Ephesians: Honor Up, Honor Down, Honor All Around (Charlie Craige)

Alright, tonight we're going to continue in our Ephesians series.

We're going to be in Ephesians chapter 6, and I'm going to read verses 1 through 9.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

This is going to be in the ESV because that's what Charlie's preaching out of.

Whatever translation you have is still the word of God, so we like it.

Honor your father and mother.

This is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Bond servants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of I service as people pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the hearts, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

Masters, do the same to them and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

This is the word of the Lord.

Can we welcome our friend Charlie Craig to the stage?

Thank you.

Man, it is great to be in church this Sunday evening.

Man, I've got a lot of material, and what I want to encourage everybody is take some notes, go back and listen to it.

Because I'm gonna try to go through this in a timely uh manner.

But yeah, Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1 through 9, and I get the privilege of talking about honor today.

Ephesians 6:1–9

Everybody say honor.

All right, I'm a talk back kind of a preacher, although today it's kind of more teachy than preachy, I would say, but uh still help me out.

All right.

If y'all encourage me, I preach shorter, I promise.

All right, so yeah, so so interesting topic.

We hear this word honor a lot in so many different contexts of life.

Man, you know, give honor where honor is due, you know, honor somebody, but like y'all just did, clapping your hands for each other.

And I think this context that Paul is talking about, I want to explain it and then I want to talk about how we can apply it to our everyday lives.

Is that good?

All right, so Ephesians chapter 6, verses 1 through 9, it makes a lot more sense when you kind of look at it in its context, that this is getting towards the end of a larger point that the apostle Paul is trying to make right here.

Ephesians 6:1–9

And that point being this, all right?

Is that if Jesus has created a new humanity or a new family, a new community community, if Jesus has created a new humanity, what should relationships look like when people actually live under his lordship?

Amen.

Is that a good challenging question right there?

That's the point that Paul is trying to make right here.

That Paul isn't giving just an isolated list of rules to children and parents and leaders and bosses and workers, but he's taking the gospel into the most basic institution in this Roman society that they find themselves in, and that institution being the household.

Everybody say household.

All right, showing that what changes when the household recognizes that Jesus is Lord.

Why?

Because when we recognize that Jesus is Lord, then things change in our lives.

Amen.

All right, that that not much stays the same when we go from not having that recognition to having that recognition that Jesus is Lord, I don't just simply remain in the same lifestyle that I had before, but things change and something new happens.

And honestly, that's my prayer for us today.

Is that as we hear this message about honor, is that my prayer is that God, would you help me to apply this to my life?

That God, would you make me better?

Would you make me honorable?

Would you help me to see you the way that I should see you, see myself, the way that I should see myself, and to see other people the way that I should see them as well.

So this context actually starts, even in this series, Ephesians.

It starts in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 18, where Paul writes and instructs believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18

Everybody say, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Right?

So Paul instructs believers, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Then he goes on to describe what do spirit-filled relationships look like.

And this is what it says in Ephesians 5, verse 21.

Ephesians 5:21

It says, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

So if I have a question, like, man, Paul is saying, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

My question is, okay, what does that look like in my everyday lives?

Specifically, what does this look like in the context of my relationships?

It's going to be submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

And I think that's interesting wording, the way that Paul writes that.

He doesn't say, man, uh submit to one another because they deserve your submission.

He doesn't say, submit to one another because this person has a lot of value.

He says, no, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

We're going to talk about that quite a bit today.

And then from there, Paul goes on to address three major relationships within the household: children and parents, husbands and wives, slaves and masters, and Roman society, it was very heavily on hierarchy-centric.

It's like, man, what's the hierarchy?

Like, like who has the most value, and then all the way down to who has the least value.

And in this society, you will look at the household, maybe the husband or the male in the household, and they would have the most authority in society within that household.

And whenever you would address a household, you would usually address the person with the most authority, right?

But however, Paul goes on and he addresses every single person in the household.

Everybody say everyone.

All right, so he doesn't just address the person with the most societal authority that has hierarchy according to what that society says who has the most value, but he addresses every single person in that household, the person with the on the lower side of the hierarchy, and the person with the most value, the highest uh position in the hierarchy.

And he starts off by saying, Children obey your parents in verse one.

He says, Children obey your parents, how?

In the Lord.

Everybody say in the Lord.

And he goes on to say, For this is right.

So this is actually my mom's favorite verse in the entire Bible.

So much so, I'm not kidding.

So much so that when I was a kid, probably in kindergarten, like they would have these things, like I don't know what they would call them, the Sunday school stuff, and the kids would come up and recite their memory verse in front of whoever we were reciting it to.

I don't remember that much, but I remember that this was my verse, and my mom was like, Man, you have got to nail this verse and you've got to live this verse out with all your heart.

Like children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

And the thing that you should notice in this verse right here is that even parental authority is placed under Christ.

That Paul doesn't simply say, man, like children, obey your parents.

He doesn't just simply say that the Father has authority, therefore obey.

Christian obedience exists within a larger reality that Jesus is Lord.

Amen.

That when he says this, he's actually quoting from the Old Testament where it says, honor your father and mother.

So Paul isn't just coming up with something new, but he's pulling something from the Old Testament, bringing it into the New Testament under the authority of Jesus Christ.

And he says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord.

Everybody say in the Lord.

All right, and then he goes on to say, Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but train them in discipline and in godliness.

Everybody say discipline?

Say godliness.

So Paul is turning towards the person who's possessing the greater authority in this household, and he addresses the fathers and he tells them, Man, do not provoke your children to anger.

And in Roman society, fathers possess an extensive amount of authority over their children.

Paul essentially tells Christian fathers that your authority does not give you permission to crush, humiliate, manipulate, or to exhaust your children.

All right, everybody lean into this point right here.

Say, lean in.

Instead, Paul says, Bring them up under the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

That Christian fatherhood or parenthood, therefore, it's not merely about getting obedience, but the goal is discipleship.

Everybody say discipleship, that authority has been transformed from how do I control the people underneath me into how do I steward the people that God has entrusted to me.

Amen.

And then he goes on to this other part of the household that can be confusing a lot of times.

We're going to talk about quite a bit right here.

It says, bondservants, all right?

He says, bondservants, obey your earthly masters.

That slavery was something in this society that was heavily embedded throughout the Roman Empire.

That enslavement could have resulted from war, from birth, from abandonment, from debt, from other circumstances.

And what was going on is that enslaved people worked in an enormous variety of settings.

They could have been brutal manual labor, it could have been domestic service, it could have been administration, it could have been education, it could have been a variety of different things.

But what was happening is that many have these enslaved people within this household, and Paul is teaching every single member of the household, no matter what their position was or is, and he's saying, This is how you live your life under the authority of Christ.

The issue is enslaved people were legal subordinates and vulnerable to exploitation, violence, sexual abuse, family separation, and the decisions of their owners.

They lacked the freedom and legal equality that we rightfully associate with human dignity today.

And hear me when I say this: that the Bible is not affirming this, that Paul is not affirming this.

He's addressing the people who are in this situation, and he's addressing the society that does have this in place.

So people were owned, deprived of their freedom, and Paul is writing to Christians inside of this existing institution.

And he first tells enslaved Christians that their ultimate audience isn't their earthly master.

The Ephesians chapter 6, verses 6 and 7, he says, not by the way of I service as people pleasers, but as bond servants to Christ, right?

Ephesians 6:6

All right, so in other words, he's saying, You may occupy the lowest societal position in this household, but your work ultimately belongs to Jesus.

Your human master is not your highest master, but Christ is.

And this is giving dignity and moral agency to someone that Roman society regarded primarily according to his or her usefulness to their owner.

Now I'm gonna come back and store back around to that, but then he goes on to address the masters.

He says, earthly masters, he's saying, you should be serving your subordinates with good will as to the Lord, and then he goes on to say you should treat them fairly.

So Ephesians chapter 6, particularly verse 9, is disrupting this man-made hierarchy that's in place in this culture.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

He says, masters do the same to them and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their masters and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

So if I'm reading this, I'm getting this letter, I'm like, man, I've got to think about the weight that Paul is saying right there, the weight of what it holds right there.

Is that this Roman master might have the mentality of saying, Man, I am his master.

And Paul is responding and saying to him, actually, you both have a master that you submit under, and his name is Jesus.

So the servant and the master will ultimately stand before the same Jesus.

And Jesus is not going to be impressed with whatever your social status might be that separates you on earth.

The earthly hierarchy suddenly becomes extremely relative in this context.

And then Paul goes on to write in Galatians chapter 3, verse 28, Paul writes, and he says, There's neither slave nor free.

Galatians 3:28

You are all one.

Every say one, you are all one in Christ.

And then in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 21, Paul tells the enslaved believers that if they have a chance to gain their freedom, that they should take that opportunity.

1 Corinthians 7:21

And then Philemon and Philemon chapter 1, verses 8 through 22, when you read that whole encounter, Paul addresses the slave owner and he says, Man, you need to receive your runaway slave back, and not as a slave, but now as a brother in Christ.

Philemon 1:8–22

So what Paul is doing right here ultimately is he's dismantling this whole hierarchy and this whole unjust system that they have happening right here in Roman society.

So again, Paul addresses every single person in the household so much so that they can no longer live the same life that they were living before they professed Christ.

Amen.

That things all of a sudden began to be shaken up and changed because of what Paul is saying and is preaching of the true gospel.

So the theology that Paul establishes begins undermining and destroying the worldview used to justify Christians, threatening other human beings or treating them as property inferior and anything less than a brother or sister, who all have valuable roles and potential within the kingdom of God.

That's what Paul is getting down to.

Ephesians chapter 2, verse 14, it says, For Christ Himself, everybody say Christ Himself, He is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

Ephesians 2:14

So what Paul is saying is that Jesus changes everything.

In this little system, in this little hierarchy that you have right now, all of that, all of that is going to be dismantled when you say that Jesus is Lord.

Why?

Because now everyone has the same creator, the same Lord, they receive the same gospel, a part of the same church, same spiritual family.

We're all going to experience the same judgment and that there is no partiality found in God.

Amen.

So what was acceptable in this society, Paul begins to dismantle through the preaching of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

So the question that I pose today is what happens when that theology walks into our actual relationships in real time.

It changes your marriage, it changes your parenting, it changes how you respond to authority, it changes how you exercise authority, it changes how you work, it changes how you treat people that society says is beneath you.

How so?

Because Jesus changes everything.

Can I get a good amen in the room today?

All right.

Everybody say Jesus.

Say Jesus changes everything.

All right, biblical theology is not about increasing our knowledge, it is about increasing Christ's authority in our lives.

Amen.

That theology isn't just about me gaining knowledge, but theology is about me implementing Christ's authority more and more every day in my life.

How do we know this?

Notice the phrases that Paul uses in Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

In verse 1, he says, in the Lord.

In verse 4, he says, of the Lord.

In verse 5, he says, as you would Christ.

In verse 6, he says, as bondservants of Christ.

In verse 7, he says, as to the Lord.

In verse 8, he says, receive from the Lord.

And in verse 9, he says that Jesus is their master and he's your master as well.

But he's establishing what the ultimate authority is.

So what's the point?

Everybody say what's the point?

When Jesus enters the household, when Jesus enters the workplace, when Jesus enters your team, your neighborhood, when Jesus enters every relationship and everything in your life gets reorganized, and now it falls under His lordship, from transactional to honorable.

Everybody say honorable.

So if your relationships look and operate the same way that culture does, then the question that I have to ask myself is, whose lordship am I under?

If my relationships operate the same way that everyone else's does, and the way their culture does, then I have to ask myself, like, whose lordship am I truly under?

Because Jesus changes everything, and all of a sudden the name of the game is honor.

Everybody say honor.

So all of this sets us up on a little journey that Paul sends us on, and we get to uh Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10, where he makes the final statement right here that Blake's going to preach about next week is that man, finally be strong.

Ephesians 6:10

How?

In the Lord.

He says, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

So the reality is that we're submitting to God's plan for our lives, which equips us to defeat the devil, or we're submitting to the devil's plan for our lives.

How do we know this in John 10, 10?

This is what Jesus says the thief, which is the devil, comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

But Jesus says, I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.

And those are the only two options that we have.

That I'm either submitting to the lordship of Jesus or I'm submitting to the lordship of Satan.

And the Bible says that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but under the submission of Jesus Christ, he says, Man, I've come to give you life and to give it abundantly.

That those are the two options that we have.

And all of this letter in the book of Ephesians leads us on a journey that equips us to defeat the enemy and to live an effective and purposeful life in Christ.

Everybody say in Christ.

So Paul is progressive and he says, Man, we're going from identity in Christ to unity in Christ to living holy in Christ through relationships under Christ.

And then in this last part of chapter six, we get into spiritual warfare in Christ.

So what I'm gonna do right now is we talked about the context of this chapter and verses.

And now let's talk about application.

Everybody say application.

All right.

So how do I do this?

Is the question that I'm always asking myself.

And in Philippians chapter 2, verse 9 through 11, it says this.

Philippians 2:9–11

Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name is that the name that is above every name, so that the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

That when I implement this in my life, I have the perspective and I have the realization that man, whether I recognize it or not, that everything is going to fall.

Under the authority of Jesus Christ.

And as a follower of Jesus, I'm living from that perspective.

So the way that I treat people falls under the authority of Jesus Christ.

The way that I work falls under the authority of Jesus Christ.

The way that I lead, the way that I parent, the way that I do whatever it is that I put my hand to falls under the authority of Jesus Christ.

And here's what Philippians is telling us right here in chapter two is that I can do that voluntarily and say, man, I surrender to Jesus, or there will be a day when it says that every knee will bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

And I can make a decision to do that today voluntarily, or I can resist that and ultimately be forced into submission.

All right, so let's talk about how this text applies to our lives.

Everybody say honor up.

Oh okay, whatever.

Help me out, y'all.

All right, come on, somebody.

I'm over sweating.

I'm probably burning like 10,000 calories right now enough.

All right.

All right.

Everybody say honor up, honor down, honor all around.

All right, that's something I used to say back in the day when I was working in church life.

I haven't said that in a long time, but when I got this assignment to preach this, I was like, man, this is really going to apply, man.

It's like honor up, honor down, honor all around.

So I'm honoring up, that's leadership.

I'm honoring down, that's the people that I lead, and I'm honoring my colleagues as well, honoring all around.

And one of the clearest principles in Ephesians 6, verses 1 through 9, is that honor is not determined by hierarchy.

Ephesians 6:1–9

Amen.

That Paul speaks to children about honoring parents, then he immediately speaks to fathers about how they should treat children, and then he speaks to servants about how they should serve under their masters, and then he speaks to masters and reminds them that they have a master as well, whose name is Jesus and how they are to be treating the people that they lead.

So the thing is that nobody gets a pass on honor.

Amen.

No one gets a pass on honor.

So what does honor up mean?

It means I honor the people that God has placed in authority over me.

That doesn't mean that they're always right, and honor doesn't require blind agreement.

It means that I refuse to let disagreement become disrespect.

So verses one through two, what does it say, children obey your parents in the Lord?

Goes on to say, honor your mother and father.

So then we talk about honor down.

What does honor down mean?

It means I honor the people that I have authority, influence, or responsibility over.

That Paul tells fathers, do not provoke your children to anger.

And then he goes on to say to the masters, stop your threatening.

All right, that biblical authority is never permission to be little people.

That the more authority that God gives you, the greater your responsibility to use it in a way that reflects Jesus.

Amen.

That God doesn't give us authority or influence to make us powerful, that God gives us authority and influence to treat people in such a way that reflects Jesus to them.

So honor all around.

Let's say that's our coworkers, our teammates, siblings, friends, strangers, the people who can open doors for us, and the people who can do absolutely nothing for us.

And the challenge that we have today is that, man, dishonor has somehow, somehow become popular.

That dishonor has become entertainment for us.

That dishonoring is kind of what we lead with and what's expected today.

And we kind of have this mindset of, like, man, I'm not going to honor until they prove to me that they deserve my honor.

That we make jokes at people's expenses, that we disrespect leaders that we disagree with.

And sometimes we treat kindness as something that we feel like people need to earn.

But Christians should be different.

Everybody say different.

That we don't honor people because of their position, but we honor people because of our position.

Amen.

And what is our position?

We are in Christ Jesus, that we belong to Christ Jesus.

So we don't honor people because we feel like they deserve honor, but we honor people because of the position that we hold in Christ Jesus.

Verse 9 gives us the reason.

Knowing that he who is both their masters and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality within him.

So God is not impressed by titles, rankings that may impress us.

So whether you're talking to your boss or to an employee that's under you, whether you're speaking to your parents or to your children, your coach or your teammates, your teacher or your classmates, it's always going to be honor up, honor down, and honor all around.

That because how we treat people tells everyone about how we view the God that we claim to represent.

That makes sense.

So what is honor and what isn't honor?

Right?

Get into some very practical things right here.

You may leave here thinking, man, I feel like I really got some leadership principles today.

But ultimately, I hope that this is going to be something that changes your heart.

Amen.

All right.

So what honor is and is not.

Sometimes us Christians can refuse honor with agreement, obedience, silence, or avoidance of conflict.

Biblical honor is deeper than just being nice.

All right?

I really want us to get that.

The biblical honor is much deeper than just being a nice person.

That the word Paul uses in verse 2, honor your father and mother, carries the idea of recognizing weight or value.

To honor someone is to treat them as though they matter.

And scripture expands this beyond our parents.

In 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 17, it says, honor everyone.

1 Peter 2:17

Everybody say, honor everyone.

He says, honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the emperor.

All right.

So honor begins with recognizing that every person bears the image of God and should therefore be treated with dignity.

Say dignity.

All right.

The honor is not agreement.

Point number one under this.

Honor is not agreement.

You can disagree with someone and still honor them.

In the Old Testament, we see this with David, that he repeatedly disagreed with King Saul, rightfully so.

And he even fled from him for his own safety.

Yet he refused to let Saul's dysfunction turn him into a dishonorable person.

That disagreement might reveal your perspective, but dishonor is going to be something that reveals your character.

Amen.

That I can disagree with someone without dishonoring them.

Next one is that honor is not blind obedience.

Ephesians 6, 1, what does it say?

Children, obey your parents.

How?

In the Lord.

That our highest allegiance always belongs to God.

When human authority requires disobedience to God, we have to remember Acts chapter 5, verse 29, that says this we must obey God rather than man.

Acts 5:29

Amen.

That we must obey God rather than humans.

That we can respectfully refuse something that violates God's word, our conscience, our appropriate boundaries that we have in place.

I can talk about that for two hours.

Next one right here is honor, is not pretending that wrong is right.

Right?

Paul literally confronts Peter publicly when Peter's behavior contradicts the gospel in Galatians chapter 2.

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

In verse 11, it says this when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face.

For what he did was very wrong.

So honor is not pretending that wrong is right, honor isn't turning a blind eye when we see something wrong.

We see all throughout scripture that Jesus confronted religious leaders in the Old Testament.

Nathan confronted King David.

Biblical honor doesn't require silence in the presence of sin and wrongdoings.

All right, more times than not.

Everybody say more times than not.

More times than not, the most honoring thing that you can do is tell someone the truth.

But how you tell the truth matters.

More times than not, the most honoring thing that you can do is confront someone and tell them the truth.

But guess what?

How I communicate that, how I confront that, it matters that I have to choose the honoring path.

Honor is not allowing yourself to be abused or mistreated.

David honored King Saul, but he did not keep standing within spear throwing distance.

He created distance.

Forgiveness doesn't automatically require access.

Reconciliation requires more than one person's decision.

And honor does not eliminate healthy boundaries.

You can honor someone without giving them unrestricted access to you.

Does this make sense?

All right, is this helping us?

I just want to say the word of God is applying.

The word of God is applicable to every single aspect of our lives.

All right.

So when we're talking about this concept of honor, sometimes we can read something like this, and it's like, okay, I'll be nice and I'll be respectful.

But what we're gonna learn today is that, man, it's speaking to the heart of each and every believer.

All right.

So what is honor?

Honor is recognizing someone's God-given dignity and choosing to treat them accordingly, even when their behavior does not make it easy.

I don't like that part of my notes, but it's in there, and I feel like I have to say it because the Lord said, say it.

All right.

All right, I'm gonna say it one more time.

The honor is recognizing someone's God-given dignity and choosing to treat them accordingly, even when their behavior does not make it easy.

That shows up practically in how we speak about people when they're not in the room, how we speak to people when they are in the room, how we disagree with people, how we respond to correction, how we handle someone else's weaknesses, and how you use the power that you uh have been given.

All right.

And this is where Ephesians chapter 6 becomes very practical.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

The honor doesn't mean that everyone has the same authority, it means that everybody has the same human dignity.

Everybody say human dignity, that the child and the father have different roles, but both deserve dignity, that the servant and the master occupied radically different positions and social power.

But Paul reminds the master man that both of you submit to Jesus Christ, and both of you have human dignity.

So that's my working definition for honor that I'm gonna work with today is that honor is treating people according to the value that God has placed on them, not simply according to the value their behavior has earned from you.

Can I say it one more time?

Somebody said, mmm, and then that was like that's the same thing I felt too.

Is that man?

Honor is treating people according to the value that God has placed on them, not simply according to the value that their behavior has earned from me.

Did I preach to myself today?

That we don't decide another person's value, God does.

One more time.

We do not decide someone else's value, God does.

Honor doesn't mean that I agree with you, it doesn't mean that I have to obey every single thing that you say if it's wrong.

Honor doesn't mean that I ignore what's wrong.

Honor doesn't mean that you get unlimited access to me.

Honor means that even when I disagree, confront, correct, or create distance, that I refuse to strip you from your dignity.

Amen.

Golly, this is good stuff.

I'm the only one that thought that.

Okay, anyway.

Thank you.

Because as followers of Jesus, you can have boundaries without bitterness, disagreement without disrespect, correction without condemnation, and confrontation without dishonor.

So now very practically, I mentioned honor up, honor down, honor all around.

What does it look like to honor leadership God's way in whatever context you find yourself in?

How do I honor leadership God's way?

If we're going to honor up, what does that actually look like?

Honor isn't just something that we feel about leadership, it shows up in how we respond to leadership.

To pray for them before you criticize them.

That's tough.

Is it tough?

Is it just me?

I'm having a tough time up here.

Y'all pray for me.

Pray for the preacher today.

All right.

They have to pray for them before I criticize them.

This is what the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 1 and 2.

1 Timothy 2:1

Paul writes and he says, I urge you, all right, strong words.

He says, I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.

Ask God to help them, intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.

Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.

That can be tough.

I can ask the question, Paul, like Holy Spirit, why does the Bible have to say that?

Pray for difficult leaders, even political leaders that I'm not a fan of.

Why?

Everybody say why?

Verse 2 tells us he says, so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives, marked.

Everybody say marked, marked by godliness and dignity.

That's why.

It's easy to have an opinion of your parent, pastor, coach, boss, teacher, or government leader.

But here's the challenge don't spend more time talking about your leaders than you spend talking to God about your leaders.

Next point under this is respect the role even when you struggle with the person.

Is this message going any easier?

I don't know.

All right, respect the role even when you struggle with the leader.

Romans chapter 13, verse 1 reminds us that authority ultimately exists under Christ's sovereignty.

Romans 13:1

That doesn't mean that every leader is godly, that every decision is correct, or every authority should be obeyed without question.

It means I don't allow someone else's poor leadership to determine the condition of my character.

Amen.

Next point is communicate concerns with courage and humility.

Everybody say courage?

Humility.

That honor doesn't mean that you cannot disagree.

It means that you learn how to disagree without becoming dishonorable.

That we go to the person rather than building a coalition around that person, that we ask questions before making accusations, that we speak truth without trying to embarrass them.

Next point is I serve with integrity, not with just I service, was what Paul calls it right there in Ephesians 6.

So don't only work hard when the leader is watching.

Amen.

Don't change your effort when the coach walks into the room.

Don't become respectful only when there's something that you want.

Paul says that we are to serve as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

And this is what I mean, this is the heart of what I'm trying to say right here, is that you don't honor leadership because every leader is honorable.

You honor God by being an honorable person.

Does that make sense?

That we don't honor leadership because every single leader is honorable, but we honor God by being an honorable person.

That ultimately, the way that we handle earthly authority reveals something about how seriously we take Jesus' authority.

Amen.

How do I honor subordinates God's way?

Ephesians 6 doesn't only tell people under authority how to behave, it tells people with authority how to behave.

That Paul tells fathers, do not provoke your children to anger.

He tells masters to stop your threatening, heavy-handed ruling.

In other words, God cares just as much about how you lead, just as much as he cares about how people follow your leadership.

Point under here is see people as people, not as positions.

To see people as people, not just as positions.

Never allow someone's lower position to make you treat them as less valuable.

Your employee, your student, your child, your player, your volunteer, the person who's serving you bears the image of God.

That their position might be beneath yours on an org chart, but their value is not.

Next point use authority to build people up, not to belittle them.

That God didn't give you influence so that you can prove how powerful you are.

Authority is stewardship.

Everybody say authority is stewardship.

All right, that if God gives you a platform, a position, a title, resources, experience, or influence, ask how can I use what God gave me to help somebody else flourish?

Amen.

Next, correct without crushing.

Honor does not mean lowering the standards.

Jesus was full of grace, if I say grace and truth, say truth.

That good leaders confront, correct, challenge, and hold people accountable, but they do not humiliate people in the process of doing so.

Correction should lead people clearer about what needs to change, not questioning the value that they hold.

Amen.

Next one, last one of this is listen to people who can't do anything for you.

To listen to people who can't do anything for you.

One of the greatest tests of character is how you treat people that you don't need to impress.

Jesus consistently saw people that society overlooked.

Don't only make time for powerful, connected, talented, or wealthy and influential people.

This is what Paul warns us in verse six.

He says, again, he talked about God, who is both your masters in heaven, and there's no partiality with him.

And this would have been a humbling statement.

To the masters in the household that you might be somebody's leader, but you're still someone's servant.

Amen.

That ultimately I may be leading people, but I also fall under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

That leadership God's way isn't about reminding people that you're above them.

It's remembering that God is above you.

And when we remember that, we don't use people to build our positions, we use our positions to build people.

Amen?

How do you honor your how do I honor my colleagues God's way?

When talking about honor all around.

That I have to celebrate instead of compete.

Everybody say celebrate, not compete.

Romans chapter 12, verse 10 says, outdo one another in showing honor.

Romans 12:10

If you want to compete, say, how can I be the most honorable in the room?

Right?

That somebody else's opportunity is not your rejection.

Somebody else's success does not diminish your value.

The honor can genuinely celebrate what God is doing through someone else without wondering why he isn't doing it through me.

Next one is refuse to gossip and refuse to have unnecessary criticism.

That if you have an issue with someone, then talk to them about it and not everyone else about them.

Ephesians chapter 4, verse 29 says that our words should give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:29

And ask yourself, would I say this about them if they were sitting beside me?

And some of us will answer that question and say, I absolutely would.

And that's still an honor issue.

Amen.

Number one, the next point right here is carry your share of the weight.

And we're talking about honoring our colleagues.

Don't make everybody else's job difficult.

Don't make everybody else compensate for your lack of preparation, effort, or responsibility.

Philippians 2, 4 says, let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others.

Honor shows up in reliability.

Everybody say reliability.

Next point, make room for others to shine.

Secure people don't have to diminish someone else's light to prove that theirs is shining.

Philippians 2 3 says, in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.

So what's the challenge?

Is to stop viewing everybody beside you as somebody that you have to beat.

Some people are not your competition, they're actually your community.

Amen?

Because you see your colleagues as an obligatory presence or as your competition.

Honor says that I can celebrate you without comparing myself to you, that I can disagree with you without disrespecting you.

That I can succeed beside you without needing to succeed over you.

And this is my last point that we'll close with.

And Alex, you can come up, my keyboard player.

And this is where I get to the heart of the issue as I close right here.

Is that your ability to honor is a reflection of your honor towards God.

Everybody say this.

Say, my ability to honor is a reflection of my ability to honor God.

That biblical honor begins with reverence.

Everybody say reverence.

That God isn't merely another person deserving our respect.

He is in a category all by Himself.

Amen.

That God is holy, that God is eternal, that God is omnipotent, that God is omniscient, that God is sovereign, that God is the creator and sustainer of everything that exists.

And this is what the Bible says in Revelation chapter 4, verse 11.

Revelation 4:11

It says, Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power.

That God doesn't become worthy because we worship him, but we worship God because he's already worthy.

That I'm just being enlightened to his worthiness.

That I'm responding to the worthiness of God.

That if I'm going to honor other people the way that God instructs me to do so, then first I need to have an honor and reverence towards God.

That when you truly see God for who he is, worship becomes more than singing.

Worship becomes the posture of your life.

That how I speak, how I work, how I lead, how I follow, how I treat people.

That it all becomes a response to the God that I revere, to the God that I honor.

That's why Jesus connects these two commandments in Matthew chapter 22.

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

He says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

And he goes on to say, you shall love your neighbor how as you love yourself.

Notice the order right there.

That there's God, there's self, there's others.

That if my view of God becomes distorted, then eventually my view of myself is going to be distorted.

And how I view and how I treat other people is going to be distorted as well.

That if I don't revere God's authority, then I'm going to struggle with authority.

That if I don't revere God's grace, then I'm going to struggle to give grace.

That if I don't revere God's patience with me, then I'm going to have little patience with others.

If I don't revere my value to God, then I'll constantly need people to validate my value.

That if I don't revere God's sovereignty, then somebody else's success is going to feel threatening to me.

And if I don't revere the holiness of God, then I will redefine what's right and what's wrong based on how I feel that it benefits me.

And that's why dishonor is ultimately more than a people problem.

It reveals a worship problem.

And that's why in Ephesians 6, Paul keeps bringing up how we are to live in the Lord for the Lord.

As I would to Christ, as bond servants to Christ, as unto the Lord, that Paul keeps bringing everything back to Jesus.

To honor your parents, not just because they're your parents, but because Jesus is Lord.

To serve faithfully, not because your leader is watching, but because Jesus is Lord.

To treat people under your authority with dignity, not because they've earned it, but because Jesus is Lord.

To honor the people around you because they bear the image of God and because Jesus is Lord.

The ultimately today the question is not, am I an honorable person?

The deeper question is, do I see God as worthy of honor?

Do I recognize Jesus as being Lord?

Because when I understand who He is, I can understand who I am.

And when I understand who I am, I can properly understand the value of the people who are standing in front of me.

And I can love God rightly, I can see myself rightly, and I can treat other people rightly.

Our horizontal honor will always be connected to our vertical reverence.

So today my challenge, as I close, is to start with the foundation.

God, how's your worship towards God?

How's your honor towards God?

How's your reverence towards God?

That if you have an honor problem, then what I need to do is address my worship problem.

Not worship in the sense of, oh, I love this song.

Worship in the sense of I love God.

I revere God.

I honor God.

There's an old song, and I wrote down the lyrics of it, and it says this.

This is a worship song to God.

It's old, and it says, You are beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words, too wonderful for comprehension, like nothing ever seen or heard.

Who can grasp your infinite wisdom?

Who can fathom the depths of your love?

You are beautiful beyond description, majesty enthroned above.

God, today we say that we stand in awe of you, that you are more magnificent than we could ever imagine.

And God, my prayer tonight is that we would get a glimpse of who you are, and our response to who you are would be worship.

Our response to who you are is that you are holy, holy, holy, holy.