The Pros And Cons Of The Golden Rule

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Matthew 7:12 describes The Golden Rule in the following manner: “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12 [New King James Version]). This is basically a communal fairness principle that Jesus gave to followers to keep the peace with others and glorify God. The early Church practiced this principle by supplying the needs of others, in order to ensure that the message of the gospel reached other countries. Imagine if everyone went by The Golden Rule, then some of history’s most notorious events, such as African Americans being deprived of their civil rights in the 1960s, could have been avoided as everyone would have been entitled to the same rights as everybody else.…show more content…
For instance, Tony Alessandra and Michael O’Connor (1996, 1)—authors of The Platinum Rule: Discover The Four Basic Business Personalities—And How They Can Lead You To Success—claim that The Golden Rule only looks at humanity from one cultural side (i.e., Treat others as you would have them treat you) and assumes that everyone is the same, while The Platinum Rule looks at cultural differences (i.e., Treat others as they would like to be treated) and views everyone as being different. Although the authors readily admit their proposed theory is not in opposition to The Golden Rule, but instead is a more culturally sensitive version of it (Alessandra and O’Connor 1996; Matthew 7:12 [New King James Version]). However, the authors miss the point of The Golden Rule, which is three-fold: 1) To ensure Christians are obedient to the Lord in all things, 2) to hold Christians (i.e., Servant leaders) accountable to the Lord for how they treat others regardless of their belief or cultural ethnography, and 3) to promote universal Christian values around the world through fellowship (Matthew 7:12 [New King James Version]). Simply put, carrying out these three principles of The Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12 [New King James Version]) promotes both universal Christian values of equity and fairness to others and in turn minimizes cultural differences between believers, which can be…show more content…
This is why the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (as the second Adam and Son of God) was deemed necessary to mend humanity’s broken relationship with God the Father as a perfect sacrifice free of sin had to be made to make up for the gap left behind by the first Adam’s sinful fall (Genesis 1:1; Revelation 22:21 [New King James Version]). For that reason, seed planting is necessary for fellowship growth. Based on this, servant leaders will choose seeds of humility and love to nurture the relationships within the Church and/or Christian organization as a means of building teams and fulfilling community outreach

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