Extrenal Series

-so last week we started on looking at our attitude, focusing mostly on things inside our heart, what we think of ourselves, and what we think of God.

-and we also asked a whole bunch of questions, yes there were to main ones, but there were a whole bunch of other ones that were there really to get you thinking.

-today we’re going to be looking at what you think of other people, how you treat others.

-because again, how you treat others really says a lot about what you think about yourself and what you think about God. They’re all connected.

**I John 2:9 -> 9Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. (MSG)

-it’s a true statement. Have you ever met someone who says they are a Christian but they are just mean? I don’t mean they got upset over something, a little on edge, I mean they are all the time just downright nasty? And what do you think about their faith when you talk to them? If you didn’t know God for yourself, what would you think about the God they serve?

-what you think of other people can really tell you a lot about what you think about God and yourself. So what about that?

1. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OTHERS?

-when you see someone walking down the hall at school, what do you think of them? What about the person at the drive-thru window? The custodian at school?

-actually, custodians, there’s a good one. I was reading an article by a public relations committee, they are involved with a little community college in classes on the service industry. And on every final exam, every single year there is one question the same: what is the name of the janitor who cleans here?

-this class tries to teach that everyone in an organization is important. Think about the janitors at school for a second, without them there is a chance you may not be getting the kind of education you are at 5 star schools. They clean up a lot of mess in the cafeteria, without them you may not get the lunches you get (at my school your choice was hot dog, hamburger, fries, pizza, that’s it).

-do you know the name of any of your janitors? Have you ever said thank you to them?

-just because they are paid to do something for you doesn’t mean you can’t say thank you. Have you ever worked at a job and no one said thanks for anything you did? Even though it’s your job and you were probably paid in some way, how did you feel when no one said thanks? Or how did you feel when someone went out of their way to say thank you?

-so if you like it when people say thank you to you, how do you think the people at school feel after cleaning up after three full lunches with two thousand students? Just a thought…

-or here’s another question, when you go out and are doing whatever it is you do, are you thinking only about what you need to do or do you notice people who need help?

-I remember one time I was out shopping with Lorie, which is by far one of my most favorite things to do, by far. Shopping is my life. Lots of time when we go shopping I will go off by myself and go to the shoe section because in all my time shopping I’ve learned that if you want to sit down there are two places to go, the lawn and garden center, they have tables and chairs, or the shoe section, they have seats for people who want to change shoes.

-see, look at all you learn here. Anyway, I one time was sitting in the shoe section and this poor guy, he was working all by himself. And you know what people were doing when they were finished with their shoes? Putting them on the floor and walking away. It’s too much trouble to put the shoes back in the box, and it is way too hard to actually put them back where you got them.

-people weren’t thinking about the poor guy who needed to put all the shoes away, and of course, when new people showed up they were frustrated they couldn’t find shoes, like it was his fault. Everyone was only thinking about themselves, something we do a lot in our service based society.

-not how it’s supposed to be.

**Phil 2:3b-4 -> 3Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. (NLT)

-that’s a big question there, do you think of others as better than yourself? Do you view other people with humility?