Honor in a Cancel Culture

Honor in a Cancel Culture

Scripture References

• Romans 12:10
• Mark 6:1

Overview

The message confronts “the age of perpetual offense,” where people cancel each other over the slightest misstep. Instead of participating in that culture, believers are called to the overlooked virtue of honor—esteeming others above ourselves. Using Romans 12:10 and Jesus’ reception in Nazareth (Mark 6), the sermon shows how honor builds people up, invites God’s activity, and reflects the worth Christ has placed on every person.

Main Points

The Age of Perpetual Offense

• Our culture is “quick to judge, quick to criticize, quick to condemn, and quick to cancel.”
• Even small misstatements or 10-year-old tweets can erase years of integrity.
• Family members, coworkers, and online friends now “write each other out” over minor issues.

“If you’re on a continuous search to be offended, you’ll always find what you’re looking for.”

Honor vs. Dishonor

• Greek terms:
  • Atemos – without honor; to treat as common or ordinary.
  • Timē – to value, respect, highly esteem; treat as precious, weighty, valuable.
• Honor believes the best, builds up, cherishes.
• Dishonor assumes the worst, belittles, devalues.

Illustration: A dating couple showers each other with compliments and small courtesies, but after marriage they slip into ordinary treatment—burping, criticism, indifference—showing how what was once honored can become common.

Story: While counseling friends, the preacher’s wife Amy confronted a wife who constantly demeaned her husband. When the wife retorted that her husband wasn’t “one-tenth the man” the preacher was, Amy answered that her husband had grown into that man “because I’ve been honoring him since the day we met.”

Honor Builds; Dishonor Limits

• In Nazareth, Jesus was “without honor”; the people saw only a carpenter’s son.
• Result: “He could not do any miracles there except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.”
• Lack of honor and faith restricted what Jesus was willing to do; dishonor can still block God’s intended blessings today.

Four Scriptural Avenues of Honor

1. Honor God
   • With wealth (firstfruits), with our bodies (holiness), with authentic worship.
2. Honor Parents
   • Parents aren’t called to be “buddies” but spiritual authorities; children learn honor at home.
   • In the Groeschel house the response to instruction is “Yes, sir / Yes, ma’am.”
3. Honor Those in Authority
   • We can “disagree without dishonoring.”
   • David honored King Saul even while Saul hunted him.
   • The church prays for leaders we voted for and leaders we didn’t.
4. Honor Pastors & Spiritual Leaders
   • Scripture says overseers are worthy of “double honor.”
   • Special gratitude for kids-ministry volunteers, campus pastors, and long-time staff.

Outdo One Another in Showing Honor

• Romans 12:10 calls believers to “honor one another above yourselves” or “outdo one another in showing honor.”
• Practical example: the preacher pre-pays restaurant bills to beat friends at honoring.
• A spirit of honor should mark marriages (“out-love, out-encourage”), homes, churches, and communities.

The Name That Gives Value

Illustration: Only seven Babe Ruth home-run bats were ever autographed. A nurse inherited the missing bat, later selling it for $1.3 million and donating proceeds to a children’s charity “because Babe Ruth’s name is what made it valuable.”

• Our worth comes from the name of Jesus written over our lives.
• Because His name is on people, treating them as ordinary is dishonoring Him.

Key Truths

• Honor is a gift we choose to give; respect is earned, but honor is bestowed.
• What we continually treat as common will eventually become common to us.
• God’s power often moves where faith and honor create room.
• Honoring imperfect people honors the perfect God whose image they bear.
• A church that “outdoes” others in honor becomes a healing, hope-filled voice in a cancel culture.

Response

• Examine your words and attitudes; refuse to participate in cancel culture.
• Speak encouragement over spouses, children, coworkers—build up rather than belittle.
• Pray regularly for governmental leaders, regardless of political agreement.
• Practice tangible acts of esteem: open a door, pick up a check, write a thank-you note.
• Return the first portion of every increase to God as an act of honor.
• Teach children to respond to authority with respect and readiness.

Closing

Honor is the believer’s reasonable response to the One whose name gives us worth. When we honor God and honor people, we break the cycle of perpetual offense and invite heaven’s activity into ordinary life.

“Because of who Jesus is and because of what He’s done, our only reasonable response is to love Him and honor Him with our whole lives.”

Prayer

Father, forgive us where we have withheld honor. Fill us with Your Spirit so that in homes, workplaces, and this church a spirit of honor will prevail—building up, healing, and uniting—so that Jesus is glorified above all.