Sermon Tone Analysis

This past week has been a whirlwind for me.

Lance and I were blissfully cut off from the news cycle last weekend as we went to the Men’s conference, so we had a whiff that something had happened by a side comment from the speaker but other than that I did not know anything about Charlottesville, or any of the other protests that happened last weekend.

Then came Monday morning...

On Monday morning as I tuned into the news the ongoing moral decay of our country was on full display.

And I have to say the fall out since has not been any better.

I was not here last Sunday, so please forgive me if anything I’m sharing was put to you last week.

I’m not trying to vent my anger, no, I’m trying to wake us all up…yes, all of us, because we’re asleep.

We’re asleep if we’re sitting here this morning thinking that nothing is wrong.

We’re asleep if we think we’re okay because its on the other side of the country.

We’re asleep if we think this will all blow over.

It’s wrong, it’s in our back yard, and it won’t blow over before it has blown us down - unless,

unless

unless we are willing to face it.

Acknowledge it for what it is.

Overcome it with the truth of the Gospel.

Lies we believe

There are two key lies that we believe today and that our culture has some how convinced us are true.

Lie # 1: If you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them.

Have you ever spoken to anyone other than yourself?

Granted, its done with a great deal of grating.

It’s not necessarily a pleasant noise when we’re in disagreement, but that doesn’t mean hatred or fear.

We need to grind it out.

Lie #2: to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do.

Do you even have a family?

a friend?

a parent?

a child? a co-worker?

Mattew 22:37

Then inquierer tries to justify himself by asking “who is my neighbor.”

The parable that Jesus tells says quite a bit, it’s the parable of the good Samaritan.

Now if you know the story you should know that the Samaritans were a hated people group among the Israelites.

They felt justified in their hatred.

ButJesus turns that hatred on its ear in the parable.

Luke 10:30-

You see it was a person of the most hated group that becomes the hero in the parable.

Culture

When I got home and I saw the hatred that was spewing from people in the news casts.

It seemed that many people were using the facetious advise of one of my professors, “Weak point, talk louder!”

It seemed any of the television dialogues turned into shouting matches even among the professionals.

No one was listening to one another, everyone was trying to outshout the other.

This is what is happening at demonstrations across our country.

We’re not seeking to learn about other cultures.

We are labeling,

chastise, cower and run in fear.

That is the exact opposite of love.

1 John 4:

As I read blogs, news articles, editorials, and listened to the many talking heads on the radio and television this past week - there were certain truths that rang really true for me.

A friend of mine when I was in Chattanooga put it so well during an interview this past week:

We have seen an increase in individualism.

The more focused we become on ourselves the less able we are to participate in community.

We withdraw from one another and as we withdraw we tend to withdraw into groups of people that think the way we think.

So it adds to the polarization of culture so if you disagree with my ideas not only are you disagreeing with me, but you’re disagreeing with my identity and who I am as a human being.

So we’ve gotten to a place where we can’t talk to one another.

We can’t have helpful meaningful discussions.

As Christians we need to live in community.

We have disagreements, differing opinions, differing skills, different perspectives.

But we’ve got to take the time to listen to one another rather than shouting one another down.

This is what I hate about the culture of social media.

It gives people a platform to make statements from a room where they don’t need to listen to anyone but themselves.

We, as Christians are called to love one another.

Jesus said they will know we’re Christians by our love.

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth:

2 Cor 5:16-

2 Cor 18-21

So what as a church can we do?

Intentionally seek out people that are not like you.

Listen first.

Listening begets being heard.

When you speak, speak in love.