Splitting hairs?

What does Michael Moore, Joel Osteen, Michael Jackson, Mark Driscoll, Modonna, John Edwards, The Ten Commandments, and Seth Macfariane all have in common?
They have all been featured on ABC’s Nightline.

I ran across a “tweet” by Mark Driscoll telling everyone that he was going to be on Nightline. They seem to have taken to the pastor who is as they called him an ““indy rock star” of the evangelicals” which has given him an interesting platform.

Nightline is currently doing a series on the Ten Commandments. It covers a variety of angles on culture and the Ten Commandments along with its relevance in today’s world.
The very interesting thing about the series is the people that they bring in for the various topics. Here is what I have seen on the site: (please don’t be intimidated by length, each commandment is brief).


1. You shall have no other gods before me- I didn’t see anything on this commandment yet.


2. Idols
Pastor Mark Driscoll was asked about Idols. Quite possibly because he tweeted about it during the whole Michael Jackson death media hype.
Mark defined it like this, “An idol is someone or something that occupies the place of God in your life,” he said. “[It] gives you identity, meaning, value, purpose, love, significance, security. When the Bible uses the word ‘idol’, that’s what it’s getting at.”
They used the time to take a tour of Seattle and look at Idols in the city (even down to the football stadium... ouch).


3. Blasphemy
This angle was interesting as Nighline studied the use of the texting era and the phrase “OMG” and what does it mean. Does the G stand for gosh? Or is it using Gods name in vein?
‘It No Longer Carries Any Weight’ could be a result you will conclude by looking at society, so is it even worth looking into?
One of the final thoughts of the article is “Not surprisingly, texting slang, including OMG, has made its way into movies and television as well. On TV, teen dramas like “Gossip Girl,” which features an unseen blogger who stirs up trouble in the lives of a group of upper crust young people, OMG is a frequent part of the dialogue.”
If this is really a concern, its about to get even bigger.


4. Sabbath day
Chick fil-A, the only portion of the series purely focused on the reason behind a corporation’s action. Chick fil-A closes its very profitable doors every Sunday. Knowing full well that they are missing the “church crowd” and Sunday traffic.
Dan Cathy (worker) “Does Cathy ever go into a mall on Sunday, and see a dark, shuttered Chick fil-A, and see all the other stores open, and think, maybe?
“No, never.” “I think, isn’t that incredible, isn’t that neat?” Cathy said. “That we can be closed on Sunday? We’re generating more business in six days than all these other tenants are generating in seven? And we can be with our family.”
Providing nourishment for the body as well as the soul.


5. I didn’t see anything on honoring Father and Mother on the site.


6. Do not Kill
Dr. Philip Nitschke is a man who believes that a rational person of sound mind should have the option of being in control over their own death. There was little mention of the commandment topic as he obviously didn’t seem concerned with going against the bible. Instead he focused on his career and life goal to aid people in knowing how to end their life. “It doesn’t have to be serious disease,” Nitschke says. “It doesn’t have to be pain. I think we should respect the right of rational adults to make this choice.”

His clients will bring him all over to be aided or trained “just in case” “Nitschke argues that those who want it, those who need it and those who are of sound mind have the right to be given detailed instructions on how to kill themselves, quickly, peacefully, legally.”


7. Adultery
... This one is disturbing, unsettling and kind of odd for me too watch as a christian and a newly wed. However the topic needs to be discussed. The relevance of the seventh commandment. Nightline brought on a panel of four people to discuss whether or not we are born to cheat.
“Noel Biderman, CEO of a Web site for people who want to have an affair, and Jenny Block, author of “Open: Love, Sex and Life in an Open Marriage.” Block is in an open marriage with her husband and has a female lover on the side.”
“Defending the enduring relevance of the seventh commandment were Pastor Ed Young, whose Fellowship Church hosted the “Face-Off,” and Jonathan Daugherty of Be Broken Ministries, who struggled to overcome sex addiction and adultery in his marriage.”
If you choose to watch the video’s you would be amazed at the topic as it spirals from is the seventh commandment relevant, to whether or not it is helpful for you marriage or not to have an affair. The argument was not as heated of a debate as they tend to get on nightline but there were very few moments where it seemed either side was swayed by the other.


8. Steal
A story about a store owner in New York who killed 2 young men for breaking in a attempting robbery. The story gets more in-depth but the conversation is odd since it seems more fitting for commandment 6. for me.


9. Lie
A.J. Jacobs Tried Not to Tell a Lie, Following Ninth Commandment. This man attempts to follow the ninth commandment literally and finds that he breaks it more than he thought.


10. Covet
Logan-Cannon is a shopahaulic who feels better when she shops. ““I probably would rather shop than eat,” Logan-Cannon said. And her balance sheet confirms it. By her own count, Logan-Cannon is “about $280,000” in debt. That number did not include her mortgage or car payments.”
This is actually an interesting take on the tenth commandment as it shows the result of years of coveting and indulging in those thoughts.

With Nightlines series on the ten commandments should we as believers be concerned? Should we pay attention? Are we responsible for the worldview that others have on the ten commandments? Its interesting that I looked through each article because normally I wouldn’t be as curious but ABC seemed to be interested in the churches view as well as non believers (such as bringing in mark and two other believers).

So are we being relevant in this new age by imposing this old testament command on ourselves and our kids?
I don’t think so. More importantly, Christ didn’t seem to think so when He took the commandments and made them even more strict by including the heart of the commandments (Matthew 5:17-19, Matthew 5:21-28).
As well as Paul teaching it on several occasions specifically Romans 6:15-23.

Nightline is doing good work by bringing up the subject. They leave it fairly open ended on several of the topics, but the topic has now been started again.