I have a family member who often debates me on the Bible and Christian faith.
In one of our conversations, he brought up a potential fault in the golden rule.
As you know, it’s Matthew 7:12 which says, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets (NIV).
He shared that if he were disabled and in a wheelchair, the Christian obeying this verse may take the initiative to push him.
As someone who doesn’t want to be seen as weak, he argued that he would be offended by such an action. It was a good point.
The trouble is, when some people think of that rule, they may think only of what they would like, not realizing everyone won’t share the same desires.
In the wheelchair scenario, the believer who understands that each person is different wouldn’t assume the person wants help. Instead, just as they’d in actuality want a choice, they’d ask the person if they would like to be helped.
It reminds me of when I first started buying my wife gifts.
As someone who loved technology, I would often get her an expensive gadget I’d want someone to get me. Very quickly, I learned that what I liked wasn’t necessarily what she liked.
And to my relief, getting her what she actually wanted turned out to be less expensive.
So yes, on the surface, the golden rule indicates that a person should think about what they would want done.
However, The Wise Believer thinks more of the person and less of themself, recognizing that what they want is not always what others want.
