Order or Disorder?

 “22 And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’”-Exodus 20:22-26 ESV

In football match, there is a degree of freedom in displaying the skill, though it still be confined within the set rules and regulations. In other word, the referee will not give you a yellow card for doing a dance as you dribble the ball, however, if while you dribble you hurt the other player, chances are you will be ‘rewarded’ with a yellow card or even a red card, depending on the situation. Likewise, in this life, though we are granted with much freedom, those freedoms are not without rules and regulations binding to it; that is what we described as order.

The way it applies is almost as a quid pro quo to our adherent to the set rules. Freedom is given based upon the adherent to the set orders. Within an organization, such freedom also given based upon the adherent to the set orders. In reality, in this world, ‘freedom’ is a vague term upon which some terms and conditions still applied. This philosophy also applied within the fabric of community; existing even in some culture or religions. For example, the east Asian culture would be bound by the respect of the senior or the elderly while still be given the freedom to exercise the same term to those who are inferior or younger to them. While in religion, such freedom existed within the four walls of the church,for example, in return to adherent to the set structure of congregations trusting the leaders to be their spiritual guide -- but, still given the option to leave the guide in search for a better guide.

However, needless to say that such idea does not exist without some form of abuse. For the world has been advocating the rights of everything under the heaven, some would definitely mistaken the freedom as equal to liberty to do or to be everything or anything without any rules or regulations tied to it (to put it into a perspective, no one should be allowed to stop you if you decided to be a fish instead of human!). Here a question remain, so what is freedom then if there are rules or terms that applied to it? It is a hard question to answer because the answer would be relatives to individual -- that is if we seek the kind of freedom that human would give to one another. So, this is where we need to ask ourselves, what freedom has been granted to us?

In the biblical perspective, the freedom given comes with the expectation of adhering to the rules or orders given by the One who granted it. From the passage quoted above, the literal freedom was given the Israelite; the slaves to the Egypt, but, in return, they were expected to follows some set rules or orders. Much like the the VAR in a football match, there are many angles that we can approach in order to further understand the ‘conditional’ freedom given to the people of Israel prior to entering the promised land.

A brief background to the passage is helpful. In chapter 20 of the book of Exodus, the fear-evoking event unfold as Moses came down with the Ten Commandments, instructing the newly-liberated Israelite to obey their new Master. After the pleasing reaction from the people, Moses went back up to the mountain to spend time with the LORD (YHWH) where he received meticulous instructions of approaching Him as their God as well as treating their fellow brothers as human. Spanning from chapter 19 to chapter 40, with a brief pause in chapter 32 (because of the golden calf), the instructions to apply the Ten Commandments in their daily lives made known.

First, we need to dig deeper to the logic behind rules and regulations. Rules and regulations does not exist without the desire for the best possible outcome. Traffic rules, for example, existed so that the best possible outcome; which is everyone safely arrives at their destination, will happen. So, the meticulous instructions about the altar of burnt offering by the LORD existed so that the best possible outcome; His holiness, preserved. Why ‘this’ LORD insisted on His holiness to be preserved then? This LORD is not the same lord or master that they once had back in Egypt, and definitely not the same master that has been binding their souls to the constant divergence and disobedience. This LORD is the ONE and ONLY Master who has redeemed them from both their physical tyrant master as well as spiritual master.

It is only natural for a servant to be subjected to his master. Though they are free from their previous master, but because their current master has paid a price to redeem the servant, he is belong to the new master. This analogy should help us to better understand our relationship with God. While it is true that God is love, but it is also true that God is holy and just. In that prospect, as much as we have been given freedom, we are still bound by His terms, though unlike how the world operates, He does not superimposed it upon us. So, then, what are we free from actually?

A straight-forward answer would be, we are free from our slavery to sin. The rules and regulations or orders are there to tell us that there is a cause and event to everything. Because of our sin, we are granted the death penalty. But, because of the death penalty we need a way out; a pardon or a saviour. Here is where God’s love works in a perfect synergy with His holiness and just. Thus, the sacrificial systems and civil laws that centralized around Him were created so that, while He show love, His holiness and justice still intact. Because, if He contradicts His own characters, then we can be certain that He is not God.

Along the line of this argument, we could tie it to the logic behind the orders that existed within the church. Anglican church, for example, function within many set orders; from organization up to the worship as its ethos. Though, within her existed many freedoms in the form of worship, an organized liturgy still relevant. It shows that, as much as we are free, there are still some orders or structures that we abide to so that we can achieve the best possible outcome of showing His love through worship while maintaining the reverence to His holiness. In oppose to the popular belief, the rigidity in some form of the worship in Anglican church does not function as a pedestal for the ministers but rather an outer expression of reverence to His holiness while showing the God’s love through the reenactment of His sacrificial love; the Lord’s Supper.

The irony to the people of Israel, their focus was misplaced to the adherent of the expanded laws than the fundamental laws of the Ten Commandments. The laws that should serve as their ticket of freedom become the shackles that bound them. God’s laws upon them existed to preserve their newfound freedom and status as God’s people, but, if it were to be used for self-serving interests, in which case they did, then it became the stumbling blocks for them. The same applies to us, Christian. While the New Testament made by the blood of Jesus brings a refreshing law of love, if it only serve our self-serving interests, it will bind us further with the force of this world (Ephesian 6).  Let us etch this to our mind, that the laws or orders, especially in our redeemed life, serve the purpose of obtaining the best possible outcome in which God’s love spreads across the world, and His holiness and justice are well-preserved.

Ultimately, it is not about how well we could follow through the laws or orders but rather how well-informed we are to the intention or the core message of it. That is why the phrase “rules are meant to be broken” could serve as a warning to us that our focus on the details could blind from the heart of it. Because, the truth is, we human are not capable of abiding totally to the laws ‘thanks’ to our sinful nature. But, the good news is, while it is almost certain that we will break God’s laws in our lives, it is certain that God is all-ears for our confession and repentance. For He has paid a great price in order to redeem us as His personal possession. The question is, how well do we observe the reverence to His holiness while exercising His justice and love?

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