Does the Golden Rule still ring true?

I recently spoke at the first annual SBA Faith-Based Small Business Summit in Ontario before a couple of hundred business people.  My presentation centered on ethics in business.  The main point of the presentation was this: regardless of markets, laws and science, there is no replacement for the Golden Rule given by Christ: "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). Our society has turned to these other areas for guidance instead of the Bible.  If people had followed Christ's words instead of using a patchwork of laws, economic incentives, and financial manipulations (the investment banking firms had nobel prize winners in physics designing their financial instruments), we would not be in the mess we are in.

After the presentation, a Christian woman came up to me and asked me if I knew about the "Platinum Rule."  She explained that she was involved with corporate diversity training. She was feeling stressed because as a believer, she had to teach that "we should do unto others as they would have us do unto them."  She was troubled because this new-age ethic seemed to be even better than the guidance provided by our Faith.

Here is what I told her, after taking some time to think deeply about this.

I asked her this: "Whose values guide your interaction based upon the new Platinum Rule?" She answered that her listener's values would guide the interaction.  I then asked her, "Whose values guide the interaction if you follow the Christ's "Golden Rule": do unto others as you would have them do unto you?"  She got it: as Christians, our values are Christ's values. When a Christian practices the Golden Rule, he or she is practicing Christ's values allowing his or her Christian faith to guide the relationship. Because she was a Believer, she was given a whole set of principles and values that make relationships work.

Using the Platinum Rule, anything goes!  Such a condition brings to mind many scary thoughts.  I now call it the "Cubic Zirconium" (fake diamond) rule.  If you look at the 5,000 year history of the Jews, you can see the power of God's word. It holds true in any storm. As a nation, and like the Jews on may occasions, we have strayed and gotten ourselves into a great mess by falling into a relativistic worldview. Just like the Jews, we have only one option, if we want the full blessings of the Creator.

On another note. These past weeks have been very rough on all of our investments. What should we do now?  It is important to recognize what is driving market behavior right now.  I am certain that it is fear. The Bible says "Fear not" over 365 times. Do not doubt God's power in the storm, but be confident in His faithfulness. I conclude that now is the time is to bring the message of hope to our communities, be at peace, and turn to our Lord as our strength and strong tower, and not join the others in running for cover.

Dr. Jeff Decker, Ph.D.
Chair, M.A. in Organizational Leadership
Biola University

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