So maybe we don’t have to follow the Golden Rule. Now that doesn’t get us off the hook, it only leads us deeper and deeper into Christ’s ethic. It calls us to follow the Platinum Rule –Do unto others as Christ would do unto them. That seems to make our responsibility much simpler but probably quite a bit harder.
I think Christ knew this and he talks about it in Matthew chapter 10. What we are told to do, we are to do. What Christ did, he did because he was told to do it by his father. In the same way, we are to walk in the way of the Master.
It seems that we get ourselves in trouble when we start to drift outside of the ethic laid out by the words and deeds of Christ. When we start to believe that we know better than our teacher, we believe ourselves to be above our teacher. When we start to believe that our thinking, that are rationalizing, that are common sense is better than that of our master, we believe ourselves to be above our master.
So why do we always seem to drift in this way? Because it’s easy. And because it’s hard to follow the ethic of Christ. It simply goes against all we have been taught by the powers of this world. From the very beginning of the fall of humanity, the fallen powers of this world have been lying to us. These powers have spent this whole time trying to get us to believe that their way is the best way. Their way is the only way. Those powers one as listening to them. In Christ knows this. So his response is to say, “You need to listen to me. I am the one who knows best. I am the one you should follow because I am the one who follows my Father.”
The trouble for us is that when we start to follow, we get put down, we could put upon, we get maligned. This is what the world did Christ. Why would we expect it to be different for us? The good news is that we do not have to fear this though. What Christ leaves us with from this passage is… Hope. All things will come out in the end. The light will eventually shine out in the darkness. But what are we to do until then? How are we to go on through it all? The hope comes from Christ telling us that no matter what we go through God will always love us.
I think Christ knew this and he talks about it in Matthew chapter 10. What we are told to do, we are to do. What Christ did, he did because he was told to do it by his father. In the same way, we are to walk in the way of the Master.
It seems that we get ourselves in trouble when we start to drift outside of the ethic laid out by the words and deeds of Christ. When we start to believe that we know better than our teacher, we believe ourselves to be above our teacher. When we start to believe that our thinking, that are rationalizing, that are common sense is better than that of our master, we believe ourselves to be above our master.
So why do we always seem to drift in this way? Because it’s easy. And because it’s hard to follow the ethic of Christ. It simply goes against all we have been taught by the powers of this world. From the very beginning of the fall of humanity, the fallen powers of this world have been lying to us. These powers have spent this whole time trying to get us to believe that their way is the best way. Their way is the only way. Those powers one as listening to them. In Christ knows this. So his response is to say, “You need to listen to me. I am the one who knows best. I am the one you should follow because I am the one who follows my Father.”
The trouble for us is that when we start to follow, we get put down, we could put upon, we get maligned. This is what the world did Christ. Why would we expect it to be different for us? The good news is that we do not have to fear this though. What Christ leaves us with from this passage is… Hope. All things will come out in the end. The light will eventually shine out in the darkness. But what are we to do until then? How are we to go on through it all? The hope comes from Christ telling us that no matter what we go through God will always love us.