Character Counts! Fidelity Matters
(Proverbs 6:32-33)
Theme: The Church is God?s prophetic voice. It must speak God?s message to the culture.
Purpose: What do I want to happen in the hearer when I preach this sermon?
A. Increased knowledge. After I preach this sermon, the hearer should be able to state:
1. To a degree television reflects the culture. It merely reports what is already going on within the culture.
2. People have been engaging in homosexuality and immoral sexual behavior since the beginning of time. Therefore, television depicting these things is merely reflecting the culture. We agree with this?to a degree.
3. Television also shapes the culture. If this were not true no one in his or her right mind would pay a red cent for advertising.
4. Hollywood has an agenda to shape the American culture AND IT IS WORKING!
B. Increased insight. After I preach this sermon, the hearer should be able to see that Christians are being duped:
1. Our culture tells us that the greatest sin is to impose our views on others.
2. We sheepishly buy into this lie and then sit back in the security of our church houses and do nothing as the culture around us plummets to its destruction.
C. Changed attitude. After I preach this sermon, I want the hearer to determine to get involved in the mission of the Church:
1. To seek and to save lost people.
2. To warn of the consequences of rejecting God.
Need to be
Surfaced: Our culture is in trouble. It is plummeting to its own destruction and no one seems to care enough to wake up and speak up.
Solution to
be Offered: The Church of Christ is God?s prophetic voice in this culture. We must wake up and speak up before it is eternally too late.
Introduction. (Get attention, surface need, make a contract to deliver a solution.)
A. A comparison:
1. Turn on the television and what do you see?
a) It?s an early January evening in 1967.
b) With the dinner dishes cleared, the nuclear family settles in around the Magnavox black-and-white.
c) Samantha seethes at Endora for turning Darrin into a donkey on the night before an important presentation.
d) Sister Bertrill, the Flying Nun, has gotten herself into trouble again, trying to raise money for the orphanage.
e) The Riddler is leading Batman and Robin on a wild-goose chase -- wham! -- through the streets of Gotham City.
2. Now fast forward 30 years:
a) An early January evening in 1997.
b) The Domino?s pizza boxes are in the trash and what?s left of the nuclear family clicks on the 27-inch Sony and hunkers down for some prime-time tube.
c) On The Nanny, Fran, in a skintight mini, teases her handsome boss with not-so-veiled allusions to her sex life.
d) On Men Behaving Badly, Jamie runs out of coffee filters and uses his underwear to make coffee for a woman he is trying to pick up.
e) On The Jamie Foxx Show, the comedian jumps out of a cake half-nude, Chippendale?s style.
f) A promo for Spin City promises that Michael J. Fox?s character will be impotent with his live-in girlfriend.
g) Not to mention, Will and Grace, Sex and the City, or Married with Children.
B. Outline of Our Lesson:
1. A call to attention: we are flirting with disaster! Somebody had better wake up before it is eternally too late!
2. A call to remembrance: God demands fidelity! Somebody had better speak up before it is eternally too late!
3. A call to repentance! The church needs to wake up and speak up before it is eternally too late!
I. A Call to Attention: We Are Flirting with Disaster!
A. Some say that television merely reflects the culture.
1. That is true?to a degree.
a) People have been engaging in homosexual acts and committing adultery for centuries.
b) Therefore, these people would argue, just because there is more immorality depicted on television does not mean that we are, as a people, less moral!
c) Hogwash!
2. Because television also shapes the culture and Hollywood knows it!
a) If television merely reflects the culture then advertising is the single largest waste of time and money ever invented!
b) All those ads are merely reporting the facts:
(1) The truth is that more people drink Coca Cola than Pepsi.
(2) That?s why we just spent a million bucks for a 30 second ad during the Super Bowl.
(3) To report the facts to the American people.
(4) Give me a break!
c) No my friends, the truth is that television affects the way we behave!
(1) It shapes our worldview.
(2) To some degree it helps determine our values.
(3) As it changes our values it changes our behavior.
B. Some shocking facts regarding television:
1. A study released by Children Now and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that three out of every four shows in the ?family hour? (8 to 9 p.m.) now contain sexually related talk or behavior, a fourfold increase since 1976.
2. From the so-called quality sitcoms (Mad About You and 3rd Rock From The Sun) to more downscale versions of the genre (Martin, and Married ... With Children) a majority of story lines in prime time revolve around the character?s sexual gratification -- or lack of it.
3. One of the greatest problems in our society today is the many Christians who regularly enjoy watching these types of shows.
4. Ron Leavitt, the creator of the show, Married With Children, says, ?Our intention [in creating the show] was to subvert the genre of squeaky-clean family entertainment.?
C. A not so shocking fact about television.
1. IT IS WORKING!
2. It is having a huge impact on the culture.
3. It is shaping the culture!
a) America?s new elites now proclaim homosexuality to be a highly moral, perfectly acceptable, alternative lifestyle.
b) They want any and all who dare to treat homosexuals otherwise to be branded as bigots, prosecuted, and punished by the government.
c) Don?t tell me they don?t have an agenda!
(1) They lambaste evangelical Christians for ?imposing their views on others.?
(2) We sheepishly withdraw to the security of our church houses and agree, ?Yeah, it is un-American to impose my views on others.?
(3) All the while they are spending BILLIONS of dollars, using the most powerful communication mediums in our land, to convince our society that:
(a) God is dead.
(b) There is no end-of-time judgment coming.
(c) Character does not matter.
(d) And we?re all free to do whatever we want to do.
(e) As long we don?t ?impose our views on others!?
4. The world is turned upside down.
a) In the 1950s, it was the mark of a moral man that he would not rent a hotel room to an unmarried couple.
b) Now, if you do refuse to rent to homosexuals in Washington D.C., you can be prosecuted and suffer the seizure of your property.
c) 70% of married men in America openly admit that they have had sex with someone other than their current spouse.
d) 50% of our women admit the same thing.
e) 35% of married men in America admit cheating on their wives.
f) 26% of our women admit the same thing.
D. Some Conclusions.
1. America has ceased to be a moral community.
a) We do not agree on whether God exists.
b) Whether there is a higher moral law than a show of hands can produce.
c) Whether abortion is killing a human being.
d) Whether gay is good.
e) Whether promiscuity or smoking is worse for the young.
f) Or whether drugs should be a matter of choice.
2. And a country that ceases to be a moral community will eventually cease to be a country.
Somebody had better WAKE up before it is eternally too late!
II. A Call to Remembrance: God Demands Fidelity.
A. What is Fidelity?
1. It is what the Holy Spirit develops in Christians as fruit, Galatians 5:22.
2. It is what mature Christians become, Titus 2:10-14.
NIV Titus 2:9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say ?No? to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope-- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
3. Some synonyms: devotion, loyalty, faithfulness, adherence, constancy, true-heartedness, trustworthiness, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, probity, honor, allegiance, sincerity, good faith, earnestness.
4. Sometimes it is used to mean: accuracy, exactness, exactitude, adherence to fact, closeness, precision, and reliability.
5. The Latin word fides (trust, faith) and the related fidelis (faithful) give us several other words: affiance, fiancé, affidavit, confide, confidence, confidential, infidel, and infidelity.
6. In the New Testament the word pistis or pistos is used most often to express ?faith?, ?trustworthiness,? ?reliable?, ?faithful.?
7. As Thayer says concerning pistos: ?Fidelity, the character of one who can be trusted, relied on.?
8. Honor doesn?t exist where one?s character is not reliable or faithful with integrity.
9. Promises and oaths are worthless if their words are less than reliable.
10. Contracts, secret confidences, entrusted duties, and obedience to the rule of law in society fail if the individuals involved are not ?faithful,? ?trustworthy.?
11. Marriages and family relations, dealings with neighbors, working with employers, and signing documents of importance suffer defeat without ?fidelity.?
B. A side note: Sex and the Bible.
1. Many think that God and Scripture are anti-sex.
2. Nothing could be further from the truth.
3. God?s people may be prudish about sex but God?s Word is certainly not prudish about sex!
a) Many parents ask me, ?Bob, can you recommend a good book that I can read to help my kids understand sex properly??
b) I say, ?Sure. You ready? Write this down: The B-i-b-l-e.?
c) You want to blush? Read the Song of Solomon with your family and openly discuss its perspective of human sexuality.
C. God Demands Fidelity.
1. Because He Himself is faithful in all things
NIV 1 Corinthians 1:9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
NIV 2 Corinthians 1:20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ?Yes? in Christ. And so through him the ?Amen? is spoken by us to the glory of God.
NIV 1 Thessalonians 5:24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
NIV 2 Timothy 2:13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
2. Especially in matters of sex:
NIV Proverbs 6:20-33 My son, keep your father?s commands and do not forsake your mother?s teaching. 21 Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck. 22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. 23 For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life, 24 keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife. 25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, 26 for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. 27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28 Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? 29 So is he who sleeps with another man?s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished. 30 Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. 31 Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house. 32 But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. 33 Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away;
NIV Proverbs 7:1-27 My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. 2 Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. 3 Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Say to wisdom, ?You are my sister,? and call understanding your kinsman; 5 they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.
6 At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. 7 I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment. 8 He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house 9 at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in. 10 Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. 11 (She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; 12 now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) 13 She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: 14 ?I have fellowship offerings at home; today I fulfilled my vows. 15 So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you! 16 I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. 17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. 18 Come, let?s drink deep of love till morning; let?s enjoy ourselves with love! 19 My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. 20 He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon.? 21 With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk.
22 All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose 23 till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.
24 Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say. 25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. 26 Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. 27 Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.
D. Fidelity Counts in Marriage!
1. Do you take this woman to be your wedded wife, to live together after God?s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her, so long as you both shall live?
2. Do you take this man to be your wedded husband, to live together after God?s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him in sickness, and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep yourself only to him, so long as you both shall live?
3. Will you join your right hands as a pledge of your fidelity to each other?
4. Do these words sound familiar?
a) Are they ?just words??
b) Or are they part of a sacred vow before God Almighty?
(1) Infidelity pollutes what is sacred.
(2) Infidelity breaks a covenant God recognizes as binding.
E. Some conclusions:
1. America has ceased to be a moral community.
a) We do not agree on whether God exists.
b) Whether there is a higher moral law than a show of hands can produce.
c) Whether marital infidelity is right or wrong.
2. And a country that ceases to be a moral community will eventually cease to be a country.
Somebody had better SPEAK up before it is eternally too late!
III. A Call to Repentance!
A. Ah, good, the part I?ve been waiting for!
1. You?ve been preaching to all those heathen sinners about their ungodly lifestyle.
2. Now let ?em have it preacher:
a) Call them to repentance.
b) ?Turn or burn.?
B. The problem is:
1. We have very little contact with ?them.?
2. We have a nice little church here and we are doing some great things.
3. But brethren:
a) Someone had better wake up to the reality of our situation.
b) Someone had better speak up about the reality of our situation.
c) If not the Lord?s Church then who?
NIV Matthew 5:13-16. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Conclusion. (The purpose of the conclusion is to conclude, not merely to stop.)
Our culture is in deep trouble. It is plummeting to its own destruction. Turn on the television and what do you see? The reflection of a culture in the process of rejecting its Creator and racing headlong to utter annihilation. Think about Hollywood and what do you have? A social agenda that is being bought by the American people hook, line, and sinker! Our view of and values concerning sex and fidelity are not only being reflected by television?they are being shaped by it! America has ceased to be a moral community and any country that ceases to be a moral community will inevitably cease to be a country. Someone needs to wake up! Someone needs to speak up! Since the Church of Christ is the prophetic voice of God in this culture perhaps it is us who need to wake up and speak up! Perhaps we are the ones who need to repent! Character does count and our attitude toward fidelity does matter.
