Thank you for a rich and full discussion yesterday at the Java. It was awesome to have so many out but what made it rich was what each brought to the discussion - vulnerability, honesty and thoughtfulness. I went home praising God for each of you!
We talked a bit about politics last night and it certainly has been all over the news lately with labor disputes and a government under the microscope with an increasingly volatile economy and social system.
Around periods of time like these (where the government is being questioned), it is almost taken for granted that officials will make promises and the public knows to disregard most of it. We listen for campaign promises not because we're excited to see those things come to fruition because we know that little of it will be. We've learned to listen to 'intent' and 'direction' of the promises. What are the priorities? Do the values held within these promises echo values that I hold?
In the 10 commandments, one of the ones that is most well known is the 3rd one - You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God (use the Lord's name in vain). Frequently, we quote this verse to talk about language and swearing. While I'm sure God isn't happy with us throwing out his name in cursing, that isn't the original intent of that commandment. It had to do with not making promises/covenants/testimony before others and swearing by God's name to tell the truth but doing that without proper thought. When we go to court, we swear on the Bible to tell the truth. That's the intent of this commandment. Don't make promises under God with no intention of keeping it. Don't throw out things like "I swear to God!" too lightly.
Jesus echoes this in the sermon on the mount by saying "let our yes be yes and our no be no. Anything beyond this comes from the evil one." The commandment (and Jesus' teaching) is about taking God lightly and misusing his name. As Christians, people need to know that our word means something because we are ambassadors of Christ. When we speak, we're speaking on behalf of our government. And that MUST mean something more than just good intentions!
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ya...and going one step off of government, look at making vows before the Lord, and keeping them in his sight. Somethings come to mind are our baptism vows, or our wedding vows.
In the Old Covenant, vows were taken very seriously, as is seen in Deuteronomy 23:21-23, "If you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth."
Let our yes be yes and our no, no.
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