What Doth the Lord Expect Thee to Do?

[Polycarp1]

Thread title is a rhetorical question in the KJV translation of Micah, which Ger Tzedek's signature line brought to mind. But it's a valid question, none the less.

In your opinion, what does God expect people -- individual human beings -- to do? What are our moral imperatives deriving from Him? If He sets priorities, what are they?

Two comments: 1) I'm sure there need to be more than a couple answers of the "Thou shalt not" variety. But by and large, I'm not asking what He wants us to NOT do, so much as what He wants us TO do. 2) Since this thread is open to all comers, I'm going to put one stipulation: Any non-Yahwists (atheists, agnostics, believers in religions not following the God of Abraham) answering, please take it as a hypothetical where assuming that Yahweh is Lord God of all the Earth, and has discernible moral mandates for humans, is a given.

I have a feeling there will be some interesting answers and results generally from this. I also have hunch that those who have been at odds in various topic may be interested in what happens when the question is not focused what God expects as regards one particular topic but looking at the broader picture of His expectations of each of us, all of us.

 

[Beanieboy]

I think that what God asks of us is very simple: to love our neighbors as ourselves, and in doing so, we love God, and it benefits us, because it makes the world a better place to live.

 

[ArchaicTruth]

I believe he wants us to understand

 

[GeratTzedek]

Wow, someone actually noticed my tag.

With all respect to beanie boy, I would appreciate seeing answers that are more specific than "love our neighbors as ourselves" or "do good" or the like. I'll tell you why. People get lost in vagueness. It's easy to get all warm and sentimental about loving others while not having a clue how to do it.

I'll chime in later.

 

[Beanieboy]

More specific? When you live your life, act with loving kindness to everyone you meet. See someone with bags on the subway? Offer your seat. Hold open the door for someone. If someone looks upset, ask them if they want to talk. If someone needs help, offer them more than what they ask for. Treat someone the way you would want to be treated. Gandhi said that if you want to change the world, start by changing yourself.

 

[Spherical Time]

I'm going to put one stipulation: Any non-Yahwists (atheists, agnostics, believers in religions not following the God of Abraham) answering, please take it as a hypothetical where assuming that Yahweh is Lord God of all the Earth, and has discernible moral mandates for humans, is a given.

Just one point first: It is awesome of you to include this stipulation, which completely makes it worth answering to me. Thus:

1. Do your best to love God
2. Do your best to love your Neighbor
3. Take care of yourself
4. Take care of the world around you
5. Evangelize

I think that the first, especially to an atheist, is self-explanatory. Whatever faith that you have in God, you should do the best in it that you can. To me, I've always found that those that struggle with the deep questions of faith are those that show more fruits of the spirit.

The second requires you to act in a manner that Christians typically term "righteous." This is where turning the other cheek, being a peace maker, and treating people as best you can comes from. You'll notice that I put this above "evangelize" and the reason for that is that it requires love and trust to evangelize and the majority of Christians seem to skip this step.

The third is drawn from the first and second: you can't accomplish them if you don't.

The fourth is a matter of courtesy and health (i.e. it's also related to the second point)

The fifth is justified by the various letters of Paul, and is a minor subset of the second point, but as most Christians seem to confuse the two, I definitely wanted to list it.