At last week’s Bible study session, the main topic of conversation revolved around the current worship series (looking for new wisdom in the old stories of the Hebrew Scriptures) and the previous Sunday’s scripture and sermon on the Ten Commandments. It didn’t take long for the small group to engage in lively conversation. To what extent are the Ten Commandments relevant to us today? Do we think about them? Do we use them as a guide for how we live our lives? Is the sternness of “commandment” helpful or not, as we consider the significance of the demands that are contained in the famous list? And in what ways do we find connection between the Ten Commandments and the summary of the “the Law” set out by Jesus in the “Golden Rule,” to love God and to love one’s neighbor as oneself?

Our conversation hummed along, as we reflected on the fact that, while murder seems an easy commandment to follow, other commandments are more complicated, like coveting and bearing false witness (lying). What about the white lies we tell, like the ones we must tell to a loved one with dementia? What does it mean to break a commandment in that way? And, what about “honoring father and mother”? What does honoring look like when one was raised in a dysfunctional environment?

We moved on to consider what it means to “love,” as in love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. I’ve always found Frederick Buechner’s insight very helpful to this point. While we are called to “love our neighbor,” being attentive to the well-being of others, we are not called to “like” our neighbors. The difference is significant.

Finally, one of the group piped up, “What about evil and those who commit evil acts? How do we honor the commandments in the face of, in the midst of, evil? How do we deal with people who essentially break all of the commandments? What sort of responsibility does a person of faith have in the face of evil? The conversation turned to the horrific events that had recently taken place in Israel, and then to Hitler, along with his very willing companions. I also thought of the subject matter of the soon-to-be-released film, Killers of the Flower Moon. I read the book, written by David Grann, last year. It’s a deeply unsettling book not only about evil, but the complex web that develops around evil acts, pulling even the unwitting and unwilling into its sticky strands.

What is required of the faithful? We might prefer to think that we aspire to walk in the ways of the words of the prophet Micah, acting justly, loving kindness and walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8), but the reality of our lives is complicated and there are certainly times when we participate in evil without even knowing it. And, then there is the enormity of evil. How do we find value in our small acts of resistance to evil and in our seemingly inconsequential commitment to looking out for the well-being of our neighbors, both near and far.

It may not be much, but I found myself moved by the conversation that took place during that Bible study gathering. Though we were a small group, there was both the willingness and the desire to engage with big questions, important questions. Those gathered there articulated an important vulnerability, that our lives of faith are always a work in progress and, if we can agree on one thing that is required of us, that we are called to take our faith seriously and to appreciate that God calls us to do things that are hard and sometimes even dangerous. Walking humbly with God is just the beginning.