What does God require of us?

What does God require of us?

We debate a lot within Christian circles about moral values. Curiously, the Bible doesn't talk nearly as much about moral values as we do. What it does talk A LOT about?

Social values.

This makes sense. The Bible was written almost entirely by Jews, and the Jewish community in general is not nearly as individualistic and independent as our Western culture. They were much more concerned with how things affected the whole, rather than the single. And it seems, God agrees. Both the Old and the New Testament are full of commands for entire communities. Commands centered around social values - or, in other words, values a Christian society or our Christian church should exercise and support.

So, what kind of social values does the Bible propose?

The first value we should look at is repeatedly commanded throughout Scripture - the community should have no other God besides Yahweh. There is to be nothing put above Him. It's not America first. It's God first. It's not power or wealth or a particular race or ethnic group or a flag - it's God. Anything put above God is idolatry, and He has some pretty harsh words to say about that.

The second value is one of the most often repeated in the Old Testament. It is to care for the orphan, the widow, and the foreigner among you. Yes, to care for the foreigner among you. This is really important to God. He mentions it various times. And more often than not, when He is lamenting the disobedience of His people in Isaiah and Jeremiah, it is because of their failures to live up to one or both of these two highly repeated commands. 

The prophet Hosea's book is almost entirely about the unfaithfulness of His people in seeking other gods over Him. And in Micah, He laments their failure to care for others. This argument is summarized in Micah 6:8, "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Yet how often do we focus on these words, on understanding God's desire for us to seek justice, mercy and humility? These three words are associated not with personal purity but with other-regard, with how we engage with those around us.

When Jesus was asked about what commands we should follow, He sums them all up in just two. Mark 12:29-31 records His words, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

The Jewish people recite the words, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one,' religiously. It's called the shema. It is the core of their faith. It establishes One God, who is higher than any other, greater than any other, the only One worthy of praise. The only One worthy of our focus and devotion.

Love God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Sounds like putting God first, doesn't it? And love your neighbor as yourself.

How do we love our neighbor as ourselves? By treating others how we want to be treated. By providing others with the dignity, honor, and respect, we ourselves want. By, as Jesus taught, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting those in prison, and welcoming the stranger. Jesus is quite clear on this when He says, what you do for the least of these, you do unto me. And, what you do not do unto the least of these, you do not do unto me. (Matthew 25)

Can Jesus get any more specific than that?

Should He have to?

We spend a lot of time arguing about things Jesus never even spoke about, and yet ignoring the things He did speak about. The things He not only spoke about but lived out in His actions. Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, welcomed the stranger, set the captives free... why are we not concerned about following His example? The early church did - and the church grew by the day. 

In Matthew 25, Jesus says this about those who did not do unto the least of these: "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

These are not the words I want to hear upon my death.

I want to follow the Jesus way.