Ben McManus- The LORD and Tony Soprano
If God is a “Jealous God” where does he get off saying, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house”? “It’s hypocrisy!” Exclaim the doubting Thomas types. And indeed it is, but does that mater? Is complete fidelity to the rules a requirement for the rule maker? That would be nice, and it would make the rules easier to believe in, but I don’t think it could ever work. If someone decides that God is his/her superior, then clearly the rules can’t apply to God. We don’t follow the rules we set for our pets. We often tell our dogs to stay off the very sofa we sit on as we tell them. Tony Soprano, who is more than a man, though less than a God, rarely follows the rules he sets in motion. But, as long as every member of his crew, except him, follows the rules, everything works out okay. It works because, as the leader, Tony lives just above the rules. For the most part, he knows when to break them, not only to make things right when a compromise is necessary, but also, simply to demonstrate his superiority. His infidelity says of him, “I am more than you. In fact, I have to be.” Obviously Tony is more a demon than a creature of God, but this parallel helped me to understand the little hypocrisies that drove me out of Sunday school as an eleven year old.
"Do as I say, not as I do" as my Father always said.
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