We human beings love rules! We just love them! No? Well, if we don’t love them than why do we have so many of them? At any point in our lives we have hundreds of rules telling us what to do and how to do it. It’s as if we are terrified that, without all those rules, we might get it wrong.
Could it possibly be that we don’t really need all these rules?
In the Old Testament God gave Moses 10 Commandments, just 10, but that wasn’t good enough for the people who need to control and pin down and legislate every emotion, every action, and so the Holiness Code came into being. You can find it in Leviticus, chapters 17-26 – easily some of the most boring reading to be found in the entire Bible – it details what you can eat, what you can wear, who you can associate with, how you can make a living, what kind of animals you can keep, what you can have in your home – just on and on and on.
Later on when Jesus was asked which of the Commandments was the greatest he boiled them down to just two: You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself. He explained that all the other commandments were contained within these two.
Still later, when St. Paul was trying to explain to the people of Rome the difference that living with the Spirit of Christ makes within you he listed the characteristics that define a true follower of Jesus. I put his list into list form here for clarity:
Could it possibly be that we don’t really need all these rules?
In the Old Testament God gave Moses 10 Commandments, just 10, but that wasn’t good enough for the people who need to control and pin down and legislate every emotion, every action, and so the Holiness Code came into being. You can find it in Leviticus, chapters 17-26 – easily some of the most boring reading to be found in the entire Bible – it details what you can eat, what you can wear, who you can associate with, how you can make a living, what kind of animals you can keep, what you can have in your home – just on and on and on.
Later on when Jesus was asked which of the Commandments was the greatest he boiled them down to just two: You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself. He explained that all the other commandments were contained within these two.
Still later, when St. Paul was trying to explain to the people of Rome the difference that living with the Spirit of Christ makes within you he listed the characteristics that define a true follower of Jesus. I put his list into list form here for clarity:
Romans 12:9-18
let love be genuine
hate what is evilso far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all
- hold fast to what is good
- love one another with mutual affection
- outdo one another in showing honor
- be ardent in spirit as you 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 think yourself superior, but associate with all
- do not claim to be wiser than you are
- do not repay anyone evil for evil
Again, all of these are good rules. They tell us to live in good ways. And yet, couldn’t they all be contained within the first: Let love be genuine? If our love is genuine, if we truly love God and all our brothers and sisters – ALL of them – and if we sincerely strive to treat each other – EVERY other – with love and respect – how could we not include all the other rules, without having to parse them out separately? Why must we continuously overthink this point?
In the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda: Love is love is love is love is love.....
In the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda: Love is love is love is love is love.....
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