The Big Ten
March 13, 2022
Time and again recently I’ve heard someone talk about “the big 10” (meaning the 10 commandments) and how they’re “still as relevant to us today as they used to be, even though we’ve been freed from the law.” As I am still unable to read minds, I’m not sure exactly what they mean, but since they tend to be American I’m a little suspicious. Do we still think the 10 commandments ought to be followed? All 10?
I think Americans are fine with the first three or so. We can argue about how well we avoid idolatry, but we aren’t worshipping Ba’al or Zeus, so there’s that. We seem to get a bit sloppy with taking the Lord’s name in vain, but do follow it more often than not. We’ll pay lip-service to 6-9 (don’t murder, commit adultery, steal, or bear false witness), though our love for guns, porn, shrewd business practices at the expense of others and/or future generations, and fake news suggests we don’t really know what we’re talking about. We have a day a year where we celebrate fathers and mothers, but that’s not exactly the obedient honoring Moses/God has in mind. And we can just drop any sort of pretense about coveting. We’re phenomenal coveters.
At the beginning of this article I thought I was taking a shot at us regarding the Sabbath in particular (I still am, for the record), but at this point I feel the need to say—we really need to get better at following the 10 commandments! Putting them up in our courthouses apparently isn’t having the good effect we thought it would. Perhaps we should try writing them on our hearts? At the very least our doorposts.
Anyway. When an American starts talking in glowing terms about the 10 commandments, I get suspicious. The one smack dab in the middle, the one about the sabbath, is what trips me up. Very rarely have I heard Americans talking about the importance of sabbath, except in spiritual terms divorced from any real practice of taking 1 day out of 7 to do no work, economic or otherwise. After all, the pace of life in America is simply not conducive to that nonsense. None of us have time to just stop. There’s cooking to do, groceries to buy, projects to complete, athletic events to participate in. If we stopped doing those things, how would our kids be treated by their friends? How would we make money? How would we get ahead?
I’m not good at keeping the Sabbath. I am trying to get better, but I’m not there yet. When Jesus looked at the crowds following them, he saw they were harried and scattered like sheep without a shepherd. The spiritual leaders had taken (among other things) the gift of the Sabbath and turned it into a burden. We don’t need to do that. But God’s people throughout the generations have been called to sacrifice a day of their week to devote to God, family, and rest. As a flock of people harried and scattered about, we could really use that rest. It’s just up to us to take it.
—John Coffey
