Welcome back to Redemption Church in Plano Tx. My name is Chris Fluitt and I want to welcome everyone. Greetings to everyone who has found this message online.  God loves you.

We are in the 8th week of our series, Vibe Check.

What is a Vibe?

Vibe – A person’s emotional state, felt by others; The tangible atmosphere created by the disposition of our being.

 

 

• The worst vibes come from the flesh.
• The best vibes come from the Spirit.

Galatians 5 tells us what vibes the Spirit of God produces.

Galatians 5:22 (NIV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

 

Today we are talking about the Vibe of GOODNESS.

Goodness

What do you think goodness is? Is it possible that our view of goodness may differ from God’s perspective?

What is good for you, may not be good for me. 
Sometimes what is a benefit for one person is a detriment to another.

I just got a new car… isn’t that good?
What if I revealed I got the new car by stealing your car? Would you still call that good?

We just had an election, and it is clear that in our divided country that we have difficulty agreeing on what is a common good.

We need God’s perspective on goodness.

There is a small but interesting moment in the gospels where Jesus corrects someone’s perspective on goodness.

Mark 10:17-18 (NIV) 17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.

I have thought a lot about this interaction over the years. Jesus makes several points with a single question…
1- Do you know why you call me good?
2- What gives you the right to declare something good?  God is the one who declares GOOD – God declares what is good 7 times in Genesis 1!
3- To see goodness we must see God – God alone is good.
4- For any of us to be called good, we must be like God and HE call us good.  (“Well done good and faithful servant” Matthew 25:23)

Let’s give Jesus permission to correct our perspective on goodness.

Here is how I want us to think about goodness.

Goodness – kindness without compromising the truth. The opposite of goodness is compromise and toxicity.

 

We talked about kindness last week.  Kindness means to bless, build, and boost someone else.

…But here is a startling truth – Sometimes the last thing you need is kindness. There are times where a blessing would NOT be good for you.

Kind but Good?

It would be kind to give someone $100, but what if you walked up to a person who was struggling with addiction who was not able to manage the blessing of $100?  What if your kind act leads them right back into their addiction and ultimate destruction? 

Goodness is kindness without compromising truth.  Goodness is a love that always protects (1 Cor 13).

Goodness says I want to do a kind act and at the same time protect. I refuse to do a kind act that will ultimately fail to do good.  I will not be kind so that I will feel better about myself… I will do kind acts that are TRUTHFULLY good for others.

The opposite of goodness is compromise and toxicity. 

If your body has too much of a substance, it becomes toxic.  Even good vitamins can become toxic. If we have too much of a beneficial vitamin, it will become toxic & poisonous to our body. It is an imbalance that does not offer protection.

Goodness offers a balance between kindness and the protection of truth.

Goodness Protects

Goodness will protect you from the imbalances in your life.

On October 31st our kids got a lot of candy. People kindly gave them gifts that are very sweet and tasty. Yet all of that kindness has not necessarily been good for us. It has been empty calories that led to a few extra pounds and hyperactive sugar rushes.  They were offered kind gifts… but mom and dad have to step in and say too much candy is not GOOD for you.

Right now, there may be somethings in your life that are a kind blessing, but they are throwing you off balance. Until you learn to manage your blessings, they will not be good for you.

 We need good parents in our lives to say – you have had enough candy. Too much of this is not good for you.

We need a good God in our life to protect us with His truth.

Greenhouse

Do you know what a greenhouse is?

A greenhouse is a structure built to protect living plants from the outside atmosphere. The greenhouse provides an atmosphere where plants can thrive and protects the plants from outside conditions that would otherwise harm the plant, causing it to not grow or to die.

Because of the protection of a greenhouse, the plants within can produce even though they are located in a climate where nothing is alive.  

They have greenhouses within the arctic circle, and within the greenhouse they produce fruit and vegetables, while outside the greenhouse it is -40 degrees Fahrenheit.

God’s Greenhouse of Goodness

I believe that Goodness is the most important vibe of the Spirit. Goodness provides an atmosphere where all the fruit of the Spirit can flourish.

Even though we live in a desolate environment with conditions that do not produce good fruit, God’s goodness can protect us, nurture us, cultivate us, and grow us into fruitful people of God.

God’s goodness is a greenhouse.  Goodness provides an atmosphere for growth. Goodness locks out the improper environment and protects so that what is tender and delicate can grow.

I told you that Goodness Protects, let me pivot to tell you…

Goodness is both KIND and TRUTHFUL

Often, we only want kindness.

Teenage rebellion is a perfect example of this. The teen living in the parental greenhouse will declare “I only want your kindness, not your protection. I don’t want you to tell me the truth about my actions and the direction of my life.  I do not want you to close off the atmosphere of the world.”

Some parents have fallen prey to kindness without truth.

-Parents who allow an 8 year old child to undergo a gender transition or take hormone blockers…  That is kindness but not goodness.  That is kindness without truth.

-Parents who buy their children contraception have given up the true Biblical moral ground.

-Parents who have time for every sports league, after school event, and cultural entertainment, but never have the time or energy to take their kids to church.  That is a lot of kindness… but very little goodness.

John 8:32 (NIV) “…the truth will set you free.”  

It was not the kindness of Jesus that set us free.
It was not the healings of Jesus that set us free. (HEALTH)
It was not the miracle of the fish and loaves that set us free. (PROVISION)
It was not the coin that pulled from the fishes mouth that set us free. (WEALTH)
It was not the kind friendship of Jesus that set us free. (RELATIONSHIP)

It is the truth that sets us free.

Jesus provides both KINDNESS and TRUTH. Jesus provides GOODNESS!

It was kind that He died for us…
It was truth when he told us that we were sinners.

John 8:24 (NIV) I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

Calling someone a sinner seems unkind… But it is the balance of kindness and truth that is goodness.

John 8:34 (NIV) “…Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

All throughout the Gospels we see Jesus forgive sins. That is a kind work of grace.  BUT YOU NEVER SEE JESUS FORGIVE SIN WITHOUT DECLARING THE SIN.

I count 15 times in the Gospels where Jesus says – THEIR SINS, YOUR SINS, or HER SINS.  No one is forgiven of sin until the are confronted with the truth of their sin.

Jesus was committed to GOODNESS – Kindness and Truth.

Are you committed to goodness?

I’m committed to be true for the benefit of others and the pleasure of God.

A good friend requires goodness.
A good friend will do what is best for us, and not just what we desire.

Be careful who you surround yourself with. Be careful who you call your friend.

Thank God for friends who will look you in the eye and say “What are you doing?! Boy have you lost your mind cause I’ll help you find it!?”

Goodness is the balance between kindness and protective truth for the benefit of others.

 

Romans 15:1-2 (NIV) We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.

Romans 15:14 (NIV) I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.

We should be filled with the knowledge of God’s truth.
We should be competent to instruct one another.

Goodness has the “iron sharpening” vibe!

Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

Kindness does not sharpen. Kindness gives gifts and blesses.

Goodness sharpens. Goodness will speak out truth. Goodness will instruct. Goodness will share true wisdom.

 

We need kindness, but not kindness only. Kindness needs balance with truth.

Ephesians 4:15 (NIV) …speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

God’s Spirit insists we speak…

God’s Spirit insists we speak TRUTH…

God’s Spirit insists we speak IN LOVE…

You can’t dismiss the truth because you want to be kind.

Church I am talking to us.

There are issues all around us that we want to avoid because speaking out will be perceived as unkind.

We must love God’s truth more than public opinion.

At all times we must be kind and speak truth. Lord, teach us how to do that.

What does that look like?

It looks like you being a loving person but seeing the open door to share truth and speaking up. It does not look like you yelling your disagreements in the first 2 minutes you meet someone. It does not look like you being a jerk. Nor does it look like you remaining silent when asked your opinion.

It looks a lot like Jesus who was kind and truthful.

Residual

In 1996 the Pacific Gas & Electric company settled out of court with the city of Hinkley, California for $333 million dollars. A divorced, unemployed, single mother by the name of Erin Brockovich became instrumental in building a case against PG&E and became a well-known environmental activist.

The gas & electric company had been using a substance called chromium 6 to prevent rust in its pipes.  Over the course of time, small residual amounts of Chromium 6 found its way into the water supply.

Residual means the small residue that remains. A drip here and there, a splash here and there was left behind in the environment and trickled its way down to the water source for the city of Hinkley.

Proverbs 25:26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted well are the righteous who give way to the wicked.

The Righteous who give way to the wicked are like a polluted well.

It does not take much to pollute and entire community.

It does not take much to pollute your home, your family, and your marriage.

A drop here and drop there… If the righteous will not stand against the wicked pollution then many will grow sick.

 

Without goodness we will just give way to wickedness. Bit is because of goodness we will actually speak up and address wickedness and call ourselves and others to repentance.

Spouse, goodness will cause you to call your marriage to repentance.
Parents, goodness will cause you to call your children to repentance.
Redemption Church, it is the vibe of goodness that will call us back to repentance.

Goodness keeps what is good, good.  The residual effects of sin want to seep in your blessings causing the righteous to become polluted.

Sin can seep into your material wealth and cause toxic greed.
Sin can seep into your joy of pleasure and cause gluttony & addiction.
Sin can seep into your self esteem and cause pride.

A drop here and a drop there…

I want to be kind today, but I refuse to dismiss the truth.

Some of our relationships may be seeping into our lives.

1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV) Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

2 Corinthians 6:16 (NIV) 14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

Goodness

Let’s repent today.

Let’s repent of residual sin that is seeping in.

Let’s recommit to truth.

Let’s ask for wisdom to be kind and truthful.

Winston Churchill called World War 2 the war that never should have happened. Adolf Hitler had risen to power in Germany and Winston Churchill forcefully declared that England should not meet with Hitler because his charisma and charm would deceive the people.

“The Malice of the wicked was reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous.” – Winston Churchill