Finders Keepers?

The Bible instructs us to be people of integrity, who can be trusted.  We can make sure that we can be relied upon to tell the truth, building a commitment to honesty in our hearts and minds.  By so doing, we align ourselves with the One who said that He is the way, the TRUTH, and the life.  Proverbs 11 (ESV) states:
3 The integrity of the upright guides them,
    but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.
4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
    but righteousness delivers from death.
5 The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight,
    but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

Jaydon Citron is a teenager who works at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Kinston, NC.  In the restaurant's men's restroom, he found two envelopes.  According to Michael Foust at Crosswalk.com, "Cintron picked up the envelopes from the floor and soon noticed a detail of potential importance: logos bearing the names of financial establishments: First Citizens Bank and Truist Bank. Inside the two envelopes was enough cash to tempt just about anyone – nearly $10,000 total."

Finders keepers, right?  Not to young Jaydon; rather than enjoy a personal payday, he "turned it in," according to the article, which went on to say:

When asked by WITN why he didn’t keep the money, Cintron responded simply, “That’s not what Jesus would’ve done. That’s not what God would’ve wanted.”

Employees searched security footage to try and identify the owner – but to no avail.

Eventually, the owner came back to the restaurant, searching for the missing envelopes.

“A lot of people will … unfortunately, take that money and run with it,” Kinston Police Chief Keith Goyette told WITN. “Kudos to that employee at Chick-fil-A. He definitely deserves a reward.”

The TV station also quoted the owner of the restaurant, John McPhaul, who said, "True leadership, you know, true integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching,” restaurant owner John McPhaul told WITN. “Jaydon did that in this case, and he should be commended for it.”   The owner also offered to give Jaydon $500, which he declined.

I thought I had seen some news a while back about a survey that presented a similar scenario.  On the website of Fox 10 Phoenix, I found an article, which said, "In a global study, researchers planted more than 17,000 'lost wallets' across 355 cities in 40 countries and kept track of how often somebody contacted the supposed owners. The unexpected conclusion was that people are more likely to return a lost wallet if it contains money."

Get this: the return rate for empty wallets was 40%; for wallets with around $13 cash - 51%. The researchers added even more money in the U.S., U.K., and Poland: $94.  The article says, "The response jumped to 72 percent for wallets containing the equivalent of about $94, versus 61 percent for those containing $13."

As the article noted, the study involved employees in a work environment, and said: "The key question was whether the employee receiving each 'lost wallet' would contact its supposed owner, whose name and email address were displayed on three identical business cards within."  

That article quotes one of the study authors, Alain Cohn of the University of Michigan, who had reported it in the journal, Science; he said: "The evidence suggests that people tend to care about the welfare of others, and they have an aversion to seeing themselves as a thief."  

In this wallet survey, a majority of people apparently have an aversion to feeling that they have stolen.  The teenage restaurant employee in North Carolina believed that Jesus would want him to return the money he found.

This is one of those Biblically-based values that contributes to a society that works, that is perhaps hard-wired into our culture.  Where do we learn that stealing is wrong?  How do we know we shouldn't murder?  Why, the 10 Commandments instruct us to that effect! Now, perhaps we need to work on the others, such as the command to have no other gods before us than the One True God.  

Interestingly enough, there are a variety of ways in which people steal from each other. Most people don't rob one another, but there are definitely more subtle ways.  When we work for a company and we don't give 100% of our time - and our effort, we are engaging in theft.  Same goes for padding expense accounts.  Robert Jeffress, in a piece found on the Pathway to Victory website, from a sermon called, "The Eighth Commandment: Respect the Property of Others," notes:

First of all, we steal by despoiling, or forcibly taking what doesn’t belong to us. It’s not just armed robbers who steal. Students who cheat on an exam, employees who take home office supplies, and people who claim others’ ideas as their own are also stealing what is not theirs.

Second, we steal through dishonesty, or misrepresenting the truth for our gain. In biblical times, dishonest merchants used false scales and balances. That’s why Proverbs 11:1 says, “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.” Today, stealing through dishonesty may look like a phishing email that tries to trick you into giving personal information.

Third, we steal by defaming, or robbing somebody of their reputation. That is such a serious offense that God devoted the ninth commandment to it, which we’ll discuss in depth next week.

Fourth, we steal by defrauding, or not giving somebody what we owe them.

I would also note that participating in gambling is a form of theft - you are essentially taking from others for your own promised financial gain; you win on the backs of the losers, many of which can't afford to gamble.  

So, we can be challenged to check our honesty meter - to please self, do we end up taking from others?  Do we benefit at others' expense?  And, does our selfish behavior lead us to shade the truth?  And, I would also challenge each of us to put ourselves in young Jaydon's shoes.