Restoring Reverence
The Fifth Commandment, I am learning, is a bit like the body of water near which our little town resides. Lake Pend Oreille is about 1,200 feet deep (and potentially deeper, depending upon whom you ask). The Fifth Commandment, too, boasts great depths. In fact, I feel like I have been diving straight down for a long time and the bottom is not yet in sight. Very deep.
We sell ourselves short if we conclude that all the Fifth Commandment has in view is rote obedience to two people: mom and dad. Obey them while you are under their roof, move out when you turn 18, and check the box. Congratulations. The Fifth Commandment has been successfully kept and exists in the rearview mirror. On to the other nine!
Like I said, this commandment is deep. Obedience to God through the Fifth Commandment begins with dad and mom, but then the deep dive begins. The Ten Commandments give us a heart posture that brings obedience in a myriad of ways and situations - not just the specific cases listed. For example, the Ninth Commandment requires that we not “bear false witness” against our neighbor. The language is describing a legal testimony given in a courtroom setting. Does that mean lying is acceptable as long as we are out of the courtroom? Of course not. The example given applies to all situations in which speaking about our neighbor is in view. God loves truth and wants his people to love the truth. That is the principle. Now, back to the Fifth.
Similarly, the Fifth Commandment aims at our attitude toward all authority that God has placed over us. The first level of authority someone comes to know is that of their parents. What father and mother say rules the day. They direct your life for those first years and gradually loosen the restraints as you learn to think and operate on your own. Without their guidance and authority, we would not survive! Thank God for parents. After we learn to obey and honor them, we can broaden our scope of understanding to see all the other positions of authority and hierarchies that exist around us. Uncles, grandmothers, sheriffs, governors, clergy, store managers, landowners - all of them hold positional authority that is meant to be acknowledged an honored.
Now, here is where my recent deep dive into the Fifth has taken me. I have tried to view our nation’s culture in light of the Fifth Commandment. I encourage you to do the same. Would you say that there is a problem with reverence in our nation? I would. The problem is not in every place to the same degree, but go ahead and survey the hot topics on the front page of the news. Consider the Minneapolis protests against lawkeeping. I can nearly guarantee that the vast majority of protestors have horrible relationships with their parents, and especially their fathers. Do you see countless young men who lack reverence for the police? I can promise you they lacked reverence for their parents first. How about the women lining up to murder yet another child in their womb? They have no respect for life. Where did that lack of respect start?
Let us not overthink the task at hand. Perhaps we have personally slacked a bit in our regular exercise of reverence and respect in the culture. Think this way - if Bible-believing Christians do not demonstrate basic reverence and respect, how can we expect the unbelieving world around us to show reverence and respect? Here is my point:
One of the best things you can do for future generations is to teach your children basic reverence and respect.
This, of course, assumes that you are reverential and respectful yourself. If you have not been, start now. Relearn what was important to your grandparents. Google it if you have to. Then teach it to others, starting with the children at home.
Teach them how to stand for our National Anthem.
Teach them what to do when a funeral procession passes by.
Teach them where to walk and how to speak in a cemetery.
Teach them how to talk to police during a traffic stop.
Teach them how to shake a hand and look a full-grown man in the eye.
Teach them to say, “Yes, sir,” until given permission to do otherwise.
Teach them to introduce themselves with their first and last name.
Teach them how to address their pastor, their grandparents, and the mailman.
Teach them how to honor women, starting with their mother.
Teach them that if they disrespect mom, you will disrespect their hind end.
Teach them that if dad and mom are talking, that means they are not.
Teach them how to conduct themselves during the worship of God on the Lord’s Day.
Teach them to treat their Bibles like a real treasure and not a comic book.
Teach them to live life in a way that reinforces this humbling truth: the universe does not revolve around them. They are not the top of the totem pole. There are many people and institutions worthy of their reverence and respect.
Our reverence of the highest authority is normally displayed by our reverence of lower authorities. Want the next generation to change the world? Have them tuck their shirts in and learn to say, “Excuse me.”
We sell ourselves short if we conclude that all the Fifth Commandment has in view is rote obedience to two people: mom and dad. Obey them while you are under their roof, move out when you turn 18, and check the box. Congratulations. The Fifth Commandment has been successfully kept and exists in the rearview mirror. On to the other nine!
Like I said, this commandment is deep. Obedience to God through the Fifth Commandment begins with dad and mom, but then the deep dive begins. The Ten Commandments give us a heart posture that brings obedience in a myriad of ways and situations - not just the specific cases listed. For example, the Ninth Commandment requires that we not “bear false witness” against our neighbor. The language is describing a legal testimony given in a courtroom setting. Does that mean lying is acceptable as long as we are out of the courtroom? Of course not. The example given applies to all situations in which speaking about our neighbor is in view. God loves truth and wants his people to love the truth. That is the principle. Now, back to the Fifth.
Similarly, the Fifth Commandment aims at our attitude toward all authority that God has placed over us. The first level of authority someone comes to know is that of their parents. What father and mother say rules the day. They direct your life for those first years and gradually loosen the restraints as you learn to think and operate on your own. Without their guidance and authority, we would not survive! Thank God for parents. After we learn to obey and honor them, we can broaden our scope of understanding to see all the other positions of authority and hierarchies that exist around us. Uncles, grandmothers, sheriffs, governors, clergy, store managers, landowners - all of them hold positional authority that is meant to be acknowledged an honored.
Now, here is where my recent deep dive into the Fifth has taken me. I have tried to view our nation’s culture in light of the Fifth Commandment. I encourage you to do the same. Would you say that there is a problem with reverence in our nation? I would. The problem is not in every place to the same degree, but go ahead and survey the hot topics on the front page of the news. Consider the Minneapolis protests against lawkeeping. I can nearly guarantee that the vast majority of protestors have horrible relationships with their parents, and especially their fathers. Do you see countless young men who lack reverence for the police? I can promise you they lacked reverence for their parents first. How about the women lining up to murder yet another child in their womb? They have no respect for life. Where did that lack of respect start?
Let us not overthink the task at hand. Perhaps we have personally slacked a bit in our regular exercise of reverence and respect in the culture. Think this way - if Bible-believing Christians do not demonstrate basic reverence and respect, how can we expect the unbelieving world around us to show reverence and respect? Here is my point:
One of the best things you can do for future generations is to teach your children basic reverence and respect.
This, of course, assumes that you are reverential and respectful yourself. If you have not been, start now. Relearn what was important to your grandparents. Google it if you have to. Then teach it to others, starting with the children at home.
Teach them how to stand for our National Anthem.
Teach them what to do when a funeral procession passes by.
Teach them where to walk and how to speak in a cemetery.
Teach them how to talk to police during a traffic stop.
Teach them how to shake a hand and look a full-grown man in the eye.
Teach them to say, “Yes, sir,” until given permission to do otherwise.
Teach them to introduce themselves with their first and last name.
Teach them how to address their pastor, their grandparents, and the mailman.
Teach them how to honor women, starting with their mother.
Teach them that if they disrespect mom, you will disrespect their hind end.
Teach them that if dad and mom are talking, that means they are not.
Teach them how to conduct themselves during the worship of God on the Lord’s Day.
Teach them to treat their Bibles like a real treasure and not a comic book.
Teach them to live life in a way that reinforces this humbling truth: the universe does not revolve around them. They are not the top of the totem pole. There are many people and institutions worthy of their reverence and respect.
Our reverence of the highest authority is normally displayed by our reverence of lower authorities. Want the next generation to change the world? Have them tuck their shirts in and learn to say, “Excuse me.”
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