Agricolae.net

The 4th Commandment is to honor your father and your mother. Traditional reading of this commandment expands that honoring in two directions. The first is in the people honored - not just mom and dad, but anyone in a position of authority - principle, teacher, pastor, boss, senator, etc. The second direction is the sphere of honoring. What does honoring mean? Luther puts it in both positive and negative terms. We should not despise out parents or superiors nor provoke them to anger, but honor, serve, obey, love and esteem them. As a child it makes great sense, even if your parents are messed-up idiots, they still have a wider authority. The trouble comes in the adult world. What do you do when serving and loving look like they are at odds with esteeming and honoring. There were many times in the business world were I would have a boss I dearly loved and esteemed his/her judgement, but they had certain blind spots (we all do). Serving that boss meant calling it out. It meant not honoring their judgement.

The key question is - when you think your “leadership” is lacking judgement, missing the boat, way out of line or killing prime opportunities what does the 4th commandment require in the modern world? The modern world has two things that level the advantages of experience: the pace of information and a default egalitarianism. The diligent 20yr old can be much better equipped and informed than the mediocre 55 yr old. The hard working entreprenuer can have much better insight than the corporate executive. The latters would appear to be the “superiors”, but the formers actually are in the better position. Does the 20 yr old shut up and obey, or is the better part of honoring to speak up and bear the consequences if there are any? Does the entreprenuerial spirit fall in line to the corporate thinking, or do skunk works become the correct response.

This is also mixed up with the fact the the Baby-boomers, a group that as a collective disregarded the 4th commandment, and still often act like juvenilles, are in many of those “superior” positions. Is stupidity a requirement of the 4th commandment?

There is a corollary to the 4th commandment given to mothers and fathers. Don’t provoke your children to anger (Eph 6:4).

Right now, to me, the better part of honoring seems like the old National Review slogan - Standing Athwart History, Yelling Stop! The hierarchical postions are not ours. The “leaders” should be allowed to make their mistakes. But that honoring stops at the active need to further something that makes one angry enough to spit nails. Argue, warn, cajol and act to minimize the damage both direct and colateral.

Tags: Behavior, Church, Culture //