The Golden Rule part 1
I feel like there are things I return to in my minstry. Things that I keep coming back to, to preach and teach and write and rant about over and over. And these are not necessarily things I think I have a completely firm grasp on. Because a lot of my ministry is discovery. Figuring things out. Or, rather, letting God reveal things to me as I journey deeper and deeper into the heart of the matter--which is the heart. For example, for a long time I said, "Receive it and reflect it." And I thought that was pretty good. Had a nice turn of phrase. Felt solid. But then I started thinking about how the moon doesn't have a light of it's own and simply reflects the light of the sun. Which almost IS a picture of our heavenly Father and us, His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Almost. Because we don't just "reflect" His light. We ARE that same light. So I changed it to "receive it and release it." Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. We are not just a reflection of Him. We ARE Him. Jesus is our true identity. As He is, so are we in this world. He lives in us. And through us. And as us. Jesus identified Himself as the light of the world... and He identified US as the light of the world. It's the same light. So while the moon DOES reflect the same light as the sun... in our case it's a more excellent way. We ARE the same light as the SON. It's not just a reflection. It's our nature. It's not just what we do. It's who we are. Ok. So that was my long-winded way of saying I find myself preaching and teaching and writing and ranting about the "golden rule" a lot. You know, 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." And the reason I think I find myself returning to it over and over again is because I like to clear up misconceptions. Twisted Scripture doesn't do anybody any good. And it seems to me that a big part of what this memory verse has become is--"I want you to scratch my back, so I guess I have to scratch yours." We've almost made it mean, "If you want someone to do something to you, do it to them first." And that's not what Jesus was saying. At all. He was, as always, simply trying to show us that more excellent way. And, I believe, He was trying to make things simple for us. Kind of like, "You all have been trying--and failing--to keep the Law of Moses. Let me boil it down to something very simple for you. Treat others how you want to be treated. You don't know how to love someone? Do what you would like them to do to you." That takes a lot of the guesswork out of it. Now follow me on this one: That doesn't mean, "I like cookies, so I'm going to give someone a cookie." Because they might not like cookies. It's more general than that. It's more surface level than that--at the beginning. It simply means, "If you would like someone to be nice to you... be nice to them." Don't wait for people to make the first move. Be nice. Treat people the way you want to be treated. In general. And then, when you start to build that connection and that relationship, then you can really begin to specifically know what their needs are, and meet those needs. Then, instead of cookies... maybe they like energy drinks. Or whatever. It's not always about material things, but I hope you see my point. It's the idea of, "I like it when people are nice to me... so I'm going to be nice to people." It's not trying to get something from someone through your behavior towards them. Love is giving. It's never about getting. It's simply about giving what you've got. Letting the love inside come out. And the most simple, basic way to do that is by treating people the way (generally) you would like to be treated!