The Ten Commandments and the two advocated by Jesus are the Rules of Life that make human teamwork functional. God gave the ancient Hebrews the Ten Commandments to help them live peacefully and successfully with each other, but in that early civilization, very few people could read or write so their understanding was very limited. To them, God’s Commandments were simply demands made by a higher authority, and they often rebelled. When we were children and our parents told us to clean our room or wash the dishes we too often rebelled because we didn’t understand why that was important.
As adult Christians living in the 21st century, we now know that the Ten Commandments and the two lifted out of earlier scriptures by Jesus are needed to make it possible for every human being to lead a happy and successful life. There are many thousand times more people living in our world today than in those earlier civilizations and yet even though human life is more complicated, it is also more peaceful and productive because most people have learned to obey the rules. It is common to hear about bad things happening in the news, but writers like Steven Pinker in The Better Angels of Our Nature and Matt Ridley in The Rational Optimist have provided extensive documentation supporting the view that human life on earth is continually getting better. A wonderful new civilization is emerging as humans learn to obey the rules and work together in team relationships, but it needs the support and encouragement of all of us.
Robert C. Frank
Author of: Christ’s Team
