Ten Commandments are really 'the Freedom Train'

The Ten Commandments: best transporters to freedom anywhere... the guidelines of civilization!

Why then are they so resisted, so attacked? Do they seem like “...teeth-grittin’ Christianity”? Are they totally unpleasant, shoving us around with “musts” and “shoulds,” a grunge life, breeding self-righteous prudes?

Fleming Rutledge says, “When the Christian faith declines into legalism or moralism, it is no longer the good news of God, but the bad news of religiosity, which always mutates into repression and intimidation. There is a difference between the Law and the Gospel (see Galatians 2:16). Any Christian who does not understand this has missed the Freedom Train.”

The Freedom Train! Rutledge nails it! The Big Ten are not dowdy and irritating commands, but the 10 cars of a beautiful “Freedom Train!” Paradoxically, freedom in any learned skill is tied to rules. Music, sports, government, science, traffic: what part of reality isn’t run by guiding laws? And the best rules for civilization? They are the ones on our Flathead County courthouse lawn, and (amazingly) still posted at the U.S. Supreme Court!

Walter Harrelson of Vanderbilt University says our society has had a “great and almost numbing loss” as the Ten Commandments have been scorned and shoved aside.” Their loss means a loss in understanding what human liberty is, what freedom of the spirit means, and how freedom is to be maintained in the world.

Don’t we see that these foundational rules not only forbid but also permit, not only bind us but also set us free? Perhaps we’ve missed their tone? We make them angry: “This you must do OR ELSE!” Perhaps we should rather be saying: “Look Guys! This is the way ahead, the way to become someone, the way to live in truth and harmony, a 10-lane turnpike to freedom!” Recall that the list was first etched in stone for a bunch just led out of 400 years of bondage in Egypt.

It’s sad that many now see the Ten as bondage when they are really the 10 basics of freedom. Rutledge gives a good illustration. She grew up in a Virginia family that emphasized honor, based on this principle: “Seeing that you are who you are (a Virginian, a Rutledge), these 10 rules are the way to freedom.”

So, stealing? Shoplifting? Papa didn’t. Grandpa didn’t. Nor Great-Grandpa. She simply couldn’t do it either. Hundreds of opportunities came along but she would rather stand in line for an hour than shoplift a pack of Lifesavers. Her point? How freeing this was! No fear of hidden cameras or alarms going off. That simplifies life, doesn’t it? Going into any store is a pleasure, not a problem.

Good news: God simplified the Ten Commandments! Bad news: No. 7 is still there. Still no adultery? Some would say, “Rats!” But is No.7 meant to be mean? Talk to the wife of a husband who has just given her AIDS. Talk to the guy blackmailed by his “overnighter” to pay child support or she will tell his wife. Believe it or not, many people choose to be immune to sexual dalliance, not because they are defective psychologically or physically. They just know true sexual freedom is not to have illicit sex at all. And they know valid freedom doesn’t just mean freedom from something, like sexually transmitted diseases. Above all it means freedom of something, like having a good marriage, like having a stable family, government and world. What freedom would the nations know if Godless Hollywood didn’t determine our morality?

Am I writing to super-humans? Is this a world without sin, even among Christians? Not funny!

Knowing these rules doesn’t mean keeping these rules. That’s why we still need the Ten, and Christ within us (the bedrock principle of authentic Christianity), and the Apostle Paul’s writings, and grace, and the Holy Spirit and the Bible’s New Testament. God’s utopia has not been fully ushered in yet. Could be close, though!

Meanwhile there will be stealing and adultery, and all the other ghastly stuff. But those becoming God’s people, those growing into greater and greater freedom, know the Ten are the way to humankind’s health and happiness. When they do flub, they admit it, ask and receive forgiveness, and get back on “the Freedom Train.” It’s the only ride to a better world.

There is a delicate balance here. Martin Luther pointed out God’s grace is still there when we blow it. But he also loved the “Big Ten” because he knew God is not crazy-permissive. Today, when rules and morality have almost reached the vanishing point, we need these solid guidelines more than ever, not to repress but because each brings another dimension of freedom.

So, why don’t we Americans swear and use four-letter words? Why don’t we dishonor our parents or murder unborn babies or steal, lie, envy, covet or twist sexuality into unnatural pretzels? Why is killing non-existent in Chicago? Why no Pentagon, no army or military-industrial complex? Why don’t we make idols of cars or clothes or sports or drugs or Brangelina? Why does everything shut down on Sunday?

Say what? Is that America? Sadly, no. In fact, reverse the Big Ten for kicks. Those are the rules too many live by. Which means they want bondage, not freedom. They want chaos, not civilization. They want war, not peace. They want hell, not heaven. Sin. Satan. Anything but God. Anything but these commands.

Smart. Really smart!

Miles Finch is author of “Somewhere by Chicago,” 24 true stories about colorful people in Polson, where he pastored New Life Christian Center for 37 years. Visit his website at www.milesfinch.com