Making the Connection

Matthew 7:12 tells us to "treat others the way you expect to be treated".
This is the "Golden Rule" and one less remembered than it ought to be.

Let's connect the dots with Galatians, chapter 4 where Paul is concerned for
the Galatians. A little background on the Galatians may be useful to get the point.

Julius Caesar said of the Galatians, "they are a fickle group, and not to be
trusted". It was there custom to mix superstition, child sacrifice and idol
worship with a smattering of newly found Christianity. It was also customary
to spit on those who were afflicted with a deformity or an obvious illness, as
they superstitiously believed that the sufferer must be possessed of an evil spirit.

When we examine verses 14 and 15, Paul does not receive the customary
treatment. Even though his "temptation" was in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7)
he was not humiliated, despised, ostracized or rejected.
Instead he was treated with the utmost dignity and respect.

Think back to the Damascus road experience which left him blind for three
days, and arriving at our current text, understand that his eyesight is nearly
gone at this point. If it were possible, they would have plucked their own eyes
out so that he could see properly.

Now let's focus on verse 14. He was treated as an angel of God, even as Christ
Himself. The point here goes further than Christ being higher than angels or
the respect that was given to Paul as a minister.

All of Christianity, in a nutshell, is wrapped up in our treatment of others,
and if we connect the dots, we will come to understand that we are to treat
every person we encounter as though they are "Christ Himself".

This is a remarkably powerful insight!

In no way am I suggesting that we worship any human being.
What I am saying is that every other command we are given, to "love one
another deeply", to "forbear one another in love", to "bear one another's
burdens", to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace"...
all of these fall into place when we begin to treat others as "Christ Himself".

Certainly the modern societal problems of prejudice, lying, cheating, pride, arrogance, manipulation, judgment, hypocrisy, vindictiveness, retaliation,
stealing, hatred, bigotry, jealousy, duplicity, and foul-mouthed belligerence
would not be appropriate choices.

And yet these are but a few examples of how human beings treat each other.
Paul was received as an angel of God, even as "Christ Himself".

The obvious lesson here is that we need to treat others, each individual we
encounter, as "Christ Himself". This is true Christian love in action.

This is a practical application of living the Golden Rule.
But this can only be practical if we treasure Christ as the One we value most.

As ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), we glorify Christ and His
principles when we treat others as "Christ Himself".