Chalke Talk 65: Should the Ten Commandments be obeyed or understood?

In this week’s Chalke Talk, Steve describes how the Ten Commandments have been misunderstood throughout history. Rather than a set of instructions sent by God to spoil our fun, they are instead a fantastic way of understanding God’s love for his creation. Steve challenges us to understand how we interpret our ethics as a series of principles to live by rather than seeing any commandment or part of scripture as a narrow set of rules to follow.

As Steve puts it, "God didn’t start his relationship with human beings by drawing up a list of moral rules designed to spoil our fun.  Rather they are God saying, ‘I love you unconditionally and I’ve already demonstrated that to you. You were slaves, brick-makers, no-hopers back in Egypt.  But I’ve lifted you out of your slavery and given you freedom and a new beginning; a new hope. I’m on your side. So trust me. Live like this."

Why doesn’t the church ever say that?