Hunger for Respect
OLYMPIC WAVE
Welcome all campuses HUNGER FOR RESPECT
How many of you have seen the Hunger Games or read the books?
I saw it in the theatre. It all has to do with respect. In a game that is kill or be killed…It’s all about the value of friendship, respect, loyalty, family and being a part of a team.
The initial object of the game in the movie is that the last one alive wins. The human element sets in throughout the games and it really becomes a lesson in dealing with life TOGETHER. It’s not a one man or one woman adventure, it’s a journey that deals with valuing the ones you love the most, taking care of them.
As a church, we need Jesus, yes…but we also need each other.
HG – Katniss couldn’t do it alone. She couldn’t and wouldn’t survive on her own, she needs friends, family and loved ones.
As a church family, how we treat one another with RESPECT is so important. 1 Tinothy 5 is a manual on how to do it within a church family!
V 1-2 Paul starts out talking about an age-old problem. How to deal with one another generationally.
Apparently Timothy and other young leaders are frustrated with some of the older generation.
No matter how difficult an old person is, we need to treat them with respect. There’s so much we can learn from the older generation!
HG – The younger contestants are given mentors that are older, wiser. The story plays on the struggle between the two.
We’ve all been frustrated with someone older, we’ve been in Timothy’s shoes!
ILL – Old man neighbor who would always cuss us out, my kids, my friends, Rachel and I. It was really bad. I always tried killing it with kindness and respect. Not always easy. Repair man that came out one day, cussed him back, I was around the corner going YES!!!! Haha…
Sometimes the younger gen can help the older gen…we just need to do it the right way!
Young people, it’s ok to correct the older generation IN LOVE and RESPECT.
Young people also RESPECT the older generation! You have SO much to learn from them!
Paul goes on to say that in the church, we need to take care of the older generation, women especially, like they’re our mothers! We are to treat the younger women like our own sisters.
This needs to be a FAMILY atmosphere!
We need to treat women with respect!
Single guys, THIS IS NOT A BAR. You’re not here to hook up, or make out…THESE WOMEN ARE NOT AS INTO YOU AS YOU’RE INTO YOURSELF!
The church should be the safest place for women!
I’m talking to you, Captain Horny! Tone is down a notch!
I get it, we’re guys, we’ve got nothing going on up there!
Women are to be RESPECTED
ILL – Rachel and I 10th grade playing basketball in the driveway. Grope fest. A lot of technical fouls. She could have filed a lawsuit. My dad got a hold of me RESPECT WOMEN!
To all men – IF YOU CAN’T RESPECT A WOMAN, YOU ARE A TINY LITTLE MAN THAT NEEDS TO GROW UP!
HG – Women were not respected but they (SPOILER ALERT) outlasted the men with wisdom, emotions and caring. Let that be a lesson to us, they will kill us all. Ha Fall in line boys….
V 3- 16 talks about how to treat widows and single moms.
It’s a theme throughout the Bible. It’s actually assumed that before the need of a widow even gets to the church, it should be handled by the family, by a loved one. Yes, YOU.
Paul also addresses single moms that have been unfaithful or had children out of bad situations and decisions before they were married!
Do you know what they need? NOT govt assistance, NOT a free lunch meal plan at school, NOT free daycare. They need a God honoring HUSBAND. One that respects them, one that fears the Lord and isn’t a self absorbed MORON.
Men need to man up and step up.
ILL – Car Care Clinic THOUSANDS NEW, FIXED, REGIFTED
It’s NOT just the job of the church!
Paul also implores women to look after women, as they know their needs and emotions better than men. WOMEN…are you doing this? Mentoring another woman? Younger women have so much to learn from older, Christ centered women. They’re important to God and important to the church.
Older women, this should make you feel great! You have your own scripture here! Older women cheer everywhere! HA…you won’t do it because you won’t admit you’re old! I’m a dead man.
I get my own scripture too! Listen…
1 Tim 5:17 Let the elders who rule be worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching!
I love this verse…haha
If a pastor gives you guidance, correction, insight, instruction, it is to be respected.
We as pastors are far from perfect! We stress this at CedarCreek! Look at my Facebook, I’m a moron!
And since we aren’t anywhere near perfect…sometimes….you feel the need to tell us! Some of you just can’t help it. HA
When you disagree with us as pastors, let us know in LOVE AND RESPECT.
V 18 Pastors need to be paid! No one is getting rich here! Misconceptions are out there. If I could pass the mic around you could tell stories of what you hear in the workplace or around family dinner tables. I hear them all the time from people who hear things and don’t know how to respond. DON’T ENTERTAIN THESE ACCUSATIONS WITOUT CHECKING WITH US FIRST.
V 19 if you have a problem with a pastor deal with it the RIGHT way!
We take plenty of heat, trust me. Some deserved but some is just sinful and full of venom. It takes years for a pastor to develop a system to deal with the nasty. Some shots still hurt.
HG – The more you get into the game, the dirtier it gets. As the characters in the Hunger Games get more entwined in the thick of it all, alliances form, emotions get the best of them, sin creeps in and your mind and heart can get jaded.
Pastors need to deal with the DIRTY.
It just gets dirtier, messier the longer you’re in this game of ministry…if you’re doing it right!
Your job as a congregation is to pray for us constantly. Lift us up as we help lift you up to God, TOGETHER we can get through the dirty mess of life keeping Christ and His word at the center of it all.
It’s not a one way street. Pastors can’t do all the work! We need to do it together, as a family as a team!
When pastors do all the work, they get majorly stressed out! Timothy was dealing with this himself…
V 23 is a funny one to some. Paul says ‘have a little wine’!
Some Christians read this and say that he couldn’t possibly be taking about REAL WINE! Ha…so what then is he talking about??
Timothy is a young leader, he’s getting stressed out and Paul is saying RELAX! Don’t get an ulcer man. Calm down, Calm down!
We don’t preach DON’T drink around here. We preach moderation. Don’t get drunk. If you’re around an alcoholic, don’t drink, RESPECT them and what they are going through. Don’t ever put alcohol above making someone stumble, it’s just NOT worth it.
Paul is saying this: people in church work, calm down, pace yourself, it’s full of peaks and valleys, relax, put God first and don’t be afraid to slow down.
Why? Because V 24-25 Paul says this:
A pastors job is to deal with SIN.
That’s what we get paid for. That’s why we’re called. Plain and simple.
If you can’t deal with sin, both your sin and others sin, get out!
You can’t be a pastor and hold grudges, you need to forgive, you need to be humble enough to deal with your own sin and confident enough to deal with others sin. It’s a dirty place to be sometimes.
My job as a pastor is to take sinners, point them to Jesus and get OUT OF THE WAY.
We need to let Jesus do what only He can do!
I love the way Paul decides to end this chapter!
In the end, sin is what we’re all dealing with. Daily, hourly, second by second.
The ability to wake up EVERY day and cry out to Jesus and say YOUR LOVE SAVED MY LIFE.
YOUR LOVE SAVED MY LIFE. Say it with me!
There’s simply no room for being selfish in the Christian walk.
God is responsible for who we are, He gets the glory and the honor, He alone saved our lives and it’s our job to get the focus off ourselves and turn it to others in need.
We’re all dealing with sin, only Jesus can wipe that clean. Only God in His love can make us into the church, that we truly need to be.
We need to do this together people, unified, taking care of one another, people taking care of pastors and in turn pastors taking care of the people all the while doing it for The Lord, because He ALONE has saved our lives!
PRAYER
May we hunger to respect You and Your commands!
