Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

We are starting a series titled Guard Rails.

We all know what Guardrails are… we have them on many of our roads and all of our bridges.

How many of you would drive across the Huey P Long Bridge if it didn’t have any guard rails?

The official definition if a guard rail is…

Guardrails: System designed to keel vehicles from straying into dangerous or off limit areas.

The most common areas you see these guardrails are bridges, Medians, and curves or soft shoulders. .

Bridges - to keep us from going off the edge into ...

Medians - to protect us from oncoming traffic.

I hate going on Causeway over the hump that crosses Airline because there is no guardrail… only a curb.

Curves - to keep us from running off the road or into soft ground...

Guardrails do two things:

1. Direct

They direct us to stay in our lanes…

2. Protect

They protect us from something worse than the guardrail

Something else about guardrails that’s important for the next few weeks we discuss them is this…

Guardrails are not put in the danger zone.

Guardrails are in the safe area so that they can keep us out of the danger area.

They are close, but not in the danger zone.

If the guardrails were not there, we could actually drive closer to the side of the bridge, but we won’t because there is nothing to protect us.

Even though guardrails take up space, no one argues about them being there… right in the safe zone.

Another thing guardrails are designed to do is minimize the damage.

The damage done when you hit a guardrail is much less than if there was no guardrail.

So why are we talking about guardrails?

The highway isn’t the only place we need guardrails.

Most of us in this room would probably agree that some of our greatest regrets in life might have been avoided if there had been a guardrail in place… moral guardrails… career job rails… relational guardrails … financial guardrails…

So the reason we want to look at guardrails is because future regrets can be avoided if we have guard rails in place - now.

The problem is that the culture we live in doesn’t want you to put any guardrails in place.

Culture doesn’t want guardrails in your life.

Culture really doesn’t want any kind of rules or firm guardrails at all.

Culture is ok with painted lines.

Painted lines or suggestions or warnings, but not something that is concrete and absolute.

We live in a culture that has grey lines.

Drink Responsibly

What does that mean?

If you drink responsibly or at all, you will eventually be somewhat buzzed, and when you do, you can’t be responsible.

Maybe it’s a guideline, but it’s not a guardrail.

Or this one…

Wait until you are ready for sex.

When are you ready?

That might be good advice for girls… ask a teenage boy when he is ready and he will tell you he was born ready.

Listen to your heart.

Worst advice ever… your heart will lie to you… everytime.

The problem is that no one wants to be told no.

Culture makes fun of you when you have guardrails and tries to shame you into giving them up, but will shame you when you run off the road morally, financially, or in marriage…

Billy Graham Rule - Married men don’t ride or meet with women alone.

This is a guardrail many ministries and people have established.

This became known as the Mike Pence rule when it was discovered he applied the same rule to his life.

When the media found out about this, they shamed him… made fun of him… The truth is that many married men and women have applied this rule for years.

But the same people that are making fun of VP Pence would have a field day if he had a moral failure with another woman.

They would say that any man who cheats on his wife is no good…

Harvard Bus Revue - Men should not refuse to be alone with women, but offered this painted line solution.

“So what’s an evolved male leader to do?

In the simplest terms, become what we call a thoughtful cave man.

Healthy mature, self aware men understand and accept their distinctly make neural architecture.”

What does that even mean?

After slamming and shaming those who use the Billy Graham rule, the Harvard Review got the thought that there must have been something happening to make people come up with that rule.

They acknowledged that when men and women work late… travel together… eat together that things happen.

At the end of the article, HBR made these suggestions.

So what is an evolved caveman supposed to do?

HBR: You are going to work with attractive men and women… travel with them… be flirted with… the way you handle it is that you become an thoughtful caveman.

That’s not helpful…

Here is the problem… let’s assume there is a thoughtful caveman … Ladies.

Have you ever met one?

Me either?

Let’s assume there are a few… they don’t need a guardrail.

The rest of us do.

The BG Rule has been mischaracterized and misapplied because of the politics of the day.

Here is the point.

If you opt for guardrails, you will not be celebrated, but you will have fewer regrets.

This is not a new idea… guardrails.

Ephesians

Context: Paul has just finished warning against a series of things that we are generally against: greed; immorality; dishonesty; … Then he wars the readers about the consequences of those behaviors.

Most of us would agree with Paul.

Be careful how you live.

Live = walk…

Lit… look around… look ahead and behind.

like you had a dog in the yard

Be wise - Wisdom is much better than rules.

Walking wisely is better than having rules of right and wrong to go by.

Sometime you may not the right thing is a situation, but when you ask yourself, “what’s the wise thing to do?” Ask yourself, in light of where I want to be, what is the wise thing for me to do?”

Make the most of every opportunity.

Don’t waste time.

We don’t have unlimited time.

How many wish you could reach back and some of the time you wasted in the past?

I look at my early college days and wish I could get some of that back and have a do-over.

Literally - redeem the time because it’s a limited commodity.

Evil Days - Paul wrote this 2000 years ago, but it sure fits today.

You have to be careful today.

When you taught your kids how to drive, what did you tell them?

Look out for the other driver… that’s what Paul is saying here.

Don’t act thoughtlessly of foolishly - Don’t live your life as if the past doesn’t matter.

Don’t live your life like today doesn’t matter… like it doesn’t impact tomorrow.

But understand what the Lord wants you to do - he is saying stop running from what God wants you to do.

stop deceiving yourself.

You really do know what God wants you to do so do it.

You know when you are flirting with disaster… how close you are to the line.

One thing leads to another

Guardrails are there to keep us from the other.