By Chalcedony Williams, Shirley Rosemarie Evans and Christopher Dryden
Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
Matthew 7:12 NLT
For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
1 Peter 1:18-19 NLT
“Respect!” A term of reference from one young person to another acknowledging esteem. Any disrespect is responded to with aggression or violence, sometimes to a fatal extent. Respect can be an acknowledgement that often is kept going more by fear or a desire to be seen as worthy. This does not, however, reflect a true understanding of what respect is.
The Kingdom mindset flips this on its head. Rather than looking to gain worth from others, the offer of respect to others comes from an assurance that we already have respect from the regard God shows us. We’re not looking for anything from another, we are recipients of the grace of God that gives us value.
Respect isn’t something we demand from others. It’s something we have received by grace. We treat others with respect from the position of seeing people as worth it – even if the other does not recognise that. How you treat me does not change how God sees me or what He says about me.
This can be traced back to the relationship God has with the people of Israel. It is not based on what they have done or will do, but on His regard for them. When He takes them out of slavery, He establishes a relationship with them reinforcing a covenant He made with their forefathers – a covenant of love. That love flows from grace. That love informs and shapes the expression of the Law and Prophets.
So, when Jesus is challenged on the greatest commandment, He looks to the ultimate summary of grace - Love your neighbour as yourself. This is not dependent on what your neighbour does first or last – it’s dependent on the relationship of love from which grace flows. We have received grace. We extend grace in how we offer respect to others as image bearers. Thus, we have the golden rule to treat others as we would like to be treated.
When we then consider the linked concept of dignity – the state or quality of being worthy of honour and respect – we recognise through the eyes of God that each individual was made to reflect His glory. That makes you a person worthy of respect. This applies to people of all stages and states of life. Whether you’re living rough on the streets or the richest investment banker. James warned us about treating people according to material value and thus disrespecting those God honours highly (James 2).
This plays into the skewed version of respect that only gives for what can be gained. And so, we don’t treat an individual for their worth but rather seek to exploit them in a misguided effort to gain some worth for ourselves. When we do this, we show how we have lost sight of who God says we are and instead have chosen to frame ourselves in our less-than-adequate images. Flawed as we are, we miss the point of how we ascribe honour and respect to all.
Grace allows us to return to how God sees us and then offer that grace through respect to all as image bearers.
Ask: What does Jesus mean by the Golden Rule?
Seek: Why do you think you can reframe the issue of respect so that any disrespect is met with painful responses of bitterness, aggression, or violence?
Knock: Father, we are fearfully and wonderfully made, we thank you for that. We thank you for the grace you’ve given to us and so by your Holy Spirit help us to treat others as we would like to be treated and indeed as you treat us by your grace.
(Upper Photo by Wonderlane on Unsplash)
(Inner Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash)
