Let me prove it to you. I'm going to talk about your pastor, because he's not here. I would just say this: he's one of the top five pastors in the world, that I know. You ought to stay behind him. He's one of the great guys I've ever met in the world; but let me tell you this: I don't know what his dad was like - I have no idea. His dad could have been a pastor; his dad's dad could have been a pastor; Mike Connell could be a fourth generation pastor, I do not know. Mike Connells dad could have been an abusive, drunk, horrible person, who spent half of his life in jail, in and out, and come home and beat him up. He could have been unbelievably horrible. I don't know, I've never met the man. I've never had a conversation with Mike about it, but it's irrelevant. Let me tell you why.
The decision Mike Connell has made for his life, to live a life of godliness, makes me assume that his father was godly. I just naturally assume Mike comes from a godly line - and he might; but if Mike Connell is the first generation of people who decided: I'm going to live godly - then it makes other people assume his whole line is godly; so that now all of his children live godly lives, and then their children will live godly lives. By the time there are four generations down, no one will remember the ungodliness that was before; and Mike would be the hero of the whole family.
That you want to honour your dad, honour your mum - you say: well they're horrible people. Still, you want to honour them? Make a decision today to change the cycle of ungodliness in your family, to start a cycle of godliness; and in four generations from now, no one will remember the ungodliness; they'll only remember the godliness, and you in fact will be the hero of your entire family line.
That honour has more to do with what you do “out there”, than what you do towards them. It's the same thing in here. Dave Connell's a great pastor. I've travelled the world - listen, I'm not an expert on many things but I am an expert in pastors. Dave Connell's a great pastor, and you ought to tell him that every now and then. But let me tell you something; to tell him that he's a great pastor, that is honourable - but that's light. He'd rather you respect the name of Bay City out there. He'd rather you reflect Christ-likeness out there. He'd rather hear: you're a good father to your children out there. He'd rather hear: you're a good wife to your husband out there.
I mean to come in here, and act like you're a good wife - that's baloney; to go out there and actually live it - totally authentic. To come in here and act like you have integrity in your business dealings - baloney. Anybody can do that for two hours. It's what we hear from out there; that when you go out there, and you're reflecting the name of Christ, the name of Bay City, and the fact that he's one of the pastors here - and everything reflects that. To honour him, is to honour him out there, not in here.
To honour him, is to honour him at lunch today, not in here; that's the small thing. The big thing is what we do away from Pastor Dave. It's what we do away from him, not what we do to him – with God, it’s the same way. Is it honourable to God to come up here, and jump around, and raise our hands, and sing at the top of our voice? Is that honourable? Of course it is, but only in small part.
What really honours God is when that does something in your heart, that changes the way you act out there; that makes you notice people who aren't eating, and you understand it's your responsibility to feed them. You notice naked people and you give them clothes; you notice sick people and minister to them; you go to prisons and you help people.
To raise your hands in here, and jump around - that's only a small part of it. What good does it do you, to raise your hands, and sing at the top of your voice, if you're only going to go home and be mean? Honouring God has more to do with what you do at home, and on the street; what you do for the poor person, and the naked person. Honouring God has more to do with that, than with this!