A Fresh Look at the Golden Rule

Matthew 7:12 (NIV)
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

William Barclay calls this passage “the Everest of all ethical teaching”.  Not only is Christ’s teaching the paramount lesson in social behavior, it is also unique.  Barclay says, “This is something which had never been said before.  It is new teaching, and a new view of life and of life’s obligations.”  Those are strong statements!  I invite you to join me in taking a fresh look at the Golden Rule.

Unique

The Golden Rule is unique in Christ’s positive presentation of the command.  The negative form of Christ’s command would look something like this:  “Don’t do anything to anyone that you wouldn’t want him or her to do to you.”  This negative form has been presented throughout history in a variety of forms.  But never before had the world heard this positive form of the command.

Negative -> Inaction

In the (negative) form of the command adherence is not very challenging.  That is, all I have to do is to check my behavior and make sure that it is something I’d be willing to receive.  In following the negative form, I will simply avoid certain actions, so they don’t come back and bite me.  The natural response to this negative form of the Golden Rule is, in effect, inaction.

Positive -> Action

But that’s not the form in which Jesus gives this command.  Instead, He taught it in the positive.  In doing so Jesus calls, not for inaction, but for action.  In order to live out the positive form of Christ’s command I must (first) determine how I would like to be acted upon and then (second) perform that action to others.  The guide for my action is my sense of how the world ought to treat me.  That part is actually pretty easy.  I have a very clear idea of how I want the world to treat me.  The challenge comes when I have to actually act that way to others!  Christ’s teaching is about action! 

A Note About Reciprocity

By the way, this isn’t about reciprocity.  In other words, I don’t act toward others the way I want to be treated to get something in return.  Nope.  The command is to act for the other person’s good, and that’s the end of the story.  The New Oxford Annotated Bible states it this way, “…the positive form here requires active contribution to the welfare and happiness of others.”  No reciprocity there, just my action for the other person’s benefit.

Application

The next time you see someone acting sad and lonely, think about the Golden Rule.  Christ directs us to two actions.  First, ask yourself this question. “When I am sad and feeling lonely, how do I want to be treated?” Second, Jesus teaches us to treat that person accordingly.  Take that action for the other person’s benefit.

The next time you see someone acting angry and misunderstood, think about the Golden Rule.  Then, ask yourself this question. “When I am feeling angry and misunderstood, how do I want to be treated?” Then, Jesus teaches us to treat that person accordingly.  Take that action for the other person’s benefit.

The next time you see someone who is completely wrong, think about the Golden Rule.  Then, ask yourself this question. “When I am completely wrong, how do I want to be treated?” Then, Jesus teaches us to treat that person accordingly.  Take that action for the other person’s benefit.

Do you get it?  The Golden Rule is a revolutionary teaching!  Can you imagine the impact we could have on the world if we lived by this command from Jesus?  I don’t think it is an exaggeration to suggest that it would literally change the world!

Go change the world today; live by the Golden Rule.

Lon Alderman
@leaderlifter

Adventure Lost, by Lon Alderman

I read this prayer on my friend Bill Dahlberg's facebook page:

"O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

This prayer smacks of adventure to me. Going where we haven't gone before and not knowing what will happen is a formula for adventure. It is also the stuff that makes many people nervous these days!

This country was "settled" by people heading (west) where few (like them) had gone before. For the most part, however, we have grown uncomfortable with the unknown since those adventurous days.

Today, we excel at subduing our world into tidy little boxes. We move away from the unknown preferring the predictable. We settle for private rather than run the risk of public. We schedule and organize. We develop habits and rituals. And we slowly develop safe, unchanging, comfortable cocoons around ourselves.

Then someone suggests a change and people come unglued!

It would be good to remember Who it is that calls us and the adventure that commonly accompanies His call.

Proverbs 16:9
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Luke 14:33
...any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Self-Siege, by Lon Alderman

Matthew 25:18
But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

William Barclay wrote, "the useless servant buried his talent in the ground, in order that he might hand it back to his master exactly as it was. The whole aim of the Scribes and Pharisees was to keep the Law exactly as it was. In their own phrase, they sought 'to build a fence around the Law.'”

Back in the days of knights and fiefdoms attackers would often "lay siege" to an enemy's castle. A siege is "a military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling the surrender of those inside". By cutting off the flow of supplies, the enemy would starve out those in the castle.

I have spent a lot of time around churches that are in the process of dying. One sad fact is that many don't realize that they are in the process. They perceive their sacred duty as keeping the church alive by keeping it just like it was. As time moves forward and the world around the church changes, the very fence they construct to preserve the church becomes in essence a siege wall. Eventually, those in the church are starved out.

Jesus teaches us to take risks with the "talents" that He's given to us! After all, religion is nothing without a little adventure!

Have a great adventure!
Lon

Acorn Build Up: Change

Change

Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Imagine visiting a factory that produces high-heeled shoes. As you tour the facility you find that everything about the place is designed to make high-heeled shoes. The whole assembly line is planned in a specific way so that each person plays a role in putting together these shoes. Not surprisingly, at the end of the line we find beautifully constructed high-heeled shoes.

After all, wouldn’t it be silly to stand at the end of the line and expect a tennis shoe to come rolling out? No, the organization is designed perfectly to achieve the outcome, the product, of a high-heeled shoe.

Yet that’s how we tend to look at change. We stand at the end of the line and expect something different to come rolling out. Remember, every organization is perfectly designed to get the outcome it produces.

Now, if you like the results you are getting then leave the system alone. On the other hand, if you want something different, then something needs to change. After all, no matter how much we want a tennis shoe to roll of the assembly line, if the line is designed to produce high-heeled shoes, then that’s what we will get; high-heeled shoes.

What would you like to change? What needs to change?

Lon