Christian Rules to Live By

There is an old tale about a group of Jewish scholars gathered together discussing how they might distill the Torah down to a single short phrase that would summarize the central laws governing human behavior. One of them said, “God punishes the lawbreakers.” Others argued that this wasn’t a law, but more of a threat. That suggestion was rejected by the scholars.

At this point the respected rabbi, Hillel, spoke up saying, “Do not do unto others what you would hate them to do to you: this is the whole of the Torah; the rest is mere commentary.” At this, the rest of the scholars deemed him the greatest sage of their day.

If you noticed, the above quote is expressed in the negative formulation. “Do not do unto others.” Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, turns that negative formulation into its affirmative expression, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you for this is the law and the prophets.” (Mt. 7:12) & (Lk. 6:31). ‘Not doing’ and ‘doing’ are two different things; one is passive and the other active. One is about avoiding, the other is about knowing and thoughtfully doing the good for others in every case. That simple sentence is the core of Christian ethics. It is commonly known as the “Golden Rule.” And it is true, all else is (important and necessary) commentary concerning ‘the hows, the whys, and the what fors’ of how to live our lives as true disciples of Christ. It may seem simple, But it is not. To live this rule daily is to love as Jesus loved. “There is no greater love than to lay one’s life down for a friend” (John 15:13). That level of ‘doing for others’ is lived out by few of us indeed. Though I saw such love when I served with my Marine brothers in Vietnam.

We must go deeper into the rich soil of the scriptures here, too. This wisdom about the law that ought to govern our human behavior toward one another, grows naturally from the wisdom of the Two Great Commandments. When Jesus was asked, “…of the commandments which are the greatest”, he responded with the wisdom of the Old Testament (Deuteronomy) saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt.22:37-39). These Two Great Commandments also relate directly to the Ten Commandments, as the first Great Commandment refers to the first three Commandments, and the second Great Commandment refers to the seven remaining Commandments of the Decalogue.

If we truly lived our lives out of this wisdom, ‘doing’ to and for others (our ‘neighbors’) all that we would want them to do to and for us, we would never be moved by the desire to dishonor our mother or father, to kill, to lie, to commit adultery, to steal, to bear false witness against any neighbor, or to covet any neighbor’s goods, or wife. You get the idea here. It is when we come to truly love God with our whole hearts, minds, and souls, and our neighbors as ourselves, that the Golden Rule becomes the rule and way of our daily lives.

How do we come to truly desire to practice this Golden Rule? We must open our hearts, minds and souls to God’s unquenchable love for us. We must give him our all. How? We must learn the joy of praying regularly and constantly. We must commit ourselves to deepening our relationship with God by regularly spending time with him, contemplating him and his wisdom in the scriptures, by regularly attending Church on the sabbath with a community of believers, and by listening to, and imitating his Son, Jesus Christ. It is in doing these things that we open our whole being to receive God’s manifold and generous graces which then enable us to practice this “Golden Rule” kind of love toward our neighbors and ourselves. In this way, we honor Jesus’ final commandment to us: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (Jn. 13:34).