The Golden Rule
February 24, 2002
Dear Friends,
Almost everyone from different religious, cultural and social backgrounds has heard of the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Jesus states it as follows in Matthew 7:12: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” This simple and eternal principle simply states that we should treat others with same dignity, respect, consideration and ethics by which we would like to be treated.
We can take this the wrong way and treat people exactly as we would treat ourselves. My marriage would be in shambles if I treated my wife exactly as I wanted to be treated. Quite to the contrary, I have to treat her as she wants to be treated. If I bought her a new lawnmower for her birthday, for example, things would not be good. As they say, “if Momma is not happy, no one is happy.”
As simple as it may sound, the Golden Rule is not that simple as evidenced by the many and varied interpretations of the Golden Rule. First, there is the “”Do unto others SO you would have them do unto you” version. The Enron corporation practiced this version of the Golden Rule. It was interesting that when the scandal broke a long list of both Democratic and Republican politicians had their hands caught in the Enron cookie jar. Why is it that a corporation would give money to rival politicians? The answer is apparent enough. Enron hoped that by doing unto others (giving political contributions) that they would have done unto them (favorable legislation and influence).
This is not limited to politics, however. People practice this all the time. Do we treat people a certain way with the expectation of a favor? If so, we are not practicing the Golden Rule as taught by Jesus. Jesus said “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12-14) There is nothing wrong with people doing good things for you because you have done good things for them. Think what a great world it will be when this is The Rule and not the exception. We cannot, however, operate in keeping with Jesus’ maxim if our motive is the expectation of a return favor. We do what is right because it is right — nothing more, nothing less.
There is another version of the Golden Rule that is “Do unto others IF they do unto you.” You see little kids do this all the time. “Why did you push Sue?” “Because she pushed me first?” Adults are not immune to this either. It is human nature to be nice to people who are nice to you. It is also human nature to treat people poorly who treat you poorly. This is also in contrast to the Golden Rule as taught by Jesus. Jesus said “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matt. 5:44) Nothing (and I mean nothing!) runs more contrary to a feelings of the average human being than this principle.
There are egregious violations of the Golden Rule such as the Holocaust and their are minor violations such as telemarketers, but our admonition is not to catalog violations done to us, but to thoroughly examine our violations of others. Shouldn’t our treatment of the Golden Rule be monitored by its very principle? Do the Golden Rule to others as you would have it done unto you.
Have a great week!
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