The Golden Rule

Raising kids has reminded me that we don’t always know what’s best for ourselves, even as adults. This seems simple, but this is really is the issue at the heart of the brokenness of humanity. This is ultimately what has gone wrong.

This very point sets the context for the “Platinum Rule” that  says, “Do unto others as they wish to be done to them.” Some have argued that the Platinum Rule is morally superior to Jesus’ Golden Rule that says, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt 7:12).

There are two points I wish to make in comparing and contrasting these two moral rules. My first point links up to my initial statement concerning knowing what’s best for ourselves. Often times what we want for ourselves is not what’s best for us. If I gave into every wish of my (precious) four-year-old daughter, she would be a hot mess. She would never sleep, never eat healthy, not go to school, and only wear pajamas. If I were to obey the Platinum Rule and give her what she wants, it would be a disservice to her. It wouldn’t show true love at all!

At the same time, this doesn’t make the Golden Rule superior to the Platinum Rule because the same logic can be applied to the Golden Rule. It is because we don’t always know what’s best for ourselves that doing unto others as we want done unto us that we get unto trouble. Going back to my daughter, if she were to obey the Golden Rule, then all her friends would only eat candy, stay up late, and only wear pajamas. This is what she wants so this is what she will do for her friends.

The point I’m making here is that for either of these moral standards to work, we have to be in a position where we’re willing to truly want what is best for others as well as ourselves. This is challenging in two ways. First, often times what is best for ourselves is not the most comfortable thing. Anyone that’s had physical therapy can attest to this! Often times our hearts need physical therapy. We have to do the hard stuff in order to arrive at what’s best.

Second, it’s very hard to put the needs and interests of others before our own needs and interests. What is proof of this? Law and rules. They are in place to keep a handle on people harming others for the sake of their own satisfaction and advancement.

This point leads me to the second overarching point I want to make about these two moral rules and that is that we cannot miss that they are of the same spirit. These two rules are essentially saying the same thing: don’t be selfish. In this way they are really not “competing with one another.” At the heart of what Jesus is saying is the same thing that Paul is saying in Philippians 2:3–4 when he says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others.”

Interesting, isn’t it, that we need to be taught this. If this was natural thinking, it wouldn’t need to be a Rule at all (Golden or Platinum). This means that both Rules attest to the fact that humanity has a problem with selfishness. Ultimately, the clearest lesson in Scripture that treats this issue is the death of Jesus. The Innocent One willingly suffers and dies because he loves others. This is the one that I want to follow (see John 15:13).