Exodus 19: 2-20 (links validated 5/22/23)

With the Israelites’ history as people who have just emerged from slavery in the background, Brian McLaren paraphrases the commandments in this way: 1. Put the God of liberation first, not the gods of slavery. 2. Don’t reduce God to the manageable size of an idol – certainly not one made of wood and stone by human hands, and not one made by human minds of rituals and words, either, and certainly not one in whose name people are enslaved, dehumanized, or killed! 3. Do not use God for your own agendas by throwing around God’s holy name. 4. Honor the God of liberation by taking and giving everyone a day off. Don’t keep the old 24/7 slave economy going. 5. Turn from self-centeredness by honoring your parents. (After all, honor is the basis of freedom.) 6. Don’t kill people, and don’t do the things that frequently incite violence, including: 7. Don’t cheat with others’ spouses, 8. Don’t steal others’ possessions, and 9. Don’t lie about others’ behaviors or characters. 10. In fact, if you really want to avoid the violence of the old slave economy, deal with its root source – in the drama of desire. Don’t let the competitive desire to acquire tempt you off the road of freedom. I like McLaren’s version of the commandments because they remind us that these are rules for living in community...

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