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Rules/Policies, Logic, and Love
How to behave in our organizations| posted 11/02/2007
Organizations have rules, regulations, and policies to guide the behavior of the people who work and live in the organization. The intent of those who developed the rules, regulations, and polices was that people would adhere to these requirements, but we know that sometimes people don't follow the 'law' of the organization. For some people there are consequences for not following the law, and for others there seems to be no negative outcome. To a newcomer, or to an outside person, and for many within the organization, it is difficult to understand who is supposed to follow the law and who is not. The New Testament concept of Nomos helps organizational leaders to understand who does not have to follow the rules, regulations, and policies and when it is appropriate to not adhere to them. This article presents the concept of Nomos, along with its three levels, gives scriptural examples of each level, and offers advice on how we might develop our organizations to be more in line with the concept that Jesus and the disciples referenced in the Gospels.
Nomos is used 155 times in the New Testament to describe three different approaches to the "law." Each of the three approaches seems to contradict the others, as evidenced by the following three verses:
- Romans 2:23: You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?
- Matthew 12:5: Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath, and are innocent?
- Romans 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
The three verses, although seemingly contradictory, in fact fully define the concept of Nomos in that Nomos has three levels:
- Rule by edict/policy
- Rule by reason
- Rule by love
Nomos' three levels work in a sequence of knowledge, insight, maturity, and wisdom, with the lowest level being one of no responsibility for self but only doing what one is told to do. The second level requires some responsibility for self and to accept the consequences for one's decisions and actions. The third level requires one to be fully knowledgeable of the edicts and why the edicts were created as well as requiring one to be mature and wise. The sections that follow help clarify each of the three levels.
First Level Nomos
Rule by edict implies that people have to abide by the edicts, or policies, of the organization. This is particularly true of new people or immature people. In the first case, regardless of maturity a new employee or a new member of an organization would need to follow the established policies and regulations of the organization. Failure to abide by the policies and regulations would result in consequences of some form, with, of course, an appropriate amount of mercy as needed. Scriptural support for the first level of Nomos include references to what must be done according to the law such as Romans 7:2-3 about a woman being bound to the husband while the husband is alive; Hebrews 7:5 about paying one-tenth to the Levis; Matthew 12:2, where the Pharisees accuse Jesus of breaking the law on the Sabbath; and Matthew 12:10, where the Pharisees accuse Jesus of breaking the law by healing on the Sabbath—to list a few verses.
