Church Etiquette- Body Language                      Romans 12:1 - 2

Etiquette (word you don’t hear often anymore)

“The practices and forms prescribed by social convention or by authority”

how to dress, how to speak, how to hold your fork, proper protocol giving gifts, notes

            church has its etiquette as well- “practices and form”

            Not man made rules about behavior and clothes- deeper

church etiquette guide- Romans 12

First lesson in etiquette- body language

our dogs tally and dakota- we spend lots of time training

            dogs don’t talk, we learn their body language

Body language in dogs comes from -

tail, ears, shape of back, fur on back and tail, shape of eyes, mouth

The Church has a body language- tells the community, world how it cares, feels, by its body language

Bad body language:

 1) Self Centeredness      

                                    -imagine a power plant- produces energy- tons and tons

                                    -imagine rather than share that energy in community

                                                most, 90%, refocused into plant

                                                1) not effective          2) not needed

when church folks focus only on themselves, comfort (even if we pretend its for others)-

its bad body language

2) Invisibility            -imagine you are invisible

                                    -no one can really see you, see what you are doing

                                    -except the other invisible people with whom you associate

-so, you form clubs of invisible people, meet together, form schools, set up separate businesses. You hang out with other invisible people

when the church is invisible to the community, its bad body language

3) Gossip      viewed as the fun little sin

                        reality- one of the most divisive elements in the church

                        Paul lists it in the list of really big sins

                        People are destroyed

                        GOD SAYS NO

when church folks gossip, damage is evident, becomes bad body language

4) Lack of forgiveness 

      -Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors

      -some never forgive, never forget

     - you are the one who suffers- attacks and eats-- producing bitterness

                                    Diminishes ability to receive God’s forgiveness

 “not forgiving someone is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die”

Anne Lamott

when church folks live out the bitterness of unforgiveness, it’s bad body language

Good Body Language

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing, and perfect will.  Romans 12: 1- 2

--Living Sacrifice--

what does the phrase means? sacrifice among religions in Roman Empire-

the idea- vivid sounds, sights, smells- death

whatever the person’s intention- sacrifice meant death

Paul “living sacrifice”

Message bible helps explain

1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

1) Placing everyday before God

            -not Sunday, not good days, everyday

2) Embracing grace

            - embracing what God does for you         - all of it- life, salvation, direction, meaning

            - sum it up- GRACE            - does in you what you cannot do for yourself

            response- “Celebrate God all day, every day.  I mean, revel in Him! Phil 4:4

3) Living above the culture

            -doesn’t mean rejecting it, ignoring it- in the world, but not of it

            -does mean understanding it, and your relationship with God

how?- Phil 4:8 gives us instruction

“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious- the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”

4) Let God bring out the best      -trust

            -so proud of Judi- did not learn to swim growing

                        -swim- head out of the water- choppy- head in water- panic

                        last year-took two several week swim classes

                        hardest part- getting past the panic, relaxing

                        classes began with several, dwindled to instructor and Judi

                        now swims like a fish/ been invited to join swim clubs

                        had to let go of fear and trust herself

-we need to let go of self and learn to trust God

            who brings out the best in you?

            -Your Hard work? Your planning? Your clean living? No- God

To be a living sacrifice, good body language, is to place everyday in God’s hands, embrace his amazing grace, living above the culture, and let go of ourselves and let God work