The Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q64. What is required in the Fifth Commandment?
A. The Fifth Commandment
requireth the preserving the honour,
and performing
the duties, belonging to every one
in their several places and relations,
as superiors,[1] inferiors,[2] or equals.[3]
[1] Ephesians 5:21; [2] 1 Peter 2:17; [3] Romans 12:10.
Many of us commonly think of the Fifth Commandment as only legislating our duty towards our parents. Our catechism teaches us that there is more to it. It teaches us that the Fifth Commandment is about the maintenance of society within its framework of functional superiority, subordination and equality. In a word, it teaches us our duty towards our neighbour depending on whether,—in a particular sphere, e.g., home, school, church, work place, or nation—he is our equal, our inferior or our superior. We speak about different spheres, or, in the words of our catechism: “several places and relations” because one may be superior to another in one sphere but inferior to him in another context. Thus it is possible that elder in a local church may be an employee, and therefore a subordinate, to a member of the church when at work.
Not all of us will immediately agree that the Fifth Commandment is as general
as the Westminster divines have made it. Some of us may wonder how ‘father’ and
‘mother’ can be used to refer to anything else other than our parents. But we
have good reasons to believe that this is how the Apostle Paul viewed the Fifth
Commandment. For, Paul omits quoting the Fifth Commandment when he lists the
commandments of the second table (Rom 13:9), because he had just expounded the
Fifth Commandment when he taught about honouring all authorities set over us
(Rom 13:1–7).
Some of us may have difficulty seeing how the commandment has anything to do
with our duties towards our inferiors or equals. However, as the Scripture does
teach us to submit to one another (Eph 5:21) and to honour one another (1 Pet
2:17 and Rom 12:10), we should be able to agree that the “general scope” (WLC 126) of the commandment is indeed as
presented. And moreover, the Scripture does clearly teach our duties in our
various places and relations. For example, the New Testament teaches fathers to
honour their children by not exasperating them (Eph 6:4); wives to submit to
their husbands (Eph 5:22); husbands to love their wives (Eph 5:25); servants to
obey their masters (Eph 6:5, Tit 2:9–10, 1 Pet 2:18–20); and masters to be kind and fair to their
servants (Eph 6:9, Col 4:1); members of the church to submit to their elders (Heb 13:17); and elders to watch over
the flock without lording over them (1 Pet 5:3).
In general, remember that this commandment has two aspects. One has to do with
the honour of another person. To preserve the honour of a person is to show
respect and not to think or speak deprecatingly about the person. The second
aspect has to do with duties towards our inferiors, superiors or equal, which
are required of us.