The Problem with the Ten Commandments

sadly that is not what the 10 commandments teach! The 10 commandments teach salvation. They teach what we will become or what we have become in and through God "coming down." The 10 commandments are his initiative toward us.

They do not bring us to the basis of a “good life” they bring us to the heart of God. I am the Lord your God. I am Yahweh, who heard the cry of my people and came down to bring salvation. They are not the basis of a good life, rather they are life in and of themselves.

A parent can say to a child “you shall eat your dinner.” What does this mean? Is this statement the basis of good parent child relations? Or is it a statement about the parents character, who they are. Well it depends on context.

If a small child is play acting at a table and the parent turns round and says “you shall eat your dinner” The statement becomes a revelation of a good life. A revelation of table manners. A good way to live.

Now place the statement in a new context. Its Christmas. A mother and child have been shopping all day. The child is tired, hungry and grouchy. The mother comes down to the child and tenderly says “you shall eat tonight.” The statement is not about the child, its not about a good life. The statement is a revelation unto the character of the mother. A loving mother who comes down to meet the needs of her child.

Now lets read the 10 commandments again. They most certainly are not the basis of a good life. That is teaching that leads to death. Rather they are a revelation of a God, who comes down. Yahweh to the rescue. Jesus. A loving God who comes down and says

You have me, Yahweh, my name tells you that you need no one but me

Those other gods, you know, TV, your possessions, your family, other world religions, Barack Obama, conservative family values, whatever is your god, they are not like me. Those gods tell you what a good life looks like, they make promises that they will make your life better – they won’t. I am Yahweh, I have come down to be near you, I am salvation turn to me, Yahweh to the rescue, Jesus, I am the truth, I am the centre salvation comes in me

You know my name, my name upheld, up holds, and will up hold history. You can’t make a good life for yourself. You were created to be held by me in relationship. If you think these commandments make for a good life – you have set them up over my name, my name is all you need. My name is the centre of all things, when you set anything up over my name its death. Only in my name comes life – my name Yahweh to the rescue, Jesus

You can’t redeem your broken relationships with parents, your spouse, the unresolved anger, the lies you tell, how you look enviously at others. But I’ve defeated it. I died on the cross, that’s all you need. You can’t make a good life , that’s the lie of the internet, politicians and those who don’t know me.

The 10 commandments tell us that God came down. They are not the basis of a good life, they are life. They are the gospel.

I'm always amused this time of year by the Sabbath-smashing sports stars who credit God with their talents & victories.

While it's tempting to think of the social good that would come about by stoning politicians & tele-dysangelists who take God's name in vain, it's puzzling that so many professing Christians have forgotten that the Beatitudes are meant to give the true sense of the Decalogue. It would be meaningless to avoid evils if all we did was to avoid evil; "God intends for us to be more than Not-Murderers" my former parish priest put it in a homily last Easter.

I know this is going to sound sexist, but I have to ask:

When have men, as a whole, ever been expected to live up to the same standard of adultery as women? Really since the beginning of time, women were expected to hold to the commandment to the point of death for even being accused of adultery. Men on the other hand, nod nod, wink wink, were expected to conduct themselves with discretion while their women just accepted it.

The point of each of the 10 Commandments is love towards God and others. So, of course we must obey them. How can it be loving to steal away with another person's spouse or goods??? How can one be loving others while stabbing them in the chest? How can one be loving others by slandering them?

Yes, humans are violators against the commands, but God sent Jesus into the world to provide the ability for humans to change their evil ways and cling to loving action---in essence, to become commandment keepers.