Does Crime Pay?

 There are two significant views about crime: first, those who believe crime is wrong say, “Crime doesn’t pay.” That is because the negative consequences of being caught are not worth any benefit the crime brings to the perpetrator.

The second view: “Crime does pay.” Those who believe that crime does pay. Few really think there is nothing to be gained from criminal activity. If that were true, criminals would have learned the lesson by now. However, all over the world, crime continues to happen. Those who break the law believe they will benefit.

One of the reasons criminals believe today that crime pays is because it does. Many of our laws have enabled them to continue their criminal behavior and not be punished. An example is California’s infamous law allowing a person to steal up to $1000 without punishment. Doing away with the cash bail system in many cities has allowed criminals to be turned back on the street as fast as they are arrested. There are those in our society who love the criminal and want to excuse lawless behavior because the perpetrator has not had an equal chance in life. Therefore, for the most part, we do not have severe enough consequences to deter criminal behavior. Today, there is a lack of moral clarity, which effectively enables criminals to continue their lifestyles. There’s a fear that overly strict punishments disproportionately impact marginalized communities.

This view of not punishing criminals because they haven’t had a fair shake in life would be what Solomon wrote about: “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 16:25). Also Solomon spoke about what happens when we fail to swiftly punish the criminal we only encourage others to do the same: “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong” Ecclesiastes 8:11). The lack of a strong deterrent is a strong reason for others to join the criminal in his illegal and immoral behavior: “You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you” Deuteronomy 19:19-20). Consequently, crime continues the world over because crime can pay.

Christians believe in reform and rehabilitation, which the Gospel does. However, this does not mean that we ignore what criminals perpetrate on society.

However, it would be wrong of us to believe that evil criminals are the only ones who do wrong. We should not overlook the wrong we all do—a small lie, rude behavior, a broken promise, a lousy attitude, good we could have done but didn’t.  We do these things because we think we can gain something of benefit, some advantage, power, or even revenge. Our only hope for ourselves is to place our faith and confidence in the one who can save us and rehabilitate us—Jesus Christ.

A Time of Waiting

 No one likes waiting—it’s hard. We say things like, “What’s taking so long?” “What’s the holdup?”  “Don’t they have any competent people around here?” Waiting is uncomfortable. We feel we are wasting time that could be spent more profitably. “I could be doing a hundred other things I want to do.” Waiting, however, is part of life. We wait our turn at the checkout, at the doctor’s office, and in traffic, but most importantly, we wait on God.

Yes, God makes us wait, too. Why would he do that? He does that because we are not ready, so we wait. David had been chosen king but wasn’t prepared, so God had him go through a period of waiting that lasted 13 years. Yikes, we say! David, however, learned to wait. He said, “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope” (Ps 130:5).

The book of 1 Samuel ends with the death of King Saul. This was the king that the people hoped would deliver them from their enemies, but now he was dead. 1 Samuel opens with these words: “After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days” (2 Samuel 1:1). There is a lot in these words. The Philistines defeated Saul and drove him to suicide. He died an utter failure. The people would have lamented, “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” There is an implied question in the first verse of 2 Samuel, “What will happen after the death of Saul”? If Saul could not keep us safe, what hope was there?

It reminds us of what the followers of Jesus felt after Jesus died on the cross. “but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21). Jesus’ shameful, humiliating death dashed the hopes of those who had believed in him, just as the death of Saul had shattered the hope of his followers. Some saw Jesus’ terrible death and Saul’s as God’s judgment.

While Saul was gone, there was one victorious person, David. Any hope in Saul was now gone. The narrator tells us that “David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days” (2 Sam 1:1). Something was happening even though it didn’t look like it. God was working. Those two days were dark, just as they were when Jesus was in the grave, but on the third day, Jesus arose from the dead. In the story of Saul, on the third day, all the attention will turn to David. The lesson is that when all hope is gone—it’s not—God is always doing something for our good. David would become Israel’s greatest king, and Jesus would conquer death be our eternal king.