Restrictive or Instructive Rule.

I took the other day off from work to catch up on some overdue chores and had a bit of an epiphany while sitting in a coffee shop waiting for the oil to be changed in my car. I was reading Bennett Sims book Servanthood – Leadership for the Third Millennium and came across this question:

“Are the divine laws that rule the cosmos meant to restrict or to instruct?”

For much of my working life I have struggled with my role as an enforcer of environmental rules and regulations; and with the legal system, that defines these rules in general. There always seemed to be a fundamental problem with this system as far as being a useful tool in helping people and institutions to comply with the law. After reading Reverend Sims’ question, I finally understood what the problem was - our laws are typically written in a manner to restrict people and their actions, not instruct them on what is the right way to act.

A good example of the consequences of laws designed to restrict can be found in the recent report from the Pew Center on the States titled One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008. The report highlights how we have crossed the threshold where currently one out of every one hundred people in our country is in jail or prison. This incarceration rate is not due to an increase in crime rates, but rather from the political policy trend of more restrictive jail sentences for crimes, like the “three-strikes and out” measures. The report also details how this increased focus on punishment is not reducing the crime rate.

I came across another more insidious example of using restriction or the threat of punishment to control while attending a religious workshop for youth with my fourteen-year old daughter. A medical doctor gave a presentation detailing the medical conditions that Jesus suffered during his crucifixion. The doctor then reminded the several hundred teenagers in attendance that the suffering that Jesus went through is what awaits people after they die if they do not make it to heaven. His implication was that you had better live right now or you will suffer eternally. It was this type of teaching the turned me away from the church for most of my life.

What a difference it would make if our politicians and religious leaders changed their focus from restricting to instructing the people they lead. One thing seems obvious and that is that rule by restriction and control does not work. We need to work towards focusing on the instructive power to empower, and let go of the restrictive power to control.