Warren Mills. Freedom Publishing, 2019, (p397)
ISBN 9780648497769.
u201cVery good indeedu201d is the authoru2019s answer to the question in the title: How Good is the Golden Rule?
Warren Mills, a retired Australian businessman, sets out his case that the Golden Ruleu2014u201cdo unto others as you would have them do unto youu201du2014is, in some respects at least, the apex of what it means to live Godu2019s way. It is, he argues, u201cthe Secret of the Ages because it teaches us about what love is, and how love works in our relationships - with God and with each other.u201d
Mills spent most of his life in Baptist congregations, and now worships in an evangelical Anglican congregation in Melbourne.
Early in the book he describes himself as u201creally a contrarian, grumpy old Bible-basher who has staked his life on the Lordship of Jesus Christu201d. He intermingles his own life experiences and reflections (church, country, family and so on) with perspectives from Scripture and from other authors. It isnu2019t a memoir, but it isnu2019t any sort of academic treatise either. It is accessible, if perhaps a little more discursive (and thus longer) than might be strictly necessary.
Wide recognition of the Golden Rule
The Golden Rule isnu2019t unique to the Bible and Mills draws attention to both positive and negative versions (e.g. u201cdonu2019t do this, if you donu2019t want it done to youu201d) found in a wide variety of ancient traditions. He notes that u201cdespite Jesusu2019 endorsement of it, the Golden Rule in its most basic form is non-religious and may be implemented initially without reference to Godu201d.
With the emphasis on the u201cinitiallyu201d perhaps that sounds roughly right. The rule is a good guide to life, and many traditions recognise it. And yet for the strong and ruthless, caring nothing for God, it is an empty injunction: as the ancient Greek historian Thucydides put it u201cthe strong will do what they do, and the weak will suffer what they mustu201d. What would motivate a desire to live by the Golden Ruleu2014at least to those beyond close familyu2014without some inkling of the divine?
More than the Golden Rule is required
Even for those of us who have been received into the family of God, in our own strength we will always fall short of the standard implied by the Rule. Good as the rule isu2014and Mills is surely right about thatu2014it is almost as nothing without Godu2019s grace, and without the equipping and prompting of the Holy Spirit.
The call to repentanceu2014a deepening awareness of our own sinu2014a dependence on Godu2019s mercy, and a longing to grow in holiness should surely trump the Golden Rule as the touchstone for the disciple of Christ? Mills knows all this, and much of it comes through as the book proceeds, but his book is built around the primacy of the Rule.
Many will appreciate Millsu2019s book, including his accounts of the way he learned more, sometimes the hard way, about grace and about love, for God and for others. His writing is suffused by a desire to see Christians grow in grace and godliness, and by a desire to see society called (back?) towards recognising its need for God.
As I read it, I was both thankful for Godu2019s hand in the authoru2019s life and prompted to ponder afresh my own discipleship. But there is a scriptural standard even more demanding than the Golden Rule, to love as God loved us, who sent his Son to pay the price of our sin.
Review: Michael Reddell
