Culture of Valuing Others
PHILIPPIANS 2:1-4 MSG
If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has
made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit
means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a
favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited
friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to
the top. Put yourself aside, and help OTHERS get ahead. Don’t be
obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long
enough to lend a helping hand.
Perfect Storm for Millennials:
• A generation of instant gratification
• Record student loan debt
• Inability to get jobs to keep up with inflation (prices rising too
fast)
• Unaffordable healthcare
• Socialistic propaganda in universities and media
Socialism: an economic and political system under which the means
of production are publicly owned; production and consumer prices are
controlled by the government to best meet the needs of the people
Capitalism: an economic system under which the means of
production are privately owned; production and consumer prices are
based on a free-market system of supply and demand
The Big Idea of Socialism:
• Redistribution of wealth from the haves to the have-nots
• Not allowing the wealthy to control the plight of the poor
• Everything shifting under the control of government
The Big Idea of Capitalism: People are better with handling money
than government. And with lower taxation and more opportunity for
freedom to create, the economy will grow for everyone, giving
everyone an opportunity for financial dignity.
The Big Challenges with Capitalism:
• Wealthy become too powerful (rich rule over the poor)
• People with money lose connection with the suffering of the
poor
• Opportunities are different based on which economic level
you’re starting from
• Society starts to feel unbalanced (between rich and poor).
The Big Challenges with Socialism:
• Creativity and start-up businesses slow down
• Taxes become oppressive and destructive to the economy
• National debt could create a complete financial collapse
• People shift from depending on God to depending on
government
• People lose their freedom
A Culture of Valuing Others:
- The church must go through a value transformation.
DEUTERONOMY 8:11-14 NKJV
“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His
commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command
you today, lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built
beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your
flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all
that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you
forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
from the house of bondage…”
DEUTERONOMY 8:18 NKJV
“And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who giveS
you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which
He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
MATTHEW 6:19-21 NKJV
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where you treasure
is, there your heart will be also.”
LUKE 12:15 NKJV
And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for
one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he
possesses.”
Sign of Value Transformation: We begin to VALUE OTHERS as
much as we VALUE OURSELVES.
ACTS 2:44-45 NIV
All the believers were together and had everything in common. They
sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. - The church must step into the fray of societal challenges.
1 JOHN 3:16-18 NLT
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So
we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If
someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister
in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that
person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other;
let us show the truth by our actions. - The church must become know for its heart of generosity.
Generous People:
• More fulfilled people
• More attractive people
• More productive people
• More interesting people
• More loving people
• More emotionally stable people
2 CORINTHIANS 8:12-15 NKJV
For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one
has, and not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean
that others should be eased and you burdened; but by an equality,
that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their
abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality.
As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he
who gathered little had no lack.”
