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Try this: pirate whispers with 3 verses Heb 13:5, Prov 21:6,Matthew 6:19. Try it in your small group. (Get someone to look up the verse, get them to whisper it to another person and so on, until it reaches the end, then get the last person to say it aloud).
15 “You shall not steal. Exodus 20:15 (NIV)
Discuss: Did you ever steal as a kid ? Would you shoplift a DVD ?
Have you ever ?
- Ripped Cd’s onto MP3
- Used photo’s used without permission
- Run file sharing software
- Watched pirated DVD’s, downloaded, or streamed a movie that you didn’t pay for ?
- Downloaded your favourite TV program
- Taped your favourite LP onto a cassette ? (a what ?)
- Photocopied a book (for more than a small percentage)
- Photocopied a knitting or sewing pattern?
- Showed a movie outside of your home without permission from the distributor (hiring a movie does not give you this right).
- Run a copy of software that you haven’t paid for (that isn’t freeware ?
Discuss:If the pirate slogan in Pirates of the Caribbean is “Take what you can, Given nothing back”, then what would be a christian slogan ?
Be careful of our desire to have something now.
Read Luke 12:15, Luke 12:33-34, 1 Timothy 6:7-11. What does this tell us about greed, desire and treasure ? what does Timothy tell us to pursue ?
Discuss : What does it say about us that we are not willing to wait ? Sometimes the cost of hiring something might be $5.
What does it say about ourselves, that we might not want to pay ?
In the 1st Pirates movie the pirates talk of being cursed to consume, but never be satisfied, to eat and not taste. Do you ever see this in your own habits & behaviours ?
God is interested in a different kind of treasure.
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. Deu 7:6.
We see this reflected in the command to love your enemies (Matt 5:39-41) Even they are God’s treasured possession. Who is it that you struggle to see as God’s treasured possession ? How could God help you change that ?
The responsibilities of ownership
In Leviticus 9:11 the command to not steal is prefaced by some commands for property owners. Read Leviticus 9:9-10. This suggests that instead of running a business 100% efficiently, we should be allowing for the poor and the outsider. What would that look like in your life ? This is the other side to copyright. What do you own ? Where does that contribute to others?
The Bible is quite damning of those who are rich and no not care for the poor. Checkout :Mark 10:21(Story of the rich man), James 5:1-4. In contrast Jesus was known as a “man for others”. How can we model this ? What can we give ?