Following intent of the law; going above and beyond
By Mark Wilmoth
When the Selectboard of Croydon, NH, disbanded their one-man police force in January 2020, they ordered Chief Richard Lee to immediately turn in all of the town’s equipment. Lee gave the key to the police cruiser to the Selectboard and then went back into an office and removed his gun, bulletproof vest, and uniform. Lee put his boots back on and walked a mile through a winter snowstorm in his underwear before his wife came to pick him up. Asked why he hadn’t gone home and changed clothes and then returned the uniform, Lee replied that he had been told to turn it in immediately and feared that if he didn’t comply, he would be arrested.
That’s the problem with laws and rules: Some folks look for loopholes and ignore rules they don’t like, but others take rules to extremes no one intended. Some folks assert their independence by flaunting the rules, while others draw security and assurance by carefully obeying every rule. Some people make rules to control others, but some people refuse to be controlled! The same rule that blocks the road for one person merely represents a hurdle in the path of another.
Maybe that’s why Jesus took a different approach to rulemaking. When asked to name the most important rules in the Old Testament, Jesus took the 613 commands of the Old Testament and reduced them to 2: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV).
Love doesn’t look for loopholes in the law, it fulfills the intent of the law. Love motivates right conduct from inside oneself, instead of imposing it externally. Love seeks to please and love guides to right action. Those guided by rules will never tire of rulemaking — that’s why congresses, legislatures and town councils never finish their work. But rule-making rarely accomplishes what is intended.
In Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus gave an example of ancient law (It’s called Lex Talionis, “an eye for an eye.”) and then provided a better alternative: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”
If you’re sued, Jesus said, demonstrate your integrity and good intentions by doing more than is expected in the settlement. Roman soldiers were allowed to force citizens to help carry their heavy packs — about a hundred pounds of equipment — for nearly a mile. Jesus told his disciples to walk the second mile, showing goodwill toward an occupying army.
Sounds extreme? Jesus knows that many problems and conflicts can be resolved if even one of the parties acts in a responsible, mature manner. Jesus instructs his followers to be that one! Do more than is required, go farther than you have to go, ease the tensions, bend over backwards to make things right. Rather than doing only what the rules require, live extravagantly by the rule that matters the most: Love!
You’ve probably seen this principle succeed in the world of retail. When Truett Cathy stayed at the Ritz-Carlton, he noticed that each time he thanked a hotel employee for their service, the smiling employee responded, “It’s my pleasure.” Cathy decided to try that principle in his own chain of fast-food restaurants. Cathy’s customers got 2 pickles, not 1, on their chicken sandwich. Drink refills were carried to customers at their tables. And each time a customer said “thanks,” the Chick-fil-a response (which Chick-fil-A says is not a written rule, just an example set by management) was “It’s my pleasure.” Going above and beyond works. For the last 9 years running, Chick-fil-A has sat atop the American Customer Satisfaction Index for restaurant satisfaction and, in 2022, the average Chick-fil-a restaurant brought in over $8.6 million in sales, with an average profit of $1.2 million.
I wish I owned a franchise, don’t you?
Mark Wilmoth is with Pinehurst Christian Church, Marietta; Minister@PinehurstChristianChurch.org