The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1960-06-03
The Golden Rule
Lesson for June S, 1860

WndC is the BlOie driving at:
What is the essence of the Bible
what is it that can't be thrown
away or left out? Jesus put the
answer to this pretty strongly
once. He did not quote any verse
from the Old Testament (his
Bible). He gave a single sentence
of his own, and said, "This is
the Law and the Prophets" He
never said as much about any
other sentence.
No W on d er the Christian
church hit on the name Golden
Rule" for this sentence which
Jesus boldly identified with the
Law and the Prophets. It is in
deed golden. But rule" can be
misunderstood. Most rules are
designed to save people the
trouble of thinking. Applying
rules is a scientific procedure
But this Golden Rule" is of
such a nature that applying il
is an art, not a science. So far
from saving any one the trouble
OF thinking, it demands thought.
The Golden Rule, in the life of
a stupid and selfish person. pro-
duceS only a mess, and can do
great harm.
Intelligence
At least three things are neces-
sary in order to make the
Golden Rule work. What is this
Golden Rule? "Whatever you
wish that men would do to you,
do so to them" This is a chal-
lenge, first of all. to intelligence.
1t is really a principle, not a
rule. It does not tell you to do
any particular act. It does not
describe any particular situa-
ton. It is open to being mis-
understood Gas all wise sayings
are) by the foolish and the stu
pid. What could we say of a
man who would give his wife a
shotgun just because he would
like to have one?
Imagination
The Golden Rule calls for
imagination as well as intelli-
gence. If the man who gave his
wife the shotgun would try to
put himself into his wife's place,
he would ask. If 1 were my
wife, what bir nd a Y present
would l Want?" And he might
remember that she had said
something about wanting new
bathroom curtains. Or, if he had
an even stronger power Of imagi-
nation, he could think his way
into her mind and guess at
something she had never SO
much as mentioned = an ex-
tension telephone or a trip to
her old home. Whatever you
would wish people to do to you
If you were in their place
do so to them. That is the real
meaning of this rule.
Sometimes it calls for the kind
of imagination that can look into
the future. Parents and teachers
need this greatly. You can per-
haps imagine what this child,
this student, wants you to do
now. He wants you not to punish
him. He wants you not to re-
quire hard work of him. Now
you can let the child do as he
pleaseS without lifting a hand
against him, and that will suit
him down to the ground. But ten
years from now you - and he
too - may Sorely wish you had
spanked him good when spanking
would do some good. Likewise
the teacher can be easy on the
class with the consequences
that they learn nothing. Years
later they may fail in compe-
tiion with those who once
studied under harder : driving
teachers. Then they will wish
the teacher had put on the
screws.
The Christian Heart
The Golden Rule calls for
something beyond. or rather
undertaking, intelligence and
imagination. It's right use calls
for the Christian heart, that is
to say, a heart in tune with the
heart of Jesus. a heart wherein
dwells the Holy Spirit; a heart
sensitive not merely to the wants
Of others but to their needs.
Jesus himself gave an illustra-
ton of this when the paralyZed
man was brought to him by the
mans four friends who let him
down through the roof. The first
thing Jesus said to him was
Your sins are forgiven. Some
people would have criticized
Jesus for that. Where was any
evidence that this man wanted
his sins for given? Would his
friends think trick had been
played on them? A forgiven
cripple weighs Just as much as
an unforgiven cripple, doesn t
he9 But our Lord knew what
the man needed most Of all was
forgiveness. Only a Christike
heart can see through want to
need.
BASED on outlines copyrighted
by the Division of Christian Edu.
cation, National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
ReleaSed NV Cnn,n,unifv prnsc