Above
Pt. 2 – Above Below
I. Introduction
Above. As I mentioned last week there are certain meanings that come to mind instantly. Above . . . perspective, looking down on, higher than. Above . . . prominence and higher in order. Above . . . distance. Above speaks to perspective and position!
Last week we dealt with Proverbs 4:23 in which Solomon, the wisest man, told us that above everything else we should guard our heart. He knew that our heart is deceitful and from it comes all manner of destruction. More than you guard your house, your car, your identity, or anything else you have to guard your heart. How do you do that? According to Solomon you do so by guarding your mouth, your eyes, and your feet! What you say, see and where you go directly impact your heart condition.
This morning I want us to journey into another “above” statement that has significant implications for how we live our daily Christian life. This passage is a passage that should haunt us. It should overshadow every decision, every choice, and be in our minds in every moment of our life. It can be found in
Text: Philippians 2:14-16
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
Paul writes a letter to the believers in Philippi and gives them practical advice on how to live above below. Did you catch the “above” statement that speaks to living below? This passage should be the measuring stick for our behavior, our actions, our decision making? Here it is . . . “prove yourselves to blameless and innocent, children of God ABOVE reproach”! He even goes on to say that he knows we are surrounded by messed up folks, but that is no excuse for letting down our guard or our standard of holiness. In fact, it is because we are surrounded by this that we are instructed to live above reproach!
Reproach simply, but profoundly means “Blame, discredit, disgrace”. In other words, Paul is saying we should live our lives in such a way that we don’t bring any blame, discredit, or disgrace to ourselves, Jesus, or our church!
Paul would have shouted Plato down when one of Plato’s friends told him about a terrible charge that had been leveled against the famous philosopher. Knowing it was not true, his friend said, "What are we going to do?" Plato replied, "We must simply live in such a way that all people will know it is false."
Paul would have been Will Rogers “Amen Corner” when he quipped, “So live that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.”
That is in essence the concept that Paul was trying to communicate when he said, “Live above reproach.” He is trying to teach us that we should stop and think before everything we do because what we do directly reflects on who’s we are!
With this challenge from Paul I want to say a few things to you about living ABOVE reproach.
1. Bad attitudes make Jesus look bad!
Did you catch what Paul says? Do all things without grumbling or disputes and thus prove that we really are the children of God. Why is it that Christians have the worst attitudes? Why is that Christians claim that Jesus has enough power to wash our souls clean, but not enough power to stop our gripy, argumentative, and murmuring, always have to have the last word attitudes? Our bad attitude makes Jesus look bad! It discredits Him. If we can prove our legitimacy, then it is also feasible to disprove our standing by how we conduct ourselves! Your heart has to be right, but so does your attitude! If you heart change wasn’t dramatic enough to change your attitude, then was there really any change?
2. Earn the benefit of doubt.
Most of the bad things people believe about us would be dismissed without a second thought if we would live our lives so far above that no one would believe we were capable of living below. We live so below they believe worst. One of the greatest benefits I have is the benefit of doubt. Had a guy call me one time and he said, “someone is quoting you as saying this did you say it?” I said, “No”. His response, “I knew it. That doesn’t sound like you.” I had earned the benefit of the doubt. By the way you don’t earn that benefit in one day!
When instances at work come up where someone says, “so and so cheated, stole, lied or whatever” if we would have lived at such a high level of righteousness up to that point the other coworkers would just laugh it off and say “I won’t believe it unless I see it for myself.” If no one is giving you the benefit of the doubt could it be that you haven’t lived in such a way to deserve that benefit? Why should they believe the best about you? Why should they think you are telling truth if they have seen you cheat on a test or on your spouse? Why should they believe you wouldn’t go to that club when they have seen who you are hanging out with at work?
We should live so that people doubt our guilt before they doubt our innocence. What you do now will bank against what they believe about you later!
3. Walk the edge long enough and you will fall!
I am growing tired of Christians who’s goal is to see if they can stay in good relationship Jesus, but also stay as close to sin as possible. I know people have always done that, but it seems to me it is worse today. We have so many Christians that want to be in good standing with Jesus, but also want to still do everything everyone else is doing. I think we need to change our goal! Our goal should change from how close can I stay to the world to how close can we get to Him. It should change from how little do I look like Jesus to how much can I become like Him.
Stay away from the edge. Quit seeing how close you can get without falling off. We are playing spiritual roulette! I hope I can do this and it won’t impact me spiritually. Jesus will get me out of this. Why even play with the danger? Paul said live above reproach. Get as far away from it as possible. We have thrown away the concept of avoiding the very appearance of evil and have almost embraced the idea of avoiding the very appearance of righteousness!
This reminds of the little boy who kept falling out of his bed. His dad asked him why he kept doing that and his answer was, “I guess I am staying to close to the gettin in side.” I am warning you today that if you stay too close to gettin in side you will fall out.
We know that once the disciples chose to follow Jesus they went all in. We know they distanced themselves from everything they ever knew and we want to follow Jesus and keep the same old friends, drink the same old thing, go the same old places, act the same old way. It is time to get above! Create some distance before you lose your balance and fall off!
4. We undervalue the worth of witness.
We don’t understand the power of above! I just want to remind you that you can undo and destroy your witness in one below moment! We can’t afford to live an unguarded moment. I am not saying to you that you have to be perfect! I am saying that you have to live a long obedience! Day after day of righteousness determines your ability to have an effective witness. Don’t undervalue the worth of your witness because if you do you can undo years of work with one wrong word, one wrong action, one wrong location. Your witness is one of the most valuable commodities you have as a Christian! That is why we have to wrestle through the concept that all things are permissible, but not all things are profitable. You have freedom to do what you want to do, but not if it is going to cause you to lose your witness. That is why Paul, in Corinthians, says, “If my eating meat causes my brother to stumble I will never eat meat again!” He had come to grips with the worth of witness! Is that drink worth your witness? Is that movie really worth your witness? Is that word really worth your witness?
5. Our environment shouldn’t dictate or determine our holiness.
Today, we want to blame our culture for lack of holiness. Well that is just acceptable in our culture now. Paul makes it clear that even in the midst of messed up, sin marked, devil controlled environments we are still mandated to live above. We don’t get a free pass to live the way we want just because the world’s standards continue to deteriorate.
Our standard of living and what we deem as acceptable has nothing to do with what is politically correct. The political world can say abortion is fine. However, that doesn’t dictate acceptability to us. Our culture can say homosexuality is natural. However, that doesn’t mean we just roll over and say you guys set the standards and we will accept it. Hollywood can portray sin as fun and friendly, but that doesn’t mean we buy the lie. In fact, Paul very clearly states that our standard of how to live above never changes. He says hold on to the Word of life! Hold onto the Word! Live by the Word! Let it become the lamp unto our feet! Don’t live down to the culture! Instead live to the above of the Word!
