A teen-aged shoplifter

Fifteen years old. Chestnut eyes. Long dark brown hair that fell over her left shoulder, halfway down her back. A National Honor Society member and a straight-A student.

Loria sat in a stiff metal chair. Almost $500 in merchandise lay on the table in front of her. Fancy T-shirts, a Calvin Klein body suit and socks, bath oils, Drakkar Noir, silk pants.

A uniformed police officer stood across the Formica pedestaled table. "Do you want to go to jail?" His tone was no nonsense. "If we add all this up and it goes over $500 you're going to the Children's Center tonight. You ever been arrested before?"

My evening ride-along with a city cop had produced its first criminal.

The cost of shoplifting

Every year more than $10.2 billion worth of merchandise leaves American stores without being purchased (source: 2001 National Retail Security Survey). That's $25 million a day! But let's also add in the $15.2 billion that store employees steal. Shoplifters and employees account for 76.7% of the stock American stores lose each year.

Loria had $94 in her wallet. She returned a dress, she said.

The rush of shoplifting

Strange, I thought. A teenager-with money in her pocket-steals.

But according to the Shoplifters Alternative website it's not strange at all. "Non-professional shoplifting is rarely about greed, poverty or values.... They usually have the money to pay for the item, rarely plan their theft in advance, and never try to sell the item for profit."

According to an article on Retail News Online, shoplifters just want to get something for nothing. It's like "giving themselves a 'gift' or 'reward,' which in turn gives them a 'lift.' A recent study by MasterCard International found that shopping was second only to dining as the primary way people reward themselves."

Can anyone say, "Winona Ryder"?

Retail News Online says that a third of apprehended shoplifters are between the ages of 13 and 17. "Teenagers tend to steal things that they either can't afford or are prohibited from buying, such as recorded music, cosmetics, stylish apparel, tobacco products and consumer electronics."

That's what Loria said she was doing. Much of what she stole was for her boyfriend.

Why Christians don't shoplift

Apparently there are compelling reasons people shoplift. It's like getting something for nothing. There's a rush the comes with committing a crime. You get things you couldn't afford otherwise. You can treat yourself to things that are off-limits.

So what stops Christians from shoplifting?

1. Certainly there's God command that we don't steal. Choosing to steal comes at a price. Ask Loria.

2. Then there's the truth that whatever we have God has given it. And he gives to each of us whatever his wisdom and love determines. When we rip off what God has given to others, it's a slap in God's face. We're saying, "God, you're not so smart or loving. So I'm going to fix your mistake by stealing what you gave someone else."

3. Which brings us to the most compelling reason Christians trust that God loves us enough and is wise enough to give us what we need when we need it. God proved that - and more - when "he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him" (1 John 4:9).

Christians don't steal because they know they've already gotten something for nothing. In Jesus they've been given God's love, forgiveness, and life.

Pastor Aderman serves the Savior as pastor at Fairview Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is also the editor of LivingBold.

Check out these webpages for more information about shoplifting:

• http://www.msnbc.com/news/824452.asp#BODY
• http://www.soc.ufl.edu/SRP/NRSS_2001.pdf (2001 National Retail Security Survey)
• http://www.shopliftersalternative.org/
• http://www.retailernews.com/1198/berl118.html
• http://www.retailernews.com/1198/unise118.html