The Beatitudes or the 10 Commandments?

I was made to memorize the 10 Commandments when I was a child going through religious education at my church. Very little mention was made of the Beatitudes or even the Greatest Commandment!

Many Christians pay significant attention to the 10 Commandments. They want them installed at court houses and hanging prominently in their homes. Those commandments were given to the Israelites through Moses in the exodus from Egypt, hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth.

Let's pause for a moment. Isn't that more than just a little strange?

I have nothing against the Ten Commandments. They are a fine standard. With enough prayer and study, you can swim deeply into them and find your way to the teachings of Jesus. They are not lightweight by any means. But if you believe Jesus is God—and if you believe the Bible is God's Word—then how can it be that the majority of Christians virtually ignore the commandments Jesus actually gave?

Can most Christians even name the Beatitudes?

Here is a guy who walked this earth that most Christians are convinced is God himself come in the flesh. But they somehow can't be bothered to take what he says seriously? It's not like he's being unclear or speaking in code. He's saying: "I'm God. These are my commands for you. These two especially are the biggest on which everything else depends."

So Christians:  What's up with that?

Becoming a Beatitudes People

So what should Christians focus on?

The Greatest Commandment is, well, the greatest. Why? Because Jesus said so.

After that, most would put the Sermon on the Mount at or near the top of the list. It is Jesus's tour de force. It's begins with the Beatitudes and continues a litany of his greatest teachings. Even 2,000 years later, I can feel the freshness, vitality and urgency of these words. It is quite a masterpiece. Hang on and go for a windswept ride!

The Beatitudes are the closest thing the New Testament has to the 10 Commandments. But they're not quite the same in content or in form--this is important!

A lot of people may like the 10 Commandments because they seem clear and concrete. Admittedly, the Beatitudes can be harder to understand, and that's exactly why we should be spending so much time with them. Jesus is calling us into a new way of thinking, and that takes lots of prayer, study, action and contemplation to attempt to understand. Those have to be at the center and not something we just tack onto our faith lives at a later time in our lives. They require a daily commitment.

The 10 commandments read like a list of "thou shalt not" do specific behaviors. They are not that simple, but at face value that's their approach. Rather, the Beatitudes call us to far more transformation. Instead of saying, "don't do these specific behaviors," they are saying, "be this kind of person." You can't check them off a list and then go back to whatever else you were doing. No, they require your "all in."

We can never say our Beatitudes work is done. For example, the 10 Commandments tell us not to steal. At first glance, it's pretty clear when we've lived up to that and when we haven't. By contrast, the Beatitudes announce that "blessed are the merciful." Being merciful is more like a fire inside of yourself that you stoke and nurture. You may have to struggle daily to keep yourself from building walls inside of yourself and with your neighbors to keep the channels of mercy openly flowing. Being merciful is a practice you cultivate--and a whole approach to life--rather than a task you do.

That being said, the 10 Commandments will lead you to the Beatitudes if you contemplate them deeply enough. If you are not to steal, then that begs the question: What is ownership? What truly belongs to your neighbor, what belongs to God and what belongs to you? That food in your refrigerator may legally belong to you, but if your neighbors are hungry, then is the food in your fridge yours or is it stolen from the poor? This is where the Beatitudes come in:  Blessed are the merciful, because the merciful will know how to answer this question. As you can see, the 10 Commandments will ultimately lead you to the same place, but the Beatitudes make it much harder to avoid.

The Beatitudes are a celebration of certain people, such as the poor and those who are persecuted. The Beatitudes urge us out of cynicism, fear and hopelessness to be passionate in both our mourning and hunger for justice. The Beatitudes call us to be meek, to be peacemakers and to be merciful. They invite us to rejoice and be pure of heart. This is too vague for a lot of people. I can hear them saying, "So what should we actually do?"

It's almost as if Jesus is not overly concerned with the letter of the law. His "law" as expressed in the Beatitudes is not legalistic. It is more of a posture. It demands our "all in." It heightens our awareness and our sensitivity. No, Jesus doesn't give a list of "thou shalt not's." The Beatitudes read more like an invitation and a celebration. Given that they come from Jesus himself, we should take them abundantly seriously--as seriously as a command. Jesus is telling us which values to affirm. He's offering us where to direct our attention.

The Beatitudes as well as the whole Sermon on the Mount, and in particular the Greatest Commandment, should be among the teachings we place at the center. Those should be hanging at courthouses and in our homes. We should consult them first and foremost when faced with struggles in our lives and in our society. Instead, we often find obscure Scripture passages and torture the meanings out them that we want. We should start with the Greatest Commandment and the Sermon on the Mount. Then and only then, once properly established, we can then pepper in other viewpoints and commands that will only make sense once we are rooted in God's love first.

The Beatitudes are the words of Jesus himself. We should know them, reflect on them, pray over them and pray about them until it can be said we are a "Beatitudes people." A people with a positive vision for how to live rather than people with a task list.

The fact that we are still so hung up on the 10 Commandments comes across just as a way of avoiding the actual teachings of Jesus himself. I'm not in any way denigrating the 10 Commandments or the Jewish faith or faith of the Ancient Israelites, but if someone is a follower of Jesus it stands to reason that the teachings of Jesus would be first and foremost. And if they are not, it begs the question why?

Without further Ado: The Beatitudes

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:1-12

What's Fundamental to a Christian?

Some Christian denominations call themselves "fundamentalists"—they have identified a handful of concerns which they attest are, well, fundamental to Christianity. It's what is often referred to as "lowest common denominator Christianity" (for a good discussion, see Baptist writer John D. Pierce). It's a focus on the core values. There are pros and cons to this approach--it does reduce the whole of Christianity to a few basic principles, which can cut out a lot--too much, according to some. But it also helps to make sure that the most important pieces stay central, as Pierce discusses.

There are variations in the list of fundamentals, but a good representation is the original from the early 20th century:

1.       Biblical inspiration and the infallibility of scripture as a result of this

2.       Virgin birth of Jesus

3.       Belief that Christ's death was the atonement for sin

4.       Bodily resurrection of Jesus

5.       Historical reality of the miracles of Jesus

Other lists include the deity of Christ, the literal reading of the Creation account and the eventual return of Christ to earth. [I guess there's still disagreement as to what constitutes a "fundamental," as the list keeps shifting over time.]

My point here is: Absolutely none of these lists include the thing that Jesus Himself said was fundamental, despite the quadruple Gospel repetition: The command to "love God and love one another."

Isn't that a problem?

You could argue that the Greatest Commandment is included under the "inerrancy of Scripture" and it permeates everything on this list. That would be a fair point. But there are a few pieces of Scripture that were brought out for extra emphasis, and the Greatest Commandment was not one of them. Sadly, it rarely is.

Just to make sure you don't think I'm picking just on Protestant fundamentalists here, let's roll out the Nicene Creed. This is adhered to by the Orthodox, Catholics and most mainline Protestants. Like the five fundamentals, there are some points of disagreement on which version of the Creed is canonical. However, the Greatest Commandment is not included in the Creed nor is it a mentioned in any of the debates surrounding it.

In fact, almost nothing of what Jesus actually said or taught is part of the Creed.  That's a strange homage to the guy we claim to be God Himself. 

Going even further, the Catholic Church subscribes to the doctrine of infallibility. This is a very misunderstood (and at the same time hotly contested) issue, but at its core, it basically claims that the Holy Spirit will never let the Church be in error. Is this referring to following the ultimate Commandment of God Himself?  No, it is about whether the Church could ever be wrong in dogmatic teachings regarding faith and morals. 

If the Holy Spirit were going to make absolutely certain that the Catholic Church, in all its humanity, does not make any major mistakes, wouldn't you think the Holy Spirit would make sure we got the big things right? And Jesus (you know, God, right?) said the "big thing" was the Greatest Commandment. Sure, we profess it—but it’s not first on our list. It's not our central rallying cry. It's not the goal we strive for in our daily labors. Given the prominence which Jesus gave it, it is shocking, if not downright scandalous, how rarely we discuss it.

But instead, Catholics are convinced of the inerrancy of dogmas--theological explanations. Jesus Himself never said that our Christology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology or any of the other -ologies had to be correct. Rather, He said we are to love God and love one another. 

Isn't that just so hysterical it's ridiculous? Here's this guy walking around the earth, and most Christians will say that this man was actually God--literally. Mind blowing. Amazing.  Emmanuel--God with us. God came to earth in the person of Jesus, had a lot to say and gave a lot of instructions. And we have managed to silence every. single. word. from. his. mouth. in our most fundamental faith statements--a universal tendency shared by all Christian denominations. As we get ready for a year-long anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, this one point on which virtually all Christian denominations have in common is not something to be proud of.

I don't want to over-simplify. Christians affirm that the whole of Scripture is the Word of God, not just the specific words of Jesus. And many Christians affirm that God continues to speak through the living Body of the Church--the Body of Christ in the world today. Still, none of that takes away the strangeness of the duct tape around the mouth of Jesus of Nazareth.

If you ask Christians for moral guidance, they are more likely to point you in the direction of the 10 Commandments of Mosaic Law from the Old Testament than to the Beatitudes, Works of Mercy or the Greatest Commandment preached by Jesus Himself.

God walked the earth as Jesus. Christians generally do not deny that. Many of Jesus' words are recorded in Scripture. Most Christians do not deny that. Jesus says out of all the things you do, this one should be the first. He even spells it right out for us! Here's the #1 place you'll want to devote your time and attention, folks. *Crickets*

Yet, when we come together to define ourselves as Christians, it doesn't even crack our top 10.

All around Christianity, the name of the game is belief. Dogmas and head games are the central talking points. Denominations have fragmented over arguments about nuances in the way we understand that which we, ironically, all agree is impossible to fully understand.

Yet, how many denominations have split over a desire to follow THE command of Jesus more fervently?

I admire the work of the Red Letter Christians who dare to ask:  What if Jesus actually meant what he said?