There are several key truths at the heart of The Golden Rule. We all want to be treated fairly. We all want to be treated kindly. We all want to live in a world where this is the norm. Neo-Confucianist Chu Hsi (circa 13th century) wrote about the elements that are needed to help find this balance: “Love contains the idea of flowing movement and activity put forth, but its operation is tender and gentle. Righteousness contains the idea of deliberation as to what is in accord with right, but its operation is decisive and distinct.”
In other words, kindness and fairness require both grace and judgement. In the Christian tradition this core pairing—-this yin and yang, if you will—-is called Law and Gospel. And, just as we all fail to live out The Golden Rule, many Christians suffer a great imbalance in their understanding of how to apply the law and the gospel in daily life.
This imbalance is extremely confusing to the culture, which is left wondering why some Christians seem so harsh and others so caring. The simplest explanation is that Jesus is, frankly, the biggest tent on earth. And the people who have been called to live out His story are an almost inexplicably diverse range of characters born in given places and times, with specific influences and tendencies, languages and life experiences, desires and agendas, blessings and wounds——not one like the other.
The one thing we have in common is that somehow, someway——over decades or in an instant——we knew God was calling us to draw closer. As we drew closer, we were brought into a specific community with people who taught us what they knew about Scripture and the life of faith and love and what it means to belong to the Body of Christ.
Now here’s where things get tricky. These faith communities are only human and, as such, they have their own leanings on the spectrum of Law and Gospel, tending towards one side or the other, and——perhaps, unwittingly——to groom others to do the same. Love or Hate. Good or Bad. In or Out.
But if we are brave enough, we will both admit and teach that we can’t have one without the other. Jesus tell us this quite clearly: “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” (Matthew 5:17)
In other words, without guidelines and grace, and a genuine desire to understand which is required in any given situation, there can be no Golden Rule.
Heather Choate Davis 