jured it. So you talk with the fellows and tell them they are very poor sports unless they own up to their thoughtless prank and offer to get the man's tires vulcanized and his fender replaced. Now, suppose they do this, like gentlemen, with appropriate apologies; but the man threatens them with arrest nevertheless. He prosecutes them for stealing his machine. He bitterly says: "I'll teach the young rascals a lesson and make an example of them. The law will give them what they well deserve for their lawlessness."

Even though he may have the law on his side, is he not breaking the Golden Rule? Would he wish to be treated that way, if he and the boys could change places? No, he is applying the Tinsel Rule. He is treating them as well as he thinks they deserve, and using his own human judgment as to what their deserts are. But his judgment is quite fallible, and colored by prejudice and self-interest; and fortunately a merciful law protects the boys. Those boys were only fifteen, and our modern law says: "They are too young to be judged that way. We must be merciful with them, for they are not men. They may have done wrong, but they cannot be called criminals; at the worst they are only juvenile delinquents. Anyway they have made good the damage. We will temper justice with mercy and apply the Golden Rule." To be sure, the boys broke the law and should be made to feel the seriousness of their offense. So the court tries them, suspends punishment, puts them on probation as first offenders, but leaves all further punishment to their parents. In so doing, the court treats them better than they really deserve. But do you not think that this application of the Golden Rule will probably save the boys' self-respect and teach them their lesson without too great a cost?

The Golden Rule is splendid sportsmanship.The essence of true sportsmanship is fair play. To be a generous winner, or a cheerful loser, and, win or lose, to care most of all to play fair—this is being a true sportsman. Happy the youth who carries this spirit into all his life. The Golden Rule is the practical ideal which tells us how.

The writer recently saw a skillful tackle break through the line and almost complete a well-planned forward-pass; but he fumbled when a rangy full-back suddenly lunged at him and shook the ball from his nervous fingers. It was a bitter disappointment, for the game was close. What a fine sport that full-back was, to slap the tackle's back and say, "You made a fine try, old man! Sorry to spoil it!" And it was even finer sportsmanship when a minute later that same full-back made a long end-run, but owned up that he had to take one step over the sideline to get by-and, true to the Golden Rule, went back to his mark, in spite of jeers from the bleachers.

It was fine sportsmanship too when a young Chinese student, always courteous himself, overlooked the insult of an American street boy, and then a moment later snatched that very same boy from danger on a crowded crossing. Young Lee had been brought up on the Golden Rule in its negative form from Confucius, but he was true to the positive challenge of Jesus to "treat others as you would like them to treat you."

In the rest of Part IV, we shall see how this supreme law of the Kingdom, the Golden Rule, is Christ's way of bringing social justice into all the human institutions and relations of life.

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Why do you believe in the square deal? Do you some

times find it difficult to know just what is fair? Illustrate from your own experience. How can the ideals of Jesus help us in this?

2. How did Jesus meet the criticism that he was breaking down the Jewish law? What two simple laws did he say included all the other commandments? What is the difference between his law of good will and the Golden Rule?

3. State the Golden Rule as simply as you can. Do you think it is always fair? Why? Why are others apt to treat you as you treat them? If a person is always charitable in his criticisms, how do other folks usually treat him? Why?

4. What do you think of that "Tinsel Rule" of common practice? Show how it is only a counterfeit of the Golden Rule. Why can we not depend upon such a rule for social justice? Explain what Jesus said about not judging others.

5. Discuss that case of the joy-ride in the Ford. What would you have done if the owner had asked you about it? If you had been one of the four boys? If you had been the owner? If you had been the juvenile court judge? Show just how the Tinsel Rule and the Golden Rule work out in a case like this.

FOR FURTHER STUDY AND HONOR WORK

6. What did Jesus say about the Christian treatment of enemies? What reason is given for this? Show how the Golden Rule sometimes makes us kinder to others than they really deserve. Why is God's justice so merciful?

7. Compare the spirit of true sportsmanship with the Golden Rule and show how the square deal underlies both. Discuss those illustrations in the text, and others from your own experience, to show whether anything less than the Golden Rule is really fair in games.

8. Compare the teachings of Jesus with Confucius in this matter of social justice. Which Golden Rule do you like better and why?

9. Study once more Jesus' teachings in Luke 6:27-38 and note his argument carefully. Show how he works out this unifying ideal of justice-plus-mercy, and makes it the great social law of his kingdom.

CHAPTER XVI

THE GOLDEN RULE MUST REIGN IN THE HOME

IF Jesus' ideals of social justice are ever to win in the world, they must first prevail in the Christian home. If the Golden Rule is to work successfully in the larger circles of life, it must prove its power to make better homes.

Is your home a success?-The home life of many young folks is a real problem. To be sure, the farm home is just as fine a school of character and of family happiness as ever in the past, and with far more real comfort. But with the increase of tenements and apartments, the city home has been rapidly changing. Many a suburban home is little better than a dormitory, where the family are together only at night, and not always then. Too many homes are just boarding houses with irregular meals. It is a fortunate family where all are able to have their meals together regularly and enjoy frequent hours of quiet family life around the fireplace, the library table, and the piano or victrola. It is a fortunate home that retains the love and loyalty of its growing boys and girls, steadily year after year.

How is it with you? Do you get away from home every night you can, and find other places for fun? Or would you rather bring your friends home for an evening than spend that evening anywhere else? Are you loyal to the home-nest and every one in it? Or do you have feuds with your brother and quarrel with him so often that it worries your mother? Do the members of the home all