A Jealous God

Many who argue against Christianity take issue with the Ten Commandments saying that Christianity is restrictive and close minded and rule oriented. They feel confined and judged by what they perceive as a God who imposes morality and rules without love. I'm sure as fallible people we, the church body, contribute to this misunderstanding of God. We are not always a perfect picture of Christ's love and forgiveness. Unfortunately, as believers we get sucked into this type of thinking too. However, in thinking this, we miss one of the key aspects of God's nature, His desire for relationship. We miss knowing God as God.

In discussing some of these issues in her book, No Other Gods, Kelly Minter makes this statement:

And so it is with this fundamental piece of God being God, and God being the only God. When this gets out of whack in our belief system, the entire structure falls apart, the chain reaction affecting things you wouldn't imagine. It's like trying to run or reach or bend with a bad back. It's painful, and eventually impossible. If God is not God, if he is not the only God in our lives, then his commands and principles and truths become matters of suggestion that we're free to savor or toss at our whims.

God is God, and He is the only God. We know this, but we do not always live it. But if we do believe it and live it, this revolutionizes our lives. It goes back to the first of the ten commandments. Too often we only read the shortened version. But I think it is important to see the full context to understand the nature of God and His desires for us. So, bare with me a minute. Here is it is from Exodus 20: 3-6.

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

It is in our sinful nature to latch onto the part about jealousy and punishing and the consequences of disobeying. At the core we are still little children balking at our boundaries. But if we read it again and examine it, there is more to the story. A jealous God is a God who desires relationship, not simply obedience. God understands us; He knows what we need. If He really is the one, true God and if He is really offering us life and love and forgiveness, He does deserve our undivided attention and devotion and commitment. He is offering us relationship and is showing us the way to succeed in that relationship.

Look at a marriage. It is only successful if both of the parties are open, honest, committed, and faithful. The minute one of them begins to seek intimacy or fulfillment, emotional or otherwise, with someone other than their spouse, there is a break down in the marriage. As it is with God. Love cannot be in word alone; it must have legs. Service and Love go hand in hand. God knows this and commands it. At the end of the first commandment He asks us to love Him AND keep His commandments. This isn't about legalism and a list of rules to follow. This is about a love that influences your heart, thought, and action.

In Mark 7:6, Christ quotes from the Old Testament saying, "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me."

Ouch. It makes my heart hurt to read this. I've seen it in relationships before, I've experienced it. What makes me ache all the more is to know that I've done this to God. Loved Him with my words alone, while my actions speak volumes about my love of myself, this world, and paltry pleasures that leave me dissatisfied.

Being a Christian isn't about following rules or being good. It is about entering into a relationship with the Almighty Creator of the Universe. He asks us to be faithful, to serve and worship and love only Him. Makes sense. So, when God commands us to have no other gods before Him, He is asking us to trust that He is our God and trust that He is enough.

This, I think, is the real reason people balk at Christianity, balk at the Ten Commandments. We want it to be about us. We want to think that everything is relative, but Truth is not relative. God is God; there is no room for anything else. It must be the foundation of everything we believe. By constructing for ourselves other gods, we carve out for ourselves a little piece of this world that is ours. It is something we can control, something we understand. It makes us feel good about ourselves, for a while anyway. When we bow to the sovereign God of creation, we acknowledge our weakness and our need. But the beauty of this submission to Him, is that we receive His unabashed, unending love. Lavish. Rich. Pure. Faithful. True. Holy. Just. That love I crave. That love I need. So, when God commands me to have no other gods before Him, I accept that, not at a limitation, but as God's provision for my life. He designed us for relationship with Him. There is no other god for me but the one, true God. Anything else is a hollow substitute.

Christianity isn't about rules and morality and being good.

It is about Love.

"Jesus said, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
This is the first and great commandment."