LIVING IN COMMUNITY

When I was a younger man, I assumed the leadership of a Family Camp that met for ten days every summer.  At the time, it was populated by a wide array of ages including whole families and family systems.  The ‘General Rules’ hadn’t been updated in decades, so I rewrote them adding a focus on living in community. 

The dorm rooms didn’t have any insulation.  Nor did the cabins, which were usually about four feet apart.  The bell was to ring at 11:00 PM, signaling quiet!  It would ring again at 7:00 AM to waken everyone! 

Many of my generation wanted to stay up late to talk, play games, or just generally have fun.  But that wasn’t fair to others who wanted to sleep! 

As the Camp Director, I had to become the ‘bad guy’ by going around and enforcing the rules about quiet after the bell!  My peers weren’t always happy with me for my rigidity, but I was responsible for the whole camp! 

Living in community requires us to be respectful of our neighbors and to bend our own desires in order to maintain peace and joy for the whole group!

That’s what these chapters, after God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, are all about! 

This multitude had been released from slavery in Egypt by the miraculous intervention of God!  They were now on a long journey through a wilderness area in hopes of arriving at their ‘Promised Land’.  But there were at least a half million of them!  Imagine the disputes and complaints that arose on a daily basis! 

So God – who had initiated this release and was guiding them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night – provided them with some general rules to maintain peace and equity in their camp.

The ‘top ten’ rules were the most important:

But God added to these to cover more incidental issues.  Some examples from Exodus 23 follow:

·         Don’t pass on malicious gossip.

·         Don’t go along with the crowd in doing evil.

·         Don’t show favoritism in a dispute.

·         Don’t take bribes.

·         Don’t take advantage of a stranger.

·         Don’t give corrupt testimony.

God wanted His people to live in harmony! 

After this, He reminded them to be sure to celebrate the spring, summer and autumn festivals that He had set in place!  These were important times to worship, feast, and cease from labor!  The celebration of these appointed times were designed to honor God and bring the people together in unity!

This chapter ends with a stunning promise/warning from God:

·         God is sending an angel ahead of them to lead them and prepare the way! 

·         “But you—you serve your God and he’ll bless your food and your water. I’ll get rid of the sickness among you; there won’t be any miscarriages nor barren women in your land. I’ll make sure you live full and complete lives. I’ll send my Terror on ahead of you and throw those peoples you’re approaching into a panic. All you’ll see of your enemies is the backs of their necks.” [vs.25-27 TM]

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It may be the twenty-first century, but we still need laws/rules to guide us and set parameters for the maintaining of peace and order.  If these guidelines are indeed in place, then there have to be enforcers!  Somebody must have the authority to step in and remind us of the guidelines for sustaining a peaceful community!  Without this, there will be chaos!  

Remember that angel that God sent to go ahead of His people?  God said of him: “Don’t go against him.  He won’t put up with your rebellions because he’s acting on my authority” [v.21 TM].  

Turning Things Around

I recently placed a joke on my Face Book page:

When I asked my friend if she was planning to attend church, she just shook her head. "I haven't gone in a long time," she said.

"Besides, it's too late for me. I've probably already broken all seven commandments."

It's really not funny.  It pokes fun at a culture that has forgotten the important guidelines that God wrote with His own hand for Moses!

Why not test yourself right now?  How many of the Ten Commandments can you name?  Do you know where to find them (other than Google)?  After you've jotted them down on paper or in your mind, check yourself by grabbing a Bible and looking in Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5.  How'd you do?

This morning I read Jeremiah 9 and was struck with God's strong remarks about lying!  Apparently Judah was consumed with patterns of lying that were destroying trust among the people and breaking the heart of God!

[God speaking]   With tongues bent like bows they shoot their lies at one another.  Truth does not win out in this land;  deceit always seems to triumph.  One evil leads to another because they don't know who I am...every brother is ready to cheat and deceive;  every neighbor is prepared to lie when it suits him.  In this land of liars, friends have no misgivings about deceiving one another;  no one even thinks to tell the truth. They've trained their tongues to utter lies;  they wear themselves out with all their sinning.  Jeremiah, you live in a place where deception is assumed;  as their lies pile up, they refuse to acknowledge Me.

It occurred to me that this could very well be a description of our American culture.  We are reaping the benefits of Seinfeld and Friends from previous decades.  We've scrubbed the Ten Commandments from our school walls and public forums.  A mere 20% of our population attend worship on any given Sunday. Honesty and integrity are exceptional descriptors today and we marvel when we see their examples.  

Businesses pass on their losses from shop-lifting and we all pay the price of a culture that is losing its underpinnings.  I could go on, but do I really need to?

The end result of Jeremiah's message was to see the people hauled away into exile in Babylon!  No one knows yet what the end result will be for America.

But for those of us who care, what can we do?

The answer is obvious.

Exhibit honesty and integrity in all our dealings!  Practice, model and exhort conformity to God's 'Big Ten'.  Talk about these things to our children, grandchildren, friends and neighbors.  Do it while you're playing, or during a meal, or when you take a walk together (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)!  

Begin again to weave a cultural fabric that's founded on the principles taught in God's Word!  Believe with all our hearts that God will honor such behavior (because He does!).  

Resist conformity to cultural modes.  Set high, godly standards for all who are watching you live your life.  

There was a day in our history when deals were made and sealed with a handshake.  A man's word was a thing of value.  Let's forge a future that has the same power!  I'll work hard at it - how about you?  

For a related post, check out "I Lied" (written November 15, 2011).