“Do unto others, even if they never do good to you.” – Mr. Abdu Murray, J.D.
Transcript: “Do unto others, even if they never do good to you.”
There are different versions of the Golden Rule. You know, Jesus says it one way, but others have said a different way.
You know, Do good things and good things will happen to you.
Or, If you do good things for people, they’ll do good things for you.
Or, Don’t do bad things to people, because you don’t want bad things to happen to you.
Or, You don’t want people to mistreat you as well.
Did you notice something about all of these iterations of the Golden Rule? If you do good things, so that people will do good things for you, that’s self-seeking. If you refrain from doing bad things, so that bad things won’t happen to you, that’s self-protective.
Jesus doesn’t formulate it that way. He says, Do unto others, even if they never do good things to you. That’s self-sacrificial. It’s a unique way to offer this peace.
See the Christian message is this; it’s supposed to be about this. It’s not always lived this way, but it’s supposed to be about this idea that once we have the vertical reconciliation with God, we can see how our own sin has been paid for. And then we can have that horizontal reconciliation with each other, because I no longer see you as an enemy to be vanquished, or as a foe to be defeated. I see you–just as I see myself–a sinner in need of saving.
That’s how they become us. And it’s no longer just they, and they’re always wrong. This reconciliation with God, is why the Bible says that peace is not really a process. It’s not really policy. It’s found in a person; found in the person of Christ. In the Bible we read:
“For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one, and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace. And in this one body to reconcile both of them to God, through the cross, by which He put to death the hostility.”
Mr. Abdu Murray, J. D.
Abdu Murray is a speaker, author and attorney who specializes in addressing issues where religious faith and emerging cultural trends intersect and collide. Since founding Embrace the Truth in 2004, Abdu has spent decades analyzing how the major religious and non-religious thought traditions have attempted to address emerging cultural issues, he has authored several books including Saving Truth, Grand Central Question, Apocalypse Later and his latest, More than a White Man’s Religion: Why the Gospel is Not Merely White, Male-Centered, nor Just a Religion. His articles have been featured in Fox News, Christianity Today, Christian Post and Western Journal.
For most of his life, Mr. Murray was a Muslim until a nine-year historical, philosophical, theological and scientific investigation pointed him to the Christian faith. He has engaged with diverse international audiences in debates and dialogues across the globe and hosts the podcast and YouTube shows, All Rise, Deliberations LIVE and CouldaShouldaWoulda.
Mr. Murray holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School and was named to Best Lawyers in America and to Michigan Super Lawyers three times.
He lives in the Detroit, Michigan area with his wife and their three children. Read his full bio here.
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