Re:Verse passage – Exodus 20:1-17 (day three)
“And God spoke all these words.”
John Ortberg relates an incident from the life of philosopher Dallas Willard: Someone once asked Willard, “What is reality?” He responded, “Reality is what you can count on.” The questioner followed up with, “What is pain?” Willard answered, “Pain is what happens when you bump into reality.” These words God spoke in Exodus 20—they’re not rules. Neither are they laws in the way we are often accustomed to thinking of laws. That is, they do not exist in order to make life run a certain way. These words of God exist in order to make life possible in the first place. They are laws in the sense that gravity is a law, or that the speed of light is a law. Reality: It’s the way the universe works.
Regardless how we define the 10 Commandments, whether they are the by-laws, rules, law or principles, they are the major constraints for Christians! They are the forces believers must content with in order to execute its life and behavioral strategy.
As I commented on the previous blog, each family and organization has its own unique set of constraints that collectively influence how its members should behave to be accepted or approved in that particular culture!
As a matter of practicability, we always need to understand the scope of what we are expected to do, the constraints and the limitations so we can ensure that what we do can achieve expected outcomes and results or to be accepted in a community, society or in an organization.
Constraints are unique standards, rules, regulations, legality, principles, resources, time, knowledge, assets, risk tolerance, culture, and so on for that particular organization! Do you agree or disagree?