In the previous post we looked at ways in which we American Christians have broken the first four of the Ten Commandments that we claim to live by. Granted, we don’t exactly live under the Jewish Torah and Covenant. But Jesus actually holds us to a higher standard, not a lower one. He summarized all the Law and the Prophets into these Two Commands: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. The first four of the Ten Commandments regard the first and greatest command. The last six guide our relationships with others. Love God. Love others.
But how good of a job have we done with even those two commands? Not very well when the words non-Christians use to describe us include judgmental, arrogant, too political, hateful, homophobic, hypocritical, and so on. Jesus said people will know we are his disciples by our love. Not by our slogans or open letters or bumper stickers or political affiliation.
If we want to make a difference, if we want to make a change, then we have to get back to the basics. We have to relearn what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves. We have to be real and honest about the ways we’ve gotten it wrong. And we have to repent – not just saying “I’m sorry,” but truly changing our actions and attitudes.
Continue reading → The Ten Broken Commandments, pt 2