I find one of the Commandments particularly pertinent today during our presidential campaigns. Perhaps you've noticed. Allow me to briefly share some background to the commandments and how this one commandment I'm speaking of is a springboard to the very foundation of our nation, or any nation.
The first three Commandments listed in Exodus 20 have to do with our relationship with God. We could say they are the vertical commandments,reaching up to God: Love Him, have no other gods, do not use His name in vain (meaning carelessly, without reverence), no idols or images of worship, and observe the Sabbath as a day of rest. How hard could all that be? Evidently challenging for some, a delight for others. Then comes the horizontal Commandments, having to do with relationships with other people. Assuming the Commandments are listed in God's order of importance, though they are all important, the first one for us human folk is, "Honor your father and your mother that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you" (Exodus 20:12). What is more foundational to our own lives than our relationships with our father and mother, whether good or not-so-good?
Children, the commandment says, are to honor their parents.Was the Commandment written to the children, or to their parents? It would seem that the parents must be the catalyst for this honoring to take place. To honor someone (anyone) is to regard them with respect, to esteem them as having worth, to be be honest toward them, and to be fair to them. As Yeshua said, it would mean treating others as you would have them treat you (Luke 6:31). How does that apply to a child honoring his parents?. Well, a child learns to honor his parents by seeing how the parents model honor for him, how they treat one another and speak about others. And also how they treat child. Such a thing is caught, not taught. Hebrew people saw their children as belonging to God first, then to them. It is considered that parents are entrusted by God with raising their children to be godly people. There is also the honoring of a child's feelings to foster a sound sense of himself and his value in the family, even while "training him up as he should go (so that) even when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs22:6). Such a child is more than likely to grow up to be a sound and valuable member of society. Ideally any parents who are followers of God should be raising their children with this in mind.
When a child sees his parents pretty much honor one another, which extends to how they speak about other people, he becomes a person who likewise honors others. It naturally becomes his own value system, his way of life. To go back to a quote from Yeshua, we could paraphrase it to say, "Speak about others the way you would like them to speak about you." We can all relate to that one, both in how loved and respected we feel when we are spoken to or about with a measure of honor. But how painful dishonor is. It's painful because it goes against the very nature of how God made us in His likeness. We're even uncomfortable when we hear someone speaking in a disparaging way about others. Or at least we should be, Yet there are folks who are so accustomed to verbal abuse that they don't recognize it for what it is.
Honor is also the basis for another horizontal commandment that says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" (20:16). Neighbor means anyone your life touches, and bearing false witness has to do with your opinion which is not backed up by truth. Gossip would be bearing false witness. I once had a pastor who was also my friend who was making a decision I did not agree with. I went to God with it, sure God would agree with me. But no sooner had I voiced my 'opinion' to the Lord when I heard loud and clear in my mind, "Thou shall not bear false witness!" I felt as if I had just had my knuckles rapped with a ruler in reprimand by God Himself. It actually shocked me it was so firm. It was then that I realized I had no idea what had transpired between this pastor and God, or what his motive was for his decision. I only had my opinion. Not that we're not allowed our opinions and thoughts, but had I said anything to anyone else, which I might have, it would have been damaging gossip. I would have dishonored my pastor friend with what was really false, having no real idea of what was true in the matter. I can tell you it was a lesson well learned never to gossip.
There is a principle in Scripture and in the natural that what comes from the head, or authority, flows down to those under such authority. Be it parents in the home or a teacher in a classroom, all the way to the highest authority, where there is respect and honor for others, that attitude is evident in those under their leadership.When you see love flowing through a body of people, kindness, benevolence and a respect for all, if you looked at the leader of that group, no doubt you would find that spirit, that attitude, that set of values, coming from the leader. The same has been found to be true even when a king offers such kindness to not only his people but to people in need outside their nation. Norway, for instance, was very helpful to Jewish people when in great need inspired by their king.. A pastor who is loving and compassionate, will instill the same in his people, while a pastor who is breathing fire and brimstone, fearful of hell, will make his people likewise religious and fear-bound. It's just the way it works.
It also works on a political level. To use an extreme example, King Solomon forgot all his own wise sayings and turned away from God to the worship of the pagan idols of his way-too-many foreign wives and as a result the entire nation of Israel in time split apart and all that his father David had built was eventually lost. Tragic. As the saying goes, "No man is an island, no man stands alone," (author-John Donne). We effect those whose lives we touch. As individuals, parents, presidents or kings, we will influence others as far as our influence extends whether for good or not-so-good. Not to belabor the point, but whatever spirit the head of a family, an organization or a nation embodies will have an impact on those under their leadership. It is, therefore, so far as we are each able to chose, imperative that we chose wisely with character in mind, not just about policies or verbalized intentions which, as we know, do not always work out quite as they were touted or promised.
Differences of opinions are a reality as it should be. They help us keep things balanced. But we must disagree with others without dishonoring them. We can see issues differently, but that doesn't have to mean we attack the personhood of those with whom we disagree or we are even vying (running) against. Hopefully we do so civilly without resorting to accusations, which often have little to do with the actual issues being weighed. Along those lines, have you ever considered how much the media is all about opinions as it reports what this one said about that one, or reveals things, true or not, that may dishonor the person being spoken about. Much of it is more gossip and opinions than the whole truth. Gossip can take many forms but it's always laced with dishonor. We reveal the level of integrity of our own character by how we talk about others. Addressing the issues at hand is not the same as ridiculing your opponent and does not lend any weight to your argument on the real issues.
So without going into who or specifics (so I don't dishonor anyone), when considering presidential candidates, give some thought to where you might see dishonor being manifested. It can come in the form of words that vilify, or a heated discussion, or all the way to a mob scene or a riot. If you see such happening, look to where the motivation is coming from. There's a leader in it somewhere, even if he denies it, that instigates dishonor. If the kind of mindset feeds on the idea that "Might makes right," it is likely that at its core belief is likely to be an "I am stronger than you; therefore I make all the rules" belief. This, folks, is not democracy at work. It is its enemy. History will tell you in that mindset are the seeds of tyranny.
We've gone a long way from the cradle to political anarchy, haven't we? The commandment to "honor your father and mother" goes on to say, "that you may live long in the land that the Lord gives you" (20:12b). God seems to be making it clear that the respect within the family unit ultimately has effect on how the whole nation goes. God was showing Israel, and the world, that maintaining honor, respect and caring within the family unit, including remaining faithful to one another, will raise up the next generation of adults whose nation would be based on such a high standard of living. The Commandments are God's idea of how to live the highest standard of well-being possible.
We are faced with decisions we consider political in this election we are faced with. In the end, character will (if you will allow me to use the word) trump policies. May God enable us to recognize where the voice of integrity and, to use the word one more time, honor can be heard and allow us to choose wisely.
As a final word her. This might be a good time to pray and do some repenting so no one reading this carries any "I have so totally missed it" sense of guilt ourselves or seeing where our parents did. We have all been victimized by the Fall. Thankfully, we have the blood of Yeshua and the forgiveness of God that is so wonderfully available to us. So...."Lord, forgive us for where we have been dishonoring to those in our lives, where we have not treated those nearest or furthest to us with the love and respect You extend to me. Lord forgive me, as I forgive those who have hurt or dishonored me, including my parents who themselves hadn't been taught to honor. I thank you that I am forgiven as I forgive. Help me to be an agent for you to help others attain to forgivness and honor. In Yeshua's name, Amen.
