LOVE LIKE THAT: Bold

BIG IDEA

TRUTHFULNESS IS AT THE CENTER OF A MORE LOVING LIFE.

IT’S WHAT MAKES US AUTHENTIC.

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever been less than authentic?

Not quite the truth-teller you thought you were?

I hate to admit this, but I have.

Chances are good that you have to.

You know the kind of thing I’m talking about.

Perhaps you weren’t completely forthcoming about something, other people find out, and then you have to go through the awkward conversation that reveals everything.

When you go through a situation like that it damages the relationships.

But the good news is that if we address the situation and come clean, healing can take place.

I remember years ago when I was participating in farmers markets every weekend, I had one of these kinds of experiences.

I had commited to being at one in particular on a weekly basis.

On week I had sold at lot of my stock during the week and I really wanted to take that weekend off.

The night before the market, I called the manager and told him I wouldn’t be there.

Needless to say, he wasn’t happy and he made it very clear to me that he wasn’t.

He did it in a way that really upset me.

How dare he talk to me that way!

But, over the course of the night, as I cooled down, God showed me that I was in the wrong.

The next morning, I went to the market and immediately found the manager, told him how I felt, and was honest about why I tried to back out.

You know what happened?

Our friendship instantly jumped to a new level.

I shared the whole truth about what was going on with me and he shared with me the pressure that was being put on him by the owners of the market.

That moment of openness changed everything!

Authenticity grows as we become truth-tellers.

We’re going to be looking at that this morning.

We’ve been talking about loving like Jesus - what that means and how to do it.

I’ve said this each week and it is still true, I want to love like Jesus and so do you.

As I’ve mentioned each week, you may not even be part of a church, but something inside of you gravitates toward having a more loving marriage, family, and friendships.

In fact, don’t we look for solutions in all the relationship challenges we face?

Who wouldn’t want to have a better marriage or a better environment at work or school?

In fact, I’d like to get along better with people that might even call me an enemy.

We’re in a series called LOVE LIKE THAT.

Each week I’ve been emphasizing what you already know: none of us have arrived yet.

We are all trying to figure it out, trying to get it right.

Largely because we know the stakes are so high.

All of us intuitively know that our actions, even our intentions can and do have a generational impact.

So, this is something we want to get right.

Our theme passage for the entire series is Ephesians 5:1-2

Ephesians 5:1–2 The Message

1 Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. 2 Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

Loving like Jesus involves being mindful and observant, being approachable, and being grace-full.

Today we’ll see it also includes being boldly truthful.

That may seem like a “no-brainer,” but it’s not.

1. THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUTH.

Truth is sometimes “trumped” by “group think.”

Do you know what that is?

It’s the mob mentality or herd mentality that throws truth out the window in place of sound thinking, truth, and doing the right thing, even when it goes against conventional thinking.

Here’s a quick definition: “describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors that may or may not be grounded in truth."

A classic example of this is found in Luke 23:13-25

Luke 23:13–25 CSB

13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, 14 and said to them, “You have brought me this man as one who misleads the people. But in fact, after examining him in your presence, I have found no grounds to charge this man with those things you accuse him of. 15 Neither has Herod, because he sent him back to us. Clearly, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.” 18 Then they all cried out together, “Take this man away! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (He had been thrown into prison for a rebellion that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) 20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate addressed them again, 21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify! Crucify him!” 22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What has this man done wrong? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.” 23 But they kept up the pressure, demanding with loud voices that he be crucified, and their voices won out. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand 25 and released the one they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for rebellion and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.

The scribes and chief priests kept stirring the crowd of people up until they could no longer hear the truth.

Both Pilot and Herod found no guilt, but the scribes, chief priest, and crowd wouldn’t hear the truth.

Many of us would categorize ourselves as “non-confronters.”

We avoid showdowns and confrontations at all costs.

Even though Jesus demonstrated his love in countless, tangible ways, he didn’t run from a showdown or a confrontation.

Check out this confrontation made in the epicenter of people and activity, the temple grounds:

Matthew 21:12–13 NLT

12 Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. 13 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”

Many sports enthusiasts will use the phrase “not in my house” when talking about the possibility of losing a home game in their own stadium or arena.

Dikembe Mutombo was made popular recenlty in insurance commercials.

Or you may have said it yourself, “not in my house,” as it relates to certain behaviors from your kids or their friends.

There is a sense of ownership — that this home is different and therefore operates differently.

Jesus, God in the flesh, said the same thing when confronting the religious leaders and merchants of the day using the temple of God to make a buck or to promote their own agenda.

Jesus states the truth.

“Not in My House.”

Things are different here.

We must note that the Temple was built according to His own design and by His own order.

It was dedicated to His worship, where the glory of God rested upon the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies.

After all, this was His house, and He entered the temple through the Eastern Gate, or the King’s Gate, because He was the King, reigning over His own kingdom.

Entering the temple grounds, Jesus’ first encounter was with the Court of the Gentiles.

This was the area of the temple grounds where Gentiles could come to shop and worship, but they were allowed to go no farther.

In the Court of the Gentiles, the Jews had set up a marketplace - a mall of sorts, where sacrificial animals and offerings could be purchased, usually at an inflated price.

You see, during the big celebrations (Passover, Pentecost, or the Feast of Tabernacles), foreigners would travel to Jerusalem to worship and sacrifice.

They wouldn’t bring sacrificial animals with them on the long trip and just buy what they needed there.

Unscrupulous merchants, with the religious leadership’s approval, would charge much more for the animals, and if they had foreign currency… well, the exchange rate was never good for the traveler.

The temple was designed to be the House of Prayer.

If you look at everything that went on in the temple, there were more activities than simply prayer.

We know that there were many sacrifices offered.

We know that there was music.

We know that teaching took place.

But it is interesting that Jesus does not say “My house is the house of sacrifice,” or “My house is the house of music,” or “My house is the house of teaching.”

He says, “MY HOUSE IS THE HOUSE OF PRAYER.”

Jesus speaks the truth, an unpopular truth, among the leaders and merchants.

The temple was, first and foremost, a place where people were to gaze upon the glory of God and worship Him.

Prayer is our act of devotion where we seek His face and behold His glory.

In Solomon’s prayer when he dedicated the temple, he used language that indicated that prayer was to be the central activity connected with this place of worship.

Speaking truth among a hostile crowd is never easy.

It’s not fun to tell a friend he needs a breath mint or to zip up his zipper.

But those things pale in comparison to lovingly telling a friend he’s ruining his marriage by his actions.

Or that she’s forfeiting her parental responsibility by not engaging with her kids.

Jesus would often confront hypocrisy and legalism.

That kind of showmanship had to be called out with the truth.

2. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN TRUTH AND HYPOCRISY.

Matthew 23:26–28 NLT

26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. 27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Jesus speaks pretty harshly about hypocrisy.

In fact, he reserved his harshest yet truthful criticism for those who are hypocrites.

If you’re bothered by spiritual counterfeits, you have some good company.

Jesus lashed out at hypocrites 20 different times in the Gospels.

These are found just in Matthew. 6:2

Matthew 6:2 NLT

2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.

Matthew 6:5 NLT

5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.

Matthew 6:16 NLT

16 “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.

Matthew 7:5 NLT

5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

Matthew 15:7–8 NLT

7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, 8 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

The most pointed, direct, and harshest words Jesus ever spoke were directed toward professional religious pretenders.

In Matthew 23, He called them:

• Hypocrites (7 times)

• Fools (2 times)

• Blind Guides (5 times)

• Serpents and Brood of Vipers (1 time)

Don’t you love how the Message paraphrase states Matthew 6:2-6?

Matthew 6:2–6 The Message

2 “When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—‘playactors’ I call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get. 3 When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. 4 Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out. 5 “And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat? 6 “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

Pretty hard to miss his point. Right?

You see, the proof of spiritual maturity is not external.

It’s not showmanship.

And Jesus called them out… any time… any place.

Jesus was the ultimate truth-teller.

He is a model for living authentically and honestly.

When a person only lets people see the “pretty” parts of their lives, it creates a false image of who they are.

That kind of activity puts walls up and destroys authenticity because we aren’t being honest about who we are.

3. WHAT KEEPS US FROM BEING TRUTH-TELLERS?

In a word: REJECTION.

We’re afraid people won’t accept us, won’t attend to us, won’t approve of us.

So, we wear masks to protect ourselves from the sting of rejection and the fear that surrounds it.

We usually live with two circles representing our lives.

One circle representing the person who wears a mask, who goes along with the crowd, who knows what is right, but chooses not to do it.

The other circle is the true representation of who you are.

The farther those circles separate from each other, the more tension and fear you will experience.

When what you do and what you say do not match the person you are inside — when your truth is not revealed to others — you develop a fragmented self.

A few decades ago, there was a movement, including bracelets and the like called “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD).

I’m sure that most in this room remember.

The theme was loosely taken from Charles M. Sheldon’s book, In His Steps.

A small town was totally transformed by a small group of people who chose to live an entire year by making every decision in their home, business, and lives by asking first, “What would Jesus do?”

It changed the town because it changed their hearts and lives.

Observe Jesus… what He did regarding speaking the truth.

He didn’t back down from Simon the Pharisee when Simon attempted to embarrass Him and paint Him in a corner of being a heretic.

He lovingly confronts the woman at the well regarding her many relationships.

He confronted his friends as well, like Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus.

Don’t misunderstand.

You can be truthful and cause damage, but that isn’t the point.

Jesus wasn’t the guy who just loved to hurt people.

No. Truth was always set in the context of grace.

And this wasn’t just something Jesus did if He had the time.

No. It was a priority.

Be truthful.

Don’t be mean or rude.

Be truthful.

Be genuine and authentic.

Take off the masks.

Be real.

Isn’t that what this generation, maybe all generations, long for?

Remember His encounter with Philip’s brother in John 1:43-48?

John 1:43–48 NLT

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown. 45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied. 47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.” 48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”

Now, while Nathanael wasn’t very kind, he spoke what he felt.

Jesus honors and respects integrity and authenticity.

“Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

Jesus himself lived in a way that was transparent, straightforward, and direct, and He wants us to follow in this way.

He commends Nathaniel.

Jesus commended Nathanael for his integrity; “Here truly is an Israelite!”

Not all Israelites live up to the name (Rom. 9:6), but Nathanael did!

He was a Jew inwardly (Rom. 2:29) as well as outwardly.

There was nothing false or insincere in his religion.

Ps. 32:1-2 says…

Psalm 32:1–2 CSB

1 How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How joyful is a person whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit!

Jesus was quoting Ps. 32 of Nathanael!

Not only does a life marked by truth-telling open us up to the richness of our spiritual relationship with God, but it also empowers us to live meaningfully and lovingly with each other.

NOW WHAT?

We fear that being known will lead to rejection.

But it is only by being known that our hearts are truly loved.

Authenticity separates being a loving person from merely wanting to be seen as a loving person.

Authenticity is all about being rather than doing.

When you give attention to truth-telling from a loving heart, your actions naturally follow.

Love is dangerous because love means risking rejection.

Jesus fearlessly risked not only His reputation but His very life for the truth.

This uncompromising quality can leave some uncomfortable.

No doubt.

But that discomfort just may be the most loving thing we can do for them. So…

1. GET REAL AND BE AUTHENTIC

When we get real with others, we show who we really are.

In recent years the TV cameras have gone into the homes of supposedly “normal” families in what has come to be known as reality TV.

Well, let’s suppose that the cameras have been rolling this past week at your house.

Only this time, the cameras were hidden and you didn’t know you were being watched.

What could we learn about you as we watch your “real” life behind closed doors?

If we could watch one week of your life on the screen this morning, would your life behind closed doors authenticate what people perceive about you?

Would it cause confidence in you to rise?

We’re talking about authenticity.

CONSIDER THESE QUESTIONS:

• What does authentic Christian living look like out in the community? Does it really have to affect your life out on the street? It does if it is real.

• How does an authentic Christian act at the customer service desk?

• How does an authentic Christian treat their waitress down at the restaurant when the food isn’t cooked just right, or it takes a little longer than expected?

An authentic Christian does not try to compartmentalize his work life from his Christian life.

You can’t segregate your private life from your church life.

Jesus Christ wants to be involved in every single part of your life.

Authentic Christians understand that, and I am telling you that your relationship with Jesus Christ if it is real, will affect every single aspect of your existence.

Jesus is interested in everything about us, every problem, every concern.

He knows how to make a difference in your work, in your marriage, in your family, and in your personal life!

Living an authentic Christian life will affect everything from how you do business, to how you relate to your customers, to how you treat your competitors, to the way you treat your waitress at lunch today.

Loving Like Jesus affects everything.

2. GET VULNERABLE

Open up about yourself to those you trust.

You’ll be surprised how that simple act allows truth-telling to become part of your nature.

A few months ago, in one of our Life Groups, someone in the group opened up about their struggle with mental health.

As that person shared, the atmosphere in the room changed and others were able to open up and share their struggles.

When we get real, authentic, and vulnerable it allows others to see that it is safe to do the same.

If you are getting vulnerable, you don’t speak the truth from a self-centered heart.

That position will always be more concerned with getting and promoting rather than giving.

When we separate love from truth-telling, we are trading genuineness for approval.

This creates a false and fleeting connection at best - about an inch deep.

But when we risk rejection and get real, we begin to love more like Jesus.

I don’t know about you, but this idea of boldness is different than how I’ve thought about it before.

It’s not about being harsh and loud, it’s about being brave and kind.

If we can allow ourselves to get real and live boldly, others will see the truth about how God is.

3. GET USED TO LIFE THIS WAY.

Today in the kid's time, we heard about Jesus making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

In that story, it is obvious that the disciples had gotten accustomed to Jesus doing bold things.

Consider the cultural ramifications of what was happening.

What was this kind of entry usually done for?

Conquering Kings, Generals, armies, etc.

They were big affairs.

Think of Prince Ali’s entry in Aladdin.

Entering a city this way was a big deal!

Who was in charge of Jerusalem at this time?

The Romans and this kind of entry was reserved for those who had won major victories.

Even though Jesus makes a “triumphant” entry, he does it the exact opposite of how the Romans would have.

He is boldly revealing how silly it is to think that warhorses and huge armies are when compared to the power of God.

Jesus coming in this way places Him in the spotlight.

This is why the Pharisees were asking Jesus to quiet the people.

They were afraid of how the Romans would respond.

Jesus, who does only what God tells him, is riding into town, and all those who had witnessed His work were praising Him.

When asked to stop, He continues to do what God has told Him.

Jesus’s actions are revealing to the city that a new king has arrived and what the whole world thought was important in a leader wasn’t!

He was in the process of revealing the truth about what real power is and who has it.

Jesus spoke the truth, in love, and challenged the status quo.

We can do the same as we abide in Him.

As we abide and do what God tells us, we too can lovingly and gently go against the status quo and reveal the truth in our relationships, workplaces, and communities.

Mostly what Jesus did was love.

He did it in boldly in truth.

LOVE LIKE THAT!

Announcements:

Easter Egg Hunt

Network Update

Be prepared for visitors next week. - Tell the truth about how our timeliness affects visitors.

Offering