The Ten Commandments for Today

Two Ways News is a weekly collaboration between Tony Payne and Phillip Jensen – a newsletter and podcast on a topic to encourage gospel thinking for today (subscribe at twoways.news).

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A somewhat surprising Sydney Morning Herald article got Phillip and Tony talking about the Ten Commandments, how they are regarded by the non-Christian world, and indeed how they are seen by Christians these days.

This transcript is a very short summary of the main points of the conversation.

You can hear a sermon series on the Ten Commandments: Ten Commandments St Matthias Evening.

The next episode is The Resurgence of Spiritual Discipline. The previous episode is Paris Olympics Scandal! 

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THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR TODAY

Are they anything more than a cultural relic?

In early August, The Sydney Morning Herald published an article in its travel section on “The Ten Commandments: The New Rules Every Traveller Should Follow”. It featured ten do’s and don’t’s on how to make the most of your travel experience.

The article’s use of the Ten Commandments was light-hearted and a little tongue-in-cheek. And we don’t want to take it too seriously, or critique it as a serious piece of scholarship! But in the introduction to the ten pieces of advice, the author wrote this short and very interesting introduction:

Most of us would agree that the Ten Commandments contain some sound advice. Irrespective of your religious persuasion, it’s hard to argue with the premise that we shouldn’t murder, steal, covet or lie. Affairs are generally considered a no-no and, provided they haven’t written you out of their will, you should always be nice to your parents.

Given how much we’ve been thinking about the Ten Commandments recently (having just finished a book manuscript on the subject), we couldn’t help noticing several revealing facets of this introduction. Despite its flippant nature, this little paragraph (and the article that follows it) tells us quite a lot about our culture’s understanding of the Ten Commandments, which in turn influences the baseline attitude that many Christians also have towards them.

Here are six quick responses to the way the Herald article spoke about the Commandments:

1. The Ten Commandments exist without any religious or historical context. They are like a cultural meme to be referenced, but without any indication of their context (as given to Israel at Mt Sinai) or their spiritual significance (as ten words from God). The only reference to their historical nature is in the archaic ‘Thou shalt not’ in which the various bits of advice are framed.
2. The Ten Commandments are not received as commandments—as having any moral weight or claim on us—but as containing some sound advice. They represent cultural commonplaces that we can all sort of agree on. The irony of course is that the reason that these moral sentiments are familiar to us, and seem sound, is that they have been the foundation of moral thinking in our culture for thousands of years.
3. Because they have the status of common sense advice, the Ten Commandments are open for us to evaluate, and to discuss, and possibly to agree with, following a process of debate. The stance of the writer is that we might take on some of this good advice about murder or stealing if we all agree that it’s reasonable. Their nature as commandments (from God!) is turned upside down.
4. The Ten Commandments can be reduced by common consensus to four: murder, stealing, covetousness and lying. The ‘coveting’ one is interesting. I’m not sure the author really knows what it means, because if there’s one thing that modern Sydney culture is built on, it’s coveting the real estate success of others, and trying to move up the property ladder. The SMH has articles nearly every day about some mansion that you couldn’t possibly afford. So the four probably become three if we ruled out the greed that drives Sydney real estate, not to mention the gambling industry.
5. Two more of the Commandments receive qualified support. Adultery is not wrong; just generally considered a no-no. And honouring parents is reduced to being nice to parents, and qualified (humorously) in terms of a proviso (so that they won’t cut you out of their will). Interestingly though, ‘adultery’ becomes the less offensive ‘affairs’.
6. And finally, and most significantly, three of the commandments receive no mention at all: the two big ones at the beginning about God (having no gods before him, and making no image or idol of him), and the one about rest and Sabbath—which is also ironic, since the whole article is about travel and leisure!

What the article reveals, in its humorous way, is how godless our culture is, even when appropriating the words of God. The cultural memory is so faint, and has been rejected so thoroughly, that the Ten Commandments are now just a faintly amusing antiquated hook that we can hang a travel article on.

The terrible thing is that in not knowing the Ten Commandments, or the God who gave them, our culture is missing out on something fine and sweet and life-giving. That’s how Psalm 19 puts it:

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;

the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward. (Ps 19:7-11)

It’s even more tragic when Christians no longer regard the Commandments as sweet, life-giving words from God, but consign them to the dustbin of Old Testament irrelevance.

Which is why we decided it was time for a book on how the Ten Commandments fit into the Christian life, why they are so important and useful, and why Christians should know them, love them, meditate on them, and put their righteous wisdom into practice in our lives.

(The book should be out early in 2025.)

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