Purpose for this Article

• This article documents the next step in my research into a three-dimensional model that links coping styles, growth rings and helping methods.
• This article also documents my efforts to use this three-dimensional model to probe Christian Theology.

In the previous articles in this series I began with a simple two-dimensional model. That model evolved and proved useful in plotting the course of action in short stories. The challenge that I now need to deal with is my desire to plot four dimensions of data: relationship, awareness, breadth and identity.

The relationship dimension is the horizontal dimension with poles labeled "love" and "hate". The coping styles associated with this dimension are "pampered" and "conflict". The helping techniques used to move our relationship back towards center are "empower" and "intervene".

The awareness dimension is the vertical dimension with poles labeled "aware" and "distracted". The coping styles associated with the vertical dimension are "transformation" and "distracted". The helping technique that moves us into "transformation" is to "learn". The helping technique that moves us out of distraction is to "revive".

The third dimension is the breadth of our relationships. This is the concept I call "growth rings". It is based on developmental psychology. For example, in the article called "The Fifth Model" I plotted data from the First Letter of John with three dimensions: relationship, awareness and growth.

The fourth dimension that needs to be dealt with is our identity. In the simplest usage, "identity" means that person that is speaking. For example, in "The Fifth Model" I re-evaluated the Book of Job and plotted three-dimensions: relationship, awareness and the name of the speaker.

The challenge set for this article is to find a way to plot all four dimensions simultaneously.

I picked the four gospels in the Christian Bible because this is a body of work that is readily available to anyone else that wants to repeat this experiment. I believe that the overall conclusions I reach are reproducible. I am also aware, however, that there are errors in my data. I am not worried about the errors because this is a prototyping effort. I am trying to build and test a tool. Once the tool is developed then it will be available for more refined analysis. Until I have a tool that works, however, it would be foolish to spend needless hours refining the analysis.

Consider as an analogy an effort to build a more fuel efficient engine for an automobile. If I spend fifty-percent of my time working on the engine and fifty-percent of my time adjusting the suspension and tires then I might end up with one well tuned prototype. On the other hand, if I spend ninety percent of my time on the engine and ten percent on the suspension and tires I might end up with an engine that could then be dropped into other makes and models.

In other words, I am going to focus on the goals for this article and tolerate some sloppiness in my data collection technique.

The Gospel According to John

Ch	Verses	Count	Vector	Speaker	Breadth	Destination	Speaker%
1	1-18	18	(1,-1)	Author	4	8 Aligned	7.4%
1	19-36	12	(1,-1)	Believers	4	8 Aligned	17.9%
1	19-36	5	(1,1)	Rulers	3	2 Chaos	8.5%
1	19-36	3	(1,0)	Author	4	1 Transform	1.2%
1	37-51	5	(1,-1)	Disciples	4	8 Aligned	9.8%
1	37-51	5	(-1,0)	Disciples	4	5 Distracted	9.8%
1	37-51	3	(1,0)	Author	4	1 Transform	1.2%
1	37-51	8	(1,-1)	Jesus	4	8 Aligned	1.9%

The column definitions are:

Column Label	Explanation
Ch	The chapter within this gospel.
Verses	The verses within this section of this chapter.
Count	The count of the number of verses in which this person is the speaker. The author is considered the speaker for verses in which no one else speaks. Because multiple people might speak in a single verse, the sum of the "count" for a section might be more than the simple count of the number of verses.
Vector	The direction in which this speaker wants their audience to move. The first dimension in the vector is plus one for aware and minus one for deny. The second dimension in the vector is plus one for hate and minus one for love.
Speaker	The label used to group the speakers.
Breadth	The growth ring or developmental stage expressed by this speaker.
Destination	The destination is calculated by doing a lookup with the vector. The lookup table is shown in the table on the left, after this table.
Speaker%	The speaker percentage is the ratio of the "Count" to the total verses spoken by this "Speaker", expressed as a percentage. The total verses spoken by each "Speaker" is shown in the table on the right, following this table.

Vector Coping Style (1,0) 1 Transform (1,1) 2 Chaos (0,1) 3 Conflict (-1,1) 4 Subjugated (-1,0) 5 Distracted (-1,-1) 6 Obligated (0,-1) 7 Pampered (1,-1) 8 Aligned

Group Number of Verses Author 244 Believers 67 Crowd 69 Disciples 51 Jesus 422 Rulers 59 Grand Total 912

For the first pass, I ignored the "Breadth". The results from that analysis are shown in the following graph.

I felt that even this was a bit hard to read, so I tried to consolidate even further. I grouped the Author, the Believers and the Disciples into a new super group called "Believers". Then I grouped the Crowd and the Rulers into a super group called "Non-Believers". The results are shown below.

This chart has the ability to show the "Breadth", but I found that this gospel was very flat. While I found a few verses where Jesus talked about the importance of belonging to a stage-three group, nearly all of the quotes from Jesus describe a stage-four focus on roles. In stage-four groups exist and are meaningful, but groups can align to work towards a common cause. Aside from a few quotes that might be stage-five or stage-six, the words that John remembered from what Jesus had said are very focused on Jesus' role as the Messiah.

I found a similar lack of developmental diversity in all of the words in this gospel. Nearly all of the developmental stages expressed by the Believers are stage-four and nearly all of the words expressed by the Non-Believers reflect stage-three. I found this interesting and meaningful.

I had previously thought of the Gospel According to John as an expression of the inclusiveness of all humanity. Instead, I now see that this gospel is focused on stage-four. The core of this gospel is the role of the Messiah. Groups are significant and will be used in the final judgment to separate the good from the bad. And yet, groups are more fluid than the people at that time thought they were. I think the core message in this gospel is summarized in chapter 10 in verses 11 and 16.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

"I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and thy will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." The core message is about roles. Groups exist, although we do not today recognize who is in which group. Eventually, however, the good shepherd will separate the good sheep from the bad sheep. As I manipulated this data I found the following groupings of data that seem significant.

The author is very focused on transformation – i.e., teaching. The words spoken by believers are focused on their alignment with Jesus. The author mixes his words with quotes from the believers to orient us towards transformation and alignment.
The crowd and the disciples are scattered and occasionally reach transformation or alignment. It seems to me that the crowd and the disciples differ in degree, not in kind. Both are skeptical. Eventually, however, the disciples align while the crowd exits.
All of the words quoted from Jesus are focused on alignment and transformation. The words spoken by the rulers are focused towards hostility.

Out of this study I learned the following:

• I had a bias and I expected to find Jesus talking about stage-six. Instead I found stage-four.
• I now understand the centrality of the role of Messiah in this gospel.
• I learned that I want to record the speaker in the raw data and then group speakers together during the analysis.
• I also see a pattern in the percent alignment displayed by each of the speaker groups. Jesus is focused on calling people into alignment with him. Believers express their alignment with Jesus. The Disciples and the Crowd are undecided, although the Disciples show more alignment than the crowd and less alignment than the committed Believers. The author shows little alignment because his role is to report the news. And the Rulers show very little alignment even within their own groups.

Coping Style	Jesus	Believers	Disciples	Crowd	Author	Rulers
1 Transform	18%	25%	37%	48%	83%	27%
2 Chaos	0%	0%	2%	9%	0%	27%
3 Conflict	0%	0%	2%	0%	0%	7%
4 Subjugated	0%	0%	0%	17%	0%	25%
5 Distracted	0%	0%	14%	1%	0%	8%
6 Obligated	0%	0%	8%	4%	0%	0%
7 Pampered	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
8 Aligned	82%	75%	37%	20%	17%	5%

I also now see that the crucifixion of Jesus is explained by John as the duty of the Messiah. Thus, in the Gospel According to John, the crucifixion of Jesus is expressed as a stage-four action.

I am sure there is more that could be learned through this study, but this is still just an experiment. I believe the experiment was a success. This data capture and charting techniques work. And it is possible to express four dimensions on a radar chart. The next challenge is to learn from my mistakes in this analysis and update my technique.

The Gospel According to Mark

In brief, I counted the number of verses "spoken" by each of the different speakers in this gospel. A sample of this data is shown below.

Ch	Verses	Count	Vector	Speaker	Breadth	Destination	Speaker%
1	1-13	8	(1,0)	Author	5	1 Transform	3.1%
1	1-13	2	(1,-1)	Scripture	4	8 Aligned	13.3%
1	1-13	2	(1,-1)	John Baptist	5	8 Aligned	66.7%
1	1-13	1	(1,-1)	God	5	8 Aligned	50.0%
1	14-20	2	(1,-1)	Jesus	5	8 Aligned	0.7%
1	14-20	5	(1,0)	Author	5	1 Transform	1.9%
1	21-28	1	(1,-1)	Jesus	5	8 Aligned	0.4%
1	21-28	5	(1,0)	Author	5	1 Transform	1.9%
1	21-28	1	(1,1)	Demons	4	2 Chaos	20.0%
1	21-28	1	(1,-1)	Crowd	4	8 Aligned	4.3%

The column definitions are:

Column Label	Explanation
Ch	The chapter within this gospel.
Verses	The verses within this section of this chapter.
Count	The count of the number of verses in which this person is the speaker. The author is considered the speaker for verses in which no one else speaks. Because multiple people might speak in a single verse, the sum of the "count" for a section might be more than the simple count of the number of verses.
Vector	The direction in which this speaker wants their audience to move. The first dimension in the vector is plus one for aware and minus one for deny. The second dimension in the vector is plus one for hate and minus one for love.
Speaker	The label used to group the speakers.
Breadth	The growth ring or developmental stage expressed by this speaker.
Destination	The destination is calculated by doing a lookup with the vector. The lookup table is shown in the table on the left, after this table.
Speaker%	The speaker percentage is the ratio of the "Count" to the total verses spoken by this "Speaker", expressed as a percentage. The total verses spoken by each "Speaker" is shown in the table on the right, following this table.

I found that evaluating the "Breadth" – or stage of development was difficult. Many of the speakers only say a few words. Also, it is sometimes difficult to separate the stages. In general, however, I found that the Gospel According to Mark is more focused on stage-five than was the Gospel According to John. For example, compare the following two verses.

Mark 9:1 – "Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power."

John 21:22 – "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!"

The quote from John expresses the idea that some will live long enough to see the kingdom of God. The reason given is that Jesus, as the Messiah, can will it to be. In contrast, there is no indication of role or even group in the quote from Mark. In stage-three we focus on groups. In stage-four we act through our roles. In stage-five we transcend roles and groups. John is focused on the role of Jesus as Messiah. John then links this to the final judgment when the people will be separated into two groups – the forgiven and the condemned. Mark has little mention of groups and barely mentions the final judgment.

The strategy I adopted when evaluating the "Breadth" in Mark was to try to find common themes. For example, the author seldom divides people into groups. So, unless the author specifically mentioned a role or a group, I assigned the "Breadth" for the author to stage-five by default.

In the Gospel According to John I found that the crowd was mostly focused on stage-three. In the Gospel According to Mark I believe the crowd is more focused on stage-four. Consider Mark 2:18 where someone in the crowd asks: "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" The expression here recognizes the existence of groups, and yet seems to imply that there is nothing wrong with diversity. In stage-three we defend our group and condemn all other groups. In stage-four we recognize that diverse groups can work towards common goals.

I found the disciples especially puzzling. For example in Mark 10:35-37 James and John ask Jesus for special status. It is easy to see "Me-first" in this type of request and then score their words as stage-two. What I see, however, is that they are asking for roles – and thus I scored these quotes as stage-four.

Using this approach, I counted the following developmental stages in the Gospel According to Mark.

Speaker	2	3	4	5	6	Subtotal	Group
Angel			2			2	Author
Author			12	248		260	Author
Bartimaeus			3			3	People
Blind man	1					1	People
Bystanders		2	3			5	People
Centurion			1			1	People
Crowd		10	13			23	People
Demons			5			5	People
Disciples			20			20	People
Father of sick boy			5			5	People
God			1	1		2	Author
Herod	3					3	Rulers
Herodias	1					1	Rulers
Herodias II	2					2	Rulers
High Priest		4				4	Rulers
Jairus			1			1	People
Jesus			36	233	1	270	Jesus
John			4			4	People
John Baptist				3		3	People
Judas			2			2	People
Leper			1			1	People
Mary			1			1	People
Peter		2	6	1		9	People
Pharisees		9				9	Rulers
Pilate			5			5	Rulers
Rich man	2					2	People
Sadducees		5				5	Rulers
Scribes		3	9			12	People
Scripture		5	6	4		15	Author
Servant girl		2				2	People
Soldiers		1				1	People
Syrophoenician			1			1	People
Woman bleeding			1			1	People
Grand Total	9	43	138	490	1	681

I have mentioned before that the purpose for this paper is to explore. I am confident that the numbers shown above are more than eighty percent accurate. I am confident that they are less then ninety-five percent accurate. While that type of accuracy rating is poor for scientific research, it is adequate for an exploratory paper. I find sufficient value in this approximation.

The next challenge was to rate the emotional value in these passages. Consider Mark 11:14,17:

"May no one ever eat fruit from you again."

"Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?' But you have made it a den of robbers."

It is easy to read emotions into these passages. None, however, are expressed. Thus, I scored these statements as emotionally neutral. In contrast, compare the destination the scribes are trying to reach in the following three statements from Mark 11:31-33:

"If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'" – an expression of obligation.

"But shall we say 'Of human origin'?" – they were afraid of the crowd…" – an expression of subjugation.

"So they answered Jesus, 'We do not know.'" – emotionally neutral expression of denial.

As I tabulated the ratings of each verse I began to identity some common patterns. Similarly to the Gospel According to John:

• The author is focused on sharing information as an objective observer.
• Jesus is focused on teaching and alignment.
• The disciples, believers, followers, bystanders and the crowd are all scattered.

What I found different compared to the Gospel According to John is the portrayal of the rulers. The quotes assigned to the rulers are primarily emotionally neutral. There is less inflammatory rhetoric in Mark than is in John. I attribute this to Mark's emphasis on transcending groups through stage-five. In contrast, John seems focused on stage-four where groups are still relevant.

The final challenge was to assign the words spoken by angels, by God and quoted from scripture. I think of the group called "Rulers" as the people in charge of the kingdom at this time – so I exclude these three from that group. While Christian theology incorporates the concept that God and Jesus are one and thus angels and scripture speak on Jesus behalf, I did not feel that was the right choice either. In my first pass through this material, I included the words from these three in with the group called "People". When I came back to review this write-up, however, I realized that it is the author who best aligns with the words from the angels, God and scripture.

The resulting summary of the coping style expressed by each group is shown below in the table and graph.

Destination	Author	Jesus	People	Rulers	Total
1 Transform	96%	28%	36%	44%	204%
2 Chaos	0%		11%	7%	18%
3 Conflict	0%				0%
4 Subjugated	0%		13%	19%	32%
5 Distracted	0%		3%	2%	6%
6 Obligated	0%		3%	7%	10%
7 Pampered	0%				0%
8 Aligned	4%	72%	35%	16%	127%

I believe two of the key passages in this gospel are Mark 4:1-9 and Mark 10:45.

Mark 4:1-9 is the parable of the sower. Some seeds are cast onto ground where they grow and some are cast onto ground where they struggle. There is no judgment. The passage does not imply that some seeds are good and some are bad. It vaguely implies that some soils are better suited for seeds. When contrasted with the judgmental tone of the Gospel According to John, the Gospel According to Mark is highly tolerant. I think a modern analogy is to consider the effects a lecture has on a group of students. Some students find value and learn. Some students find it actually hinders their ability to learn. In stage-five we realize that it is not that some students are good and others are bad. Instead, we understand that some students learn through listening and some learn through reading. Some students find the professor stimulating and some find the professor boring. These are just facts – an expression of awareness. Soils and students can be aware or distracted. Neither awareness nor distraction is a state of emotion.

I find another stage-five theme in Mark 10:45.

"For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

While the Gospel According to John focuses on the stage-four role of Messiah, The Gospel According to Mark only mentions Jesus' role a few times. In John, Jesus is called the Son of God. In Mark he occasionally refers to himself as the Son of Man. Consider the vagueness of the role mentioned in Mark 10:45. Also consider the lack of groups. According to Mark, Jesus sacrificed his life "for many". It does not say that he died to ransom his disciples. It does not say that he came to condemn those who do not believe. "Many" is a stage-five concept that transcends groups.

In conclusion: this plotting technique worked again, but again there are only three dimensions on the graph. Even so, I learned more about the gospels, more about this technique, and more about Jesus.

The Gospel According to Matthew

The summary of the data I found in this gospel is shown below.

Speaker	2	3	4	5	6	Subtotal	Group
Angel			7			7	Author
Author	0	0	190	61	0	251	Author
Blind men	3		2			5	People
Canaanite woman			3			3	People
Centurion			4			4	People
Crowd		9	9			18	People
Demoniac			2			2	People
Devil			3			3	Rulers
Disciples		1	20	4		25	People
Elders		2	13			15	People
Father of epileptic	2					2	People
Follower			2			2	People
God			2			2	Author
Herod	1					1	Rulers
Herod II	1					1	Rulers
Herodias daughter	1					1	Rulers
High Priest		4				4	Rulers
James			1			1	People
Jesus			432	186	15	633	Jesus
John			1			1	People
John Baptist		1	9			10	People
John's disciples			1			1	People
Judas	1		4			5	People
Leper			1			1	People
Peter		4	11			15	People
Pharisees		4	10			14	Rulers
Pilate			9			9	Rulers
Pilate's wife	1					1	Rulers
Sadducees			5			5	Rulers
Scribes		1	2	1		4	Rulers
Scripture		4	27	4		35	Author
Servant girl		2				2	People
Soldiers		1				1	People
Synagogue leader			1			1	People
Tax collectors			1			1	People
Wise men			1			1	People
Witnesses			1			1	People
Woman bleeding	1					1	People
Young man			3			3	People
Zebedee's wife	1					1	People
Grand Total	12	33	777	256	15	1093

Using the grouping technique described in the prior gospel studies, I end up with the following consolidation and graph.

Destination	Author	Jesus	People	Rulers	Total
1 Transform	91%	67%	47%	77%	281%
2 Chaos	0%		2%		2%
3 Conflict	0%				0%
4 Subjugated	0%		3%	9%	13%
5 Distracted	0%		11%	9%	21%
6 Obligated	0%		4%		4%
7 Pampered	0%				0%
8 Aligned	9%	33%	33%	5%	79%

The Gospel According to Matthew has a greater focus on transformation than do the gospels from John and Mark. In the Gospel According to John, I found that 18% of the verses spoken by Jesus were focused on transformation, while 82% were focused on alignment. In the Gospel According to Mark, I found that 28% of the verses spoken by Jesus were focused on transformation and 72% were focused on alignment. Here in the Gospel According to Matthew the balance is almost reversed with 67% of the verses focused on transformation and only 33% focused on alignment. Matthew presents more of the teachings of Jesus and less of the call for people to follow him.

The Gospel According to Matthew also has more stage-six material than do the other gospels already studied. The Gospel According to John was very flat, with only stage-three and stage-four represented. The Gospel According to Mark is predominately focused on stage-five and might have a few verses from stage-six. The Gospel According to Matthew is a much richer. There is more material from stage-two and more material from stage-six. The dominate theme is stage-four and that allows the stage-two and stage-six material to stand out more clearly.

Consider the way the author works with these concepts in Matthew 13. The parable of the sower is told in Matthew 13:3-9 and then interpreted in 13:18-23. This material is stage-five. The same concepts are then described again in the parable of the harvest as told in Matthew 13:24-30 and interpreted in 13:37-43. In this second parable, the original telling expresses stage-five, while the interpretation brings the story down to stage-four. In stage-four people are divided into groups. Groups might work together for a common cause, but our association with groups is part of what defines who we are. In stage-five people transcend groups. In stage-five we are each judged as an individual and not as a part of a community.

Consider the stage-five concept expressed in Matthew 15:10-11.

"Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, 'Listen and understand: It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.'"

The concept of food regulations is tied to the stage-three identify of the Jewish people as the followers of Moses and the children of God. In Matthew 15:10-11 Jesus separates the person from the culture. The parallel passage in Mark 7:14-23 includes an author's comment: "(Thus he declared all foods clean.)" In these passages Jesus lifts people out of their stage-three culture and gives us responsibility for our own stage-five identity.

A similar blending of stage concepts is shown in Matthew 19:28-30. This passage begins with stage-four.

"Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

Notice the role "Son of Man" and the alignment of twelve groups into one identity. This passage then transitions into stage-five.

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or friends, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life."

Here it is the individual that is rewarded. These individual are separate from the stage-three culture and lack state-four roles. They are stage-five individuals who act with integrity. This same passage then continues on to the edge of stage-six.

"But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."

In that sentence there is no concept of stage-three cultures. There is no alignment of groups or use of stage-four roles. And the use of the word "many" lifts this above a focus on individuals. This sentence describes a minimal concept of stage-six – where all humanity is one.

This same concept is expressed again in Matthew 23:11-12.

"The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted."

There is a subtle expression of the stage-four role of servant. There is an implication that we are to act with stage-five integrity. And then it reveals that all of these roles and actions are interchangeable. While you might have a stage-four role of power today, you may well have a stage-four role of servant tomorrow.

Stage-six also comes through in the "Golden Rule" found in Matthew 22:37-40.

"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the laws and the prophets."

Here we have an expression of the stage-three law of the Jewish people reinterpreted into stage-five actions for an individual. And then the concept of "neighbor" is taken beyond cultural definitions and attributed to humanity.

Another point of interest in this gospel comes from Matthew 26:70 in which Peter denies that he knows Jesus. I have been struggling for some time now with the label at the bottom of the vertical axis in my fifth model. This passage tipped the balance and I now see that "distracted" is too passive. I am now going to change the label for this state of being from "5 Distracted" to "5 Denying".

This same concept then helps shed light on Job. Job sat in the ash heap while talking with his former friends. They denied that Job's theology was sound. In effect, they threw Job and his ideas into the trash. And, thus I have a new symbol to add to the fifth model to explain this concept – a trash can.

In keeping with that concept, I also need to make a couple other changes. Here is a comparison of the old with the new.

Vector	Old Label	New Label	Example Usage
(1,0)	1 Transform	1 Changing	I am changing.
(1,1)	2 Chaos	2 Chaotic	I feel chaotic.
(0,1)	3 Conflict	3 Hostile	I am hostile.
(-1,1)	4 Subjugated	4 Subjugated	I am subjugated.
(-1,0)	5 Distracted	5 Denying	I am denying.
(-1,-1)	6 Obligated	6 Obligated	I am obligated.
(0,-1)	7 Pampered	7 Pampered	I am pampered.
(1,-1)	8 Aligned	8 Aligned	We are aligned.
(0,0)	0 Tranquility	0 Tranquil	I am tranquil.

Each of these words now fits into a sentence like "I am changing." Some of the prior words did not work in that type of a sentence. I found a similar problem with some of the helping methods. "Penitence", for example, is a state, not an action. "Repent" is a better description of the action.

Old Method	New Method	Example Usage
Learn	Learn	I learn.
Penitence	Repent	I repent.
Intervene	Intervene	I will intervene.
Liberate	Liberate	I will liberate you.
Revive	Revive	You revive me.
Detach	Detach	I detach from you.
Empower	Empower	You empower me.
Disciple	Disciple	You disciple me.
Center	Center	Center yourself.

Also note that I am correcting a mistake in the prior drawings for Model 5. Somehow I had put "Love" and "Hate" on the wrong ends of the prior diagram.

And thus I arrive at Model 5-B, shown below.

The Gospel According to Luke

The result is that I believe the Gospel According to Luke provides a wealth of information about stage-six. I see this theme expressed in the Golden Rule found in Luke 6:31.

"Do to others as you would have them do to you."

There is no mention of stage-three groups or stage-four roles in this passage. It does relate a stage-five concept about acting with integrity. But, most importantly, it contains the stage-six concept that you are I can easily switch places. Note that the Golden Rule is only included in Matthew and Luke.

Consider the reversibility of roles described in Luke 6:37-38.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged;
do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven;
give, and it will be given to you.
A good measure, pressed down, shaken together,
running over, will be put into your lap;
for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

This is not reciprocity. Reciprocity says we should reply in kind. Reciprocity is found in Luke 6:29 and in Matthew 5:38-41.

"If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also;
and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt."

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer.
But if anyone strikes you on the right check, turn the other also;
and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give you cloak as well;
and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile."

Reciprocity is reactive. Do to the other as they did to you. What Jesus describes in the Golden Rule is proactive. Act towards another in anticipation of how you would like them to act towards you.

Other key passages where I find stage-six reversibility include:

• Luke 13:2-5
• Luke 14:8-11
• Luke 14:16-24
• Luke 16:19-31
• Luke 17:7-10
• Luke 18:10-14
• Luke 18:16-17

Of these passages there are only a few parallels in the other gospels. Luke 14:16-24 has a parallel in Matthew 22:1-14. Luke 18:16-17 has a parallel in Matthew 19:13-15 and in Mark 10:13-16. None of these stage-six passages, however, have a parallel in the Gospel According to John.

Luke uses the parables to express stage-six concepts. John omits stage-six concepts. This is significant.

Consider the Lord's Prayer. The version found in Matthew 6:9-13 is shown below in the King James version.

"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The wording in Luke 11:2-4 parallels the wording in Matthew. Mark, in contrast, only expresses one part of this in Mark 11:25.

"Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone;
so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses."

And John omits the prayer entirely.

This is significant. Luke has the most stage-six content. Matthew has some. Mark has very little, and what is found in Mark is generally wrapped in stage-four and stage-five passages. John lacks stage-six.

Consider the role reversals described in Luke 18:31-34.

"Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, 'See we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.'"

The first reversal is that the Messiah will suffer and die rather than conquer and reign. The second reversal is that the Messiah will return to life after dying. These words have parallels in Matthew 20:17-19 and in Mark 10:32-34. Again, however, this concept is missing from John.