The "Do's" of Christianity

            I’m not sure what this has to do with music, but it has been bouncing around in my head for a while—years actually.  I am sure it is not a new concept, but here is my take on it.

            Too many people, Christians and non-Christians alike, see Christianity as a list of “Don’ts.”  I’m sure at one point in time someone even made som comment to me like, “You can’t do this, and you can’t do that…”  Sound familiar?

Growing up in the Church of the Nazarene back in the day when movies and dancing were strongly frowned upon, I often felt a great vacuum between activities “We don’t do” and options given to me that we can do!  (There were many contributing factors as to why I felt that way, but I will save them for another forum.)

Meanwhile, I would like to offer this challenge to you:  What do Christians do?  Try focusing on the “Do’s” instead of the “Don’ts” for a while!

So I know this is not a new idea, but here is my humble attempt to help shift your brain from reverse (“Don’ts”) to forward (“Do’s”), a wild paraphrasing of the commandments:



(From Exodus 20:1-17)

God says, “I am the Lord—your God!  I brought you out of the bondage of your old life!

(1)                    Worship Me alone.

(2)                 Keep Me first in your life—I am jealous of your love, and I want you all to myself!

(3)                Respect My name.  I gave my only Son for you—it is the least you can do for me!  (How would you like it if someone used your name as an expletive every time they were angry or hurt?)

(4)                 Remember to rest and worship Me once a week. (at the very least!)  I created the Sabbath for you (not the other way around) because I know you need it!  It is a time I have blessed for you!

(5)                 Respect your parents.  Regardless of how dysfunctional life may be sometimes, I have given you to them, and them to you, so be courteous, civil, and obedient.  You’ll live longer!

(6)                  Respect the life I have given others.  It is not yours to take.

(7)                 Keep yourself pure in thought and deed.

(8)                 Respect other’s property.  Everything each of you has is given to you by Me.  When you steal, you are saying you do not believe I know how to allocate My wealth properly!

(9)                Always tell the truth and respect it.  All sin begins with a lie, even if it is just lying to yourself and Me!

(10)               Be happy with what you have.  If you are satisfied with what you have, then working for more will not obsess and possess your heart.  Remember—I am jealous of your love!

(And the summary  of all this from Jesus’ lips, Himself, from Matthew 22:37-40)

            Love each other as you love yourselves [i], but most importantly, love Me with all your thoughts, words, and deeds!
 
            So to summarize my musings today, I challenge you (and myself!) to focus not on things you don’t do as a Christian, but rather to focus on doing and living as a Christian!

Ever His,




[i] For more on this, please see Matthew Henry’s commentary on these verses.

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