The Fool's Golden Rule...

                                       

                                  "Do to others what you hope they won’t do to you." -the fool

One of the greatest and well-known rules in the world came from the lips of our Lord. Captured in Matthew and Luke’s Gospels what came to be known as the “Golden Rule” has been the ultimate common-sense axiom for better than 2000 years.

It was a fresh thought at the time, turning the then negative common-sense rule of “don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you” inside out. Jesus put a positive, blessing spin to the rule and it stuck. Well, till today.

It seems today this rule is being twisted. People are trying to do things to others they never would want done to them. I call this the fools golden rule as only fools would live by this rule. But we don’t want to be fools so let’s go back to the wisest man who ever lived and learn again His Golden Rule.

This is where the truth of scripture and the Lordship of Jesus must redirect us in our thinking and living. When cultural forces seek to twist the truth we know and bend the rules we are called to live by we must return to Jesus and His Word.

Jesus repeats this rule twice in his teachings. I’ve included them here as a way of renewing our understanding of this broad yet basic rule of life. Please read and consider the truth of what Jesus is saying in each context:

Ask, Seek, Knock 

Matthew 7: 7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

9Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

12In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.

Love Your Enemies 

Luke 6: 27 But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you. 

Then of course Jesus being our ultimate teacher gives us a vivid story to illustrate this rule NOT BEING FOLLOWED. It’s one of the scariest parables in the Bible in my  opinion-so read it and be warned-breaking the Golden Rule has consequences:

Matthew 18:23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'

27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. 29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'

34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

This is the perfect example of a person living out the fool’s golden rule! We too must remember the Master is watching. How we treat each other personally or even globally will have consequences.  This leads into another rule that is even more prolific in the Bible, that being the rule or law of sowing and reaping. In other words what you plant you will harvest.

If you plant beans but want tomatoes you are either an ignorant or foolish gardener. You either planted the wrong seed by accident or had wrong thinking about what you planted-but the result is always the same-you don’t get what you want.

We have a lot of bad gardening going on right now. On many levels we are planting what we don’t want and hoping we get something different. This will not work. The Bible tells us this so many times, first in the OT:

Job 4:8

As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.

 

Proverbs 11:18

The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.

Hosea 8:7a

For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.

Hosea 10:12-13

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. You have plowed iniquity; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your warriors,

 

And again in the NT…

Galatians 6:7-10

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Ephesians 6:8

Knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

 

Let’s pray that we will learn and live out the Golden Rule of our Lord and reject the fool’s rule. Let’s embrace the idea and practice of blessing people in the first place and see what God will do with that. Let’s pray that we can plant the good we want to see grow in ourselves and in our world.