Commandments and Relation

Growing up in the west you hear about religious commandments. We have the Ten Commandments, the Great Commandments, and even Jesus saying, "A new commandment I give unto you..." on top of numerous commandments He quoted and loved. Jesus loved the commandments, as He should if He was the one giving them to man.

Yet Evangelicalism seems to have a love/hate relationship with Commandments. At one instant we claim that Christianity is not a religion but a relationship: "We don't need religion and its laws that make us work to become good; we need God and His Son." While this is true to an extent, we turn around to many "other" communities - like homosexuals and those who have abortions to name a couple - and blast them with commandments instead of God's Son:"Thou shalt not murder." It's a game many of us don't realize we are playing, and it is slowly becoming a deadly game for Evangelicals.

Why are we afraid of commandments as a way to approach God relationally? Why are we afraid of relationships when we approach others who are unrighteous?

The Hebrew word for commandment is mitzvah. The root word of mitzvah is tzavta, which means "connection." What this tells us is that God did not give commandments in order to be legalistic, demanding, and ritualistic. On the contrary, God gave commandments as a way to connect to Him. Commandments are the way we connect to God, not the way we appease or become right with God. We become righteous by connecting with God. The commandments were given in order to guide is in the way we ought to go - the way we were created to go. We were created to be in relation with God, but we fail to do so every time we deny the way He created us. Therefore, the commandments are the vessel by which we reconnect with God. This is why the commandments have not become obsolete for the Christian. Because the commandments were never meant to engender righteousness; they are merely there to display the way by which we become righteous - through our relation with God.

Any thoughts, concerns, or disagreement? This is just fresh thoughts that could be dead wrong, but are brought about by understanding what "commandment" really means.