation talked about spiritual things. What really helps me do that so easily is these conversations starters (holding up a small flier). This is called a celebrity intelligence test. It happens to work well with me. There are cartoon pictures of celebrity characters like Elvis, John Lenin, and people like that. And on the back, there is a gospel presentation, it is an easy way to get talking about God. Just had a great time with these people, people were just thanking us for taking the time to speak to them."
The Santa Monica Pier and 3rd Street Promenade is a great place to visit. Unfortunately, for a while it is also a target for Christian preachers holding signs telling people to repent while passing out fliers. It is also a target for "9/11 truthers" and young-earth creationists. It is not like Speakers Corner, just a dozen or so people there trying to push their message upon families, shoppers and tourists.
(02:21 - 02:40)
- Ray "If you go on our website, we got a lot about 70 or 80 gospel tracts that are unique. Such as this popular one, it is called an I.Q. Test. Probably one of the hardest things to do when you are witnessing is swing to the things of God. Anyone could talk about the weather, but when you want to swing to the things of God, this is how to do it."
The I.Q. Test is not really an I.Q. Test, but word trickery. A close inspection reveals that several of the words a re repeated, which are deliberately designed that way to be missed if reading through the sentences quickly. The purpose of this "test" is not to educate you, but to trick you. Once you fall for the trick, Ray and Kirk jumps in and declare that you made a mistake, and therefore you could be mistaken about God and Hell. What Ray and Kirk never do is admit that they could possibly be wrong about other deities like the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
(02:42 - 03:13)
- Kirk "This is the Evidence Bible. I love this Bible, because it not only has the text of Scripture but within its pages are the answers to the 10 most commonly asked questions and objections to the Christian faith. Things like 'who mad God?' or 'how did Cain get his wife?' or 'How do you know the Bible is true? How do you know Jesus is the only way to Heaven?' It's also got quotes from people like Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, famous Presidents, and an incredible treasury of witnessing material."
RationalWiki already has provided a review of the Evidence Bible, and none of these supposed "questions and objections" as well as commentary on certain social topics, has been given a valid or rational response. Rather, they are laced with fallacies, speculation, and wishful thinking.
(03:14 - 03:52)
- Ray "and we also have a Bible school called School of Biblical Evangelism that will equip you with 2,000 students worldwide who join the school system. So check out our website and the resources we offer you. (Pause) This program today is on the 10 Commandments, using the Commandments as Jesus did ringing the knowledge of Sin. Remember in Mark 10 when a man came to him and Jesus gave him the Commandments, and also in Luke 18. And the reason for this is the 10 Commandments brings the knowledge of sin. Paul said 'by the law brings the knowledge of sin.' The law is a school master to bring us to Christ an that we are justified by faith."
(03:53 - 05:13)
- Kirk "now hold up here. Maybe you are like me, there was a time when I would have heard that and said 'what!? What are you talking about? The 10 Commandments that has nothing to do with the gospel. That is not something you use to bring someone to Christ.' But that is what is so important about this program and about this teaching. Jesus used the 10 Commandments to bring the knowledge of sin, and unless a person understands the serious nature of their sin - how they have personally offended God - by violating his law, they will never understand why Jesus died on the cross and why they need a savior. A famous preacher of past entries said this: 'They will never accept grace until they first tremble before a just and holy law.' - Charles H. Spurgeon. I have found that to be true. You tell the gospel to someone who is proud and self-righteous, thinks they are good enough without god, they won't appreciate Jesus they do not think they need to get saved. But as soon as a person understands that God sees them as having sinned against him, violating their own conscience, done what they know in their heart is wrong, and that they are in trouble with God, then they will begin to open up and see the beautiful and wonderful demonstration of love God has shown them in the Cross."
(05:14 - 05:40)
- Ray "It is like a doctor with a cure. You are a doctor and you have a cure for your patient, you wouldn't just give them the cure, you would first convince them of the disease. And once he has seen his need of this cure, he would accept it and appreciate it and appropriate it. And that is the function of god's law, to convince us the sinner of the disease of sin, and prepares our heart for the cure of the gospel. So today, we are going to look at the eight Commandment: You Shall Not Steal."
What Ray and Kirk have is not a cure, more like a virus that strips you of your rational mind and clouds your intellectual and ethical behavior.
(05:50 - 06:30)
- Kirk "The reason why we are doing this, the reason why were are focusing in...in order to show and understand why Jesus died on the Cross, why they need a savior, they first need to understand their sin because Jesus died for their sin. So the way we bring the knowledge of sin to a non-Christian is by using the law the way that Jesus did. The 10 Commandments, the Bible says that by the knowledge of the law is the knowledge of sin. So the way we do it is simply by asking a person whether or not they have kept the 10 Commandments. It is really easy to do and people often enjoy the conversation. So the Commandment we are looking at is 'have you ever stolen?'"
(06:31 - 06:44)
- Ray "most people are rather hesitant to admit that they have stolen something. I mean, who wants to be considered a thief? So it pays to say something like this 'have you ever stolen something in your whole life, even if it is small?'"
One small act, especially when you are young, does not portray your entire character. When you were young, you very likely soiled your diapers, but that does not make you you for the rest of your life.
Street Interview: One 2 one
(06:57 - 07:12)
WOTM shows Ray interviewing a lady, who admits she once stole some lipstick from her mother (and then the scene cuts there)
(07:13 - 07:42)
- Ray "And this is because most people think 'ah, well it was in the past and it was only a little thing and so it is not very serious.' What they do not realize is that God sees the sins of 30 years ago as if it were today. Time does no forgive sin. And the fact that something is small is totally irrelevant. Value of the things stolen, as I have said, is irrelevant. If I open your wallet or your purse, and take out one dollar, I am as much as a thief as if I had taken out 100 dollars. The Bible says thieves will not inherit the kingdom of God."
In the book of Genesis, Jacob stole and lied often, but he was never punished by God - in fact, Jacob was often rewarded.
(07:43 - 08:01)
- Kirk "Another helpful tool is to learn is to speak to a person's conscience. The conscience is amazingly powerful to speak to a person that you may not be able to. First things you can say is 'now before you answer so quickly, listen to the voice of your conscience. Remember God sees everything you have ever done.'"
Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron are masters at appealing to emotions and avoiding using rational and logical thought. They know that they have no rational case, and thus play with people's fears and emotions.
(08:02 - 10:14)
Jump to WOTM back to street interviewing. Kirk interviews two men, walking them through Rev. 21:8, telling them that they know it is wrong to lie, steal or lust, and that Jesus paid the fines for their sins and they must turned to god in order to be saved. Kirk said "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law." Kirk also said when they repent of their sin means "to put your faith in Jesus Christ. Not join a religion or anything like that, repent of your sins means to turn away from your sins...God will forgive you and grant you everlasting life." Not once did the scene show wither of the two men voicing their opinions on the subject matter. The only time one of them (Kenneth) says anything is to show Kirk a small Bible (New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs) that was given to him in the Army."
Organized religion in the Army = unconstitutional. Already branches are reaching out to ensure the Constitution and the Establishment Clause is recognized and upheld in the military.
Lessons
(10:15 - 10:40)
- Kirk "You know, psychologists will often say that people tend to put things out of their memory that are too painful for them to think about. They will intentionally block things out so they don't have to think about them. So when you ask a person 'think back to when you were younger. Have you ever taken anything from your parents? How about from work? Have you ever taken anything from school that you didn't return? Have you ever stolen any music off the Internet?'"
(10:41 - 11:46)
- Ray "you know the reason why people lie about stealing is because they do not understand what God is like. They really do think that God does not require an accountant and condones theft, but we are like a thief stealing at the night. The blackness, the darkness, is the sense of security. Then suddenly a police spotlight shines upon him, he is exposed, he is undone, he is caught red-handed, 10 police sharp shooters have his cunning heart in their sights, his only avenue of escape is to lift his hands and say 'I surrender' and pleas over the mercy of the Judge. Well the blackness, the ignorance, the darkened mind has been our security. But the Bible says that God sees the darkness as pure light and the law shows us that God is holy, we have been exposed, we are caught red-handed, violating God's law. Those 10 Commandments are like 10 great cannons pointing at our pounding hearts, our only avenue of escape, our only sensibly thing to do, is raise our hands and say 'I surrender all to Jesus' and then fling ourselves upon the mercy of the Judge. And the Bible says God is rich in mercy to all who call upon him."
The same can be said about Allah. Going on and on about how humans are criminals is pointless.
Answering the question why people steal is a tough question, and answering it with a mystery (like God) does not answer it at all. It only works for the simple minded.
(11:47 - 17:03)
Jump to Ray interviewing a woman on a plane, asking her what she thinks a person had to do to deserve Hell? She hints to the things Ray "listed, like murder..." she then thinks about uncaring people and treating everyone horribly. When Ray asks her what she thinks someone has to do to go to Heaven, she responds to live your life in a caring, sharing, and harmless way. Then Ray takes her down the Are you a good person? routine. Down the line, she asks doesn't the Bible say that all people will be forgiven? Ray answers "oh no, it does not. Here is what it says, and I would not lie, this is the gospel truth..." Ray goes on to say that God expects moral perfection, Judgment Day, salvation and repentance."
"I would not lie" is a lie of itself. Ray is well known to constantly lie about science and religion, and he knows it. What he is doing is pushing his own narrow-minded version of Christianity onto another. Of course the Bible can say that all are forgiven, that way it perfectly reflects an omni-benevolent god. Or all you have to do is walk upright. Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved Proverbs 28:18 or sacrifice yourself for Christ (Matthew 16:25, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24, Luke 17:33)
(17:13 - 17:50)
- Kirk "you know it is a sad testimony to the conditioning of the human heart when an honest person is rewarded. I mean, if you think about it, someone finds a wallet stuffed with a bunch of cash and he returns it to the owner, and it makes National News! And it should, because it is a rare thing that a person would do something like that. When a human being does what he should? Because we know it is very natural for someone to take and keep that money. And the truth is, all of us have done something (maybe not to that degree) but we have stolen something in our lives. And to the Lord, that's theft."
It is very natural for a person to keep the money just as it is natural for people to return it. Kirk tries to paint these acts of kindness are "rare" to the point a single case makes National news.
You know what also makes national news: stealing and giving it all away to the needy. We consider Robin Hood a folk hero, he stole many things and gave it to the poor. Although, according to Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort, people like Robin Hood deserve eternal torment for feeding children.
(17:51 - 18:30)
- Ray "you know Kirk, it is so true. The Bible says that we love the darkness. And I remember as a little kid, I used to raid orchids and steal from my neighbors. As a little kid, I made a spear (put a string on the spear) and throw the spear into an apple tree and pull these apples back and eat them in the hedge. And the Bible says stolen apples taste sweeter. We had a map of orchids in our whole neighborhood, and we would raid orchids. We would go the tree and eat these apples. I did not like apples, but they tasted sweet and exciting because we were stealing them."
Laws differ depending where you live. For instance, it may be legal and not stealing if you pick an apple from a tree whose branch stretches above the sidewalk. If you can reach vertically and grab an apple, it is not stealing.
(18:31 - 18:58)
- Kirk "When I was younger, I remember going to the arcade with my friends, and they had a little game called Ski ball. And you throw the ball and it rolls up into the little hoops and tickets would come out the bottom of the machine that could be redeemed for candy for the kids in the snack shop. I would go up to the other kids and go 'ah, you are doing a great job, try again, try again.' Meanwhile, I had my foot over the tickets coming out of the machine, kicking them behind so my friend could go and take the tickets. Later we split the candy. And we had a great time, it was great because we never got caught."
(18:59 - 19:53)
- Ray "That's very creative. You know, we tend to tribune because we do not think it is very serious." Kirk jumps in "and we laugh about it." Back to Ray, "but you know, if you picked up a newspaper and you read that a Judge had given a criminal a fine of $1.50 you would say 'wow whatever that guy did was tribunal' but then you look over the page and see another Judge had given a criminal eight multiple life sentences, and you would say 'woah, what he did was very serious.' You could see the seriousness of the crime by the Judgment given by the Judge. And we tend to tribunalize sin, taking things that belong to other people because they could afford it sort of thing, but God considers theft very serious and you can see how serious by looking at the Judgment God has placed upon thieves. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. Thieves will not enter Heaven, they will all go to Hell."
Good laws make distinctions, good laws make punishments fit the crime. According to Ray and Kirk's narrow version of God, humans deserve eternal torment for offending this all-powerful superbeing's ego. This is ridiculous and absurd, it also makes Yahweh a moral monster. Imagine a society where ALL criminals are executed. Accessing this law, we can see its flawed, but no only because of disproportionate punishment is unjust, under this rule those who commit minor crime (sch as littering) having nothing to lose but all to gain by killing witnesses (even suspecting witnesses). Murder can't increase the consequences for them, they can only inflate the chances of evading execution. In this way, execution for all crime actually encourages minor crimes to escalate. This gives us a reason to tailor punishment in the severity of the offense, especially in the category in the case of serious crime. For example, while rape is a horrific form of abuse, punishing murder more severely will tend to deter rapists from also killing their victims. As before with indiscriminate execution, the rapist loses nothing, but might gain, by also committing murder.
(19:54 - 20:28)
- Kirk "you know, it is amazing how something just crouches at the door of the human heart. We do not think of it that way, but the Bible says that it does. And it is true, we wouldn't think of ourselves as stooping so low to steal something unless the circumstances are really appealing. Take for instance in 1953 in Chicago there was a story of $600,000 falling out of an armored vehicle onto the Interstate 55. Cars were pulling over, stopping on the highway, grabbing the money and stuffing it into their pockets as fast as they could."
(20:29 - 20:44)
- Ray "Motorcyclists would grab the money, put it into their helmets and speed off into the other direction. Two paramedics skooped up $120,000 but they gave it to the police because they suspected it was drug money and there for marked. To date, there is still $450,000 missing."
(20:45 - 21:33)
- Kirk "Many times, you will hear people create situations in their imagination in order to justify stealing in certain cases. For instance, someone might say 'you are telling me that if a man steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving children, God still considers that theft?' Yes!!! That is the definition of theft. The Bible even has a law that say that man should restore four times what he stole. Some people will say 'well, it was just a little thing that I stole and I did it a long time ago.' But again, the value of the thing stolen makes no difference. It reveals the fact that the person is willing to take something even though they know it is wrong. And the fact that they did it a long time ago does not matter. Time does not forgive sin, God sees the sins of yesterday as though they were the sins of today."
Wow, so it is wrong to steal bread to feed your children. Sorry Kirk, but the rest of humanity disagrees with you. Society recognizes Robin Hood as a folk hero, a man who risked a lot in order to bring hope to the people.
(21:34 - 22:27)
- Ray "you know Kirk, um, it is so often we have to demean sin, I remember asking one guy have you ever stolen something? and he said 'yeah, I just took some money out of my mother's purse.' I said, you stole from your own mother!? You have violated the Eight Commandment and you dishonored your own mother. And what we have got to do is somehow bring to them the serious nature of sin in the sight of God. Not the sight of man, but in the sight of God. When Nathan went to David, David had committed adultery, murder, and he swept it under the carpet of discretion. But Nathan came, realizing that god would one day pull the carpet back and reveal the sins of David. And David would have ended up in Hell. So Nathan, motivated by love and the desire to please God, went to David and said 'You are the man, why have you despised the Commandment of the Lord.' And we need to do the same if we care for the lost, to speak to them of the serious nature of sin in the sight of the holy God."
God did not punish David, who was the one who sinned. Rather, God (the omni-benevolent) decided that David's innocent newborn child be punished. That child did not die suddenly, it lay in pain for a week until it died.
(22:28 - 23:07)
- Kirk "Let me read this warning in Scripture. It says in 1 Corinthians 6:9 "Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived, be their fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor feminine, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor vilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God." And if any of our loved ones, friends, family fall into those categories, and we care about them, we need to warn them to they can turn their life around and run to Jesus who offers full forgiveness because he loves them very deeply."
(23:08 - 23:55)
- Ray "And the Bible says God will bring every word to Judgment, including every secret thing whether it is good or evil. So when we say so-and-so is a good person, he is fine and does not need God's forgiveness, God sees his heart. We take those 10 Commandments, that law, and we begin to ask him have you done this or that, and out comes the most secret sins, and we tell them God requires truth in the inner ward parts, but he sees the thought life and every idol word he speaks has to be given an accountant on the day of Judgment, then he will see his need of God's forgiveness and come to Jesus Christ and be born-again. We share these illustrations not for your entertainment, but we want to equip you and take these illustrations, these antidotes and these thoughts and then reach out to the ungodly. Reach out to the lost and bring them to the foot of that blood-stained cross."
(23:56 - 24:54)
- Kirk "Just the other day I was speaking to a man and he was a very nice guy with great standards, you would have though 'oh what a great guy.' But as I was taking him through the Commandments if he considered himself to be a good person in the sight of God, another Christian was standing alongside of me, and as I began going through the Commandments - showing him that by his own admission he had lied, stolen, looked with lust and committed adultery in his heart as far as God was concerned, he dishonored his parents, failed to put God first - this Christian standing next to me had his hand over his mouth like this (looking worried) wondering 'what on earth are you doing!?' And then it made sense. Because he saw once the man had understood that he had violated God's law, was under the wrath of god because he had sinned against a holy god, then he could understand his need for a sacrifice, for a payment for God's grace, and that is when I brought in the gospel, and it made sense."
If any educated Christian or Jew was standing next to a conversation with ray and another person, they would have pointed out the flaws in ray's interpretation of the Ten Commandments. For instance, the Commandments do not forbid lying in the broad sense, nor does the Bible always punish thievery.
(24:55 - 25:42)
- Ray "Kirk, think of it from this angle, if I am sitting on a plane, you are wearing a parachute and i do not see my need to put one on. We both know we are going to have to jump. I will say 'ah, I think I will fly, I do not need a parachute.' Well, what is the best thing you can do for me? It's to hang me outside the plane by my ankles just for a moment, I come back in and say 'oh, wow, where is my parachute!?' You see, fear has been my friend, it has done work in my heart, it has made me realize there is a big jump and there is a law that I violate and I will splat on the ground, and therefore I need that parachute. So when you take someone through the Commandments, you are really hanging them out of eternity just for a moment by their ankles, then pull them back and say 'You have to face the holy law on Judgment. You need a savior' and you trust that their own fears will do their work and bring them to the foot of the Cross."
(25:43 - 26:43)
- Kirk "After I had finished talking to this man about his salvation, he had thought all things were fine between him and the Lord. He went to church, he believed in Jesus, but once we went through the Commandments, he saw himself in a whole new light. He was much more serious. He stopped justifying himself and I had this sense that he really understood why Jesus died on the Cross and why he needed to surrender to him as the Lord and savior of his life. After we were done talking, the man stood up and gave me a hug and said 'thank you for taking the time to talk with me and for your concern for me. I really appreciate it.' I was kinda blown away. You often have these fears that people are just going to 'ah man, don't talk to me about this stuff. I don't want to hear it.' Some people have a hard heart and they have that attitude, but most so often people are appreciative that you have taken the time to talk to them and help them understand the truth about God and his love."
(26:44 - 27:35)
- Ray "That is because they know they have sinned and you are proselytizing them, they see you have a real agenda, you are concerned about them, because they understand their plight before God. It begins to make sense to them." Kirk jumps in, "That's right, we are not trying to get people to join a new church or ask them for money, all we are asking them to do is honestly look at their own heart, see them through God's perspective, and then they can understand why they need to become a Christian." Back to Ray, "So today, we looked at the Eighth Commandment: You shall not steal. The law is a school master for bringing sinners to Christ and by the law comes the knowledge of sin. That is the purpose of those Commandments, to show us that we need God's forgiveness so we will flee to Jesus Christ and be saved on the day of Judgment, so we thank you for joining us."
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