Dear Family and Friends,

This is from a recent conversation between our grandson and his kindergarten classmate as they completed their math homework together.

     Classmate (who finished first): I beat you. I beat you.

     Luke: This is not a contest.

     Classmate: I wish it were a contest so that I can beat you.

Luke tried his best to be a big boy when he shared the conversation with his Nana, but there was no doubt this comment hurt our sweet loving grandson. Let’s just say his classmate was very fortunate to be out of the reach of his Tiger Nana. Grrr.

Stuff like this hurts, doesn’t it? Our normal reaction is to beat the kid to a pulp. Unsatisfied with just doing that, we want to go after his parents for raising such a…

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “here comes another message about controlling our anger and forgiveness.” Not so. I think we all know that topic so well, we can preach that sermon ourselves.

Rather than viewing this exchange from the perspective of the victim, let’s look at it from the perpetrator’s, the classmate’s, standpoint.

Do you agree that the day would have been much more pleasant if he had said nothing at all?

One of the shows we enjoy watching is The Great British Bake Off. The skills and creativity of these amateur bakers are amazing.

But this series shows one aspect of the bakers that really capture our hearts – when the contestants help each other complete their bake as time is running out.

Who does that? Instances of competitors stopping to help a competitor are rare these days. This is so unlike the ‘normal behavior’ we have grown accustomed to.

My message today is we don’t have to accept adversarial behavior as normal. Because it’s not and it doesn’t have to be.

Jesus said something in His Sermon on the Mount that can change the world. It’s a lesson in how to treat one another.

He said so much in one short verse. A verse that those of us who are Boomers grew up hearing. A verse that perhaps became too cliche over the years, so people stopped talking about it, pastors stopped preaching about it, and unfortunately we all stopped living by it.

This verse is known as Jesus’ Golden Rule. “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12 NIV

This guide for doing to others what you want done to yourself is pretty universal amongst the religions of the world.

Buddhism, “Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”

Confucianism, “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.”

Hinduism, “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.”

Judaism, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.”

I share this not to show how similar other religions are to Christianity.

On the contrary, this shows how different they are from that which Jesus taught. 

Read the rules to live by again. Jesus taught to be proactive in our actions towards others – to ‘do to others’ – while the other religions say, ‘treat not,’ and ‘do not.’

The implication of these other religions is that we not treat others in ways we do not want to be treated. To not hurt others in ways we wouldn’t want to be hurt ourselves. 

The other religions teach to be passive in our actions. 

Jesus instead asks that we do to others what we want done to us. This includes what we say, how we treat and what we do for others.

There is another portion of Jesus’ rule that should look very familiar to all of us – “this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

“Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 NIV

Jesus’ Golden Rule is more than a simple rule to live by, more than a suggested way to treat others, more than an option we can choose to do or not do.

With His Golden Rule, Jesus actually taught us how to do what he commanded – to love others. To do to others what we want others to do to us.

Do we want others to love and care for us? Do we want others to show us kindness, or help in times of need? Yes. Then shouldn’t we proactively do this for others?

I wonder how many of us have interpreted the second commandment as a passive activity. ‘Oh okay, I love that enemy of mine. But I will avoid him like the plague.’

I wonder how many of us have misinterpreted the Golden Rule to read the same way as the other religions. ‘Oh okay, I won’t hurt that enemy of mine.’

Let’s not accept adversarial behavior as the norm. And instead be proactive in changing the world, starting with the one person we can change – ourselves.

In love always,