"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"—Matthew 19:19
The whole law can be summed up in the one verse. The Jews would eventually codify this law into 365 negative and 248 positive commandments. God gave the law in one sense to teach us what love is and what love is not. Simply put, God has commanded; thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. That is as straightforward as anything. Rather than trending in the realm of WWJD, let us ask a more biblical question; "how would I want to be treated?" This is a very important consideration as the conscience must not be seared in this area if we are ever to rightly reflect Jesus Christ.
The 'Self-Love' Factor
By way of illustration, lets say that Bob owns a car almost identical to Tom's; same make, model, year, mileage and condition. When Bob is asked what Tom's car is worth he condescendingly replies, "I wouldn't give you $1000 for that junker". Later on Bill is asked if he will sell his car. His answer? "I wouldn't take less than $1500 for this jewel!" If we do the math, we find that all things being equal, Bob has a self-love factor of 1.5 (1500/1000). In other words, he thinks half again more about himself and his own belongings than he does his neighbor. What gives rise to this inflated view of oneself is the subject of another discussion. In this entry I am only interested in pointing this attitude out as one evidence of a seared conscience.
The Springfield Hyperbole Correction Theorem
Some friends and I many years ago discovered that sometimes folks like to exaggerate the great deals they find so as to exalt themselves. No matter how great a deal you found, to hear them tell it you were ripped off. Why? Because they could have gotten it cheaper. The best deals always seemed to be in Springfield, MO. No matter how good the deal was in St. Louis or Chicago, the Springfield deal trumped it. Obviously Springfield did not have the best deals, so we came up with a way of correcting exaggerated figures so as to ascertain the truth. If the good deal was for $100 we would run that number through the Springfield Hyperbole Correction Theorem (aka the Springfield Formula) and get, let's say, $75. If the first figure was excessively exaggerated we would run it through the formula twice. I have no idea how accurate this was, but it gave rise to an important concept. People exaggerate to exalt themselves. Why? Because there is this worldly desire to feel superior to our neighbor. It is called the pride of life. It is bearing false witness. It is sin. To continue in this practice is evidence of a seared conscience. The conscience always checks our figures. If we inflate 100 to 120 we are lying. Folk know when they are hearing exaggeration. Response, "Wow, we need to run that through the Springfield formula."
Silly Recklessness
A squirrel is an interesting creature. In our part of the country they will risk life and limb (yours and theirs) trying to gather and store up all they can for the winter. Our side streets are often littered with these furry creatures that didn't quite make it across the road. They are reckless in their attempt to get theirs. Sadly, they make up a high percentage of roadkill in the fall. You have to always be watching out for them. They don't care if they cause a three car pile up, they have to get that acorn. They have a one track mind, 'get mines'. They are willing to mindlessly put at risk all kinds of property for a small morsel of food. It is their sustenance. It is their nature. They don't have reasoning skills to think through things. If they did they would temper their diligence with wisdom. But what are we to make when human beings exhibit this reckless selfishness? "I don't care what I have to put at risk to get what I want!" It arises from only being able to see things from your own personal perspective and not your neighbors.
The Sin of Expectation
In former years they were described as folk that think the world "owes them a living". Nothing could possibly be more unbiblical. One of the first things God told Adam was that he was to work by the sweat of his brow. Nobody owes us anything that we did not earn. Grace is God giving us salvation without merit, but grace does NOT carry over into the material world. If we expect to make a living in this world, we are going to have to earn it. To be in the habit of expecting things for free is a sure evidence of a seared conscience. Expectation is the enemy of thankfulness.
Pay You For What You Borrow From Me?
In an age of entitlement sometimes the conscience can become so seared that a person is not even reasonable. I have known of people to borrow a vehicle for a few months and complain the whole time. Never mind that they had no car to drive. If they had to put any money other than gas into the car they complained as if they were being ripped off. I don't know if it was easier to act out than say 'thank you' or what. They were borrowing it for free, driving the life out of it, with an attitude of expectation. Can you imagine someone then bringing it back complaining they had to buy a tire for it or put oil in it? Can you imagine them wanting to be reimbursed? What if they complained because they had to clean the mess they made inside of it as if they were doing you a favor? If that were their car they would be checking it out for scratches, but because its your car they borrowed, suddenly it a junk pile (refer to self-love section above). This is what people do when they have a seared conscience. They love themselves but not their neighbors as themselves. They would not tolerate being treated that way for a moment, but they do it to others. Someone loans them their property, they take value out of that property, return it with not as much as a 'thank you' but with a list of complaints. They then mean mouth your car telling everyone how big a piece of junk it was. Amazing expression of non-love! But this is the world we live in today. There is a generation with their conscience seared with a hot iron.
An Old School Example
Old timey preachers of bygone centuries used to preach very specifically how to love and not love your neighbor. A preacher I will leave unnamed once wrote, "When you can be in the habit of borrowing and using your neighbor's tools, without perceiving and feeling the injurious tendency of such conduct, and without realizing the pernicious principle on which such a practice turns, it is because you have a seared conscience. Many persons act as if they supposed that conscience had to do with but one side of this question--that it is the lender exclusively, and not the borrower, who is to look to his conscience, and see that he/she is serving a charitable rather than a profit-making purpose. But let us look at the principle contained in this. If you borrow money of a man, you expect to pay him interest, or at least to restore the same amount you borrow; but if you borrow a man's coat or tools, that are injured by wearing, it is the lender and not the borrower, that has to suffer the loss, and often a significant loss. Many a man has loaned his tools, and paid at the rate of twenty-five per cent for the 'privilege' of lending them. Now suppose a man has a hundred dollars in money. Money is scarce, and a hundred men desire to borrow it, every one in his turn. And now suppose each one should wear a dollar out of it. The man's hundred dollars are soon used up. But suppose a man should come to you and ask you to lend him money, and insist upon it that you should pay him interest, instead of his paying you interest, and you should say, "Why, I never heard of such a request! Do you want me to lend you money and pay you interest for the money you borrowed from me?" Now any man would be crazy, and would have reason to be ashamed, to make such a request; and his naked selfishness would in such a case be most manifest to every one. And who would think of accusing the lender of selfishness, in such a case, if he should refuse to let his money go for nothing, pay interest besides, and finally take the trouble to go after it. And yet this involves precisely the same principle upon which many persons conduct, in the neighborhoods where they live, in continually borrowing and using up their neighbors' tools, and perhaps compelling them to go after them, and that too without compunction or remorse. Nay, so far are they from feeling compunction or remorse, and perceiving that they are actuated by the most unpardonable selfishness, that they would complain, and suppose themselves to have a right to complain of the selfishness of a neighbor who should refuse to indulge them in acting upon such principles."
Summary
We can talk about loving our neighbors and being good Christians until the cows come home, but there is a reality that has to be lived out. "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself". Treat others as you would want to be treated. We must put ourselves on the same level with everyone else. We are not special. Everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time. We really need to ask ourselves if we would tolerate being treated as we treat others.