R-E-S-P-E-C-T
A Little Respect Can Go A Long Way
“Attitude” Series
I. Introduction
A disgruntled old man sat in a rocking chair on the front walk of his business. He owned one of those mom and pop grocery stores on the corner in a small town. As he rocked back and forth, he watched the people pass by on the street. Every now and then he’d address one of the folks walking by in order to attract business.
“How you doin’ today?” he’d ask.
“Just fine,” the person would answer.
“How about you come on in and we’ll make you a deal?” he’d say.
“Not interested. I heard how you treat your customers.”
“Oh, yeah?! And how’s that?” the old man would say as he stood up to get a little closer to the patron.
“Well. You follow them around and if they don’t want to buy one of your products, you call them names. If they don’t want to buy your deodorant, you call them Stinky. If they don’t want to buy your food, you call them Anorexic Monkeys. If they buy too much of your food, you call them Fatties. If they don’t want to buy your shampoo, you call them Nappy Head. If they don’t want to buy your toothpaste or mouthwash, you call them Fart Breath. You don’t have any respect for anyone that comes in your store.”
The old man thought for a minute and said, “I guess you’re right, you critical Dimwit.”
And the guy answered, “My point exactly.”
How’s your attitude? Are you prone to name-calling? How do you treat people that come around you? We’re going to spend the next four weeks talking about attitude, and regardless of what kind of shape yours is in, you may have the best attitude in here, or you could have the worst. No matter where you’re at, you can always get better. I’m determined to get better over these next four weeks, how about you? Let’s begin our series with one of the first steps to a better attitude- respect.
II. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. What Does It Mean to Me?
Respect. What does it mean to you? What does the word respect mean? Webster defines respect as to feel or show honor or esteem for; to show consideration for. Ok, now we have to define honor, esteem and consideration. Honor = to show high regard for; Esteem = to value highly; Consideration = having regard for others and their feelings. Respect is to feel or show high regard for or to value highly; to have a regard for others and their feelings.
When you respect someone, you care about how you make them feel, and you treat them better.
III. What Goes Around Comes Around
One day an angry little boy ran around his village shouting, “I hate you! I hate you!” No one knew quite how to respond to him.
Eventually the little boy ran to the edge of a steep cliff and shouted into the valley, “I hate you! I hate you!”
Back from the valley came an echo: “I hate you! I hate you!”
Startled at this, the boy ran home. With tears in his eyes, he told his mother that there was a mean little boy in the valley who shouted at him, “I hate you! I hate you!”
His mother took the boy back to the cliff and told him to shout, “I love you! I love you!”
When he did, back came the reply: “I love you! I love you!”
From that day on, the little boy wasn’t angry anymore.
2 Corinthians 9:6 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will reap generously.”
Luke 6:38 “Give and it shall be given to you…with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
How many of ya’ll want to respect? How do you get respect? To be respected, you must first show respect. It’s plain and simple. The law of sowing and reaping works in more than just finances. If you sow apple seeds, you won’t reap cherries, will you? If you sow respect, you’ll reap respect. If you sow disrespect and name-calling, what are you going to reap?
Matthew 7:12 “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you…”
Respect is one of those qualities that comes from “doing to others as you would have them do to you.” You don’t want people calling you names like Stinky and Fart Breath, do you? When we start treating people like we want to be treated, then we may be treated how we want to be treated. How do you want to be treated?
You can’t honestly expect to be treated with consideration if you’re not treating others with consideration. You don’t really think you’re going to get respect if you’re disrespectful, do you? If you’re a jerk to other people, then people are going to be jerks to you. It’s a biblical law.
There were two people eating in a restaurant. One person was rude and disrespectful. He didn’t like the food he ordered, so he cussed the waitress out and made her take it back. He treated the waitress like she was his slave. The other person was nice and respectful. He too didn’t like the food he ordered, but he kindly told the waitress how he felt instead of cussing her out. “My food isn’t quite what I expected, but I’m ok. I don’t need anything.” The first person got the food that he wanted, but the second person got his meal free and a free dessert. What was the difference? Their attitude. The first person didn’t consider the waitresses feelings, the second person did. The first person got food, the second person got free food. Which person would you have been?
IV. Disrespect Isn’t God’s Idea
Ephesians 4:29 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
What does that sound like to you? Does that sound like respect? Respect is considering others’ feelings. Wouldn’t you build someone up according to his need if you respected him? What about unwholesome talk? Isn’t disrespect and name-calling a part of that? I think so. The word says don’t let any of that junk come out of your mouths. Everything you say should be positive. You shouldn’t be cutting on anybody. You shouldn’t be putting anybody down. You shouldn’t do it when they’re around and you shouldn’t do it when they’re nowhere to be found. What this all boils down to is – respect. When you’re slamming on somebody, what you’re saying to them is, “I don’t care about you or your feelings. I have no consideration for you.”
V. Respect Everyone
1 Peter 2:17 “17Show respect for everyone. Love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God. Show respect for the king.”
Who are you supposed to respect? Everybody! Does that include your teacher? What about your mom and dad? And your brothers and sisters? What about the person sitting next to you? Look at your neighbor and say, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, you gotta give some to me.” Who else does that include? Does that include your pastor? What about your youth pastor? Just in case you think it doesn’t include your youth pastor, look at 1 Thessalonians 5:12.
1 Thessalonians 5:12 (MSG) “And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love.”
That means show respect to everyone who tries to help you be a better person. That means show respect to anyone that is speaking on this stage. That means that when they talk, you don’t. When they talk, you listen, and don’t make fun of them, whether it be me, Andrew, Kristen, or any of ya’ll up here talking, maybe for the offering. Whoever is up here leading any time during the service, you are supposed to show respect for them, especially during the message.
Let’s do a little role play here. I need a few volunteers. Ok, you be the preacher. Stand up here and act like your preaching your heart out. Ok, you be the Holy Spirit, go along whispering in people’s ears, “You need Jesus. You need to respond to the invitation,” but skip the person I’m standing behind. I’ll play the role of the devil.
(Standing behind boy) Boy! Look at that girl down there on the end of the row, man is she something or what! (Get him to look at the girl) I wonder if she’d go out with you! (Hand him a piece of paper and a pen) Let’s write her a note and see what she says. Ok, write, “Do you like me, check yes or no. Pass the note down the row to the girl on the end. (Just as the girl begins to read the note have your “preacher” blurt out and say, “If you need Jesus in your life, come forward now to receive him as your Lord and Savior.” (Hover over the girl) Check one, check one! Yes or no! Now send it back.
Ok, did you see what just happened? Because one student was being disrespectful during the message, that student and another student missed the opportunity to respond to the invitation. You see, the same thing happens when you’re disrespectful. So-and-so might be going through something and desperately need a specific word from God about her situation. But because somebody else is cutting up and acting a fool during the message, she’s distracted and misses exactly what it is she came expecting to hear. So, respect, is also something you want to bring with you to church. Don’t check your respect at the door, bring it in with you.
VI. The Resurrection of a Dead Ministry
There was once an old monastery that had fallen upon hard times. Centuries earlier, it had been a thriving center where many dedicated monks lived and worked and had great influence on the realm. But now only five monks lived there, and they were all over seventy years old. This was clearly a dying order.
A few miles from the monastery lived an old hermit who many thought was a prophet. One day as the monks agonized over the impending demise of their order, they decided to visit the hermit to see if he might have some advice for them. Perhaps he would be able to see the future and show them what they could do to save the monastery.
The hermit welcomed the five monks to his hut, but when they explained the purpose of their visit, the hermit could only commiserate with them. “Yes, I understand how it is,” said the hermit. “The spirit has gone out of the people. Hardly anyone cares much for the old things anymore.”
“Is there anything you can tell us,” the abbot inquired of the hermit, “that would help us save the monastery?”
“No, I’m sorry,” said the hermit. “I don’t know how your monastery can be saved. The only thing that I can tell you is that one of you is an apostle of God.”
The monks were both disappointed and confused by the hermit’s cryptic statement. They returned to the monastery, wondering what the hermit could have meant by the statement, “One of you is an apostle of God.” For months after their visit, the monks pondered the significance of the hermit’s words.
“One of us is an apostle of God,” they mused. “Did he actually mean one of us monks here at the monastery? That’s impossible. We are all too old. We are too insignificant. On the other hand, what if it’s true? And if it is true, then which one of us is it?”
One monks’s contemplation was similar to the four others’: “Do you suppose he meant the abbot? Yes, if he meant anyone, he probably meant the abbot. He has been our leader for more than a generation. On the other hand, he might have meant Brother Thomas. Certainly Brother Thomas is a holy man—a man of wisdom and light. He couldn’t have meant Brother Elred. Elred gets crotchety at times and is difficult to reason with. On the other hand, he is almost always right. Maybe the hermit did mean Brother Elred. But surely he could not have meant Brother Phillip. Phillip is so passive, so shy—a real nobody. Still, he’s always there when you need him. He’s loyal and trustworthy. Yes, he could have meant Phillip. Of course, the hermit didn’t mean me. He couldn’t possibly have meant me. I’m just an ordinary person. Yet, suppose he did? Suppose I am an apostle of God? Oh God, not me. I couldn’t be that much for you. Or could I?”
As they continued to mull the hermit’s words, the old monks began to treat each other with extraordinary respect on the off chance that one of them might actually be an apostle of God. And on the off-off chance that he himself might be the apostle spoken of by the hermit, each monk began to treat himself with extraordinary respect.
Because the monastery was situated in a beautiful forest, many people came there to picnic on its tiny lawn and to walk on its paths, and even now and then to go into the tiny chapel to meditate. As they did so, without even being conscious of it, they sensed the aura of extraordinary respect that now began to surround the five old monks and seemed to radiate out of them, permeating the atmosphere of the place. There was something strangely attractive, even compelling, about it. Hardly knowing why, people began to come back to the monastery more frequently to picnic, to play, to pray. They began to bring their friends to show them this special place. And their friends brought their friends.
As more and more visitors came, some of the younger men started to talk with the old monks. After a while one asked if he could join them. Then another. And another. Within a few years the monastery had once again become a thriving order and, thanks to the hermit’s gift, a vibrant center of light and spirituality throughout the realm.
What was it that changed this monastery? Respect. The way they treated each other. Can the same thing change Get Real? Let’s act on the word and show respect for everyone we come in contact with. Let’s pray.
