Doing Good - The High Cost of Not Doing Good, Part 1

What happens when people stop doing good in a community in a neighborhood or in a home. We see it happening right now. Here's what you must understand when people stop doing good, evil reigns today will explore the high cost of not doing good and how we can stem the tide. One person, one community stay with welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with the mission of these daily programs is to intentionally disciple Christians through the Bible to door the middle of our series doing good about you, but sometimes just the idea of doing something good for someone else for this thought in my mind so focused on my own past people were discovered hurting right in front of this program. Chip challenges us to regularly practice doing good reveals how our entire society suffers when were oblivious to the needs of others.

So if you have a Bible handy turn now to the book of Titus. Let's join chip for today's talk, you know, doing good looks different for different people that I mean for some people it's rescuing someone from a life of prostitution or for someone else's providing shelter for someone that doesn't have a place to crash and for others it's a remodeling a whole high school when using your gifts and talents in design and painting and for a whole different group it's you know what remodeling high school is great. We did that you want to love the kids in the afterschool programs and teaching the Bible and get to know their parents and it just looks different for different people.

This week I had the chance with one family and they invited another family and invited their neighbors living planning up for six or seven months and were very fearful and very prayerful and got just filled the house with all their neighbors and most of which have really never met or understood anything about the Bible or God or Christ.

They just want to love them and they open their home and for some of you your stage in your life where your ministry really is right in the marketplace and you lead a team we go to work every day and maybe it's a division or maybe the CEO or maybe the owner and you just absolutely said I'm going good and how people get treated, and what our policies are, what our values are. We just we just work in such a way where people get to see the love and the grace and the holiness of God. But regardless of how we express it. You'll notice on your notes. Here are some things that are true about all of us doing good is not a suggestion to command when you know Christ personally. It's a command do good and others we know it's powerful but mean there's something powerful about when you see hurting people in the love of Christ connect third can be risky when were afraid to do good were afraid to get out there, but I've never met anyone that when you've taken a risk and done good that you said all I wish I would've done that doing good starts with who I am, not just what I do and I would like to suggest the price of doing good can be costly.

There might be social rejection might be time to might be energy, might be money might be going to meeting preparing for things when you're just overwhelmed and dead tired. But you know it's what God wants you to do and then finally here's what I like to talk about sometimes not doing good can be even more costly you. We would think of the price tag of something boy. I mean if I just had more time, or just more energy are just more money or sure. I would like to do something someday somewhere that I want to tell you there's a high cost of not doing good. Three things up, putting your notes.

The first is born a study on Christian families right now about 70% of the high schoolers and evangelical churches five years after high school are not in church and are not walking with God. The research says that the reason is they do not see the reality of Christ in their home and they never come to own their own faith. Another Barna study is terms of spiritual engagement in America there's a category now. Used to be very, very small when they survey all around the country.

People who say they have no spiritual affiliation.

I mean, just not in there just out there and in the 16 to 29-year-olds, it's astronomically high and growing. And finally there is a perception of Christians in America David Kinnaman in his book on Christian says true or not Christians in America today are viewed as harsh and judgmental, intolerant, anti-intellectual and hypocritical and not about you that's a big PR problem. In fact, it's worse than a PR problem because what you know and I knew his there's a lot of corners in which that's true. In fact there's time towards truth me and there's times which to review.

So here's the deal. How do we move the needle. How we push the dial. How do we, in our homes and in this church, and in this city, the shining different exceptions where we do good in such a way that people would say will they're not intolerant they're not judgmental.

Now they may say that, but when they would see the facts and see your life and experience you, they would say.

I guess I was wrong. We need to ask and answer the question. So what does it look like very specifically for Christians to live like Christians when there's problems in the home. This problems at work.

This is exactly the situation is all rights to this young pastor Titus. The new Christians were walking with God. They weren't moral they were in a culture in a society was pulling away from God and just like today. There was a lot of false teachers were telling people a lot of crazy things and families will be in Rutland so at the very end of chapter 1 he tells him you've got a silence those false teachers you got a rebuke of your young but you need to stand up and tell him this is what's true and then in chapter 2, he says now here's what you must teaching that open your Bibles if you would Titus chapter 2 and it's an emphatic position. He goes with those false teachers are ruling families there discrediting the gospel there making the church to be out of crazy. So you Titus here's what I want you to do teach what's in accord with sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate. Worthy respect, self-controlled and sound in faith and love and endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine but to teach. What's good then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children to be self-controlled and pure to be busy at home to be kind to be subject to their husbands purpose clause. Why should older men, older women and younger women live in a way that reflects Christ so that no one will malign the word of God.

Similarly, encourage literally.

It's exhorts or admonished the young men to be self-controlled and everything set an example for them by doing what is good in your teaching show integrity and seriousness and soundness of speech that can't be condemned second purpose clause. Why so that those who oppose you may be ashamed that they have nothing bad to say about us.

Finally he goes from the home in those relationships to about 60 million slaves were in the Roman Empire, the church was made up of at least 80% slaves and their masters usually were not very kind and he gives them this charge that when you read it if you read it in the first century, you'd shake your head and say how could anyone do this apart from the power of Christ. Similarly, he goes on to say, teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything to try to please their masters not to talk back 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 last purpose clause live in such a way in the marketplace that literally your life, your work ethic, your integrity, your compliments would make the Christian life in the person of Christ attractive and so what I want to do his own and dig in with you and let's look at what this really is at home.

Christians living like Christians at home. He says older men are to be temperate. Worthy respect, self-controlled phyllo" Hippocrates and he says that there are six stages of in a man's life, and this word is used in ancient Greek. At this time for for a man who's between 50 and 65 years of age. It's the six stage of a man's life when he says the older man.

This is different from the elders chapter 1. It was the shepherds of the church. The Episcopal half the people that were in charge of the church leadership is now saying the older man. The guys at been around the people look to. He says here's what needs to characterize their life. Temperate literally means a life of moderation and stability. It's a person that has their passions under control. They don't drink too much.

They don't work too much. It perks person that's worthy respect literally is a a serious minded person with regard to their purpose and has the idea of not being sort of a clown.

Not someone that people look at in their discussion of embarrassment. Their life is a joke instead. There worthy respect.

Otherwise, there above reproach. They have a track record you look at their life. Look at their work. You look at their family. You respect them self-controlled. Here is a matter of just one self-discipline. It has the idea of having your your appetites under control.

Whether that's for sex or buying or food or money or work is just discipline. It's living in a way that is, it makes sense you come to your senses. You know what's important in your life reflects that Kennedy goes on from these character qualities a safe, sound in faith and love and endurance in the word sound literally means to be healthy. You have a healthy faith you walk with God you take risks during his word that you have a healthy love you care about people you walk in a room in your around an older person like this anything you not like the love my wife the way that guy loves his wife and I get to be that age and you know able to say that either had the kids, groaning sick like have a relationship with my adult kids away. He has a relationship with his adult kids it when you meet them at work. It's a person that isn't easily threatened or overly insecure.

Just it's they have healthy relationships. They love people they care about people that kinda grown beyond trying to prove there is somebody and then finally they have endurance hoopoe minnow interesting word.

It has the idea of holding up under pressure and adversity. Paul uses this phrase a lot faith and love, and often he says hope into this particular group. I think maybe because it's Crete, there's hope.

But when you really hope. Biblical hope is the certainty of Christ's return, the certainty of his promises. What that does that get you endurance is a kind of person that you say like I have a couple of friends they been bankrupt a couple times or they lost their wife eight or nine years ago to cancer and they keep pressing ahead or you know what they gotta really roll a deal and you and what they're not bitter they're not resentful if asked to summarize older men you 50 to 65 and above basically says what to look like for an older man to be Christian lives like a Christian means you're wise, godly example of a vibrant walk with God. You have authentic relationships in your finish well older men. That's what it looks like for a Christian to live like a Christian and when you live that way. People don't malign. That's a weird word but it means they don't discredit the word of God. They don't think that what you believe is crazy what they say is I don't know where you got that, but I like to explore what you believe and why. The next group is older women. This is women that are 60 and above the phrases reverent in all their ways. The word literally means they live a holy life or was used of a priestess in the temple. They would live like a priestess in the temple, a life of reverence negatively. They are not slanderous.

We all have struggles with our tongues, but when your kids get grown, apparently you have little bit more time in your hands.

Paul thought you be careful ladies. It's easy to it's easy to talk about other people and they're not around and he says this is the kind of woman that doesn't do that. And she's not addicted to much wine. It's that same word for self-control just a little bit different view of it but but it's someone that as she gets older. Your priorities don't slide and she doesn't just spend your time thinking about her and if I lost my youth and what's really important and find it. You know my role again because the kids are out of the house and you know so I can talk bad about other people.

Makes me feel better, assorted sedate my pain.

In some ways Paul says none on the spirit of God says through him. This is a woman that's holy and godly.

In fact, that's her heart and her character but then her focus is.

She teaches what is good. It's a beautiful word.

She teaches what is beautiful. She teaches what is winsome.

She teaches what encourages and then the focus of her teaching is younger women were to find out literally the word younger here. It's not just an age word means literally means new or fresh and probably refers to not exclusively, but probably refers to a lot of women, it just got married and it gets new and it's fresh and they don't know what they're doing, what she sees as you know I don't about US men don't know much about you women mainly taken courses I've read so many books with Teresa. I can hardly stand it. I've listened to tapes of watch DVDs I've gone to seminars I've been to counseling and I still try Mina is like there's some things I just except they are a mystery to me. They really are and only another woman can teach another younger woman about what it means to be a woman of God. What it means to respond and live in the culture that we live in what what you do when you're pregnant with that first baby and what you do with the first boyfriend, and what you do when you're bombarded by all those magazines that say you need to be super skinny and super this and super that an and you struggle with your self-image.

It's an older woman that comes along with focus, and she helps younger women understand what matters and who matters and who she really is.

I watch my wife do this. Ever since Annie was a little girl. They'd read books together and then if she was you know flourishing and beginning to grow and become a woman.

I I noticed they had all those talks and got coffee and share and it seems like but every six months they were reading a book together you and them before she got married, I noticed they were spending a lot more time together and then when she got pregnant, they were spending a lot more time together and she had a baby. It was like I you know what I just step back and said this is an amazing thing and left myself you not there's been seasons rough, felt left out. You know, if you're a young father and your wife has a baby, you kind of feels like after about two weeks.

She cannot even count anymore like to just, you know, and the like two months and three months in your thinking everything's okay. Why don't we just like go out we get a big sigh babysitter what you know but guys get a little older I've watched this amazing thing happened between my wife and my daughter and I just thought it's it's it's a picture of beauty, but God wants that for every young woman. My wife and one of her friends Janet have done a Bible study and literally you know the scores and scores of women in our church of the last few years is called five aspects of a woman is really a study about how to be a woman of God and what of those aspects in. It's just exciting to see women about 60 and above investing in young women around here because when that happens you know what validates gives credibility.

It's tough stuff to be a young man is tough to be a young woman but when that kind of relationship happens, it authenticates God's word is truth. The third area is these young women either newly married or there at least young in life.

It enters couplets of three different couplets. He pairs them together. He says older when you teach them to love their husbands and their children as law demands on a woman like how do you do that and to be self-controlled and pure same word about mastering their own life in their own discipline their own appetites and that were pure literally just means holy, set apart, having the right, thoughts put in the right, things in your mind being purer and how you think about life in in your behavior and then busy at home and be kind literally busy at home is the keeper of home and what you need to understand as you read this passages the average woman.

When this was written by she lived in a home in a separate apartment when the men ate.

She didn't eat with her husband and of the idea of a family meal didn't happen. She ate by herself or with the children.

Most of the men. As we learned last time, what were not a one woman man 03 woman manner. They had a slave girl that they could have sex with. They had a temple prostitute and they had a wife to bear children for their lineage and so I mean life life for a woman was terrible like. In some countries that we could probably name today that just horrendous one. Now this revolutionary comes name Jesus and he starts talking about women being coheirs of the grace of God and an equal and God sighed in an loved and cared for them and he gives these written to kill his commandments. In this culture that men should lay down their life for their wives and care for them and love them and protect them and provide for them and connect with them and communicate with them will increase. You have this wild culture going on. Apparently some of the younger women were getting emancipated, but in their emancipation were starting to sort of take their emancipation where they were violating some of the cultural cues to such a point that it was undermining whole families and pulsating out.

Be careful about your focus and there's a lot of things you can do is a woman, but make sure your priorities in order are certain things that no one else can do what you know and love your husband or be a mom to your kids like you know and can have kind of the self-control and model purity. Like you, especially in that culture and ours. And so he saying to them, make sure that how you how you relate honors what God says just a minute you been listening to the first part of his message about high cost of not doing good from a series doing good. What happens when Christians live like Christians, the Bible teaches that were saved by God's grace and by your faith in. So where does that leave doing good works. I mean, why does it matter how we interact with one another through chips teaching in the book of Titus will learn how our decision to do good for another person is more than just a simple gesture.

It's an opportunity to impact their life. Don't miss the easy ways you can practice doing good. Every day, and that we can dramatically change our world for the better. For more information about our resources for this series go to LivingontheEdge.org or call AAA 333-6003 or go to the tripping roadmap before we go any further trip is drawing beer and studio to talk about an issue that's been on his heart recently shipped while thanks so much Dave for months, the world has been witnessing the tragedy of the war in Ukraine.

No sane person hopes for war, but when you're in one you want soldiers in the fight were both passionate and well trained for battle as Christians were in the spiritual war against the powers of darkness. Ephesians 6 details the importance of preparation and training and readiness for the fight that were in. Listen to what Paul says put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's evil schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this darkness gets the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. This is what were training for. We need warriors who equipped with the truth, who were able to speak light into this world Living on the Edge we are absolutely committed to helping people go deeper in the truth to put on the full armor of God, and to be men and women who are not passive, but entered the battle for the souls of their children for our country and for the future.

Here's my question.

Would you help us. Would you help us disciple people equip the next generation and help pastors in this battle that were in not against political issues not against cultural issues, but against the spiritual forces of darkness behind so much of the evil that we see would you pray with us and then would you consider making a financial contribution between now and July 7. As every gift will be double dollar for dollar. I want you know that myself and our team are all in and we want to make a difference and we need your help. Thanks for doing whatever God chose you to do what a great challenge will if you want to help us pursue our mission to teach God's word knows a great time for you to become a financial partner because right now, thanks to a small group of friends of the ministry.

Every gift we receive between now and July 7 will be doubled to make a donation. Just give us a call a triple late. 333-6003 that's AAA 333-6003, or if you prefer to give online visit LivingontheEdge.org Listeners just Donate. Thank you for praying and doing whatever the Lord leads you to do with her again is chip to share some final thoughts from today's message as we close today's program. I want you to really think about your perspective of your world. You know, we throw stats around in and right now the statistics are pretty grim when it comes to the effectiveness of churches. The effectiveness of of Christians living out their faith in others great exceptions, I'm with you there but I mean overall it's a little bit discouraging and I think what happens to me as I start to just tune all that out, and I'm tired of all that negativity.

And I forget that the real change. The real transformation. It just happens like one very ordinary regular person at a time, and the world has gone through difficult times before were going through difficult times now and God is about, and is raising up people that are really making a difference as I like it just kinda pause with me and I want to talk to two groups, an older man and an older woman. Everyone is free to listen in.

But you heard very clearly and specifically some things that you can do that are good and we lost respect for people that are old.

I mean every commercial was about cream to make you look young and you know surgeries to make it look young and we don't respect any more the value of wisdom.

Here's what I want to tell you you need to bring it grandparents you need to flat out and bring it women you need to ask yourself, who am I discipling who my investing in you men who feel like you know the world keeps passing you by your life experience just as a man of God, you've raised some kid you been through work stuff you need to bring that take initiative, do good, let's care for this younger generation. Believe me younger people in our day are in desperate to hear a word from older people you may not think so but I do Bible studies with them all the time. 20 and 30-year-old longing for that parental wisdom you could provide that and you could do it today.

Great work trip. Thanks. Just before we close.

Would you pray for those who are feeling challenged to respond to trips encouragement right now. There's always a spiritual battle when we feel prompted to draw near to God, thanks for taking a minute to do that and if there's a way we can pray for you. Let us know. Call us at AAA 333-6003 or email chip@livingontheedge.org. We'd love to hear from you will join us next time is chip continues a series doing good.

Tell them this is Dave truly saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge