Mandatory

There’s a saying about fascist governments: whatever isn’t mandatory is forbidden. There’s another one: show me the man, and I’ll show you the laws he’s broken. Laws come down to not trusting people to do the rational thing. Rightly so, I might ad. If everyone drove their cars at a reasonable speed, we wouldn’t need speed limits. Similarly, if people didn’t punch others, we wouldn’t need laws about assault and battery. The thing is, eventually we get so many laws it’s hard to keep track of them all. It then fosters the attitude of, “That’s not illegal, so I can do that.” Then we eventually devolve into the laws mandating some things, and anything not mandated becomes illegal. When I was growing up in the 1970s there was a saying, “There outta be a law!” I don’t hear that one anymore. God’s laws are kinda like that. The first one was, “Don’t eat from that tree.” He’s God, so you do what He tells you, right? Wrong. Adam and Eve chowed down on the very thing He told them not to eat. I wonder if the echo of His command had even died before the forbidden repast began. Then we had Cain killing his brother – there wasn’t exactly a law about it, yet. Violence abounded, and one day God had enough. “Moses, I got some regulations for you.” Behold, the Ten Commandments. But what did that really mean? Some hairsplitters decided that something not expressly forbidden by God was okay. “Well, I remembered the Sabbath Day. Why can’t I take my camel for a ride?” So the priests had to define what remembering the Sabbath meant. Eventually the hierarchy developed hundred of laws (small “L”) to keep God’s Law paramount. They made those limitations even more strict than the Law for a safety margin. It’s sort of like, “It’s safe to drive 30, so we’ll post the speed limit at 25.” The police know you’ll drive 30, expect it, and generally don’t put up a fuss unless you get too close to 35. God’s Law is all about love. If you love Him, you’ll do what He says. Period. If you love Him, you’ll love other people, and will look out for them without having laws to force you. That’s not the way the World works, however. “Why should I donate anything to a food pantry? There’s no law that says I have to.” So we end up with hungry people asking the government for help. We get taxed because we’re too stingy to do it unless we’re forced. Now it’s mandatory. The thing is, the government runs on red tape. For every dollar they take from you or me or the widow down the street, only pennies get to the intended purpose. So to get that dollar of food to give to a hungry person, we get taxed an extra dime, or quarter, or maybe two dollars. That figure depends on who you ask. God’s people, however, aren’t supposed to wait for the government to take care of things like that. We’re supposed to see a need, and take care of it without having someone force us to do it. That’s what God expects of us. That’s not what the World sees, however. The World sees a group of people in a social club that’s very little different from everyone else. Most Christians react the same as the rest of the population, despite what God says. There are plenty of examples, so where we fall short isn’t just an outlier. We’re supposed to do what love intends for us to do. Against such things there is no law.