Today Olivia raised a wonderfully provocative question.  Here it is: in her words.

“If God, concerned about human progress, decided we needed an 11th Commandment, what would it be?”

Here’s my take on the question for what it’s worth.

My gut tells me it would be something along the lines of: “Thou shalt remember you aren’t God.”

There are two reasons why I think that.  The first reason is because of a seed that was planted in my head during my theology sequence of classes back in seminary.  In that sequence of classes, I encountered a definition of sin that was credited to Karl Barth.  He said (in grossly paraphrased terms) sin represents those moments when the finite (elements of creation like you and I) confuses itself with the Infinite (God).  That REALLY resonated with me then.  It still guides my life today.

This takes me to the second reason I would put for my version of the 11^th Commandment.  One of my core convictions is that the most holy people I have encountered have one thing in common: a shocking sense of humility.  This was true of Jesus (as quoted in places like Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19 – “Why do you call me good? …  ‘No one is good – except God alone.”).  That is true of the folks in my life whom I most respect as well.

Those are the reasons I would suggest “thou shalt remember you aren’t God” as my version of the 11^th Commandment.

So what about you?  What do you think God’s 11^th commandment might be?

Don’t forget to keep the questions or concerns coming in J