The Narrow Way - Week 7 The Golden Rule

Matthew 7:12

Welcome back to The Narrow Way.

This weekend started off pretty normal until we found a snake skin in our garage. And not a tiny one either. Based on what we could tell, this thing was probably around three feet long, which immediately changed what we were doing that day.

We started pulling everything out of the garage trying to figure out if the snake was still in there. We basically cleared the whole thing out and never found it. We did find what looked like snake droppings farther back in the garage, but they were really dry and hard, so hopefully our visitor had been gone for a while.

But we never actually found the snake.

So now every time I walk into the garage, there’s still a little part of my brain wondering where that thing went.

As funny as the whole situation was, it got me thinking about how quickly something can take over our attention when it happens in our world. It’s my garage, so suddenly this snake is a really big deal.

I think we naturally go through life like that. I know I do. My golf game, my score, my schedule, my career, my next tournament, what I need to get done today. We experience everything through our own eyes, so we spend a lot of time thinking about how things affect us.

Then you get to Matthew 7:12 and Jesus says:

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Most of us know this as the Golden Rule. I probably heard some version of “treat people how you want to be treated” long before I knew Jesus was the One who said it.

But Jesus is saying a lot more than just “be nice to people.”

In Everything

We’re getting toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has spent all this time showing His followers what a life following Him actually looks like. We’ve walked through a lot of it during this series: being salt and light, loving our enemies, prayer, where our treasure is, worry, asking, seeking and knocking.

Then Jesus says, “So in everything…”

Those first three words MATTER.

Everything Jesus has been teaching about our relationship with God eventually has to show up in how we treat the people around us. And He doesn’t say to treat people well if they treat you well first.

He tells us to go first.

That sounds incredibly simple until you actually try to live it out.

It’s easy to be kind to somebody who’s kind to me. It’s easy to give grace to somebody who has always given me grace. It gets harder when somebody annoys me, interrupts what I’m doing or doesn’t give me the same treatment in return.

But Jesus doesn’t add any of those exceptions.

The People Right in Front of Me

Golf has shown me how easy it is to become incredibly focused on yourself without even noticing it. A huge part of my job is thinking about my own game. What do I need to practice? When am I training? What’s my next tournament? What needs to improve?

Those aren’t bad questions. I need to ask them if I’m going to pursue this game at the level I want to.

But they can’t become the only questions I ask.

My wife isn’t a supporting character in my golf career. My friends aren’t just people I call when I have extra time. The person working behind the counter isn’t just there to get me what I need. Even the guy standing next to me on the first tee who I’m trying to beat is someone Jesus loves.

That’s where this verse has been challenging me.

If I were standing in their shoes, how would I want to be treated? Would I want somebody to actually listen? Would I want a little patience if I made a mistake? Would I want somebody to notice the work I’m doing or encourage me on a hard day?

Then Jesus says to go do that for them.

Not because they earned it or because you know they’ll return it. Do it because that’s how Jesus is teaching us to live.

The natural tendency is to walk into a room thinking about what I need, where I need to go or what somebody can do for me. Jesus keeps turning that around and teaching me to actually see the person standing in front of me.

And the best example of going first is Jesus Himself.

He didn’t wait for us to get everything right before He loved us. He didn’t wait until we deserved grace before giving it to us. Jesus went first.

So when He tells me to love people this way, He isn’t asking me to do something He hasn’t already done for me.

Pray With Me

Jesus, thank You for loving us first and for the people You’ve placed around us. Forgive us for the times we get so focused on ourselves and what we have going on that we stop seeing the people right in front of us.

Give us eyes to notice people. Help us be patient, encouraging, gracious and willing to listen. Teach us not to wait for somebody else to go first, but to love people because You loved us first.

Let the way we treat people point them back to You.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Take It to the Tee

This week, before I walk into work, onto the golf course, back into my house or anywhere else, I want to ask myself:

How would I want to be treated if I were the person on the other side of this interaction?

Then actually do something about it.

Send the text. Actually listen when somebody is talking. Give somebody grace when they mess up. Thank the person who normally goes unnoticed. Be present with your spouse.

Jesus doesn’t tell us to wait and see how people treat us first. He tells us how we’re supposed to treat them.

I’m still going to work incredibly hard at golf and chase what I believe God has called me to chase. But I don’t want to become so focused on building my own life that I miss the people God has put right in the middle of it.

And for the foreseeable future, apparently I’m going to be doing all of that while checking every corner of my garage before I walk in.

Know Him and make Him more known.

See you next week.