We Can’t Have One Without the Other

At first, it took me by surprise, even as a shock. But I’ve discovered there are pockets within the Christian community where it’s being taught there’s really no need to worry about what God says in the Old Testament. That all we need to know for following Jesus Christ is contained in the New Testament. 

Not naming names, but even some prominent preachers are telling their congregations to disregard Old Testament teachings. A post I wrote recently received a comment to that effect. The person stated, “the Ten Commandments aren’t Christian, have never bound Gentiles, and the apostles were clear that Gentiles who become Christians are not…under the law of Moses.”

 

Part of the problem, I suspect, is that Old Testament law has traditionally been divided by theologians into three main categories – moral, ceremonial, and civil (or judicial). Ceremonial laws deal with religious worship, ritual purity, and the sacrificial system. It’s true many of those laws were intended specifically for the people of ancient Israel. These would include dietary restrictions, animal sacrifices, annual festivals to be observed, and physical circumcision. 

 

Many modern-day Jews continue to honor certain dietary laws and religious observances. As for the symbolic animal sacrifices, Jesus’s death on the cross eliminated the need for those. And most followers of Jesus don’t practice dietary restrictions for religious purposes. 

 

However, moral and civil laws presented in the Old Testament remain just as valid today as they were thousands of years ago. Civil law provided the rules that governed Israel as a distinct national community and society, and many of these same laws were instrumental to the forming of the United States, being reflected in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

 

For instance, those laws concerned restitution, courtroom testimony, guilt and innocence, provisions for people in need, and many other things. To this day, such principles have helped maintain the United States as the unique nation it is. Laws established by God are timeless, reflecting the fallenness of humankind and the necessity for establishing guidelines for conduct, both individually and collectively.

 

Perhaps most important are the moral laws given in the Old Testament, which reflect God’s unchanging holiness and character. This is where the Ten Commandments are especially pertinent. In fact, Jesus alluded to them specifically. 

 

One day a member of the Pharisees, a group of religious leaders and teachers, confronted Him: “‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:34-40).

 

Without listing them individually, Jesus was referring to the Ten Commandments, as found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.The first four concern our relationship with God – to love Him foremost; not to worship idols; not to take His name in vain, and to observe a weekly Sabbath day. The remaining six, including honoring parents, not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing, not lying, and not coveting what others have, concern how we relate to one another.

 

Another time Jesus made clear His attitude was not, “Well, that was then. This is now.” Rather, He declared His purpose was to be the fulfillment of the laws and prophecies God gave in the Old Testament. In His Sermon on the Mount, He stated, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will be any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18). 

 

Jesus then proceeded to address a number of important moral and legal issues, including murder and malice, adultery, keeping promises, seeking revenge, loving adversaries, and giving to the needy, all of which were addressed in the Old Testament.

 

But the priceless truths of the Old Testament go far beyond the commandments and regulations God prescribed. We learn just as much about His character there as we do in the New Testament. His promises there apply just as much for us today as they did for the ancient Israelites. They speak of His love, faithfulness, perfection, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, justice, righteousness, and assurances of His unfailing care and provision.

 

In 1 John 4:16 we’re told that “God is love,” and we see that embodied in Christ – His teachings, actions during His earthly ministry, His sacrificial death, and His resurrection. But we dare not forget that God also is holy and just, intolerant of sin, and unwaveringly determined to mete out justice in His perfect way and time. The Old Testament reveals this so clearly.

 

The refrain from an old song said, “love and marriage, they go together like a horse and carriage…. You can’t have one without the other.” It could just as easily have said, “go together like the Old Testament and the New Testament” (except it wouldn’t have rhymed). You can’t have one without the other.

Considering Things Jesus Never Addressed

When I was visiting my uncle, aunt and cousins in Houston, Texas after my junior year of high school, Uncle Joe kindly took it upon himself to teach me how to drive. He was amazingly patient as I tried to follow his instructions on the old, orange Chevy pickup truck he called “Aurora.” It had a 3-speed manual transmission on the column, starter button on the floor, and clutch I had to learn to negotiate along with the gas pedal and brake. 

 

It was frustrating early on, figuring out how to engage and disengage the clutch while releasing the brake and stepping on the gas without either stalling out the truck or revving up the engine. Then there was learning to back out of his long driveway. Cars – and old trucks – didn’t have backup cameras then. Eventually I caught on, and his tutoring has served me well.

 

To this day I remember many of the things Uncle Joe taught me about driving. But some things he didn’t need to teach me. For instance, he never cautioned me about texting while driving. The reason is obvious: There were no cell phones in those days. Even if they had existed, he wouldn’t have said, “Yeah, sure, go ahead and chat on your phone. Sounds like a great idea to me. Let the other drivers look out for themselves.” He also never cautioned me about carrying explosive devices in the trunk of my car, or driving blindfolded.

 

Some things are so evident they don’t need to be said.

 

I mention this because increasingly we’re hearing people opine about what somebody else didn’t say. That somebody is Jesus Christ. People – even some within the Church – read His quotations in the four gospels, along with some in the Book of Acts and other New Testament books. (Printed in red in some Bibles.) Then they conclude, “Jesus didn’t have anything to say about this, so He must have had no objections to it.”

 

Seems they’re assuming Jesus’ words in the Scriptures represent the totality of everything He said and thought about during his 33 years on earth. This is ludicrous. If we were to take every one of His statements in the Bible and put them together, they probably wouldn’t amount to more than a week or two of conversation, if that.

 

The words of Christ in the Scriptures aren’t everything He ever said. They are, however, everything the Lord deemed necessary for the writers of the New Testament to include as they recounted His life and ministry. Just as the Bible doesn’t comprise everything there is to know about God – but it’s everything He determined we need to know about Him. All the libraries and bookstores in the world couldn’t begin to contain all the information about the infinite, eternal God who created the universe. 

 

The apostle John wrote, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31).

 

What I’m getting at is the way some folks offer opinions of what Jesus would say about myriad topics, ranging from abortion and illegal immigration to lifestyles that would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago. As if to say, “Since Jesus didn’t comment on it, He must not have a problem with it.”

 

Jesus never said anything either about kicking puppies, jumping out of airplanes without a parachute, running with scissors, taking up two spaces in the mall parking lot, or leaving the seat up on the toilet. Does that mean He would advocate such things?

 

When someone asked Jesus about what He considered the greatest of all commandments, He replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:38).

 

In other words, if we can succeed in following these two commandments, we’re doing well. Some choose to put extra emphasis on “Love your neighbor as yourself,” but Jesus said the greatest commandment of all is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Our thoughts, our actions and our words should all be governed by this mandate.

 

Another time, near the beginning of His “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus asserted that His intent was not to cast aside the teachings that had been clearly established in the Old Testament, which comprised the Scriptures at that time. He declared, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18).

 

Jesus was affirming that Old Testament teachings on such things as sexual immorality, stealing, murder, envy, and many others were not being nullified. He had come not only to serve as the atoning sacrifice for such sins, but also to provide us with the strength and freedom to overcome them.

 

The entirety of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is the revealed Word of God. In essence, the very words Jesus would speak to us today. As 2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking correcting and training in righteousness.”

Considering How You Would Want to Be Treated

We see it all too often: People berating a customer service associate or cashier. Students displaying disrespect to their teachers. Faceless individuals typing insults or mercilessly bullying others on social media. Protesters shouting epithets, sometimes engaging in acts of physical violence.  

TV commentators showing little patience or respect, shouting down each other’s statements and opinions. Athletes spitting on each other. In some cities, looters breaking into stores and carrying out goods of all kinds. Hostile politicians grandstanding to demonstrate opposition to the speaker.

 

The list could go on. Depending on who they happen to agree with, observers either applaud such actions or condemn them. A couple lines from the 1966 Vietnam-era protest song by Buffalo Springfield, “For What It’s Worth,” summarized what we’re still seeing 60 years later:

“There’s battle lines being drawn

Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong…

A thousand people in the street

Singing songs and a-carrying signs

Mostly say hooray for our side….”

 

Sound familiar? Why has our society come to this? What has spawned this age when incivility has become the norm; acrimony is viewed as acceptable, even commendable behavior; and common manners and decorum have been cast into the dumpster?

 

In a time when people across the political spectrum build arguments based on their own interpretations of “the rule of law,” it seems we’ve forgotten – or dismissed – a far greater rule. It’s what we commonly know as “the Golden Rule”: “In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31).

 

Jesus Christ addressed this in a variety of ways. Matthew 22:36-40 records an occasion when the Pharisees, religious leaders who prided themselves on external rules-keeping, asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Perhaps they presumed He would select a particular favorite from the Ten Commandments.

 

His response wasn’t what they expected. “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

 

The first is foundational for everything, but let’s focus on the second. Jesus’ words, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” were another way of saying, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’ as the King James Version translates it. The phrase is repeated elsewhere in the New Testament, including Romans 13:8-9, Galatians 5:14 and James 2:8. 

 

Unfortunately, the prevailing mindset these days seems very different, more like, “do to others before they can do it to you.” Do whatever you feel like doing; worry about the consequences later.

 

What does it actually mean to “do to others as you would have them do to you”? Maybe the best way to answer that is to look at the last part and ask, “How do you want others to treat you?”

 

Would you want people to politely hear and respect your opinions, even if they don’t agree with them? Whether in your home, at work or another setting, would you want someone to genuinely listen to what you had to say? If you were a teacher and had spent hours preparing the lesson for the day, would you want your students to be attentive and desiring to learn? 

 

Looking at it another way, if you were a sales associate in a department store, would you want someone angrily accosting you about some grievance, even if you had nothing to do with it? If you were a law enforcement officer, would you want folks throwing objects at you simply because you’d been assigned to that area to maintain order? If you owned a retail business, would you want people breaking windows and stealing everything within reach?

 

This brings to mind the adage attributed to native Americans about walking a mile in the moccasins of another individual. Doing to others as we would have them do to us involves putting ourselves in their place, trying to understand their needs and feelings, and responding appropriately.

 

Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) illustrates this perfectly. A man, a Jew, had been robbed and beaten, left for dead. Two upright religious leaders, a priest and a Levite, saw the man but moved to the other side of the road, acting as if they hadn’t noticed them. Obviously, they never considered what if they had suffered the same plight.

 

Then a Samaritan came along and even though Jews and Samaritans weren’t exactly bosom buddies in those days, he attended to the wounded man, took him to an inn nearby and promised to pay all expenses for his care. Whether he knew the commandment or not, the Samaritan literally did for another what he would have wanted someone to do for himself.

 

Years ago, people wore WWJD bracelets representing the question, “What would Jesus do?” Maybe we need to start wearing bracelets that read, DUOAYWHTDUY – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It could help to usher in a new season of civility and compassion.

Want to Be Great at Something? Can You Spare 10,000 Hours?

Rules. Most of us don’t like them, except when we can use them to our advantage. I’m thinking of the cynic who defined the Golden Rule as “he who has the gold rules.” He had a point – doesn’t it seem the folks with lots of money are wielding the greatest influence these days? 

But getting back to rules, we see evidence at how much people abhor rules (or laws) almost every day. The persons who not only defy the highway speed limit, but also weave recklessly from lane to lane just to get a few feet ahead of the next driver. I observed several of those just the other day. (No, I wasn’t one of them.)

 

Kids are notorious for disliking rules. Tell them something reasonable, like ‘Don’t touch the stove,’ and that only makes the stove top touch even more enticing. Rules like, ‘You have to clean up your room before you watch TV’ or, “You can’t have dessert until you finish your dinner’ are sure to ignite their rebellious streak. No parent in the world ever said, “I’m going to raise a little rule-breaker,” but that’s what typically happens.

 

We might blame such behavior on childish innocence or naivete, but as we grow up, we maintain our propensity for breaking rules. Often, with experience we get more skilled at concealing our ‘un-ruley’ behavior.

 

My typing skills have progressed a long
way since the days of 'a-s-d-f-space.'

This thing about rules goes all the way back to the Old Testament, when God was giving the no-longer-enslaved Israelites literal marching orders. When the Lord presented the Ten Commandments to Moses, as recounted in Exodus 20, the Israelites initially welcomed them and promised to keep them. ‘Sure, Yahweh, whatever You say!’

However, they soon found the commandments – only 10 – much too restrictive. So, in very short order they succeeded in breaking every one of those divine rules. Not once or twice, but so many times they lost count. You could say the remainder of the Old Testament is the story of God’s chosen people’s insistence on enthusiastically breaking all of His rules. 

 

Then, after a prophetic silence of hundreds of years, Jesus Christ arrived to become the ultimate remedy for chronic rules-breaking. At one point, someone asked Jesus to identify the greatest commandment. Perhaps thinking about how 10 commandments had proved too burdensome for most folks, He boiled them down to two: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

 

Pretty simple, huh? Love God with everything we’ve got, and love others just the way we would want them to love and treat us. What’s so difficult about that? I suppose it gets back to our propensity for breaking rules – we can’t even consistently keep two of them.

 

Years ago, I discovered an interesting rule that God didn’t originate, at least not explicitly. In his book, Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell explored what he termed the “10-000-Hour Rule.” He cited neurologist Daniel Levitin who concluded after exhaustive research that, “The emerging picture…is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert – in anything.”

 

Levitin said this applied to any discipline: “Composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again.” His studies showed that amount of time spent in practice and preparation didn’t guarantee success, but “no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time.”

 

I’ve thought about this a lot. When I took personal typing as an elective class during my junior year of high school, I had no idea I’d spend my entire professional career with my fingers flying around a keyboard. I’ve far exceeded the 10,000-hour rule – to the point where if you were to ask me where a specific key is located, I couldn’t tell you. But thanks to countless hours of practice and muscle memory, my fingers know.

 

That’s why accomplished pianists devote so much time to practicing the scales, and outstanding basketball players spend so many hours practicing free throws. Aware of it or not, they were applying the 10,000-hour rule.

 

But how does that relate to things like the Ten Commandments and growing spiritually? I believe there’s a direct correlation.

 

More than 40 years ago, when I first became involved in parachurch ministry, I’d attend Bible studies and marvel when the “veterans” would spontaneously refer to relevant Scripture passages. ‘How do they do that?’ I wondered. 

 

Then I determined to read the Bible daily, even setting goals to read through the entire Word of God over the course of a year. At the same time, I resolved not only to read and study the Scriptures but also to memorize specific verses, meditate on them, strive to apply them, and endeavor to share them with others whenever opportunities presented themselves.

 

Now I understand how those godly business and professional leaders of years past could be so adept at knowing and teaching the Scriptures. Intentional or not, they’d been applying the 10,000-hour rule to their spiritual lives.

 

In effect, Deuteronomy 6:6-9 affirms this principle. Moses told the Israelites he was leading, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts…. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up…. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

 

If one were to practice this faithfully over the course of a lifetime, the 10,000-hour rule would be long surpassed – and spiritual maturity would be a very likely byproduct. Are you willing to put in the time?

Finding Freedom Within the Boundaries

Are you a fan of soccer? I must admit I’m not, even though it’s called “the beautiful game” in many parts of the world. Nevertheless, having had several grandchildren actively involved in soccer, I’ve watched a lot of it. The fact that they’ve been good at the sport has made the watching more enjoyable.

Soccer’s not my cup of tea because there’s too much back-and-forth without tangible results. Kind of reminds me of the party game in which you try to pick up cotton balls with a spoon while blindfolded. You keep scooping, but rarely do you succeed in capturing a cotton ball. That’s how I feel when I watch soccer – or “futbol,” as it’s often called by its devotees.

 

I find one aspect of the game fascinating, however. It’s the goal. The official dimensions for a soccer goal are 24 feet wide by eight feet high – 192 square feet, or 27,648 square inches. That seems like a large target, but not when you have an agile, athletic goalkeeper standing in the way of each shot on goal. This is why when a player does succeed at scoring, the announcer ecstatically shouts, “Gooooooooooal!”

 

When player take a shot at the goal with foot or head – no hands allowed – they’re aiming at a 192-square foot target. If they’re able to get the ball past the goalkeeper, anywhere within those boundaries, they and their teammates are entitled to a spontaneous celebration.

 

For folks like me, matches might be more fun if the goal were 12 feet high and 36 feet wide, but that probably would make scoring too easy – and less suspenseful for avid fans. Still, offensive players do have nearly 200 square feet to work with. Top, bottom, sides, or corners. Doesn’t matter, just as long the goalkeeper can’t stop the ball before it gets within the goal and crosses the goal line.

 

A similar principle applies for every follower of Jesus Christ. Some people regard the commandments and statutes that serve as the foundation for Christian living as too limiting, too restrictive. However, they actually provide much latitude. For instance, when some asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second it like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:36-40).

 

In other words, love God as much as you want, as much as you can. And love your neighbor as you would love yourself, as much as you want, as much as you can. That doesn’t sound very limiting or restrictive, does it?

 

However, in another sense becoming and being a disciple of Christ is unapologetically restrictive. Jesus told a large crowd of people, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

 

We live in a society in which many folks choose to make their own rules, to live out their own “truth.” They live by the mantra, “If it feels good, do it. Follow your heart.” But feelings are fickle, and the heart is deceptive. In fact, the Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). 

 

So, the “wide gate” and “broad road” may seem like the right route to follow – until you discover too late there’s a huge sink hole in the middle of it and you tumble in.

 

We hear a lot about freedom these days, but what people often have in mind instead is license – doing whatever you want, no questions asked. That’s not freedom; that’s anarchy and rebellion. The Scriptures teach that God designed us and knows what’s best for us.  This is why some of His commands are “do,” and others are “don’t.”

 

Within the parameters of the Lord’s sovereign and moral will He gives us great latitude. Like a soccer goal, anything within it is good. It allows for love, joy, fulfillment, meaning, and most of all, an eternal relationship with our loving, merciful, gracious and forgiving God. Anything pursued outside of that, however, leads to destruction.

 

As with soccer, we might not like all the rules. We’d like to change them or do away with them altogether. But God’s statutes and standards are perfectly designed for His purposes – and for our good.

Positive Thinking Powerful When Thinking Positively the Right Way

Years ago, Norman Vincent Peale wrote a very popular self-help book, The Power of Positive Thinking, when self-help books weren’t yet all that popular. While it received criticism from some mental health experts, theologians and academics, his book explored 10 helpful rules for “overcoming inadequacy attitudes and learning to practice faith.”

 

Among these were visualizing oneself succeeding; drowning out negative thoughts with positive thoughts; not attempting to duplicate others, and recognizing the role God plays in achieving our goals. To be honest, I skimmed the book many years ago, so I don’t recall much of it. But even nearly 70 years since Peale’s book was published, many of his points make good, common sense – to a point.

For instance, picturing ourselves finding success in our chosen pursuits is definitely preferable to envisioning our efforts ending in failure. I have a friend who often quips, “I’m a positive thinker. I’m positive things are going to get worse.” We don’t want to be our own self-fulfilling prophecies. 

 

Comparing ourselves to others and seeking to replicate their accomplishments can also be self-defeating. I’ve learned that during this hard-knocks life. I can’t be someone else, just as they can’t be me. Psalm 139:14 declares, we each are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” We’re unique, not only in how we look but also in the way we think, our innate talents, our experiences, the skills we cultivate, and the spiritual gifts God entrusts to us. So trying to copy others can result in our rejection of how the Lord has uniquely designed us.

 

And if you’ve read these posts for very long, you know I’m all in about the belief that God wants to be directly and personally involved in every aspect of our lives. In his book, Peale asked his readers to repeat, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” 10 times every day. Taken from Philippians 4:13, a more contemporary translation is, “I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” This is certainly valid biblical assurance we can trust – although I’m not sure we need to turn it into a mantra.

 

Ultimately, the strength of positive thinking depends on the basis for such thinking. If we adopt a “think happy thoughts” or “don’t worry, be happy” mindset, our apple carts are sure to become upset at some point. Because from the moment we’re born, life is tough; and often it gets harder from there. But if our trust – our faith – is centered on the God of all eternity, His sovereignty, faithfulness, love, grace, mercy, holiness and righteousness, we have every reason for thinking positively.

 

We live in a world that bombards us with negative thinking and information. We wake up and if we’re foolish enough to turn on the news, we’ll want to jump back in bed, pull the covers over our heads and stay there. Sadly, the atmosphere in some homes is negative as well. As someone has said, it’s hard to soar with the eagles when you’re walking with turkeys. 

 

Cultivating a positive attitude toward oneself can help to a degree, but that can’t safeguard us from events and circumstances that are beyond our control. The most positive attitude in the world won’t help a 6-foot-6, 275-pound person to become a world-class jockey. Sometimes our picnics get rained out no matter how positively we think.

 

But as we study the Scriptures, examining and meditating on the life of Jesus Christ, as well as learning about His children – sins, warts and all – we find the best source for learning to think positively. I’ve long appreciated the counsel of the apostle Paul, who wrote, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

 

Each of these adjectives aptly describes the Lord Jesus, and the more we can focus our thoughts on Him and His example, the better our lives will be. We also find incredible treasures in His teachings, whether it’s His so-called Sermon on the Mount or the many other interactions He had with people during His earthly ministry.

 

There was the time Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees, a self-righteous, self-assured group of Jewish leaders, who decided to test Him with what they considered a trick question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36). They probably figured that if the Lord singled out one commandment, they could challenge Him on why He didn’t think others were just as important.

 

But Jesus wisely responded, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

In this, He was not only summarizing all of the commandments and their intent, but also giving us a simple template for positive thinking: Love God with all we have, and let love and concern for others be the governing factor in our actions and decisions. If we’re thinking the right way, we’ll find positive thinking imbued with limitless power. Power from above. 

Hearing Some ‘Nice’ News For a Change?

Remember the old saying, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all”? Well, these days there’s a parallel observation: If it weren’t for bad news, we wouldn’t have any news at all. But wait! There is some good news on the horizon – I think.

 

Recently I came across an informal, non-scientific survey that asked the question,“How nice of a person do you consider yourself to be?” An astounding 93% of the people that responded said they would describe themselves as “Very nice” (42%) or “Somewhat nice” (51%). Not one person said they would fit into the “Not at all nice” category. Gee, isn’t that…nice? Apparently Ebenezer Scrooge, Ivan the Terrible and Oscar the Grouch weren’t among those surveyed.

 

Isn’t it good to get some nice news? Or rather, nice to get some good news? Maybe. It depends on how you define “nice.” Does it mean someone who loves babies and puppies and kittens? One dictionary says it means “pleasant; agreeable; satisfactory.” If that’s the case, most of the 93% nice people must be staying off Facebook and Twitter, because many posts we see there, by that definition, aren’t exactly “nice.” Or pleasant, or agreeable.

 

To me, being nice doesn’t mean being a milquetoast individual with a perpetual smile and nary a harsh word escaping from his or her mouth. The best synonym for nice in my perspective is to be kind and considerate of others. Qualities we see all too rarely in our world, whether on social media, in news and talk show exchanges, or in angry protests.

 

Interestingly, we don’t find the word nice in the Bible. We’re not told as followers of Jesus to “go therefore and be nice.” However, it does speak much about kindness and compassion and love – the kind of love that puts others ahead of oneself. 

 

For instance, one of the qualities of knowing Christ is exhibiting what the Scriptures call “the fruit of the Spirit." Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Kindness, goodness and gentleness – those are three traits we would expect to find in a “nice” person.

 

Even more to the point is the admonition from Philippians 2:3-4, which says we are to, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” If you spent time with someone who acted in that way consistently, wouldn’t you consider them nice?

 

Many of us read that and think, “Yeah, that’s a nice ideal to strive for, but how do I succeed at doing it?” It gets back to what Jesus said when someone asked how to be assured of eternal life. Jesus responded by asking another question: “What is written in the Law?... How do you read it?” To which the inquirer replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’, and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Jesus’ reply was simple: “You have answered correctly…. Do this and you will live” (Luke 10:25-28).

 

When we read this, we’re inclined to react, “Oh, that’s all? Well, no problem then!” Yeah, right! But in a nutshell, this sits at the center of living the so-called “Christian life,” as well as the secret to being a “nice person.” If we love God with everything we have, so that His character – His very life – can be manifested through us. Only then can we truly succeed at loving others as ourselves, as well as being able to put the interests of others on the same level as our own.

 

Everyone has a “god” of some sort. If it’s not the true God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, we’ll worship something else. And almost like a default setting on a computer, the god we’re most inclined to worship is ourselves.

 

When Jesus said, “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), and the apostle Paul declared, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), they both were talking about the power to be, and to become – through Him – what we cannot apart from Him.

 

If we learn to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, we can demonstrate His love toward others. Will that make us “nice”? It depends on how we and others define the term, but we will be able to exhibit kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. And that’s not bad!

Do We Really Need More Laws?

When was the last time you heard someone say, “There ought to be a law!” concerning some problem? These days it seems we need more and more laws, to control guns and address escalating violence; restrain people from distracted driving; protect children from all manner of dangers, and many other things that come to mind.

Laws are necessary. If we didn’t have speed limits, what would keep people from driving 100 miles per hour through residential areas? If we didn’t have patents, copyrights and trademark laws, people could steal and capitalize on the hard work of others. If the FDA didn’t monitor food production, how would we know things we buy at the grocery store are safe to consume?

But having laws doesn’t mean those regulations will be obeyed. Some of our largest cities have the most stringent gun laws, yet hundreds die from gun violence there every week. Many states have created legislation prohibiting texting while driving, and yet we often pass someone trying to drive while exchanging texts with friends. Speed limits don’t seem to affect drivers who pass us on 55-mile per hour interstates driving 90 miles an hour or faster.

I have a radical thought: Why don’t we just do a better job of obeying and enforcing the laws we have. And maybe, consider revisiting old laws we’ve cast aside that served humanity well for many centuries.

Take the Ten Commandments, for example. Back in the 1960s, court rulings and legislation began systematically removing all references to God in our public schools and institutions. When I was in school back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, we began each day with a brief reading from the Bible, a short prayer, and I dare say, we might even have made occasional reference to the Ten Commandments. As a result, principals and teachers had to deal with such heinous acts as chewing gum in class, running in the hallways, and throwing spitballs.

Fast forward to today, when certain segments of society have smugly succeeded in eradicating any reference to the Ten Commandments and other biblical teachings, all in the name of political correctness and “tolerance.” Isn’t it scandalous to be taught and reminded of such precepts as “honor your father and mother,” “you shall not murder,” “you shall not steal,” “you shall not give false testimony” (lie), and “do not covet” (harbor envy over other people’s stuff)?

Now nobody worries about gum-chewing, scampering through hallways or tossing harmless wads of paper. Nope, classrooms are in chaos, and even the best-intended teachers find themselves hard-pressed to instruct rebellious students. Drugs, guns, knives and other tools of mayhem are concerns they must confront on a regular basis.

Any teacher worth her or his salt will tell you one of the most effective ways to teach is through repetition. Through consistent review and practice, facts are memorized, principles grasped, and methodologies mastered. Maybe what society needs is an undiluted, steady dose of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, God’s laws that He established not to be restrictive, but for our own good.

True, the “olden days” of education were hardly perfect. Kids got unruly from time to time, stealing wasn’t unheard of, and an occasional fistfight broke out. But we all shared a common sense of right and wrong. When we did wrong, deep down we knew it.

Laws don’t stop bad behavior; they only consciously inform us of what we already know subconsciously. As Romans 5:20 tells us, “The law was added so that the trespass might increase….” If there’s no posted speed limit, for example, and I drive 90 miles an hour down a street, I already have a sense I’m going too fast. But when I see a sign that says “Speed Limit 35,” that confirms it.

Of course, the biggest problem with the Ten Commandments are the first three, stated in Exodus 20:3-7 and Deuteronomy 5:7-11: “I am the Lord your God…. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything…. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God….” These commandments remind us we are to worship and serve the one true God, which irks many of us no end. Who does God think He is, anyway?

But these commandments focus not only on behavior, but also on the condition of our hearts. When someone asked Jesus what He considered the greatest commandment, He replied, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Laws and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40). 

He was saying, in essence, “Do these two things and you’re good to go.” Until then, we can pass all the laws we want, establish ever more stringent regulations, and we’ll still have to deal with human depravity in all of its depths. As Romans 1:28 declares, “since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.”