Honor and Respect: You Need to Know the Difference
Gary Keesee • May 13, 2020
Mark 6:5-6 tells us that Jesus couldn't do many works in His hometown. You might even remember that the Bible says it was because of their ‘lack of faith.’
But the problem wasn’t that the people in Jesus’ hometown didn’t believe
God; it was that they didn’t honor
Jesus.
Jesus was too familiar.
They knew his family. They thought they knew as much as He did. They didn’t value anything He was saying or doing. They told Him to prove
himself.
They didn’t honor Him.
We’ll never be able to receive from someone that we don’t honor.
Take the example of Elijah. During the time of famine, God sent Elijah to a widow in Zarephath for help.
Why Zarephath? Wasn’t there a widow in Israel
that could’ve fed Elijah?
Apparently there was no widow in Israel that honored
Elijah enough for God to be able to use her. But the widow in Zarephath did honor God and Elijah and, in turn, she received.
Peter is another example. The guy had fished all night. You know he had to be tired. He was done for the day. They were cleaning their nets when Jesus told him to go back out.
Peter honored Jesus. He obeyed, and he received.
Can you imagine how different the story might have been if Peter had acted like we do today? Imagine Peter saying, “I’m sorry Jesus. I’m really worn out. This will have to wait until tomorrow. I’m going to get some rest.”
Are you shaking your head?
You should be.
This is what has been happening for years in our country and in the church. We have thrown aside the culture of honor.
The Bible says that "the wicked freely strut about unopposed when what is vile is honored among men." (Psalm 12:8)
This is what is happening right now. The enemy has always tried to devalue and dishonor authorities. He uses gossip, slander, and offenses to gain influence in our culture. He has a heyday when people lose sight of what is true and what is honorable.
We have to fight to reestablish a culture of honor—a place where integrity means something.
Clearly just knowing that God has placed authorities in our lives to help us isn’t enough. We have more to do.
But what? Well, in Romans 13:7, we see that God directs us to ‘render respect to whom respect is due, and honor to whom honor is due.’
So how do we do that?
The first thing we need to do is understand the difference between respect and honor. Don’t mix them up.
Respect is earned. Honor is given.
We respect people for what they do. Honor, however, is a necessity—a requirement we give to an office, to a position.
You may not respect a person, their beliefs, their ideas, or their expectations, but if they have authority, they deserve honor.
When you honor something, you treat it as if it’s valuable. You esteem it. You look at it. You set it someplace safe. You lift it up above other things. It’s important to you.
Honoring a person is no different. When you honor a person you serve them. You value them. You tend to the relationship. You encourage them. You elevate them. You esteem them.
So "The Honor Code" is about more than leaving the right amount of money for the candy you took in the unattended box at the office. It’s about more than being trustworthy and honest.
The Honor Code is about choosing to live your life to please God.
It’s about realizing that you can’t receive from the people you aren’t willing to honor, and that God might just be trying to use those very same people to get something amazing to you.
We have so much stuff and things that take our time that we don’t honestly know what to honor. Thank God He tells us, because in the end we’re going to stand before Him thinking we’ve done this great work and He might just ask—
"How did you honor your kids? Did you spend time
with them?
Did you honor your marriage? Or did you look at pornography, make comments about people that weren't your spouse, or sit around watching movies where the people committed adultery?
Did you honor your body?
Did you honor others
as better than yourself? Or did you gossip and devalue others?
Did you honor your father and mother?’
When it’s all said and done, will you be able to answer ‘Yes’ when God asks you, “Did you render honor to whom honor was due?”
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