Law of Reciprocity

Broad application and great power

Jesus summarizes this section with one of the most famous verses in the Bible. It has its own title – The Golden Rule. Saved and unsaved people have memorized this rule. It permeates our culture and has done for over a thousand years. Even those who reject the New Testament (and despise Jesus) have adopted this verse as part of their own religious beliefs.

Despite these false claims, the Golden Rule (also found in Luke 6:31) is a uniquely Christian belief which summarizes both the Old Testament (law and prophets) and the New Testament. Since it appears adjacent to passages about giving to others, I assume that it also summarizes how we should give to others.

Take a look at the verse now:

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12, NASB)

Jesus speaks this verse in a particular direction, starting from His disciple to others, but we can expand on it in both directions and generalize it as “people will treat you however you treat them.” Instead of the Golden Rule, I call this the Law of Reciprocity.

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Law of Reciprocity: People will treat you however you treat them

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You see, this law works in two ways, and it works in both directions. What are the two ways? First, we should treat people in the ways we want them to treat us. Second, we should not treat people in ways we don’t want them to treat us.

I hope this seems obvious to you, but I have found that some Christians forget the second aspect. They treat people nice for the most part, but then act surprised when people react negatively to rude behavior or bad manners. Do they think treating people well gives them the right to act badly?

So, the Law of Reciprocity warns us that our bad behavior ricochets back to us just as much as our good behavior.

The law possesses another feature which mimics some of the laws of physics. When I throw a ball against a wall, the ball bounces back to me with a proportion of same energy and at a reflective angle based on the elasticity of the ball and the wall. If one throws a compliment or friendly greeting at a person, they will tend to respond with a similar message. When one hurls an insult, prepare to duck!