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true spirit of Jesus, you will vow fealty to him, as the young man Matthew did, and take up his Cause of the Square Deal, for the protection of the unfortunate and weak.

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Why does a bully have more followers than friends? Just why do they follow him anyway? How would you criticize him? What sorts of grown people have really the heart of a bully?

2. How do hazing and fagging stand the test of the Golden Rule? Does this sort of sport go in your school? How do you account for it? What do you think of it? 3. Describe a knight-errant and tell why you admire him. In what ways did Jesus' lifework resemble the role of a knight-errant? Tell how he turned the young man Levi from a bully into a knight. How had Levi been exploiting the weak? Why did he change his name to Matthew?

4. Who imposed upon people the worst in Jesus' day? In what bitter words did he condemn them? In those days how were the unfortunate lepers treated? Show how Jesus' treatment of lepers illustrates the Golden Rule. Describe his kindness to the insane. Why do all Christian states support asylums now?

5. Over what other kinds of unfortunate folk did Jesus hold his protecting shield? How do you usually feel about tempted and fallen people? How did Jesus treat them? What do you think of that surgeon who tried to fleece that poor Negro widow?

FOR FURTHER STUDY AND HONOR WORK

6. Study carefully the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, in Luke 16: 19-. It is the most lurid picture in all Jesus' teachings and shows how very strongly he felt on this matter of social injustice.

7. Try to discover the meaning for our modern life of that story of Jesus' by reading carefully "The Tragedy of Dives," chapter six in Rauschenbusch, Christianizing the Social Order.

8. Look about in your own community and draw up a list of unfortunate cases that challenge all true Knights of the Golden Rule. Do not forget that in this work of Christian sympathy the Red-Cross heroine often does the finest work, so that girls of the right sort are greatly needed here, and can often help more than boys.

CHAPTER XX

THE GOLDEN RULE MUST CHRISTIANIZE THE STATE

We have seen that Jesus' ideal for a better world was just the extension of his ideal of a Christian family. The kingdom of heaven will come just as soon as we are all as brotherly and kind in everything as we are in our own homes. So people have gradually come to see that religion has a message for business and for politics as well as for the family.

Has conscience any place in politics?-Long before and during the World War the leaders in Germany taught the strange doctrine of the "superstate"; that is, the claim that the state is above morals and so can do nothing wrong. So they taught that force alone should settle great questions, regardless of the rights involved. Do you believe this? Do you think might ever makes right? Is not a nation morally bound to be faithful to its treaty promises? Is there any reason why the Golden Rule should not apply to nations as well as to families?

If you were a voter, would you follow your conscience in politics, or silence your conscience and sell your vote to the highest bidder? Would you buy your way into office, if you could, as men sometimes have done? Do you think a citizen has duties as well as rights? If you were a city official, would it be right for you to make money out of your office by accepting bribes? Why not? If you were at the head of a great nation, would your conscience let you serve the selfish interests of your own country regardless of the rights and needs of other

nations? Let us look at Jesus' ideals on some of these great questions.

The rulers of a pagan state.-Jesus was wonderfully tactful in keeping out of trouble over politics. When his enemies tried to catch him in some hot political question of the day, he was very skillful in answering them. He was careful not to say anything in public against the emperor or the Roman Empire. But we know he did not think much of kings in general, or the way they were apt to act like tyrants. One day when he was walking on a journey with his closest friends, he said to them privately, as a gentle rebuke to the selfish ambition two of them had just shown:

As you know, the men of high repute who rule over the Gentiles lord it over their subjects, and exercise absolute authority over them; but not so shall it be among you.-Mark 10:42.

The more one studies the Greek words Jesus uses in this sentence, the clearer it becomes that he did not at all approve the way pagan kings in those days kept the people down and held them in subjection. He honored human personality too much to favor any absolute monarchy which interfered with human liberty. If Jesus' advice had ever been asked by one of those kings, if courtesy permitted he would certainly have quoted the Golden Rule to him: "Treat your people as you would wish them to treat you." How different history would have been, if kings had done this!

Christian rulers must serve their people.-Then Jesus went on to give his disciples his democratic ideal for all rulers in a Christian state or church:

Not so shall it be among you. Whoever wishes to become great among you, must be your faithful ser

vant. And whichever of you wishes to become first in rank shall be bound to serve you all. For the Son of man came not to be waited upon by servants, but to serve others; and to give his life, that many might be free.-Mark 10: 43-.

See how he scorns the very idea of regal authority and pomp! His simple ideal is that greatness comes only through service, not dignity or rank. The only rank worth while is leadership in the service of others, as we found in our Chapter X. When we study more carefully his ideals of service, in Part IV, we shall better understand his emphasis upon the dignity of service. But at least this thought is clear: Jesus believed that the only excuse for any ruler is his ability and good will to serve his people.

Christ forbids retaliation and revenge.-There is a common idea that Jesus forbids his followers ever to use force; but this is not sustained either by his teachings or example. Whether he actually used that whip on the grafters in the Temple, or just on the cattle (John 2:15), he used the powerful moral force of an aroused personality on those men. Frequently he used moral force, but always in the spirit of the Golden Rule. He did say "Resist not evil," but he must have meant, except in love, never in revenge or hate; for, as President King says, "His whole life is one constant resistance to evil.” The Shorter Bible's1 translation is "Do not resent an injury," instead of "Resist not evil"; and Professor Kent says it is a doctrine of nonresentment, not nonresistance.

You have heard the saying, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, Do not resent an

1 This translation is used by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons, owners of copyright.

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