As I continue to study the life of Jesus of Nazareth I am beginning to see how his thought and teaching and life reflect a third type of consistency, —not only scriptural and internal—a living consistency.  The example that comes most often to my mind is what is often referred to as the Golden Rule.

In Matthew 7:12, Jesus says, “Whatever you want others to do for you, do that for them.”  This is obviously a saying which is meant to be tested out before it is explained or defended.  It leads us both to think and to act. First we examine what we truly and deeply desire that others will consistently and sustainably do for us.  And then we pro-actively do that for them.

As I begin this process I come up with things like:  I want people to call me by name, so I will work to learn the names of the new people I meet and remember to address them by name.  I want people to respect me, so I will respect each person I am with.  I want people to listen to me, so I will listen to others.  I want people to let me know them, so I will be true and open and transparent with others.  I want others to be kind to me, so I will be kind to others.

Then my thinking moves to a new stage:  I want people to be kind to me, so I want to be kind to others.  I want to be kind others, so I want people to tell me when I’m being unkind or offensive or downright hurtful.  I want people to tell me, or even stop me, when I am being unkind, so I will tell people when they are being unkind.  But some people might not want me to let them know when they are being unkind, they might not be at the same point in this process as I am.

And this leads into another circuitous path:  I want people to do for me what I think is good for me and not so much what they think is good for me.  I want people to ask me what I want them to do for me, or in some other way get to know what I think is good for me, and not assume that what they think is good for them is also good for me.  And so the very process of considering what I want from others leads me beyond considering my own desires to considering what other individuals specifically want from me.  Then, as I seriously consider what others want for themselves, I am led back to reconsidering what I really want others to do for me.

When I try to live out this saying of Jesus, when I seek a living consistency in my understanding of this word of Jesus, I enter a circle in which I am continually asking myself these two questions:  “Is my life consistent with this belief?” and, “Is this belief consistent with life as I experience it and know it and live it?”

Give these words of Jesus a serious try.  See where they lead you, in your thinking and in your life.