Week 22: The Golden Rule
- Key verses: Matthew 7:12; Isaiah 1:11-17; Micah 6:8
- What is the silver rule?
- Being good or doing good
- Do no harm and the good Samaritan
- How Scouting changed my perspective
- Parting thoughts
Key verses
Matthew 7:12 (NLT)
Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
Isaiah 1:11-17 (NLT)
“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the Lord. “I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle. I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
“Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting—they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings. I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals. They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!
“When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
“Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.”
Micah 6:8 (NLT)
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
What is the silver rule?
The silver rule is the negative version of the golden rule. Don’t do anything you don’t want done to you. It focuses on preventing harm. This moral code has been around a long time. Confucius has one of the oldest references. It is even mentioned in the Hippocratic oath – do no harm.
Being good or doing good
I want to frame these concepts for the Christian church. We focus a lot on things like church attendance, personal devotion, giving, and volunteering at church. These are all good and necessary but are only part of the picture for us. They are focused on the church and do no harm to others.
Jesus calls us to do more. Read God’s opinion of only being religious in the passage from Isaiah. He hated it! We must do good or our church stuff is worthless. Some of this can be done with the church. What are we doing outside the church? I encourage you to look at your life considering how God evaluates your activity or lack thereof.
Do no harm and the good Samaritan
I think this story illustrates doing no harm versus doing good. The various religious leaders did no harm but also did no good. How do you respond to those in need who come across your path? We should not shy away from getting to know our neighbors or coworkers. Doing good comes with risk – time, money, emotional stress, disappointment. Jesus doesn’t promise it will be easy to do good.
How Scouting changed my perspective
This is a personal story that I hope will encourage you to think outside the box. I volunteered to be an Assistant Scoutmaster when my son joined the Boy Scouts. It was time consuming. However, I had a great opportunity to guide young boys to manhood.
During my time with the Scouts, I was pressured to volunteer more at church. Some at the church thought my service with the Scouts was not spiritual enough. I disagreed. That opinion is in direct opposition to having a direct impact on the world that Jesus calls us to do.
Parting thoughts
The challenge is real. Doing no harm is passive and comes with much lower risk. Doing right is active and has risk. You have to choose to do right. Not easy, but right.
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