From the sermon preached on April 12, 2026
Honoring one another means choosing to recognize the God-given worth in every person: not because they have earned it, but because you have already received that same grace yourself. It is not an emotional reaction or a personality trait; it is a decision rooted in the mind of Christ as described in Philippians 2. When that decision gets hard is precisely when it matters most.
How Does What You've Received from God Change the Way You See People?
Pastor Rich Romero opened this new six-week series, “One Another,” with a grounding question: Do I think like Jesus about others? The apostle Paul frames the entire argument of Philippians 2 on a simple condition: if you have received anything from God, then live accordingly. Philippians 2:1–2 puts it plainly: “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love…then make my joy complete by being like-minded.”
The logic is worth sitting with. You have already been on the receiving end of something you did not deserve. You have received grace upon grace, as John 1 describes it: the unearned goodness of God poured out not because of your track record, but in spite of it. That changes everything about how you see the people in front of you. If you have been forgiven freely, then you carry a lens through which other people look different; not defined by their worst moment, not reduced to your last interaction with them.
Pastor Rich puts it this way: we do not generate honor on our own. We are reflectors. We reflect what God has already done for us onto the people around us. Honor doesn’t begin with a decision to be nicer. It begins when you remember how much honor you have already been given.
The honest, practical step for this week: take five minutes in the morning to rehearse what God has done in your life (not abstractly, but specifically). Name what has changed. That practice reshapes how you walk into every conversation that follows.
What Rises in You When You Feel the Need to Win?
The second question Pastor Rich posed cuts closer to the bone: Do I think like Jesus when selfish ambition rises? Philippians 2:3–4 does not mince words: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves.” In a culture that rewards hustle, visibility, and being the loudest voice in the room, this is genuinely countercultural.
The distinction the sermon draws is important: the problem is not ambition. Scripture calls people to have vision, to dream, to pursue purpose with passion. The problem is selfish ambition (the drive that makes you need to be right, to be seen, to come out on top, no matter who gets pushed aside in the process). That posture is a heart condition, not just a behavior. It shows up in conflict as the voice that says protect yourself, prove your point, win the debate.
C.S. Lewis offered the alternative with precision: true humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of yourself less. The orientation shifts from inward to outward; toward God, toward others, toward something larger than what you can personally gain. Augustine pressed the stakes even higher, noting that pride turned angels into devils and humility makes people into something more than they were.
In every moment of tension, something will rise. Either selfish ambition or humility will take the wheel. Whichever one wins shapes not just that conversation, but the relationships built (or broken) around it.
Try this: the next time you feel the need to prove you are right, pause and ask one question — what do I actually want the outcome to be for this person? That single shift in focus is where humility begins.
What Does Christlike Honor Look Like When Things Fall Apart Between People?
The third and fourth questions in the sermon land hardest: Do I think like Jesus when there is tension? And do I think like Jesus when it costs me something?
On tension, Pastor Rich made a distinction worth anchoring: disagreement does not destroy unity. Dishonor does. Two people can see something differently and remain committed to each other. What splits a relationship (and a community) is not the presence of conflict but the decision to stop treating the other person as someone worth honoring. Christlike honor shows up when you are misunderstood. It shows up when you are offended. It shows up when someone disagrees with you publicly, loudly, and confidently.
This lands with real weight in a culture driven by outrage, where social media rewards whoever gets loudest. Pastor Rich was honest about the tension pastors face: say too much, you are over the line; say too little, you did not say enough. But the invitation he extended is a durable one: not every comment deserves a response. Courage to confront when it matters; wisdom to stay quiet when it doesn’t.
Honor is not transactional; it is not a system of equal exchanges where you give what you get. Philippians 2:6–8 shows what that looks like at its furthest point. Jesus, being God, did not use his divine advantage to escape the cross. He emptied himself, took on human form, and became obedient to death. It is sacrificial, and the model is someone who laid down every right he had because something greater was at stake.
Pastor Rich also drew on the biblical story of David and King Saul, from 1 Samuel, to show what this looks like at a human level. David, the future king of Israel, had every opportunity to retaliate against King Saul, who had thrown spears at him. He never did. He chose to honor the position even when the person filling it was broken and had turned against him. That is the standard: not because it is easy, but because honor revealed under pressure is the only kind that actually means anything.
The actionable step: identify one relationship where you have been keeping score. Make one choice this week to lay that scoreboard down, not because the other person deserves it, but because that is the way of Jesus.
What Is the Difference Between Honor, Agreement, and Approval?
What Honor Is | What Honor Is Not |
Recognizing God-given worth in every person | Agreement with someone’s beliefs or choices |
A command rooted in Philippians 2 | A feeling that depends on how you are treated |
Reflecting the grace you have already received | An endorsement of another’s lifestyle |
Treating someone with dignity even in disagreement | Being best friends with everyone |
Sacrificial and sometimes costly | Transactional: honor for honor |
Finding Your Footing in Coral Gables and Miami
Miami is a city where people live close together but can feel deeply divided (by politics, by culture, by the different experiences that come with being from here). Generation Church exists in the middle of that, on Augusto Street in Coral Gables, not as a place with all the answers but as a community trying to practice something harder than agreement: genuine honor. If you have been looking for a church where honest questions are welcome and where the conversation goes deeper than the surface, the doors are open every Sunday at 9:30 AM and 11:15 AM. Come as you are.
Honor Is Not the Finish Line — It Is Where You Begin
Pastor Rich closed the sermon with a final question drawn from Philippians 2:9–11: Do I think like Jesus when I feel overlooked? Jesus did not exalt himself. God exalted him. The humble are the ones God lifts. Humility is not insecurity; it is trusting that God holds the outcome and that you do not have to fight for your own recognition.
There is freedom in that. You do not have to be the loudest to be seen. You do not have to win every argument to have value. Honor one another (in disagreement, in tension, when it costs you something, and especially when no one is watching) because that is what it looks like to have the mind of Christ.
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What does it mean to honor one another according to the Bible?
In Philippians 2:3–4, the apostle Paul instructs believers to do nothing out of selfish ambition and to value others above themselves. Honor, as Pastor Rich Romero explained in this sermon, is not an endorsement of another person’s lifestyle or a requirement to agree with them. It is the decision to recognize the God-given worth (the dignity) in every human being, regardless of how they treat you or what they believe.
How do I honor someone who has hurt me or who I disagree with?
This is one of the hardest questions the sermon addresses directly. The distinction Pastor Rich draws is between acceptance and approval: you can accept someone as a person made in God’s image without approving of their choices or pretending there is no conflict. Honor in that situation means refusing to reduce them to your worst interaction with them, choosing not to retaliate, and treating them with the kind of grace you yourself have received from God. Pastor Rich was also clear that honoring someone does not mean absorbing ongoing harm; he spoke directly about healthy boundaries and necessary endings with people who keep crossing lines or bringing toxicity into your life. You can honor someone and still protect yourself. Those two things are not in conflict.
What is the difference between selfish ambition and Godly ambition?
Scripture affirms ambition (having vision, pursuing purpose, dreaming big for your life and family). What it warns against is selfish ambition, which is the drive to push yourself forward at the expense of others; to need to be right, to be seen, or to come out on top in every conflict. Godly ambition is surrendered to God’s will and motivated by a desire to serve something larger than yourself.
How do I stay humble when I feel overlooked or passed over?
Pastor Rich pointed to the story of Joseph Barsabbas in Acts 1, a faithful follower of Jesus who met every qualification to replace Judas Iscariot among the twelve apostles but was not chosen. He is never mentioned again in the New Testament. The sermon frames this as a picture of trust: humility is not insecurity; it is confidence that God holds the outcome and that you do not have to fight for your own promotion. The God who exalted Jesus will exalt the humble in his timing.
Can I disagree with someone and still honor them?
Yes, and this distinction is central to the sermon. Disagreement does not destroy unity; dishonor does. Pastor Rich was clear that the Christian life includes the courage to confront biblical error and to stand for truth, but that even those conversations must be conducted with honor. Two people can hold different views, come from different backgrounds, and even vote differently, and still treat each other as people of God-given dignity. What divides communities is not a difference of opinion but the choice to stop honoring the person on the other side of it.
