When I first started preaching, my father, who was himself a preacher, told me that when it comes to preaching, the greatest commandment is KISS. That's right. KISS is the greatest commandment. As most of you already know, the letters K-I-S-S stand for "Keep It Simple, Stupid." That's the greatest commandment in preaching, he said. And he was right. Hardly a week goes by that I do not think of him and his commandment to KISS. Those of you who are here on a regular basis can probably identify those weeks when I failed to think of him and failed to keep the greatest commandment.
But as important as KISS is, it is equally important to remember that the syntax of that sentence does not permit us to turn the words around and end up witht the same meaning. My father said, "Keep it simple, stupid." He did not say, "Keep it stupid-simple." Stupid-simple theology and dumbed-down Christianity are all the rage right now. It is all around us; it is sometimes among us; and it is sometimes in us. Now let me be very clear. This is not a "liberal" and a "conservative" thing. Liberal Christians are not the "smart ones" and conservative Chrisitians are not the "dumb ones." Neither are conservative Christians the "smart ones" and liberal Christians the "dumb ones." Conservatives and liberals alike can be guilty of dumbing down the Christian faith. Liberals tend to dumb Christianity down into social action. The church becomes little more than a social-service agency with religious trappings. Conservatives tend to dumb the faith down to doctrinal and ideological and political purity. The church becomes little more than a religiously oriented special-interest group. Liberals and conservatives alike can fall into the trap of stupid-simple theology and dumbing down. Occasionally, they fall into that trap on the same issue.
Consider, for example, the controversy that breaks out periodically in one place or another over over posting the Ten Commandments in public places. The way some people are waging it, the battle over the Ten Commandments or "the Decalogue" as it is also known is a war of dumbing-down on both sides of the argument. People who support posting the Ten Commandments imply that if we just had these words from the Bible on display in public places, American society would be cured of the evils and ills that currently infect it. But in this stupid-simple way of thinking, the Ten Commandments are reduced to a magical object, a talisman, the equivalent of an Amish hex sign on a barn or a medicine man's bundle of feathers and herbs to ward off evil spirits. Stupid-simple Christianity says we can change the world for the better by displaying the Ten Commandments. I wish it were that easy.
On the other side of the battle line, there are those who argue that posting the Decalogue would establish Christianity as the official religion of the state, a clear violation of the United States Constitution. Now, I dare say, there are religiously oriented special-interest groups that would like very much to establish Christianity as the official religion of the United States. If they had their way, the United States would become a kind of Christian Iran, a Presbyterian Saudi Arabia, or a Baptist Israel, a nation in which the orthodox clergy would have the clout to make the laws or to make or break the people who make the laws. But let's stop to consider whether public display of the Ten Commandments would actually "establish Christianity."
Have you ever thought about the fact that there is not a single distinctively "Christian" word in the entire Ten Comandments? There is absolutely nothing "Christian" about the Ten Commandments. They are, after all, products of Jewish faith and practice centuries before the Christian faith was born in western Asia. The Bible tells us that they are words of Moses, not words of Jesus. As a first-century Jew, Jesus lived by them; but so did the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Samaritans and the Essenes and the Zealots and the Karaites. It was not the Ten Commandments that made the first Christians Christian. It took a whole lot more than that.
In fact, it took a whole lot more than the Ten Commandments to make a Jew a Jew, according to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Samaritans and the Essenes and the Zealots and the Karaites. They knew you couldn't dumb down Judaism into those ten rules and it still be Judaism. Taken individually, the Ten Commandments as Christians number them are only barely distinctively Jewish. Apart from the prohibition against images, the injunction on the right use of the divine name, and command to observe the sabbath, these ten commandments commend behaviors that are nearly universally endorsed in the world's great religious traditions. Moses was not the first person to think that honoring one's father and mother is a good thing, stealing is a bad thing, adultery is destructive, and so on. Even the practice of honoring one god in particular among others is attested in the ancient world outside the Bible. Taken individually, the Ten Commandments are only barely distinctively Jewish.
It's a fascinating thing to see that both those who support posting the Ten Commandments and those who oppose posting the Ten Commandments have fallen into the same trap of dumbed-down assumptions about Christianity and Judaism and an authentically religious and moral life. You can be for posting the commandments or against posting the commandments, but don't make the mistake of thinking that this debate has anything to do with the quality and integrity of the Christian faith and the Christian life. It doesn't. Would that the essential qualities of Christian living could be summed up in three Jewish injunctions and seven largely universal instructions. But it's just not that simple.
The apostle Paul's letter to the church in Rome shows us how very wrong the "keep it stupid-simple" approach to the Christian life is. In Romans 12, Paul characterizes the Christian life with 30 commandments, not 10. That's right, 30. Count along, in Romans 12:9-21.
But as important as KISS is, it is equally important to remember that the syntax of that sentence does not permit us to turn the words around and end up witht the same meaning. My father said, "Keep it simple, stupid." He did not say, "Keep it stupid-simple." Stupid-simple theology and dumbed-down Christianity are all the rage right now. It is all around us; it is sometimes among us; and it is sometimes in us. Now let me be very clear. This is not a "liberal" and a "conservative" thing. Liberal Christians are not the "smart ones" and conservative Chrisitians are not the "dumb ones." Neither are conservative Christians the "smart ones" and liberal Christians the "dumb ones." Conservatives and liberals alike can be guilty of dumbing down the Christian faith. Liberals tend to dumb Christianity down into social action. The church becomes little more than a social-service agency with religious trappings. Conservatives tend to dumb the faith down to doctrinal and ideological and political purity. The church becomes little more than a religiously oriented special-interest group. Liberals and conservatives alike can fall into the trap of stupid-simple theology and dumbing down. Occasionally, they fall into that trap on the same issue.
Consider, for example, the controversy that breaks out periodically in one place or another over over posting the Ten Commandments in public places. The way some people are waging it, the battle over the Ten Commandments or "the Decalogue" as it is also known is a war of dumbing-down on both sides of the argument. People who support posting the Ten Commandments imply that if we just had these words from the Bible on display in public places, American society would be cured of the evils and ills that currently infect it. But in this stupid-simple way of thinking, the Ten Commandments are reduced to a magical object, a talisman, the equivalent of an Amish hex sign on a barn or a medicine man's bundle of feathers and herbs to ward off evil spirits. Stupid-simple Christianity says we can change the world for the better by displaying the Ten Commandments. I wish it were that easy.
On the other side of the battle line, there are those who argue that posting the Decalogue would establish Christianity as the official religion of the state, a clear violation of the United States Constitution. Now, I dare say, there are religiously oriented special-interest groups that would like very much to establish Christianity as the official religion of the United States. If they had their way, the United States would become a kind of Christian Iran, a Presbyterian Saudi Arabia, or a Baptist Israel, a nation in which the orthodox clergy would have the clout to make the laws or to make or break the people who make the laws. But let's stop to consider whether public display of the Ten Commandments would actually "establish Christianity."
Have you ever thought about the fact that there is not a single distinctively "Christian" word in the entire Ten Comandments? There is absolutely nothing "Christian" about the Ten Commandments. They are, after all, products of Jewish faith and practice centuries before the Christian faith was born in western Asia. The Bible tells us that they are words of Moses, not words of Jesus. As a first-century Jew, Jesus lived by them; but so did the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Samaritans and the Essenes and the Zealots and the Karaites. It was not the Ten Commandments that made the first Christians Christian. It took a whole lot more than that.
In fact, it took a whole lot more than the Ten Commandments to make a Jew a Jew, according to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Samaritans and the Essenes and the Zealots and the Karaites. They knew you couldn't dumb down Judaism into those ten rules and it still be Judaism. Taken individually, the Ten Commandments as Christians number them are only barely distinctively Jewish. Apart from the prohibition against images, the injunction on the right use of the divine name, and command to observe the sabbath, these ten commandments commend behaviors that are nearly universally endorsed in the world's great religious traditions. Moses was not the first person to think that honoring one's father and mother is a good thing, stealing is a bad thing, adultery is destructive, and so on. Even the practice of honoring one god in particular among others is attested in the ancient world outside the Bible. Taken individually, the Ten Commandments are only barely distinctively Jewish.
It's a fascinating thing to see that both those who support posting the Ten Commandments and those who oppose posting the Ten Commandments have fallen into the same trap of dumbed-down assumptions about Christianity and Judaism and an authentically religious and moral life. You can be for posting the commandments or against posting the commandments, but don't make the mistake of thinking that this debate has anything to do with the quality and integrity of the Christian faith and the Christian life. It doesn't. Would that the essential qualities of Christian living could be summed up in three Jewish injunctions and seven largely universal instructions. But it's just not that simple.
The apostle Paul's letter to the church in Rome shows us how very wrong the "keep it stupid-simple" approach to the Christian life is. In Romans 12, Paul characterizes the Christian life with 30 commandments, not 10. That's right, 30. Count along, in Romans 12:9-21.
- Let love be genuine
- Hate what is evil
- Hold fast to what is good
- Love one another with mutual affection
- Outdo one another in showing honor
- Do not lag in zeal
- Be ardent in spirit
- Serve the Lord
- Rejoice in hope
- Be patient in suffering
- Persevere in prayer
- Contribute to the needs of the saints
- Extend hospitality to strangers
- Bless those who persecute you
- Do not curse them
- Rejoice with those who rejoice
- Weep with those who weep
- Live in harmony with one another
- Do not be haughty
- Associate with the lowly
- Do not claim to be wiser than you are
- Do not repay anyone evil for evil
- Take thought of what is noble in the sight of all
- Live peaceably with all
- Never avenge yourselves
- Leave room for the vengeance of God
- If your enemies are hungry, feed them
- If they are thirsty, give them something to drink
- Do not be overcome by evil
- Overcome evil with good
And as though the number of them alone is not challenging enough, I want you to see how many of these commandments move at a level that is far deeper than observable and quantifiable behavior. One of the reasons the Ten Commandments are so popular with so many people is that you can pretty much "check them off" as you go: I did, I didn't, I did, I didn't, I did, I didn't (although the way most people use the Ten Commandments, it's usually about other people: he didn't, she did, she didn't, he did!). But when the apostle Paul characterizes the Christian life with this long string of imperatives in Romans 12:9-21, his list emphasizes attitudes and motivations at least as much as it emphasizes specific actions and behaviors.
Not surprisingly, that's exactly the perspective that Jesus exhibits in the gospels when it comes to commandments. Do remember Jesus' hard words in the sermon on the mount in Matthew's gospel when he talks about the commandment about murder. "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder.' . . . But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment" (Matthew 5:21-22). Jesus takes a commandment about an observable behavior and extends it into the realm of attitude and motivation that lie beneath observable behavior. Jesus also said, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (5:27-28). Adultery is observable; lust in the heart on the part of men and women moves at a level far deeper than the observable and quantifiable, and that's the level that Jesus demands that our Christian lives be lived. If these teachings of Jesus are any indication, we have it from no less an authority than Jesus Christ that the Ten Commandments are an entirely inadequate framework for understanding--and living--a distinctively Christian existence in the world. For Jesus and Paul alike, the Christian life is constructed in the region of attitudes and motivations that inform and impel behavior, not merely in the realm of behaviors that can be observed and quantified and checked off: I did, I didn't, I did, I didn't, I did, I didn't. Would that it were so simple.
"Keep it simple, stupid," is good advice. But keeping it stupid-simple is an egregious error. It's probably just a coincidence that the apostle Paul listed exactly 3-times-10 imperatives in Romans 12:9-21, a veritable trinity of decalogues, but the message comes through loud and clear: it takes much more than ten commandments to live a Christian life. So let's agree to keep it simple, but let's also agree not to keep it stupid. Amen.
This material is Copyrighted © 2010 by Jeffrey S. Rogers. It may be copied or disseminated for non-commercial use, provided this notice is included. The author can be contacted at jeffrogers110@bellsouth.net.
2 comments:
Is there any particular reason you have a picture of the first ten letters in the Hebrew alphabet? It doesn't seem particularly relevant to your topic.
Thanks for asking! In Biblical Hebrew, the first ten letters of the alphabet also serve as the numbers 1-10. The image is a traditional representation of the Decalouge, the "10 Words" or "10 Commandents," 1-5 on one tablet and 6-10 on another. I included it as an allusion to the idea of 30 rather than 10 commandments and the discussion of the Ten Commandments in paragraphs 3-8. You are quite right that the main point of the sermon actually lies elsewhere than the Ten Commandments.
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