The Golden Rule

Working day in, day out, with primary school age children frequently brings me to trot out some well worn, yet undeniably true, proverbs, sayings or statements. I say ‘undeniably true’, yet a nine year old can deny anything. What I’m getting at are those statements such as ‘The Golden Rule’.

You know the one, I paraphrase; treat others as you would like to be treated. I am yet to come across a nine year old who has done their reading on Kant and Nietzsche or Shaw and King who do hold positions against the saying, but it still seems like a pretty good rule of thumb whilst dealing with the social minefield of the playground. Or for those of us who aren’t nine, the social minefield of life.

I recently came across a version of this rule whilst reading Galations (5:14) and began to ponder the origin of the saying.

For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Growing up in a Christian family I had been taught from a young age that the saying was invented by Jesus – possibly during the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Chapter 5, 6 and 7).

“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. Matthew 7:12

But, of course, its use has been far further widespread than just throughout Christianity. Variations on the saying, or its theme, can be found as far back as ancient Egypt and in so many religions and cultures since.

However, it seems somehow more central to the overall message of the Bible than I realised as a child. The context in which it is written in Galations really bought out its importance to me.

A major theme of the Book of Galations is the relationship between God and people. But here the author makes it undeniably clear that, in the Christian walk, the relationship between neighbours is also of utmost importance.

Now, again, I have heard all my life that this statement is a summary of the final six of The Ten Commandments while ‘Love God’ is a summary of the first four. I though it was a neat way to simplify a somewhat longer list but didn’t ever think how biblically accurate it was.

Sometimes as I read the Bible it will lead me on an ever-lengthening trail of interconnecting verses that I find very comforting as the Bible reveals its innate harmony. And, more often than not, it will lead to the discovery of a little nugget that I had not previously seen or considered.

Reading this text led me back to those famous chapters in Matthew. From Matthew I was led back to Leviticus and Deuteronomy and, finally, to Micah – a book that I have often overlooked and always tell myself I’ll study in depth one-day.

I think the overuse of ‘The Golden Rule’ has led to a dilution of its impact, but Micah relays it in a rather impactful way:

What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?’ (Micah 6:8, ESV).

I think Micah managed to distill the central message of how to keep God’s Commandments so clearly and succinctly that I’ll have to make it the next book I study.