Love is not unseemly

1) A recent news story had this caption: flight attendants feel wrath of fliers.

2) Those who watch the travel industry have noticed rising tension between passengers and airline workers.

3) One example of how things are getting out of control happened this past March in Albany, N.Y.

a) A female passenger got off a plane and she was angry.

b) She spit on the shoe of a flight attendant and uttered a racial slur.

c) If this were an isolated event, it might not make the national news.

d) Airline personnel are being spit on, hit, and verbally assaulted time and time again.

4) Things have gotten to the point where airline workers are regarding many passengers as rude.

5) Rude used to be a word we heard on a fairly frequent basis.

a) It is no longer used all that often; at least I seem to hear it less and less.

b) In 1 Cor. 13:5 Paul said, “love does not behave itself unseemly.”

c) Unseemly has the sense of rude, dishonorably, disgracefully, indecently.

6) This word is one of those terms that is rare in the New Testament; it is found only twice.

7) In addition to being used in 1 Cor. 13, it is found in 1 Cor. 7:36.

8) Today we want to consider the basic definitions for unseemly: rude, dishonorable, disgraceful, and indecent.

9) As we begin I am reminded of what people have called the “Toddler Property Laws.”

10) These laws include the following points: “If I like it, it is mine.” “If it is in my hand, it is mine.”

11) “If I can take it from you, it is mine.” “If I had it awhile ago, it is mine.”

12) “If it is mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.”

13) “If I am doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.”

14) “If it looks just like mine, it is mine. “If I think it is mine, it is mine.”

15) The young and the old sometimes operate by these rules.

16) Unless someone is not much past the age of 2, these laws are rude, dishonorable, and disgraceful.

17) Unseemly conveys to us a very ugly side of mankind, and we can quickly see why it occurs in 1 Cor. 13.

a) Sometimes it is good to study a word by looking at things in reverse.

b) Such seems to be the best choice when looking at this word.

c) For our Scripture reading we also heard Phil. 4:8 read.

d) We want to contrast this second passage with the word “unseemliness” in 1 Cor. 13:5.

18) Paul spoke of what is “true” in Phil. 4:8.

a) God and His people are to be associated with truth.

b) Even before the New Testament was instituted Jesus expressed this idea.

c) Jesus once had some people come to see Him; they were not His friends.

d) Although these men were not sympathetic to the Lord’s cause, they made an interesting admission.

e) In Mt. 22:16 we find them saying, “We know that thou art true.”

f) They even said Jesus “taught the way of God in truth.”

g) If we are going to be a disciple of Christ, truth in its broadest form must appeal to us.

h) When a person is unseemly, truth often does not matter.

i) Truth can become whatever a person thinks someone wants to hear.

j) The world talks about “shading” the truth. Others pretend like truth cannot be known.

k) If we speak of teaching the truth and affirm error exists, some are simply outraged.

l) Truth exists and it matters. When it is not practiced, the result is often unseemliness.

19) Early in our married life Teresa and I received a promotion that now hits most mailboxes week after week.

20) We were told we had won something—a fantastic prize.

21) We were a bit curious so we took half a Saturday and went to where some land was being sold.

22) All we won was a high pressure sales pitch and a rolled up picture that was worth a dollar or two.

23) Everything about the people selling lots was unseemly.

a) The man asked what I was doing; I told him I was training to become a preacher.

b) He said he had just the lost for us – there was a tree that looked like Jesus.

c) That must be a sign we needed to buy a particular lot.

24) Trying to pressure people or trick people to do or buy something is unseemly.

a) A second word associated with Christian living in Phil. 4:8 is “honest.”

b) In ancient times this word was sometimes found on tombstones.

c) The word describes “honorable conduct,” and a high standard of morality.

d) Aside from the military, we do not hear much about honorable conduct.

e) Certainly in the world we do not have often see high standards of morality.

25) We live in a time when people are disgraceful.

26) It is almost as if people see just how low they can go.

a) It is summer time and there is a lot of bare skin in the world—men and women.

b) People have shown so much flesh schools have had to adopt dress code policies.

c) Some employers have done the same thing.

d) People will literally parade their flesh for the public eye. This is not limited to the unsaved.

e) I know of a congregation where the elders who want to take their young people to a beach.

f) Girls will be in bikinis and the boys presumably in typical swimming attire.

g) That is not good or wise conduct. Yet, this is being supported by an eldership.

h) Not only is this a planned outing, it has already been previously done.

i) Pictures of an outing have been posted on the church bulletin board.

j) Young women in bikinis have been posted on a bulletin board.

27) If this had happened at Corinth, we might not be too shocked.

28) Our culture has not come from the depths of heathenism and paganism that surrounded Corinth.

a) From celebrities to ordinary citizens, and even Christians, people can lack decency.

b) God tells us that unseemliness is wrong; it is not associated with true love.

c) If we have a love for God, His word, and the faith, we will not behave in a disgraceful and indecent way.

d) Someone may say, “What exactly does that mean?”

e) Let’s provide a more specific answer.

29) We will not look indecent, sound indecent, or we will not appear indecent in any other way.

30) Maybe a lot of people never stop to ask themselves if they look and sound indecent.

31) If that is the case, it is time to look at the Word of God and wake up.

32) God tells us it is possible to be unseemly; we need to examine our life and see if that is true of us.

33) Do we dress, talk, think or act in a way that is disgraceful to the Heavenly Father?

34) The word translated “honest” in Phil. 4:8 is defined in a rather unique way by Barclay.

35) He said such a person moves throughout the world as if the whole world were the temple of God.

36) Every aspect of our life needs to be governed by the fact that a Christian has put on Christ.

a) Next on the apostle’s list in Phil. 4:8 is the word “just.”

b) This word means acting in accordance with the demands of God.

c) It describes a person who sees his responsibilities to man and God and fulfills them.

d) This word is applied to Joseph (Mt. 1:19) and Abel (Heb. 11:4), and John the Baptist (Mk. 6:20).

e) It is used of Zechariah and Elizabeth (Lk. 1:6), Cornelius (Acts 10:22), and Lot (2 Pet. 2:7).

f) Which of these people lived dishonorable, disgraceful, and indecent lives?

g) Not one of them. All these characters knew some of the basics about godly living.

h) True love means that we have a love for God and other people and we really try to do what is right.

37) After “just” in Phil. 4:8 we come to the word “pure.”

a) Now things become a little more specific.

b) One source has explained pure as meaning “the moral ideal.”

c) Here is a person who is living a life where he or she is fit for God’s presence and service.

d) A man such as this will not run around being rude to people.

e) He will certainly not want to be dishonorable, disgraceful, or indecent.

38) Others in the world might not like him all that much because he does not blend in with them.

39) This person has chosen to mold himself to the will of God instead of the will of the world.

40) If you go out into the world tomorrow I can almost guarantee you that you will find someone who is rude.

41) The first person we meet may be rude. Maybe it will not be till the end of the week.

42) If we look very far and hard this week, we will find rudeness.

43) We also stand a pretty good chance of meeting someone who will act dishonorably.

44) If we get through a single day and no one acts disgracefully or indecently we are fortunate.

45) Unsaved people act in these ways; God says to His people: BE DIFFERENT!

46) God says to His people, “be pure.” Be fit for my presence and service.

47) The church is a place for sinners. It is a place for the mildest as well as the very worst offenders.

48) When we come into this spiritual body, God does not let us “stay as we are.”

49) God wants to see change; He wants to see lives shaped and molded into the image of His Son.

50) One source looked at the word “pure” in Phil. 4:8 and used the word “immaculate.”

a) Immaculate does not have much to do with unseemly.

b) When people are unseemly they may amuse other unrighteous people in the world.

c) They cannot and will not please God or have heaven as their eternal home.

51) Rather than choosing to be unseemly the apostle instructs us to pursue what is “lovely.”

52) This word means “what is pleasing, agreeable, lovely, etc.”

53) How pleasing is it when someone is rude to us?

54) Indecency is not in the category of lovely things.

55) As Christians, evangelism is one responsibility that we have.

56) Rude, dishonorable and disgraceful behavior will never lead another person to Christ.

a) A life that is pleasing and loving will reach some people.

b) Unseemliness destroys those who practice it and many who see it.

57) Next in the list of things in Phil. 4:8 are the things “of good report.”

a) It has been said that Paul had in mind things fit for God’s ears. This brings to mind speech.

b) There is rude speech in the world. There can be rude speech in the church.

c) Before opening our mouths we might pause and ask, “are these fit words for God to hear?”

d) Hopefully terrible words do not enter into the mind. If they do, we can learn to stop them there.

e) We could create a special dictionary for words that are dishonorable, disgraceful, and indecent.

f) Love is not unseemly; true love is to be one of the things that heads us away from evil words.

58) As the list in Phil. 4:8 concludes the apostle said “think on these things.”

59) When it comes to unseemliness, people often give it little thought.

a) A person is rude and does not stop to consider the consequences.

b) In fact, a person may boast about how rude they were to someone earlier in the day.

c) They may say something like, “I really showed him!”

d) People are dishonorable and often give it no thought until later.

e) Perhaps only after someone else says something does a person realize they behaved badly.

f) Such is also true for disgraceful and indecent speech and actions.

60) If we want to be a Christian, we must live differently from the world.

61) The process begins with conversion. We need to deal with sin.