In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
– Matthew 7:12
The Golden Rule. It is simple, straightforward, broadly applicable and nearly universally embraced. Children can understand it, and adults of every age need to remember it. For this reason, it may seem odd that, even if you have spent many years in church, you have probably heard few if any sermons on the Golden Rule. Not because it isn’t good material, but because it is hard to get 20-40 minutes (depending on your preacher) out of it. It needs no exposition—which may be why some of you right now are thinking, “Come on, Pastor David, you are NOT going to make this complicated, are you?” Now really, would I do that?
Seriously, I do not plan to make this complicated. Still, there are a couple of observations that could be made for our reflection. For example, notice how Jesus links the simple directive to the full scope of scripture. When Jesus says “this is the Law and the Prophets,” it is his way of saying this is the heart of scripture’s witness. There is another place Jesus uses the same language (see Matthew 22:34-40). When asked for the greatest of the commandments, Jesus gave two. The first: love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. The second: love others as you love yourself. Why two commandments when he was only asked for one? Because the witness of scripture, i.e. the Law and Prophets, points toward these two things. God has created us as relational beings. We are most glorifying to God when our relationship with God and with others is healthy. The scriptures are our guide to understand what that looks like.
Consider also what Jesus did NOT say. Jesus did not say, “treat people the same way they are treating you.” Such an approach to life will ultimately lead to much pain and heartache. At some point in life someone is going to treat you unfairly, unkindly, harshly, condescendingly, (you can continue the list of adverbs). Hopefully you would agree that the world has too much of this already. We don’t need to add to the pain. And it’s not that we can blame folks for responding in kind; that’s the completely human thing to do. The problem is that it isn’t God’s way. Jesus makes this case a couple of chapters earlier (see Matthew 5:43-48). Anyone can respond to others in the same manner they have received. Jesus invites us to choose an alternate approach, one that reflects God’s nature. Anticipating that you and I would want others to act in godly fashion toward us, we should go ahead and act that way toward them—without waiting on others to lead the way.
I am going to do a little reflective exercise. You are welcome to join me and see how often we agree. The exercise is pretty simple, about as simple as the Golden Rule itself. I am going to offer some responses to the question, “How do I want to be treated?”
- I want to be treated with a basic level of dignity, nothing more but nothing less than an image-bearer of God deserves.
- I want to be treated fairly, not with special privileges, but without prejudice.
- I want to be heard, not that others must agree with me, but simply that I may be understood.
- I want to be known as the individual I am rather than seen through the lens of generalizations.
- I want to be judged according to the person I am becoming today rather than according to the person I was in past seasons of life.
- I want to be shown the kindness that comes at no expense to others.
- I want to be encouraged to excel rather than chastised for not meeting someone else’s standard.
- I want to be shown grace when I fail, which I will surely do with regularity.
- (What would you add to the list? Please share it with a comment.)
It is good to have clarity on what I would hope to receive from others. To that extent, I have clarity on how I need to treat others, regardless of who they are.
See you along the Winding Path.
The Winding Path 