States of BLISS & Yearning// A Word in Public

Ok, so I've always had this weird opposition to the decalogue, the 10 commandments. Growing up in Christian elementary schools, I had to memorize them over and over. But as I've gotten older and wiser, I've been trying to figure out just how I can manage to uphold them when they're part of the old texts that I wrestle with. Perhaps, as Bell has said in previous chapters, I struggle because there's a lot of truth in them. That could very well be the case. However, there are some with which I disagree to some level or at least have pondered about their importance/cultural relevance. For example, before we get into the chapter, I hate the "honor your father and mother" rule. I mean, it's important to honor authority figures but not when they are abusive (physically, verbally, etc.) or when they being immoral in the workplace. We also have to stand up for ourselves. Or we need others to stand up for us because we are the vulnerable in that situation. Then, the whole "don't take the Lord's name in vain".... what does that even mean? To be vain is to be cocky, narcissistic, or self-loving. So are we not to call ourselves God? I don't do that anyway... If that is what that means, then I can be satisfied with that answer. Other people's answers just don't suit me. Let's get on with the chapter.

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Apparently, these weren't hardcore terms of legislation, but were called the "Ten Words" identifying that they were statements of a caring God. Ok, that's fair. And that actually makes me appreciate it more. They are "words of grace and care given to humankind by a God who responds to the cries of those who have been wronged" (74). That's interesting because I thought they were the rules that were calling out who had done wrong. But, we're on this sort of liberation theology track and I can appreciate that, to some extent.

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He goes through a few of the commandments and speaks to each of them and their relevance today. (Also, he says that in saying "you" it means the entire nation of Israel, so we make them communal, not just personal.)

I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me.

So rather than carving huge statues of Mars, the god of war, as the Romans did, we have a weaponry industry with factories producing tens of millions of land-mines that end up getting dropped on the innocent in Mozambique and Angola.

You shall not make for yourself an idol.

Instead of looking up to Eros and Aphrodite, we instead turn to tabloids which tell us about celebrities and their sex lives, yet also lifts up those who seem to have a modest lifestyle. It just doesn't seem right. I would also say, we get on this dieting bandwagon, thinking we need to do everything in our power to look like certain people... not true.

You shall not steal.

If we're talking communally or corporately instead of individually, how do we as a nation respond to this today? What if it is "applied to the way in which third world economies are milked dry by the express design of Europe and America demanding two dollars return for every dollar loaned?" (75).

At this point Bell interjects with something he can just hear people saying to him about how we shouldn't take the 10 commandments and apply them "willy-nilly" to life today! But, he says, you can't apply them to your personal life because they were written when individualism was secondary.

You shall not murder.

What if instead of applying this to abortion (over and over and over) we applied to to child labor. You shall not make purchases from companies or even give loans to countries that encourage and allow child labor practices. That's murder too, you know. There are so many other problems out there.

You shall not covet your neighbors wife (or your neighbors stuff).

John Bell says it best. "If such a gracious word leads us to question the right of highly profitably industries to create, through advertising, an unnatural thirst or lust for their product, particularly among those who cannot afford it, we will enter far more disputed waters" (76).

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When looked at corporately/communally, we come to understand these words from a caring God who understands the cries and needs of the vulnerable. When seen this way, "they become... words of hope and liberation" (77) not words of social control. God's intentions are not to constrain us until we have no lives. God gave us life to have it to the fullest. But not just us, all people. All children, women and men that are oppressed around the world... God gave them life too. When we are corporately ruining peoples lives, we are not allowing them to live out their God-given potential. We have a lot of work to do on this earth while we're here. God calls us to be aware and be concerned for the vulnerable. That's what these commandments are for.