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Thought experiment

If God Tells You to Take My Car, Did You Steal It?

Whether it’s for a righteous cause or not

Vuyo Ngcakani
The Dove
Published in
2 min readJan 5, 2025

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Photo by Judy Beth Morris on Unsplash

Let’s imagine that the God of the Bible, the creator of the universe, does not exist.

You need to get to the hospital quickly and my car is available. Somehow, you take it without permission, and because you arrived at the hospital quickly, you survive.

Did you steal my car?

Now God exists. He tells you to take my car and makes it available to you. You take it without my permission and avert death.

Did you steal my car?

Don’t overthink this. I know God would not tell you to steal something. The story of Jesus and the donkey colt proves this.

“Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” (Matthew 21: 2–3 ESV)

The Lord knows who will agree and who won’t.

The question still applies.

If the Lord tells you to take my car and you do so without my permission, did you steal it?

I’m truly interested in your thoughts! Thank you.

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The Dove
The Dove

Published in The Dove

The Dove is a family friendly faith and fun based publication.

Vuyo Ngcakani
Vuyo Ngcakani

Written by Vuyo Ngcakani

writer, husband for 29 years, father of 3, grandfather of 2. I write about fatherhood, parenting, Christianity, & other topics.

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