I’m currently reading, “Core 52, A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Build Your Bible IQ in a Year” by Mark E. Moore. It is excellent, and I was particularly struck by last week’s study on The Golden Rule.
Moore says that, hundreds of years before Jesus, Confucius supposedly said, “Do not do to others what you would not wish done to yourself.” And, somewhere between Malachi and Matthew, it was written in the book of Tobit, “What you hate, do not do to anyone.” Later, a rabbi named Hillel was challenged to explain the whole of the Torah while standing on one foot and said, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: this is the whole Torah, while the rest is the commentary.”
All three are variations of the same thought, and Moore refers to them as “The Silver Rule” because there is difference between them and the Golden Rule Jesus taught us:
Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:31 (NIV)
The difference is “Do.”
All three versions of The Silver Rule would have you in perfect compliance with it while sitting on your couch flipping channels between “The Flintstones” and “Wheel of Fortune.“
The Golden Rule of Christianity, has you up and off the couch doing something to help others. Christianity is not a passive, sedentary, “do-nothing” lifestyle.
Now, I know many of us want to be more active in the practice of our faith, but what to do?
Fortunately for you, there is something you can do because it’s June Letter Month!
That’s right! You can pick up an actual pen and paper like (or a stone slab and chisel in the case of Fred and Barney) and write an actual letter, OR you can just click on the link below and have at it like you’re George Jetson in the twenty-fourth-and-a-half century! (If that reference is lost on you, Google it.)
But what to write about?
That’s the beautiful part! There are no rules, no forms, no set format! It’s a letter-writing free-for-all! Tell the folks that bring you Kinship Christian Radio what you like! Tell them your favorite Roller Derby star! Tell them about your family or how Jesus has changed your life or your most amazing rhubarb recipe! Do you collect June Bugs that have crashed into the porch light and been stunned? Tell us all about it! (You may send a photo, but please do not send us actual June Bugs, please.) Offer a suggestion for improving the ministry! Comment on your favorite announcer! Send us a prayer! Virtually anything and everything is lawful. (See 1 Corinthians 1:23 )
But that’s not all! If you send a donation in with your letter, you get to choose from one of six fabulous prizes! (TaaDa!)
A CD by Charles Billingsly called, “I Was Made for This.”
A book by Beth Moore called, “Whispers of Hope, 10 Weeks of Devotional Prayer”
A CD of Top Christian Hits by Toby Mac, Danny Gokey, Lauren Daigle, Chris Tomlin, Jeremy Camp, Crowder, Hillsong United, and more!
A book by Lisa Terkeurst called, “Uninvited, Living Loved When You Feel Less Then, Left Out and Lonely.”
A CD of Resurrection Hymns, or
A book by Kathryn Slattery of 365 Bible Answers for Curious Kids.
Today’s Praise
So 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 (NIV)