Saints and Sinners: Readers tell favorite Commandments
There is the story of a minister who was to preach the next Sunday on the Great Commandment — “Thou shalt love the Lord your God … and your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” But the sexton realized the sermon title was too long to fit on the signboard in front of the church. So he shortened it to “Hang all the law and the prophets.”
Judging, however, from the large response to our recent questionnaire on the Ten Commandments – “Which are the two or three most important commandments — the ones we would use to lead the evening news?” — the people in the pews do not take the law and the prophets (the Ten Commandments) lightly.
The following are some of the best responses that came in:
“As for which of the commandments is the most important. I would select ‘Honor thy father and thy mother.’ If we were to honor our parents, we would not do anything to shame the family name — no murder, no committing adultery, no stealing, no lying and no coveting. Also, if we truly worship God, we would not misuse his name.”
— Shirley L.C., no city, no state given
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“… I agree that ‘Remember the Sabbath’ is indeed out of favor with current generations. The majority of us conduct business as usual on Sunday after our token appearance in church on Sunday morning.”
— Mrs. D.D., Rimrock, Ariz.
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“The two most important commandments are ‘Love your God and love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you do these two, you will find you have actually done all 10.”
— T.R., La Grange, Ind.
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“As to your question about which two or three commandments are most important, my answer is — whichever commandments you are having the most trouble keeping.”
— M.A., Spencer, Mass.
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“For me, the most important commandment is the one that is nearly impossible to obey: ‘You shall have no other gods before me.’ Our Packer fever in Wisconsin (as much as I enjoy the Packers) takes on God-like properties. Passion. Adrenaline. Thumping hearts! When the church plans a Sunday event, someone inevitably checks the Packers’ schedule.
“The youth in confirmation class tell me that the most difficult commandment for them is ‘You shall not covet anything that is your neighbor’s.’ Our youth understand that we live in a consumer-driven society of wants and desires. Many understand that our shopping craze is as addictive and as dangerous as alcohol or drugs.”
— Kim Henning, Pastor, Grace Congregational United Church of Christ, Two Rivers, Wis.
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“No commandment is more important than any other because the Bible tells us that when we break one commandment we are guilty of breaking all.”
— R.S.M., Martinsville, Va.
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“Reverence for God is the basis for all 10 of the commandments. Jesus made it the first petition in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Hallowed be thy name.’ It is surprising how many people, in ordinary conversation, continually blaspheme the name of God or use it in a light and trivial way.”
— R.L.S., Columbus, Ohio
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“Can you imagine the outcome it would have on the news if we obeyed the commandments? No longer would we hear of crazed criminals killing and stealing. No more children killing parents or parents killing children. Wars, famine and poverty would be eliminated. Listeners to the news would be filled with joy instead of depression.”
— T.W., Killeen, Texas
(George Plagenz is a syndicated columnist.)