A Prescription for the Treatment of All Others
Others in Matthew, Class 6: Matt. 7:12: 22:39
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do
also to them.” Mt. 7:12
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Mt. 22:39
The former of these two great teachings of Jesus is known as “The Golden Rule”
(earliest documented usage of that phrase is by Anglican theologian Charles
Gibbon in 1604), while the latter was dubbed “The Royal Law” in James 2:8.
Besides having a similar message, these two sayings are tied together in scripture
as both are declared to be the essence or a summary of “the Law and Prophets’”
(Mt. 7:12 and 22:40).
The Golden Rule covers all actions, “whatever,” and all people, “others.”
“If this teaching of Jesus were to be lived out in the world, the whole system of evil would be dramatically shaken. Even if it were to be manifested seriously in the Church, its impact would be incalculable…No other teaching is so readily identified with Jesus; no other teaching is so central to the righteousness of the kingdom and the practice of discipleship.” (Donald Hagner, Word Biblical Commentary).
Discuss how the practice of this rule would look like…
in marriages, Eph. 5:33
in the workplace, Eph. 6:5-9;
Col. 3:22-4:1
in church, 1 John 3:16-18
with enemies, Mt. 5:38-48
with other ethnicities, social
strata, or financial status
A person was newly employed with a large company on
the vice-presidential level (of which there were many). The new VP was assigned
to a business trip with the CEO of the company. The administrative assistant
who had made travel arrangements for the trip had reserved a first class ticket
for the CEO and a coach ticket for the new VP. When the two arrived at the air
terminal for seating assignments and the gate agent produced the first class
boarding pass, the new VP immediately took a step back from the service counter
so that the CEO could claim the first class seat. But the CEO turned to the VP
and said, “Have you ever flown first class?” When the VP gave a negative answer
the CEO replied, “You should experience that. I have done it many time. You
take the first class ticket”
How do you think that one exchange affected the work attitude and ethic of the
new employee? And what training did it give him for interaction with the
employees beneath him?
Our team of 20+ faculty had a competition for an annual excellence award, the winner of which would receive a significant monetary stipend and be honored at a university-wide convocation. “Linda” was announced as the winner of this year’s award about a month ago. Since then, the whole team, including those who competed with her in the award process, have honored her, cheered her, and celebrated her throughout the month, showering her with flowers and gifts, attending the award ceremony yesterday, celebrating her honor following the ceremony at a restaurant (read bar), and continuing the cheering and honoring today, the day after the award ceremony. This is what they do. It is intentional and somewhat organized and supported by a “Sunshine Committee”. The celebrants were male, female, executives, supervisors, peers, and admin support.