Respect

[freeatlast]

I think we would all agree that when someone we love is disrespected by another it saddens us. It could be one or both of our parents, a child we have or a friend and especially our Lord. I remember clearly right after I was saved one evening I was in a store and in walked a young woman who suddenly recognized another person who she had not seen in a while and she loudly and openly exclaimed the name of the Lord Jesus in vain as to where had this person been. It was like a knife going through my heart and not more then a few weeks earlier I would have done the same thing.

We live in a world where respect is swiftly disappearing. I can remember when men would remove their hats when entering a room, get up when a woman entered a room, children used yes sir and yes ma'am towards their parents and other adults, men walked on the curb side of a woman when on the street, when children addressed an adult they used Mr. or Mrs. and never their first name, or in the case of the church brother or sister and the last name and never the first name, preachers were respected even by the lost, and much more. I think it is because we feel we can become familiar with others and in doing so forget the respect that goes with it.

Sadly most of showing respect is just about gone and we are seeing a more neutral approach to manners and politeness not to mention respect. The problem is that no society can digress as we have and it not carry over into the religion that one profess'. In this case the church. I am shocked at the number of people who think it is appropriate to speak of Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit using initials in place of their title or name. Perhaps a character evaluation needs to take place as we seem to have put ourselves on the same level as God at least in the practice of how we speak about Him. At some point we have lost respect for ourselves and it is now carried over into losing respect for our God.

 

[HAMel]

freeatlast, I wasn't going to respond to this but changed my mind. Yes, for sure, respect is swiftly disappearing from our landscape.

We are all guilty of attitude on occasion. Me included. You to. Recently, reference was made to me being equal to a bank robber as I found myself being required to file for bankruptcy. Is that being disrespectful?

A church right up the road (the one I used to belong to) has a hen house. Certain of those hens turned against one of their own with vile gossip and literally drove their intended target away from the congregation. Now they can't understand why she has left. Am I being disrespectful for referring these church women as hens? The tongue is like the rudder of a mighty ship.

The younger generation doesn't have much in the way of role models anymore..., not even in church. I'm 66 and still take my hat off when appropriate.

I was attempting to hold a door open for a young woman years ago when she told me in no uncertain terms that I didn't need to hold the door for her. So, I turned lose of it and let it close. Is this being disrespectful?

Way too many people have graduated JO 101, with extremely high grades. That's Judging Others 101. Their mouth goes into motion before their brain goes into gear. Or, in this electronic age we live, their fingers go to typing before the brain goes into gear.

We raised four grand kids for 10 years. Sent them to Christian School, took them to church on every occasion..., and once we could no longer afford their schooling they had to attend public school. Within 30 days they had gone hog wild. We don't even recognize them anymore.

Charity begins at home my friend..., but alas, even the home is gone. I post on another forum quite frequently and almost all the younger ones joke about me growing up in the Beaver Cleaver days and how backwards I am. Beaver was a corny TV Show but the values were intact for sure.

 

[HAMel]

You can post your PM to me right here on the forum.

 

[ktn4eg]

Yes, I would have to agree that in general the concept of respect in many cases seems to be disappearing from our society.

However, as the OP pointed out, the concept of respect (as well as, by default, its opposite) is in so many ways something that is learned. If there is little or no teaching of the many aspects ofrespect by example at home, it's very unlikely to be practiced by the children from that home.

If parents don't display respect for each other, it's doubtful that the children will display any respect for either them and/or their siblings or their own friends in the community (in their neighborhood or at school).

If parents display little respect for the things of God, why should we expect their children to exhibit an attiude and behavior any different?

One personal example of this was about 8-9 years ago when I was touring some of the historical sites in/around the Richmond, VA area. A "must see" for me was a tour through the historic St. John's Episcopal Church. This was where the 2d Virginia Convention was convening (Among the 120 delegates in attendance were Peyton Randolph [Pres., Williamsburg]; Thomas Jefferson [Albemarle]; George Washington [Fairfax]; Benjamin Harrison [Prince George]; Richard Henry Lee [Westmoreland]; and Francis Lightfoot Lee [Richmond]. It was there where, on March 23, 1775, delegate Patrick Henry [Hanover County] rose to his feet and delivered his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech. [How many of you knew that all this took place in a church building?]

Anyway, as the tour proceeded to enter the building proper, one of the docents had to stand outside the entrance to request that the men remove their hats. I knew better and removed my ball cap before she asked me to, and was greeted with a pleasant smile and a gentle "Thank you, sir." A simple gesture of respect, but obviously one that needed someone to remind some men to do so.

OTOH, I'm 65, and I appreciate the fact that when I enter or exitthe doors of my church building, there's usually always a young person there to greet me and hold the door open for me. And I always try to thank and complement them for doing so. And if there's no one there at the door, I don't mind holding it open for others, young or old, male or female.

And, don't get me started about respect for (1) a passing funeral procession. Here in TN all oncoming traffic should pull over and stop until the procession has passed by. (2) our nation's symbols such as the flag and our national anthem. I'm retired military. Nuff said.

All of this (and a lot more) was something I had to learn. Not all of it came from my parents, but much of it did. They were both moral and hard-working folks, but I can't say with absolute certainty that either knew Christ as their personal Savior (The church in which I was reared wasn't a Gospel-preaching one.). Yet even then, growing up in suburban Philadelphia PA, in the 1950's - early 1960's there was still a general respect for people and the God who created them in His image.

I could go on, but I think I've made my point.

(Leaving my soapbox now.)