ROOTED: Honor Is Our Commitment

March 13th, 2022 / Riverside & Lookout

Intro: What (who) do you think of when you think of honor?

I think of soldiers in battle. Giving all that they have for a greater purpose. They sacrifice day after day, they put their lives on the line for others, and they do it with a proud spirit and courage. They put others' needs above their own and they serve knowing there is a greater purpose.

We honor these brave women and men because we recognize the sacrifice and we acknowledge the blessing on our own lives as a result of their commitment.

Culture celebrates dishonor. I would take it even one step further and say that culture is marked by contempt. The quickest way to become popular is criticism, gossip, slander, and hate. There’s something addicting to and often very profitable for creating polarization in culture and content that promotes division. But where does that leave honor?

There’s two character traits I’m looking for in a person if I’m going to come alongside and be friends with them: humility and honor. If I see these traits in an individual then I am naturally drawn to them and want them in my life and around my family. The opposite is true for people that I come across that have a prideful and dishonoring spirit. I intentionally create distance from them and protect my family from their negative influence.

Culture is created by the positive behaviors you celebrate and the negative behaviors you tolerate.

“The fear of the Lord is what wisdom teaches, and humility comes before honor.” - Proverbs 15:33 CSB

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.” - James 4:10 NLT

A lack of honor in someone's life signals to me that there is a lack of integrity and humility. Remember this, if someone is willing to dishonor someone else, they will gladly dishonor you when it becomes convenient for them. It’s easy to convince yourself that dishonor is valid when you are trying to create a safe space or if you are longing to hear new information, but HONOR DOES NOT COME WITH A CONTINGENCY PLAN.

Honor never means staying quiet about sin or harm. You can tell the truth and still honor the person.

Honor is not our commitment when it’s easy, convenient, or timely. Why then would we need to commit to it?

I am committed to my wife in marriage. That doesn’t mean that I’m committed most of the time. That doesn’t mean that I’m committed so long as things are easy and we’re both healthy.

Honor is not our suggestion, honor is our commitment.

Say this with me “Honor Is Not Easy”. Let’s say it again just to reinforce this reality “Honor Is Not Easy”.

Honor is not easy when…

You’ve been lied about and everyone is coming to you looking for the truth about someone else.

You disagree with someone and want to publicly shame and degrade them on social media.

You are in the middle of an argument and you feel validated in your feelings

You are misunderstood and want to tear others down to make yourself look better

Your boss embarrasses you in front of others and you want to retaliate

HONOR IS NOT EASY, BUT IT’S ESSENTIAL TO THE CHRISTIAN LIFE!

Big Idea: We are committed to demonstrate and communicate honor at all times and in every circumstance.

Passage: Romans 12:9-10 CSB

Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. 10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.

“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” ESV

The Greek word for honor is “time” pronounced tee-may. And it means value or price. In other words, to honor is to place value on others and to dishonor would be to devalue others. How many of you know that when you experience dishonor, it doesn’t just trouble your mind, it makes you question your worth.

The opposite of honor is contempt - the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn. Who in the Scriptures do we see demonstrate contempt? Satan and the Pharisees.

What is honor? - “The recognition of the value, contribution, and importance of others.” - Ps Corbin Hobbs

We see this lived out in the life of Jesus. He did not come to the earth to devalue humanity or hold in contempt, but to bestow grace and honor.

We see a coronation ceremony from God bestowing glory and honor.

“what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? 5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority— 7 the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, 8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.” Psalm 8:4-8 NLT

An honoring spirit is a gift to receive, a discipline to learn, and an attitude to master. It initiates the mind, heart, body, and soul.

The purpose of honor is to build up and lay a truthful foundation for others, it’s not meant to puff up and weigh them down with vain ego. Genuine honor is to highly respect and admonish others. Receiving honor leaves you feeling a greater sense of humility, while puffing up leaves you with a greater sense of pride and arrogance.

Ps Jon Tyson out of New York says that “Honor is the operating system of the Kingdom of God.”

What are the Results of Honor?:

Honor Reveals

Honor Protects

Main Points:

1. Honor Reveals

   1. Honor reveals certain things about a person that they might not have otherwise seen in themselves.
   2. Honor reveals certain things about a person that others might not have otherwise seen in that person.
   3. Honor sheds a light in the dark places of one's soul revealing their worth and potential.

   4. Illust: Birthday Honor Circle Tradition

      1. I honor you for staying faithful during a difficult season.
      2. God is working in your life and it’s obvious to everyone around you.
      3. The best is yet to come. I see you as a missionary to the university campus.
      4. I remember the time that you were there for me at my lowest and you loved me with grace and truth.

      5. I’m proud of you, I believe in you, and I love you deeply.

         5. A person that honors is not concerned about receiving honor from others, but is filled up when they see others honored and when they give honor. A person of honor is not “waiting for their turn”, but sits with a smile as they see others built up in love.

      6. “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.” - 1 Corinthians 12:26 NLT

         6. You need people to speak into your life of who you can become, not just what you’ve done. You need people that are willing to speak over you who God says you are.

      7. “Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.” - John 7:18

         7. “Honor celebrates people for who they are without stumbling over who they are not.” Bill Johnson
         8. Honor Builds Up

      8. Flattery puffs up, honor builds up. Flattery is full of lies and hypocrisy and the motivation is selfish ambition. Honor is truthful and the motivation is selfless love.

      9. Honor is constructive. It builds them up. The opposite of honor is destructive. It tears them down.

      10. May we never be a people that tears others down in the name of “speaking truth” or “I just needed to vent”. That is not loving, that is not honorable, and that does not bring glory to God.

          9. What am I looking to honor in people's lives:

      11. Their story - what God’s doing in their life.

      12. Their giftings - how God has uniquely gifted them.
      13. Their calling - their God given potential
      14. Their passions - their holy discontent
      15. Their anointing - God’s special favor over their life
      16. Their sacrifice - the countless decisions made to stay faithful

      17. Their future - a potential next step on their faith journey

          10. Who should I honor?

      18. God

      19. Father and mother
      20. Children to their parents
      21. Church to their Pastors
      22. One another

2. Honor Protects

   1. “Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” - Mark 6:4 NLT

   2. Illust: We can be most dishonoring to the people we know the best. We can be most discouraging to the people we love the most. Isn’t that true?

      1. Why is this? The words of those closest to you carry the most weight. It may tingle a little for a stranger to dishonor you, but you soon forget about it and move on, but if a spouse, a close friend, or family member dishonors you, you carry that for life.
      2. “We’ve grown so used to each other that some think they are free to say anything to anybody at any time. They expect others to bear with their unkindness. Why not first try to hold your tongue, you know what you can do, but you do not know how much the other can bear.” - Mother Teresa

      3. It amazes me how honorable people are torn down by dishonorable means and it’s considered appropriate and often times just.

         3. They had a spirit of familiarity:

      4. You’ve heard the old axiom “Familiarity breeds contempt” I would actually say that a little different, “familiarity breeds contempt among contemptible people”

      5. When you get close to something, it can often become common. This isn’t always the case, but think about this as it relates to your relationships, your marriage, your kids, and even your church.

      6. Illust: The Flatiron Mountains

         1. Look at those around you with a fresh perspective, even though it may be familiar, you can still see things through a lens of honor. Then when you see it, say it. Don’t keep it to yourself, use your words.
            4. Biblical Honor...
               1. Looks for the purpose in someone’s past
               2. Looks toward the potential in their future
               3. Looks at the promises over their circumstances
            5. A spirit of honor makes…
               1. The mundane, miraculous
               2. The ordinary, extraordinary
               3. The common, supernatural
            6. “And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.” - Mark 6:5-6 NLT
            7. Jesus was rejected where He should have been respected the most! This is sad for them, but it should be a wake up call for us!
            8. The moment you start honoring someone and genuinely caring for them is also the same moment you start receiving from them. It is hard to receive from someone you do not honor. In Mark 6 the real issue was unbelief in Jesus. They would not honor Him, so they would not receive from Him.

      7. Honor brings life to the giver, but it also gives fresh perspective on others watching. Imagine how this story could have looked so much different had there been a people of honor.

      8. “Honor gives you access to other peoples anointings. Dishonor shuts off the access you have to what they carry on their life.” - Ps Jon Tyson (Luke 4:22-30)
      9. ““Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.” - ‭‭Luke‬ ‭4:25-27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Walking Points:

At Pinewood our honor

1. is not passive, it’s aggressive.
2. It’s not accidental, it’s intentional.
3. It’s not broad, it’s specific.