The Reverend Tim Jones, a priest in northern England and a modern-day Robin Hood, has caused a controversy by telling his congregation that it is sometimes acceptable for desperate people to shoplift as long as they do it at large national chain stores.

It is true that inequality in wealth in industrialized society is real, but suggesting to his congregation to break the law is wrong. His followers will face two justices: God’s justice, which is certainly less harsh, and society’s justice, which sends people to jail for stealing.

Rev. Tim Jones’ attitude is certainly understandable, especially when the church is becoming a refuge for poor people. Sometimes the church cannot give what it does not have. As the Kikuyu of Kenya say, “A man is poor not because he scorns possessions, but because he possesses nothing.”