Questions
Why Should Christians Be Leery of Displaying the Ten Commandments in Schools?
Summary: Not because the desire to honor Scripture publicly is wrong, but because political institutions consistently strip biblical texts of their specificity—rendering the Triune God as a generic higher power, producing good citizens rather than disciples, and accelerating ACR’s substitution of civic morality for Christian confession.
Christians who support placing the Ten Commandments in schools or adding the Bible to curricula are often motivated by a genuine desire to see God’s word present in public life. That instinct is not wrong. The problem is not the desire, but the way political institutions tend to handle sacred texts when they are absorbed into civic life. When political institutions use the Ten Commandments, the “God” referenced can easily become a generic higher power rather than the Triune God revealed in Scripture. The first commandments require exclusive devotion to the Lord who delivered Israel and raised Jesus from the dead, but that specific confession is often softened or removed when the text is presented in a civic setting.
Biblical passages can be absorbed into a broader national story that serves civic goals rather than the gospel. When the Ten Commandments are displayed primarily as a summary of “civic morality,” they are separated from the biblical narrative of God’s redemption and used to reinforce a form of American civil religion.
There is a related but distinct problem. Even when the intent is genuinely moral rather than civic, such initiatives tend to aim at producing good citizens rather than disciples of Christ. Those are not the same goal. The difference matters. Christians should therefore recognize that the church and the state ultimately pursue different ends: the state seeks social order, while the church proclaims the lordship of Christ and calls people to live under God’s authority.
Incorporating biblical material into public institutions can be a double-edged sword. It may promote certain moral principles that align with God’s order, yet it can also blur the distinction between being inspired by biblical ideas and actually living under the authority of God’s Word. A society can draw on biblical moral categories like dignity, justice, and honesty, without acknowledging the God who grounds them or submitting to the Christ who fulfills them. That is precisely what ACR does, and it is a dynamic Christian nationalism accelerates rather than resists. State-sponsored moral instruction can produce a population that is vaguely biblical in its ethics while remaining entirely uncommitted to the lordship of Christ. Christians should therefore approach such initiatives with discernment, recognizing that the transformation Scripture calls for ultimately comes through the work of the Spirit and the discipleship carried out by the church, not through state-sponsored moral instruction.
Key Takeaways: Civic Display vs. Christian Confession
- Generic God Problem: In civic settings, the “God” of the Ten Commandments becomes a generic higher power rather than the Triune God who delivered Israel and raised Jesus.
- Different Ends: State-sponsored moral instruction aims at good citizens; the church’s mission is to make disciples under Christ’s lordship—not the same goal.
- Christian Nationalism Accelerates ACR: Such initiatives create a population “vaguely biblical in ethics while remaining entirely uncommitted to the lordship of Christ.”
- The “So What”: Transformation Scripture calls for comes through the Spirit and the church’s discipleship—not through state-sponsored moral instruction.
About the Author — James Spencer, PhD, is a theologian, author, and host of the Thinking Christian podcast, where he writes and speaks on Christian formation, political theology, and technology. He holds a PhD in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and completed the Institute for Educational Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He serves as President of the D.L. Moody Center in Northfield, Massachusetts, as adjunct faculty in Wheaton College’s MA in Leadership program, and as an Associate Research Fellow at the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, Christianity.com, and Sojourners; he has been quoted in The Telegraph; and he is a regular guest on Stand in the Gap Today with the American Pastors Network. His forthcoming book is Digital Discernment (InterVarsity Press, Fall 2026). Learn more at jamesgspencer.com.