Parent Robbers

For Friday, February 1, 2008
Proverbs 28:24

Whoever robs his father or his mother
and says, "That is no transgression,"
is a companion to a man who destroys.

How would such a person justify robbing his parents? One way is to justify his motivation. His parents are unfair to withhold support; he justifies that he is taking what they owe him. His parents are unjust in the way they treat him; he argues that he is giving back the same mistreatment they give him.

He minimizes his crime. He is taking only a small amount of what his parents have. They will never notice. They are not using it anyhow.

Another way is to redefine his robbing. He is borrowing and intends to return what he has taken. He is borrowing against his inheritance. He is investing for his parents, using their money and belongings to invest for greater gain.

And then, he fails to recognize the broader definition of robbing. What Jesus said to the Pharisees about how they break the commandment of honoring one's father and mother is true of breaking the commandment to not steal.

"You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.' But you say, 'If a man tells his father or his mother, Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban' (that is, given to God) - then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down" (Mark 7:9-13).

Likewise, we rob our parents when we fail to support them when they need us and when we rob them of the honor due them. And so, we are partners with those who destroy.