Would You Invite a Burglar to House Sit?
by Joe Leavell
If someone robbed your home just three weeks ago, would you willingly choose to invite that person to come stay at your home and house sit for you while you went out of town?
Three weeks ago, you had been on edge as you came home from work only to find someone had made quick work of your valuables and your electronics. Taking your belongings wasn’t the worst problem. It was the feeling of your sanctity being violated, and knowing that life would never be the same. It was the insecurity and edginess every time you came home for weeks.
This morning however, hearing a knock at the door, you open it to find a young man who asks to speak with you. He breaks down in front of you, and admits to being the thief. He goes on to explain how he felt really bad about stealing from you, and just wanted to apologize. He would like to try to make it up to you somehow. So, he thought he would come and offer to watch your home while you and your family have to be out of town.
“I’ve changed! I haven’t robbed a home in three weeks now, and I’m ready to show you why you can trust me with your home!”
Would you invite the young burglar to house sit for you?
When is a Thief No Longer a Thief?
A thief doesn’t have to rob our home to hurt our hearts. It could have been a spouse that robbed us of our marital intimacy through infidelity or abuse. Maybe someone stole the innocence of your childhood. It could be that your dreams for life have been taken away by someone, and you are still working through the pain they left behind.
Maybe as a victim you’re still working through the pain, the shattered trust, and working to repair a relationship with someone who feels like they ransacked your heart and stole everything of value.
Maybe you were the thief who finally understands the Gospel, and sincerely desires to change and give restitution for the hurt you caused.
Talking through what a changed heart looks like, Jay Adams once famously asked the question, “When is a thief no longer a thief?”
How about when he stops stealing?
Think about it. What if our young burglar never stole anything from you again, expresses remorse, but still has all your stuff?
No, he may have guilt about being a thief, but he is still a thief.
Can a thief ever shed his label? Thankfully, Scripture gives us the answer with broad implications for us all.
Setting the Context of a Changed Identity
In the middle of the book of Ephesians, Paul uses our question of a thief to illustrate a broader point about biblical change,
“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”
Before this, Paul had spent three beautiful chapters laying out the Gospel to the church in Ephesus. He shares with them that they had once been spiritually dead and made alive, and that Jesus had accomplished this salvation by grace through faith. He reminds them that they have been blessed with every spiritual blessing and tells them that God the Spirit is the guarantee, or the down payment, of our inheritance as God’s adopted family.
Through this passage, Paul blows us away with verse after verse, reminding us of the power and magnitude of the Gospel. At the end of chapter three, he concludes his thoughts with a tremendous doxology of praise, “To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (3:21).
It is unfathomable what God has done for us through Christ!
Paul isn’t done, and makes an important logical transition. What then is the proper response to this Gospel that we believe? What should this life look like for those who have been given such marvelous eternal life?
Because the Gospel has changed our hearts, life looks different. Over the next few chapters he details what that change tangibly looks like.
He starts with the unity of the church found through the Spirit, and our maturity into the image of Christ. He then explains that change requires that the person we used to be needs to be put away and replaced with someone new. What practically does this mean? For one, we tell the truth instead of lying to each other. Believers don’t bottle up in bitterness but work through our issues in a timely manner. We build one another up rather than tear each other down. We forgive each other rather than blow up at each other in anger.
In the middle of all this conversation on change is our verse that illustrates it all beautifully, “Let the thief no longer steal…”
A changed identity is possible. How?
More than Just “Stop Stealing!”
Look at how the Gospel, that makes those of us who were dead come alive, changes not just the identity but the actions:
“Let the thief no longer steal…”
Logical first step to change is to stop the sinful behavior. You don’t have to be a believer to do that part. Even successful thieves can retire.
“But rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands.”
OK, now he’s earning his own living rather than stealing. That’s something new. He has removed himself from situations where he manipulated and abused others for his own purposes and has gone straight. Has he changed? Maybe.
Paul isn’t done and this is where real Gospel change begins to become evident. It’s not just the absence of hurting people or just doing what is expected. He takes it a step further.
“…so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”
Rather than taking from people who did nothing AGAINST him, this now is a person who gives to people who can do nothing FOR him. He used to use people for his own selfish purposes and now he gives to people who could give him nothing in return.
This is the heart and the fruit of Gospel change. If someone were to discover that he had been a thief, they would say, “Yes, he used to be a thief, but that was the old him. He would never do that now! He’s a giver, not a taker.” The person who was known as a thief now has a new identity. He is now known as a philanthropist.
How Long Does This Change Take?
The answer is both instantaneous and also a progressive amount of time for the fruit to mature.
Positionally, because of Christ’s work on the cross, Jesus bought that man’s identity of thievery, took it on Himself, and paid for it in full, so that the man can have peace with God receiving the inheritance as a son of God himself.
Now he has the freedom, the power, and the life to walk in that internal change. He does this by dying to his former self, and living out the new person he has become until in love and gratitude to Christ, he serves others with his life.
This practical, tangible change doesn’t happen overnight. It would take considerable time to give back what you stole, to work a job, and earn enough to be able to begin giving your earnings away. It takes time for those he has hurt and stole from to see the fruit of genuine repentance play out.
Gospel Change or Con Artist?
So this brings us back to our young thief who is offering to house sit for us while we’re on vacation. Now imagine that he explains his conversion to Christ, brings back your stuff, and then says, “You can trust me. I have changed!”
Even if I biblically forgive that young man for stealing from me three weeks earlier, that does not establish complete trust. Forgiveness sets the groundwork for reconciliation, but it will take time for that to mature. The breach of trust and the trauma he inflicted didn’t just go away because I forgave the crime. He may truly be experiencing the freedom from his old identity, but I am still freshly reeling from the pain he inflicted. All I know at this point of the reconciliation is that a thief who stopped stealing could well be on his way to a changed life…or, he could just be waiting for his next take.
I’m still probably not going to let him house sit for the foreseeable future.
You see, a con artist will work hard to be noticed that he’s rehabilitated. Yet, since his heart has not changed, he will steal again when he thinks he can get away with it. On the other hand, a Gospel changed heart is content to be benevolent merely as an expression of his walk with Christ. He knows that regardless of his integrity being validated by others, God sees, and that is enough.
If he is a con artist, still interested in using victims for his own purposes, he will get agitated that he is not believed or adequately restored. He will minimize his crimes, maximize the flaws of others, and will often posture himself as a misunderstood victim. He will also likely demand as little time as possible for healing and restoration from the wounds he caused. A con artist will masterfully work to maneuver back into a place where he can once again freely exercise abusive control.
Someone who is genuine in his change will be patient and understanding when others are slow to trust. He accepts and works through the consequences of his actions without demands. He will simply concern himself with the work of growing Gospel fruit in his life, and content himself to bless others through the love of Jesus wherever possible.
So Much More than an Illustration
This one small analogy in the middle of Ephesians gives so many implications of what a changed heart tangibly looks like. The beauty of this book is that it details the truth that we are all thieves of God. Yet He took responsibility for our theft, paid off the debt, and gave us the grace of salvation. We are truly free from being robbers!
Regardless of whether you are the thief or the victim, we would be honored to walk with you through what real change and real healing looks like through the power of the Gospel.
For Further Reading:
How People Change: by Paul Tripp and Timothy Lane
