BRONZE AT BEST:

The Golden Rule Apologetic (Bob Passantino, Cornerstonemag)

Nearly everyone is familiar with the "Golden Rule" even if they don't realize that it comes to us in its perfect form as a command of Jesus: "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12). This command to deal fairly with others should govern everything we do as Christians, including how we defend our faith.

Taken within the context of Jesus's other teachings, the Golden Rule is a minimalist argument, that is, the conduct commanded in the Golden Rule is the least one can do acting in imitation of the love of God. As a matter of fact, in many other places Jesus tells us that the superior commandment is not merely to be fair to others, to treat them as we would like to be treated, but even to excel in love toward others. He tells us to love our enemies (Luke 6:27, 35) and to forgive someone repeatedly (Matt.18:21-22). Jesus Himself provided the best example of this Better-than-the-Golden-Rule: He sacrificed Himself willingly for us while we were still sinners, deserving nothing better than God's condemnation:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).

The maximalist argument we could call the "Platinum Rule," exemplified in Paul's command to the Christians in Philippi, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves" (Phil. 2:3).

Whether minimalist or maximalist, the command to treat others fairly is a command Christians can't ignore, even when we are practicing apologetics, which is defending the faith. Years ago I was disturbed by the attitudes and arguments some Christians were using as they defended the faith, arguing with non-believers, cultists, and those of other faiths. Far too often I saw Christians making fun of the beliefs of others, taking unfair advantage of them in discussions, even misrepresenting the truth or their opponents' arguments if they thought they could get away with it. I began to encourage others to remember the Golden Rule when they were practicing apologetics. At first I called this the "Golden Rule of Apologetics" - the Golden Rule has a place in our apologetics. Although that is true and sufficient, I quickly began to see people respond to my encouragement by using the Golden Rule selectively in their apologetics - when it served their purpose and they thought they couldn't get away with anything else.

Over the years I have modified my principle and now I call it the "Golden Rule Apologetic" - the only apologetic system worth pursuing is the apologetic system that is governed by the Golden Rule.

Mr. Passantiino summons us to be better people than at least I am capable of being.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 16, 2003 6:22 AM