An Objective / Key Result Assessment of the Law - a framework for understanding other the Bible's own comments on the law

For those not familiar with the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) management method, it takes the approach of clearly stating an objective and then measuring progress toward it with key results. The OKR methodology is popular among tech companies. Proponents of OKR often lead its brag-sheet with the fact that Google uses the approach.

I'll start with a general example of how it would be used. If a person wanted to participate in the annual novel-writing challenge in November, a possible OKR write-up for it might look like:

Objective: Complete a novel

• Key Result: Outline a plot with no more than 20 points by November 3
• Key Result: Write a chapter covering one plot point each day for November 4 through November 23
• Key Result: Proof-read and edit 4 chapters a day November 25 through November 29
• Key Result: Format and publish by November 30
  

In some ways, everyone who has ever worked toward a long-term goal may find the OKR method to be nothing but common sense. While I'd accept that as a valid point, I'd also mention: common sense is often sorely lacking, and I'd welcome anything that works to secure a place for common sense in the decision-making process. The OKR method makes it clearer  how to turn common sense into an action plan.

So much for the introduction to OKR. But is the method useful in giving us insight into Biblical law? Consider the common observation that the Ten Commandments fall under the general headings of the two greatest commandments: "love of God" for the first table of the law, and "love of neighbor" for the second table of the law. Here is one way to look at that observation from an OKR framework:

Objective: Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength

• Key Result: You shall have no other gods before me
• Key Result: You shall not make yourself a graven image
• Key Result: You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain
• Key Result: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy 

Objective: Love your neighbor as yourselves

• Key Result: Honor your father and mother
• Key Result: You shall not murder
• Key Result: You shall not commit adultery
• Key Result: You shall not steal
• Key Result: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
• Key Result: You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or workers, or property

That OKR framework can shed light on some other comments in the Bible about the law and its place in Christian life. This includes some comments for those of us from the Gentile nations who were never given the Law of Moses, or placed under it.

• That it is possible for people to honor God with their lips, while their heart is far from Him: we can fulfill certain key results -- or even all of them -- while not actually embracing the objective.
• That it is possible for people to keep the letter of the law but still go against the spirit of the law.
• That love is the fulfillment of the law: it is the objective, in this way of viewing it.
• That anyone who claims to keep the law, but chooses to keep only part of it, is not really keeping the law: When we work toward the objectives, we see that all the results are integral to the objective. 

And, saving one for last: 

If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar. (1 John 4:20)

Here John the Apostle's comments are something of a challenge to the idea that the two tables of the law are cleanly separate. Is there really one set of laws for love of God, and another for love of neighbor? When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, why did he choose to answer with the two greatest commandments -- the first as love of God, the second as love of neighbor -- instead of one commandment as asked? Here again we see reason to consider that they may be inseparable. On that view, Love of Neighbor could be viewed as a sub-point under the heading of Love of God, like so:

Objective: Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength

• Key Result: You shall have no other gods before me
• Key Result: You shall not make yourself a graven image
• Key Result: You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain
• Key Result: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy
• Key Result: Love your neighbor as yourself
• Honor your father and mother (etc)

We may be challenged to see that love of neighbor is part of love of God. Which again fits very well with how Jesus described the Last Day: "Whatever you have done for the least of these brothers of mine, you have done for me."