Articles
Religious Tokenism and the Sabbath · June 02, 2006
By Hal Mayer
Religious symbols or tokens have been around for a long time. Catholics, Muslims, Jews and evangelicals all have them. Crucifixes, prayer rugs, menorahs, beads and hymnals create strong emotional connections in the minds of each group. But if God’s people lose their experience with Him, a symbol becomes merely a rallying point, a token, replacing the real thing, a “buzz word” or shallow sentiment.
Perhaps one of the most powerful religious symbols is the Ten Commandments. While the Ten Commandments were given as the law of our personal experience, they become an external token without substance if we don’t internalize them and live by them. Among many religious groups, the emphasis on elevating the Ten Commandments into the public arena while at the same time ignoring their requirement of holy living—and seventh-day Sabbath-keeping in particular—is religious tokenism. Too many Christians give lip service to the Ten Commandments, but are not committed to living by them.
Jesus said, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” Matthew 15:8. His words reproved religious people then and now who honor the symbol more than what it represents. Evangelicals and others have declared for years that the law was nailed to the cross and that we don’t have to obey it. But now evangelicals in America are upset that one of their religious tokens, the Ten Commandments, has been removed from some public courtrooms. The movement to restore the Ten Commandments in public life is a reaction to the rejection of their religious symbol. In fact, this religious symbol has now become a political rallying point.
The sad reality is that most Christians have no true appreciation for the Ten Commandments. They don’t understand the experience of truly keeping them. An emphasis on public tokens of religiosity, no matter how cleverly presented, cannot substitute for heart experiences with God that incorporate the principles behind the symbols. Those who are attempting to promote the Ten Commandments as public tokens may have no idea where the politics of tokenism will lead; oppressive laws supporting Sunday worship with penalties for those that don’t obey them. This will lead to more empty religiosity, such as church attendance with no genuine experience with God. Creating laws supporting religious tokenism is giving God mere lip service.
Seventh-day Adventists have been called to restore the Ten Commandments to their rightful place in the heart and remind the rest of the Christian world of our moral obligation to make them real in our lives, not mere symbolic tokens. True law keeping is both internally rewarding and essential. The drive for public display of God’s law is an tremendous opportunity to proclaim His law, and especially the Sabbath, more fully. Our moment is here. Live it and proclaim it!
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Thank you so much for all these things. It would mean a lot as we continue to prepare ourselves for His soon coming and in sharing His good news to others. GOD BLESS YOU and your MINISTRY!
— Jackie G. · Fri Nov 27, 07:42 AM · #
Very true. I’m afraid that Sabbath has become just such a token for a ‘lukewarm’ church which has shut Christ out and now is relying on the ‘Arm of Man’. The words Jesus spoke to Nicodemus apply with greater force for us today, ‘you must be born again, from above, by the Spirit of the Living God’, and only then will the Sabbath be kept holy.
God bless,
Dennis
— Dennis S · Fri Mar 13, 12:10 PM · #
Thank you for pointing out that mere symbols are ineffective for keeping one focused on God. The Christion cross is the best example of this. We see everywhere the sign of the cross and at these same places are every manner of evil. Only God’s word stands as a testimony for His truth. The Ten Commandments being the cornerstone of the word and Christ being the cornerstone of the Church. We are to be Christ-like in all manner and action.
— Pam Armstrong · Fri Nov 21, 08:00 PM · #