The Ten Commandments- a Health Warning

It is common practice for businesses, organisations, schools and even families to draw up a statement of their vision and values- a mission statement, a set of goals or core beliefs. Schools are the businesses that I am most familiar with, and even young children can be involved in making a statement of what is important for their classroom. There is often an effort made to frame such statements in positive terms- We care for each other, rather than Don't hurt anyone.

The core guidelines that God gave His fledgling people on Mount Sinai were not couched in this positive language, however.
Do not make an idol, do not take the name of the LORD in vain, do not murder, do not commit adultery.....most of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments and their uncompromising prohibitions. These stark statements colour what many people see Christianity as representing- a whole list of "Thou shalt not"'s, signalling an end to freedom, flexibility and fun.

Maybe we can understand these Commandments better if we see them as health warnings. We tell our children "Don't play near the road" because we know, even if they don't, that traffic is a danger to them. We tell young people "Don't smoke", because we know both how addictive it is once they start, and the dangers to their health that it poses. A previous school where I worked was situated next to a railway line, and many of the students took the train to and from school. Each year the railway police would send someone to the school to tell them "Don't play on the tracks", and often their message would be accompanied by a film dramatising what might happen to anyone foolish enough to ignore the warning. It upset some of the students, but it was important that the message was clear and uncompromising, because it could save their life.

The warnings in the commandments God gave to His people point to what is at stake for these people- they have a choice between behaviour that leads to death, or life. It is the same choice that Adam and Eve faced in the Garden. Sometimes choice needs to be spelled out in black and white, because of the consequences.

The Ten Commandments do not tell us what sort of people we should be- how to cultivate character so that we flourish and become all that we were created to be. They are a starting point, for both individuals and communities, a basic requirement to ensure we do live, rather than die.


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