Happily Ever After................
CATHLEEN:
Today we are talking about having a perfect marriage. As humans we really are obsessed with the idea of the perfect relationship. After all a good portion of the movies produced are centered around this topic, many of our literary classics revolve around complex relationships, the music industry certainly gives love it’s due. Listen to any group of teenagers or singles talk (regardless of age) and the topic inevitably turns to who likes who or who thinks who is cute or whatever.
I remember when Joe and I first met.......
Cathleen’s recollections
Joe’s recollections
CATHLEEN: We started dating and we married exactly two years later on Feb. 16,1991. Dating is a trip isn’t is? It is exciting and scary and wonderful and frightening all at the same time. It is a time of learning about the person you are dating and discovering things about yourself along the way. It is definitely a journey. The process if dating, if all goes well, leads you to the point of marriage. But it’s not just about the destination, it’s just as much about the journey. One of the greatest complaints of married couples is that their spouse just isn’t ‘the same’ as they were when they were dating. Maybe they don’t dress the same, have as much fun, pay as much attention to each other - whatever the complaint - the issue remains the same. We recognize in dating that the journey of dating is fundamental to the joy dating. To often we get married and feel like we’ve arrived at our destination and we forsake the joy of the journey. The Bible teachers us that at the point of marriage we were no longer JUST Joe and Cathleen, we were, at the moment we make our commitment to one another, two who become one.
“'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'” Matthew 19:5
CATHLEEN: This is where the true journey begins! In pursuing the perfect marriage we have to be ever mindful to not make the very common mistake of seeing a wonderful marriage as a destination but as a journey. Think about it.....
JOE:The bible clearly tells us that we are 1 - the world view however is a 50/50 performance plan, isn’t it? Unfortunately because we live in the world and we see and hear it’s views constantly we begin to get infected with it’s perspective of marriage. That viewpoint says that the marriage relationship is based upon performance - “You do your part, and I’ll do mine.” That perspective and way of thinking is opposite of the Biblical perspective of oneness. Thankfully the Bible even has the answer to this dilemma, it tells us to .... “for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” Jn. 17;14,15
Why do you suppose it is so easy to conform to the world view of marriage - that 50/50 thing we are talking about? b/c we all have this natural tendency to be self-centered. If we are focused on oneness our view point says what do we need to do? what are our goals? what decision is best for us? where should we spend our money? On the contrary if we are focused on the 50/50 paradigm our viewpoint says I’ve done my share, I’ve worked all week long I should be able too...., what I really want to do is...
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way.” Isaiah 53:6
But we live in a culture that promotes and encourages selfishness - “get yours buddy” “you gotta look out for #1”
“I gotta take care of me 1st”
So listen we marry w/ “stars in our eyes” & we cannot see this reality of the 2 r 1 - let me tell you love is blind, but marriage is a real eye opener.
How can we enjoy the journey?
1. Christ must be central
We are all mirrors. We reflect God’s glory back to Him and out to others. in Genesis 1:26-27 we see,
"Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
God made mankind to mirror His image on planet earth. He also made 2 distinctively different humans (male and female) so that together they would reflect the image of God.
Their oneness reflects the character and unity of God.
Their oneness results in carrying out the work of God.
Couples who mirror God’s image experience oneness w/ their Creator.
CATHLEEN:How do we mirror God’s image?
We reflect God’s image when we surrender complete control of our lives to Him. Once we do that we begin to cultivate our relationship with Him thru listening to God by reading His Word and talking to Him in prayer. By developing relationships with other Christ-followers in church or other settings.
Christ must be central in our marriages for us to enjoy the journey
Triangle illustration.
JOE:
2. A Covenant Relationship
God is a covenant God, and He created marriage as a covenant. So before we can understand what marriage is, we need to learn what covenant is. Without the binding commitment of a covenant, a marriage is only a promise on paper, and we can never enjoy the journey if we are not fully committed to the journey.
CONTRACT OR COVENANT?
Once upon a time, in much of the world, including the land that is now the United States, the covenant was the standard form of agreement between two parties. It seems that as society became more civilized, we forgot how to act toward our fellow man, and our spouses too. Look at the modern marriage contract, complete with pre-nuptial agreement. After all, we can try it out, and if it doesn’t work, there’s no risk to anyone.
What ever happened to that “till death do us part” stuff from the wedding vows? If marriage is to last long enough to truly become “one flesh” then there needs to be something more binding than a piece of paper to hold it together.
When God appeared to Abram, He said,
“I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.” Genesis 17:7
Everlasting covenant. What would make a covenant, or any agreement involving man everlasting?
In a covenant, the root concept is commitment. Commitment unto death. If you and I are in covenant, and you have a need, and I am able to fulfill it, there wouldn’t even be any thought about “Should I?” I would desire to meet the need even at the expense of not meeting my own needs.
The marriage covenant is sealed w/ an oath/vows - to one another and to God.
“When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.”
Ecclesiastes 5:4-5
CATHLEEN: paradigm of raising children
A real commitment to covenant relationship is absolutely necessary to enjoy the journey instead of looking to a destination.
JOE:
3. Put spouse 1st - this is living a life of humility. That’s what it means to be humble - to lift others up above yourself.
This goes against the natural tendency to be self-centered.
For us to enjoy the journey we must put our spouse ahead of ourselves. How do we put them 1st and live a life of humility?
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Ephesians 5:25
JOE: Men, it is so easy to step into the man role of being
decisive, of getting the job done - git er done, of being the fixer - but we can’t see our wives as our project. She is not to be dealt with in tone of finality, in a manner that is critical, as another job to be ‘taken care of’. She is to be treasured. ‘As Christ loved the church’ is not a light statement - He died for the church, he never gave up on the church (the church being people),
He passionately loved the church. Men that’s our part - that’s TRUE manhood.
CATHLEEN: “women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, ” Titus 2:4
How do we love each other according to these Biblical callings?
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
JOE: Love is seeking God’s best for your mate.
Love is action, not emotion.
Love is sacrificial action, not just good intentions.
Love is given in obedience to Christ, not in response to mate’s performance.
Love is expressed verbally and in actions. (5 love lang.)
Love’s goal is the building up of your spouse.
"Love your neighbor as you love yourself." Luke 10:27
How do you love yourself? You take care of yourself - you treat you with great care so you wont get hurt - you do everything you can to make life good for you.
self-heart - other head- switch
We are to love our spouse as we love ourselves - that good!
CLOSE CATHLEEN:
Ephesians 5:21-33
“Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another. Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.
Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor—since they're already "one" in marriage.
No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That's how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh."
This is a huge mystery, and I don't pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.”
How did Christ love the church? He wasn’t critical, he was
merciful, he was patient, he encouraged, he was faithful.
Committed to the Journey.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
God @ Work - Growing Spiritually @ Work
We discussed you will spend approximately forty percent of your life at work. How depressing is that! About 150,000 hours you’re going to spend on the job. God wants to use those hours to your benefit. He wants to leverage your work in order to produce spiritual growth in your life and mine.
The idea of carrying your faith into the workplace and allowing God to work in you and through you on the job is one of those things you can sort of put up a wall and say, Wait a second! I really have a lot more work to do in my spirituality outside the job before I take it on the job. I’m not ready to go public with this thing. As soon as I go public with it I’m going to blow it on the job and say or do something and people are going to go, “What a ‘Christian’?” Or they’re going to hit that hot button of Hypocrite. I know me and I’ll fail at this. There’s a little bit of a push back on that. The good news is God uses imperfect people to accomplish His perfect will. You’re imperfect – God can use you.
The question is do I allow God access, kind of the back stage access of my heart on the job? That’s a scary proposition giving that kind of green light. The last thing we want is to kind of set ourselves up to have our coworkers judging us on our spirituality. Or worse yet. Be viewed as some sort of completely out of touch Christian nerd.
I hate to admit it but many of your co-workers take just about as seriously the idea of going to church or being a Christian. The media hasn’t really helped us a whole lot in this. We’re either viewed as Ned Flanders wimps or Steve Martin’s char. in “Leap of Faith. There’s really nothing in between when it comes to Christianity. So to go public means to be pigeonholed. To be put in some sort of category by people that you really do respect that you want to think well of you, that can be a difficult thing.
There’s also another group. This other group says going public with my faith, letting God use me on the job, having Him work in me and through me in that environment. Some of you go, I would but I’m shy. So you think you have the “I'm Shy” hall pass. “But God, I’m shy! I don’t have to do anything because I’m shy.” Whatever! No hall pass.
Romans 8:29 “From the very beginning God decided those who came to Him should become like His Son.” God’s goal for my life and yours is that we would be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. So what’s my job have to do with that? How is God going to use my job? Why is my job so important?
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord and not for people.” So whether you’re a secretary or a salesman, a stay at home mom or a CEO you and your work matter to God. And He wants to use that time and leverage it for spiritual growth in your life. It’s all of your life that He’s interested in. Forty percent on the job? Certainly He’s not going to let that not be used. It’s a huge chunk of life. God wants to work in us and through us to grow us spiritually.
Three ways He can get that done.
1. God uses pressure to change my trajectory.
He uses pressure to change my direction, my focus. Then once He does that He begins to reset our priorities as well. Stress and pressure can really be an indicator that my priorities are out of order. If I’m feeling stressed it means that I’ve probably taken on some responsibilities I shouldn’t have taken on. When I’m feeling under pressure it means that I’ve stepped forward and accepted responsibilities that are none of my business.
Don’t take them on in the first place. Ephesians 5 “Live life with a due sense of responsibility.” But some of you have this sense of responsibility on steroids. You want to be responsible for everything. If something’s not getting done it’s falling on you and you’re worried about it. I come from a long line of worriers. Any of you professional worriers? Or your parents? You grew up with one? You react one of two ways. You take on the worry and you’re worried about things right now. You’re sitting here listening to me but you’re worried about some stuff. And by sitting here worrying about it right now is accomplishing a great deal… of nothing. The patterns, we get so used to living this way we carry things.
On the other side of that we also don’t take responsibility for the stuff that should have been ours in the first place. We are a nation that says it’s not my fault. We want to blame everybody else. It was the government or my parents or my spouse’s problem, the kids. These are all the reasons I react the way I do. It’s somebody else’s responsibility. Somebody else’s fault.
As a Christ follower you work for God and you and your work are absolutely vital. This week He wants to use some of the pressure that you face in order to adjust some priorities. Maybe give you a more balanced view of your responsibility instead of trying to carry the responsibility of the world. How do you get started on that? How do you get started on this whole idea of making a difference, being available, changing this trajectory of life so I can a have an impact on my job? Not only in me but around me as well.
1 John 1 “This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness we lie and do not live by the truth. If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Walking in light. We’re saying, “Ok God, 24/7! This is who I am. I really am not that great in being a Christian. I want to get better at it. But I have a lot of room to grow.” That’s a freeing thing to say. If any of you have thought I’m just not that spiritual. I fail and I’m just not that great a Christian.” Here’s what I want you to know: You’re right. You pretty much suck at this, ok? What you have to understand is that’s a great place to come to. It’s freeing. Then you can say, “Ok God, You’ve wired me in this way. I don’t feel all that spiritual. I do want to know You.” You know what the “want to” is? It’s called faith. You’re looking for faith to be some other thing. The want to is faith. Now you just act on it. It doesn’t mean you have to feel anything. You act. You have all the spirituality you need. Don’t sell yourself short. God’s working in you. Be willing to say this is who I am. That is walking in the light.
That’s dangerous, by the way. When you’re walking in the light and say, Ok God, what are we doing? It’s an amazing thing that begins to happen. God uses pressure to change my direction
2. God uses people to change my heart
God uses people in order to work an amazing work of change in my heart. The very thing that you don’t want to have happen is the very thing God wants to do. He wants our lives to be integrated. He wants us to be the same person wherever we find ourselves. The very thing that God wants to use to get that done is relationship. He wants to use the relationships in your life – the good ones and the difficult ones - in order to work this amazing change of heart.
Is there anybody you don’t like on your job? In every work place there are some very peculiar people. Think about it. Think about your job. Any peculiar people? If you can’t think of them it’s probably you. God wants to use these people in order to increase your capacity for love. He wants to use sometimes some very difficult people and there’s quite a process for that to happen.
Romans 12 “If it’s possible as far as it depends on you live at peace with everyone.” Aren’t you glad it says “if it’s possible”? Thank God! Frankly there are some people it’s just impossible to get along with. They will not let it happen. They will not ever stop griping and as soon as they give an apology about something they pull away and say why they did what they did. They’re not going to change. They’re whiners. The Bible says, “as far as it depends on you.” If it’s possible. God is developing greater capacity of love in me.
I don’t know where I heard this quote. Probably I thought of it myself and I didn’t realize it. But “it’s not about you.” Part of spiritual growth is a healthy awareness of others. Part of growing spiritually is understanding that it’s not about you. And it’s having an awareness of the people around you, an ability to see below that disagreeable surface for the reason for the behavior that is so annoying to you at that moment or so hurtful. I grow when I’m open for that kingdom business. That’s part of that walking in the light.
What you’re saying is, I’m walking in this light with God. Somebody does something and my first response is I want to react because of what the impact of what they just did is on me because it’s all about me. Instead of taking a step further back and saying, “Ok God, what’s going on here?” Walk in the light. The light is an amazing perspective giver. We get to see below the surface. God wants to empower us and let us in on what He’s up to. He wants to use these people in our lives. Are you open for that kind of kingdom business? You’re going to have to put off your reactions to people’s lame behavior. How do you do that?
Romans 12 says “Live in harmony with each other. Don’t try to act important but enjoy the company of ordinary people. Don’t think you know it all. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that people can see that you’re honorable.”
There’s a story about a guy showing up the first day at the Bible College. He’d been a Christian for three months when he decided he was going to go to Bible College and he was going to preach the word. He went to Bible college and gets there and he’s pretty excited about it. He shows up for his first class. The professor says, “Turn to Jeremiah,” and he turns round looking for Jeremiah. Who is he? Then finally someone in the class goes, “Hey stupid! It’s in the Bible!” So he’s stumbling through. Someone else goes, “Idiot! You only have the New Testament. Jeremiah’s in the Old Testament!” So he gets done with that first class and is thinking, “I ought to get in my car and get out of here. I shouldn’t be here.”
He went ahead to his next class. He got there and he’s obviously feeling a little more comfortable as he gets involved in some of the conversation. He can see by some of the reactions that he’s probably going to say the right stuff. At the end of the class the professor asked everybody to write a couple of paragraphs about themselves. He did. When he got back to this class he got his paper back. There was a note on the bottom that said, “Thank you for being in my class, Wayne. Your insight and contribution was so refreshing in our discussion times. Your obvious zeal for Christ inspires us all. I look with great anticipation for how God will use you for His purpose.” Then he put on the bottom “The kingdom of God awaits you.” He said he must have read it a hundred times that night.
We tend to maximize the negative voices in our lives. And we tend to minimize the positive. We hear the negative voices screaming. We need to learn how to deal with that. Sometimes we think that’s the way it is and that’s the way you have to live. You don’t. We can learn to deal with this.
As a matter of fact I’m going to give you something I learned... Grab your ear lobe. You’re listening to something and somebody says, “That was an idiot thing to do. I.e., Jeremiah’s a book in the Bible, you idiot.” You know what you do at that point? Just flush that one.
The other thing you get to do is you get to have a lid on your heart. Sometimes people say things and you just let it right into your heart. You let it straight into your emotions. You need to learn how to close that lid. You need to learn how to open and close the lid of your heart and not let everything in so deeply that shouldn’t be there.
God uses people to change my heart - to grow the capacity of love in us, b/c it’s not about you
3. God uses pain to change my character.
The fact is we all have our unique set of problems in our different jobs. There’s a resulting pain from those problems, those trials, those difficulties. God wants to use those to help build our character. That does not mean He authored the problems, trials and pain. It simply means He’s willing to use those. He will leverage those things.
Romans 5 says “We can rejoice too when we run into problems and trials. They help us learn to endure and endurance develops strength of character and helps us to trust God more each time.” God is far more interested in your character than in your comfort. God is far more interested in perfecting you than pampering you. I don’t really like either of those statements. I’m very committed to my comfort and my pampering. But every time I pursue that and it runs counter to God’s purposes in my life I find that my best efforts do not satisfy. When I let Him do this transforming work in my heart it’s amazing but I actually end up where I wanted to be all along. Fulfilled. I was just pursuing it in a way that could never get it done. The goal is that we be transformed and become more like Jesus.
God can even use the temptations that you face to do that. All of us face various temptations but there’s a whole new set of them that are unique to work. You have a whole different group of temptations that show up there. 1 Corinthians 10 says
“Remember the temptations that come into your life are no different than what others experience. God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted He will show you a way out so you won’t give into it.” The temptations are common. We all face the same kinds of temptation. The solutions are also common as well. You go to God. You ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit, give you the power to make the right choice. Temptations are resistible. And clearly what we just said God will give you a way out.
It teaches us that although there is a way that God will make that even when I blow it the last chapter is not written. As long as I do something – walk in the light.
There’s a great definition for maturity... It’s this. Christian maturity is this: I'm a quicker repent-er than I used to be. That’s Christian maturity. Because if maturity means you won’t sin, then we have to become awesome actors. Because you’re a sinner and I'm a sinner. Fortunately God is in the business of forgiveness. He can even use my failures to build my character.
Phil. 1:6
“I am sure that God who began the good work within you will continue His work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.” The most important thing that you’re going to bring from your job this week is not your paycheck. It’s your character. God has begun a work in you. He’s committed to completing that work. He wants to continue that. He wants that backstage pass. Would you give Him the full access pass? The e-ticket to your heart. It will conclude that forty percent on your job this week. I challenge you to say, “Ok God, lights on, windows open. I'm walking in the light. I want to be a quicker repent-er than I used to be. I want to give You access to change me. In every way You want.”
If you’ll do that, I have some exciting news for you. The kingdom of God is at hand for you. The kingdom of God is at hand! It starts Monday morning. What will you do with it?
The idea of carrying your faith into the workplace and allowing God to work in you and through you on the job is one of those things you can sort of put up a wall and say, Wait a second! I really have a lot more work to do in my spirituality outside the job before I take it on the job. I’m not ready to go public with this thing. As soon as I go public with it I’m going to blow it on the job and say or do something and people are going to go, “What a ‘Christian’?” Or they’re going to hit that hot button of Hypocrite. I know me and I’ll fail at this. There’s a little bit of a push back on that. The good news is God uses imperfect people to accomplish His perfect will. You’re imperfect – God can use you.
The question is do I allow God access, kind of the back stage access of my heart on the job? That’s a scary proposition giving that kind of green light. The last thing we want is to kind of set ourselves up to have our coworkers judging us on our spirituality. Or worse yet. Be viewed as some sort of completely out of touch Christian nerd.
I hate to admit it but many of your co-workers take just about as seriously the idea of going to church or being a Christian. The media hasn’t really helped us a whole lot in this. We’re either viewed as Ned Flanders wimps or Steve Martin’s char. in “Leap of Faith. There’s really nothing in between when it comes to Christianity. So to go public means to be pigeonholed. To be put in some sort of category by people that you really do respect that you want to think well of you, that can be a difficult thing.
There’s also another group. This other group says going public with my faith, letting God use me on the job, having Him work in me and through me in that environment. Some of you go, I would but I’m shy. So you think you have the “I'm Shy” hall pass. “But God, I’m shy! I don’t have to do anything because I’m shy.” Whatever! No hall pass.
Romans 8:29 “From the very beginning God decided those who came to Him should become like His Son.” God’s goal for my life and yours is that we would be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. So what’s my job have to do with that? How is God going to use my job? Why is my job so important?
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord and not for people.” So whether you’re a secretary or a salesman, a stay at home mom or a CEO you and your work matter to God. And He wants to use that time and leverage it for spiritual growth in your life. It’s all of your life that He’s interested in. Forty percent on the job? Certainly He’s not going to let that not be used. It’s a huge chunk of life. God wants to work in us and through us to grow us spiritually.
Three ways He can get that done.
1. God uses pressure to change my trajectory.
He uses pressure to change my direction, my focus. Then once He does that He begins to reset our priorities as well. Stress and pressure can really be an indicator that my priorities are out of order. If I’m feeling stressed it means that I’ve probably taken on some responsibilities I shouldn’t have taken on. When I’m feeling under pressure it means that I’ve stepped forward and accepted responsibilities that are none of my business.
Don’t take them on in the first place. Ephesians 5 “Live life with a due sense of responsibility.” But some of you have this sense of responsibility on steroids. You want to be responsible for everything. If something’s not getting done it’s falling on you and you’re worried about it. I come from a long line of worriers. Any of you professional worriers? Or your parents? You grew up with one? You react one of two ways. You take on the worry and you’re worried about things right now. You’re sitting here listening to me but you’re worried about some stuff. And by sitting here worrying about it right now is accomplishing a great deal… of nothing. The patterns, we get so used to living this way we carry things.
On the other side of that we also don’t take responsibility for the stuff that should have been ours in the first place. We are a nation that says it’s not my fault. We want to blame everybody else. It was the government or my parents or my spouse’s problem, the kids. These are all the reasons I react the way I do. It’s somebody else’s responsibility. Somebody else’s fault.
As a Christ follower you work for God and you and your work are absolutely vital. This week He wants to use some of the pressure that you face in order to adjust some priorities. Maybe give you a more balanced view of your responsibility instead of trying to carry the responsibility of the world. How do you get started on that? How do you get started on this whole idea of making a difference, being available, changing this trajectory of life so I can a have an impact on my job? Not only in me but around me as well.
1 John 1 “This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness we lie and do not live by the truth. If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Walking in light. We’re saying, “Ok God, 24/7! This is who I am. I really am not that great in being a Christian. I want to get better at it. But I have a lot of room to grow.” That’s a freeing thing to say. If any of you have thought I’m just not that spiritual. I fail and I’m just not that great a Christian.” Here’s what I want you to know: You’re right. You pretty much suck at this, ok? What you have to understand is that’s a great place to come to. It’s freeing. Then you can say, “Ok God, You’ve wired me in this way. I don’t feel all that spiritual. I do want to know You.” You know what the “want to” is? It’s called faith. You’re looking for faith to be some other thing. The want to is faith. Now you just act on it. It doesn’t mean you have to feel anything. You act. You have all the spirituality you need. Don’t sell yourself short. God’s working in you. Be willing to say this is who I am. That is walking in the light.
That’s dangerous, by the way. When you’re walking in the light and say, Ok God, what are we doing? It’s an amazing thing that begins to happen. God uses pressure to change my direction
2. God uses people to change my heart
God uses people in order to work an amazing work of change in my heart. The very thing that you don’t want to have happen is the very thing God wants to do. He wants our lives to be integrated. He wants us to be the same person wherever we find ourselves. The very thing that God wants to use to get that done is relationship. He wants to use the relationships in your life – the good ones and the difficult ones - in order to work this amazing change of heart.
Is there anybody you don’t like on your job? In every work place there are some very peculiar people. Think about it. Think about your job. Any peculiar people? If you can’t think of them it’s probably you. God wants to use these people in order to increase your capacity for love. He wants to use sometimes some very difficult people and there’s quite a process for that to happen.
Romans 12 “If it’s possible as far as it depends on you live at peace with everyone.” Aren’t you glad it says “if it’s possible”? Thank God! Frankly there are some people it’s just impossible to get along with. They will not let it happen. They will not ever stop griping and as soon as they give an apology about something they pull away and say why they did what they did. They’re not going to change. They’re whiners. The Bible says, “as far as it depends on you.” If it’s possible. God is developing greater capacity of love in me.
I don’t know where I heard this quote. Probably I thought of it myself and I didn’t realize it. But “it’s not about you.” Part of spiritual growth is a healthy awareness of others. Part of growing spiritually is understanding that it’s not about you. And it’s having an awareness of the people around you, an ability to see below that disagreeable surface for the reason for the behavior that is so annoying to you at that moment or so hurtful. I grow when I’m open for that kingdom business. That’s part of that walking in the light.
What you’re saying is, I’m walking in this light with God. Somebody does something and my first response is I want to react because of what the impact of what they just did is on me because it’s all about me. Instead of taking a step further back and saying, “Ok God, what’s going on here?” Walk in the light. The light is an amazing perspective giver. We get to see below the surface. God wants to empower us and let us in on what He’s up to. He wants to use these people in our lives. Are you open for that kind of kingdom business? You’re going to have to put off your reactions to people’s lame behavior. How do you do that?
Romans 12 says “Live in harmony with each other. Don’t try to act important but enjoy the company of ordinary people. Don’t think you know it all. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that people can see that you’re honorable.”
There’s a story about a guy showing up the first day at the Bible College. He’d been a Christian for three months when he decided he was going to go to Bible College and he was going to preach the word. He went to Bible college and gets there and he’s pretty excited about it. He shows up for his first class. The professor says, “Turn to Jeremiah,” and he turns round looking for Jeremiah. Who is he? Then finally someone in the class goes, “Hey stupid! It’s in the Bible!” So he’s stumbling through. Someone else goes, “Idiot! You only have the New Testament. Jeremiah’s in the Old Testament!” So he gets done with that first class and is thinking, “I ought to get in my car and get out of here. I shouldn’t be here.”
He went ahead to his next class. He got there and he’s obviously feeling a little more comfortable as he gets involved in some of the conversation. He can see by some of the reactions that he’s probably going to say the right stuff. At the end of the class the professor asked everybody to write a couple of paragraphs about themselves. He did. When he got back to this class he got his paper back. There was a note on the bottom that said, “Thank you for being in my class, Wayne. Your insight and contribution was so refreshing in our discussion times. Your obvious zeal for Christ inspires us all. I look with great anticipation for how God will use you for His purpose.” Then he put on the bottom “The kingdom of God awaits you.” He said he must have read it a hundred times that night.
We tend to maximize the negative voices in our lives. And we tend to minimize the positive. We hear the negative voices screaming. We need to learn how to deal with that. Sometimes we think that’s the way it is and that’s the way you have to live. You don’t. We can learn to deal with this.
As a matter of fact I’m going to give you something I learned... Grab your ear lobe. You’re listening to something and somebody says, “That was an idiot thing to do. I.e., Jeremiah’s a book in the Bible, you idiot.” You know what you do at that point? Just flush that one.
The other thing you get to do is you get to have a lid on your heart. Sometimes people say things and you just let it right into your heart. You let it straight into your emotions. You need to learn how to close that lid. You need to learn how to open and close the lid of your heart and not let everything in so deeply that shouldn’t be there.
God uses people to change my heart - to grow the capacity of love in us, b/c it’s not about you
3. God uses pain to change my character.
The fact is we all have our unique set of problems in our different jobs. There’s a resulting pain from those problems, those trials, those difficulties. God wants to use those to help build our character. That does not mean He authored the problems, trials and pain. It simply means He’s willing to use those. He will leverage those things.
Romans 5 says “We can rejoice too when we run into problems and trials. They help us learn to endure and endurance develops strength of character and helps us to trust God more each time.” God is far more interested in your character than in your comfort. God is far more interested in perfecting you than pampering you. I don’t really like either of those statements. I’m very committed to my comfort and my pampering. But every time I pursue that and it runs counter to God’s purposes in my life I find that my best efforts do not satisfy. When I let Him do this transforming work in my heart it’s amazing but I actually end up where I wanted to be all along. Fulfilled. I was just pursuing it in a way that could never get it done. The goal is that we be transformed and become more like Jesus.
God can even use the temptations that you face to do that. All of us face various temptations but there’s a whole new set of them that are unique to work. You have a whole different group of temptations that show up there. 1 Corinthians 10 says
“Remember the temptations that come into your life are no different than what others experience. God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted He will show you a way out so you won’t give into it.” The temptations are common. We all face the same kinds of temptation. The solutions are also common as well. You go to God. You ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit, give you the power to make the right choice. Temptations are resistible. And clearly what we just said God will give you a way out.
It teaches us that although there is a way that God will make that even when I blow it the last chapter is not written. As long as I do something – walk in the light.
There’s a great definition for maturity... It’s this. Christian maturity is this: I'm a quicker repent-er than I used to be. That’s Christian maturity. Because if maturity means you won’t sin, then we have to become awesome actors. Because you’re a sinner and I'm a sinner. Fortunately God is in the business of forgiveness. He can even use my failures to build my character.
Phil. 1:6
“I am sure that God who began the good work within you will continue His work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.” The most important thing that you’re going to bring from your job this week is not your paycheck. It’s your character. God has begun a work in you. He’s committed to completing that work. He wants to continue that. He wants that backstage pass. Would you give Him the full access pass? The e-ticket to your heart. It will conclude that forty percent on your job this week. I challenge you to say, “Ok God, lights on, windows open. I'm walking in the light. I want to be a quicker repent-er than I used to be. I want to give You access to change me. In every way You want.”
If you’ll do that, I have some exciting news for you. The kingdom of God is at hand for you. The kingdom of God is at hand! It starts Monday morning. What will you do with it?
Sunday, October 07, 2007
God @ Work - My Ministry in the Marketplace
Last week when we started this series we talked about six levels of work. The bottom level, the lowest form of work is to make money and find success. The higher motivations are identity, maturity, credibility, and generosity.
Now today, we’re gonna get real practical. Today we’re gonna discuss making an impact in your work environment.
How do you change your work culture. Maybe God has got you there for a ministry to change your culture that would ultimately honor God. For a lot of folks, You don’t have to quit the marketplace to work full time in ministry. God wants your work to be full time ministry. He wants us to learn how to use our work not only as an act of worship but also as a ministry.
Colossians 3 “Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord and not merely for your masters. Remember it is the Lord who is going to pay you. He’s the one you’re really working for.” Put a star by that last sentence. It blows up that calling in sick thing. He’s the one you’re really working for. Off to the side write down the word “perspective.” If you get your mental arms around that passage it really is a shift for us in the marketplace. We talked about last week, working isn’t just for money and success. God is the one you’re really working for.
If we start there then the big idea is that God is who I’m really working for then I’ve got to figure out how I can work for God in the marketplace, in the work setting that He has given me. How can I work for God? I can work for God by serving others.
That’s what this message is all about. It’s a message of how do you serve other people.
The challenge today is to serve. Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 25 “Anything you’ve done for one of My brothers here however humble, however small, however little, you’ve done for Me.” Jesus says when we serve others ultimately we’re serving God. We serve God by serving others. The Bible is very clear about that. When you serve somebody in the marketplace, you’re serving God.
Not for the benefit of if I serve them I’ll make them more productive and that’ll make me look better and make me more money. Or if I work under somebody, I serve them with the motive that maybe I’ll climb the corporate ladder. No. You serve them with the motive to serve them. When you serve them you serve God.
Why serving makes sense. Let’s look at some of the benefits. You want to know why serving makes sense in God’s eyes.
1. It makes life meaningful.
God wired you and I and created us to serve. He created us on purpose for a purpose and to fulfill our personal mission. He says spend your life in helping others. When you serve, something happens to you.
Titus 3 “Have our people learn to give their time in doing good and provide for real needs and not live useless lives.” Nobody wants to live a useless life. The Bible says you want to live life to its fullest? You want a life fulfilled? Then invest your life in serving others.
I believe one of the reasons why we live in a world where so many people are dissatisfied with life, so many people are bored in their life, they live boring lives, because they just live for themselves. The marketplace mentality is: it’s all about me. It’s all about getting success. It’s all about increasing my value and my wage so I can have more stuff for me. Ultimately they’re unhappy and bored people. If you want to live an exciting life you serve.
If you’re not serving, you’re living a boring life. You could pretend all you want. You can pretend it’s a great life but if you’re not serving others there’s not excitement. There’s not meaning there. God created you to serve. Why serve? It gives your life meaning.
Why serving makes sense...
2. It makes me like Christ.
Serving proves that I’m a Christian. When I serve with the motive to honor God it proves that I’m a follower of Christ. In today’s world it is difficult to prove things.
If I serve in a marketplace long enough people are going to say, What is up with you? Why do you do that? What is different about you? This is very important – a little bit of an aside here. Most of the people, most of us here want to grow spiritually. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we come to church. We want to change. We want to grow spiritually, we want to be more like Christ.
The New Testament teaches that almost all spiritual growth happens in the context of community – when you’re connected with other people. You want to grow spiritually, it’s about your life touching other aspects of other people’s lives and serving them.
Here’s a great passage to memorize: Philippians 2 “Look out for each other’s interests, not just for your own. The attitude you should have is the one Jesus Christ had.” What was the attitude of Jesus Christ? This is a mind blower right here. Jesus said in Matthew 20, “I did not come to be served but to serve. ”
Time out. Let’s think about this one. Jesus – God in the flesh – comes to this playground that we call earth and says “I didn’t come to be served. I came to serve.” That is so different from our culture today. In our culture when you’ve arrived then you get to be served. You attitude – “Look out for each other’s interests, not just for your own.” That’s the attitude of Christ. Let me ask this. Does that come naturally to you? Does that attitude of looking out for other people come naturally to you? Yes or no. No! For most of us who live with other people the answer is no. That’s not a natural thing that I wake up in the morning and go, “Who am I going to serve today?” It just doesn’t happen.
KBL
Why serving makes sense: it makes my life meaningful, it makes me like Christ….
3. It will be rewarded in eternity.
This is hard for us to understand today because very few people aside from Mother Teresa are ever rewarded for their service. Most people in the world we live in don’t get rewarded for their service. But God said you’re going to be rewarded. Matthew 25 “Well done good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful with the few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”
There’s three types of rewards. Write down three words. There’s the reward of affirmation. That’s the “well done.” Can you imagine how exciting it will be when you get to heaven and God says to you, “Well done! Welcome! Well done!” If He says to me “Well done, Joe!” I just know my nature. I’m going to look over my shoulder to see if there’s another Joe around. Well done, Joe. Based on how you and I live our life, Well done, Joe!
That’s affirmation. Affirmation of a life well lived will be affirmation of a life of service. Serving others. You serve God by serving others. Write to the side “promotion.” “I will put you in charge of many things.” You’re going to get promoted. You’ve been faithful in a little, I’m going to give you faithful in much. You’ve been faithful in little, I’m going to give you much.
There’s a third part to this reward. It says “Come and share your master’s happiness.” That is the celebration. There will be reward of celebration. Affirmation – promotion – celebration.
Today, in the market place what are you living for? Who are you working for? Does it matter? Does it count? Jesus says you want to be great in eternity? Then serve here. John 12:26, “My Father will honor those who serve Me.” God the Father honors those who serve.
Let’s go practical. This week in the market place. How can I have a ministry at work, with the people I work with whether they’re Christians or non-Christians? How basically can I be a minister? If God is watching how I work how can I be a minister at work?
Let me give you some actions to put into play this week.
1. Accept others unconditionally.
If you want to be a minister, you accept people. Can you think of names of people that you work with that are difficult to accept? Yeah! A lot of people are difficult to accept.
anyone like this? (Lumbergh)
You’ve got people at work that you find difficult accepting. Everyone needs acceptance. I know what some of you are thinking. “Why should I accept people who say stupid things and do hurtful things to me and to others?” If you’re a Christian that’s exactly why you need to show acceptance. Just because they do foolish things is no reason to withdraw acceptance from them. Everybody needs acceptance. Why? Because we’re all broken. We’ve all messed up. We’re all filled with weaknesses and sins and inadequacies. We’ve got issues.
But here’s what we do. We all are broken. Yet we treat other people like they’re supposed to be perfect. Have you ever noticed the hypocrisy in this at all? It’s like the image that I thought, a mini-image of how we drive. Bad drivers tick you off. But have you ever been a bad driver? Absolutely. When I make mistakes and I cut people off and somebody flips me the bird, the international sign of displeasure, You know what I know about the guy who just flipped me off because I was a bad driver? In about twenty miles he’s going to do something and somebody’s going to flip him off.
That same picture that we see everyday on the highway is what’s happening in the marketplace. We have our own issues and faults and problems. Yet we expect everybody else to be different. Nobody’s perfect. If you expect perfection from people you’re going to be totally frustrated all the time. As a matter of fact I’d say that you can’t minister to people if you can’t accept them.
The Bible tells us if you’re a follower of Christ in Romans 15, “Accept one another just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God.” Look at the result. It’s not to make them feel good, it’s not to make you feel good. It’s to bring praise to God. That’s why you accept them. And by the way, don’t confuse acceptance with approval. You can accept people without approving of their behavior or their lifestyle. You can love people without agreeing with their life or behavior. Jesus did this all the time. As a matter of fact because of who Jesus was seen talking to – postitutes, troublemakers, tax collectors. The people that He hung out with. What was Jesus called? A friend to sinners. Friend to sinners. He accepted people without approving of the things that they had done wrong.
I know that some of you are defensive right now. You’re saying, You don’t know the people that I work with. How many of you work with odd people? I know them! The key is this – here’s the key I’m trying to live out in my own life and the key I’m trying to teach my own kids. The key is when people are hurtful and they say dumb things and they’re mean, HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE, the key is looking past their behavior and into their heart. What we typically do in the marketplace we just focus on everybody’s behavior. What we don’t realize is that people who are hurting on the inside, they will hurt and attack people on the outside. We all get hung up on the behavior. It’s not really the behavior. People are so broken on the inside. I try to teach my kids, Don’t hate them. Neighbors do something stupid or whatever. Don’t hate them. Feel sad for them. They’re hurting on the inside. Have compassion. Turn your anger into compassion.
Everybody is crying out for acceptance. The people in your office or in the marketplace that are the least deserving, they’re the most obnoxious people, those are the ones who need your acceptance the very most. If you want to impact others at work, you accept them unconditionally.
2. To have a ministry at work you encourage others continually.
You minister to people when you encourage them. Here’s some things you can know about encouragement. Everybody needs it. Everybody’s hurting somewhere. What have we said here in the past, “treat everybody as if they have a need, because everybody does” Everybody in your world could use a lift, some encouragement. I’ve never met anybody in my whole life who’s said, “Don’t encourage me.” I’ve had it up to here with all the encouragement. That isn’t reality. There’s so much more that can be filled up. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5 “Encourage one another and build one another up.” If you’re a follower of Christ of all the people in the world we should be the ones who have the reputation to be encouragers at the office.
Let me ask you. Are you an encourager or a discourager? Do you compliment or do you criticize? Our world is so full of critics and cynics. Jesus said to the followers of Him, be different. The world lives that way. Be different. Don’t be a critic. Don’t be a cynic. Be different. Build people up.
Ephesians 4:29 “Speak only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen.” Can you imagine trying to live that one out? Maybe we need to write that on a 3x5 card and keep that in front of us. Only saying things that are going to build people up according to their needs. What do they need? They need to be appreciated.
People who brag a lot, you tend to think “They don’t need encouragement. They’ve got so much going.” No. That’s why they’re bragging. People who brag. People who namedrop. People who tell you how wonderful they are. They are weak and broken people desperate for validation. Since nobody’s validating their life they’re going to validate it in front of you. They’re the ones who need encouragement the most.
I’d say to you this week try to put this action into play. In the marketplace that God has put me, who can I encourage. How can I do it? When I say encourage, most of us think superficial. I’m not talking about superficial. A lot of times you watch what you say because you think you’re being encouraging but you’re really not.
Those of you in the marketplace, how many of you could use encouragement from people you work with? We all need it.
We minister at work when we encourage others continually and
3. We minister when we forgive others freely.
When people hurt you and they will, you offer forgiveness you will blow them away. People in our world we don’t typically respond with forgiveness. When people hurt us we just kind of bottle it up and we act moody or we do different things. When you forgive them you will minister to them. There’s a couple ways forgiveness works. You say, “I forgive you,” and you asking for forgiveness when you have hurt other people. Our world typically doesn’t do either one of those.
You want to minister to people? You forgive others freely. Then you ask for forgiveness when you hurt people.
Colossians 3 “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Underline that.
Look at the first part “Bear with each other.” What does that mean – bear with each other. That’s one of those phrases that seems weird and churchy. What is this? It means be patient with them. When you’re patient with people. Here’s what I see in the context of the marketplace. You minimize mistakes. You don’t have to make a big deal out of mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. Is the world going to come to an end because of this? The person already probably feels foolish. They know they made a mistake. I can either hammer it down and feel a little bit better about myself, showing them what a fool they were. Or we can say, “That’s not a big deal. I know you won’t do it again. Let’s move on.” That’s bear with one another. That’s being patient with on another.
What’s your motive for that? You forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Why do Christians forgive? Because we’ll never have to forgive anyone as much as Jesus Christ has forgiven us. Forgiveness is so rare in this world that when you forgive someone it’s like this shining light comes on. If you were to read the most famous sermon of Jesus in Matthew 5 what He says “You are different. You’re to be a light in the world. Like a light set on a mountaintop for all to see.” When you forgive somebody that light comes on and people are going, That’s different.
How many of you watch American Idol? Remember the woman who made it to Hollywood, she tried out, she was a larger woman. After she made it to Hollywood for the initial tryouts, as she was walking out the door, Simon one of the judges said, “Looks like this year we’re going to need a larger stage.” Fox played that for everybody to see. It was a fun little sound bite for the world. It crushed Mandesa. When Mandesa gets to Hollywood as she comes out to sing, she says, “Before I sing, Simon I just want to let you know that what you said hurt me very, very bad. But I want to also let you know that I forgive you. And the reason I forgive you is because I have been forgiven.” It so moved this guy. You could tell in his eyes and his response as he got up from around the counter and gave her a hug. The Fox executives you know were going, Great TV! The whole world is seeing this thing on forgiveness. It wasn’t just great tv. It was great theology. It was faith in practice that this young woman said, I forgive you because I’ve been forgiven.
How to have a ministry at work? You accept others unconditionally, you encourage others continually, you forgive others freely and you…
4. Help others willingly
This is the essence of servanthood – willingly. Because we don’t want to naturally we say God would You change what comes naturally, the have to, to the want to. That’s what I love about following Jesus. He says, Follow Me.
Being a Christian is a journey. It’s not this overnight sensation. It’s a journey. I’m not there yet. You’re not there yet. God would you change me from being unwilling to willing. I know that when I serve others it makes my life meaningful, it makes me more like Jesus, it will be rewarded in heaven.
Proverbs 3 says, “Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it. Never tell your neighbor to wait until tomorrow if you can help him now.” Circle “help him now.” The Bible teaches that offering practical assistance to people at work that when you’re ministering to them, you’re serving God. When you help others even if you feel like it’s in vain, God sees your heart. It changes your character. That’s what I was talking about. He opens the window of your soul and puts His favor in you. This is why I created you.
1 Corinthians 15:58 “Now my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work. For you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” Nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless!
Tomorrow in the marketplace. You’re helping somebody out on a project and you think, “Nothing I do for the Lord is ever useless.” You’re helping somebody figure out this software program. You’ve already showed them five times before and they’re asking for help again. You think, “Nothing I do for the Lord is ever useless.” You’re taking a shift for somebody else so they can be with their family and you have this space and margin in your scheduled to do it. You think, “Nothing I do for the Lord is ever useless.” You stay after work to help somebody out and you even do menial tasks that you think are below you and you think, “Nothing I do for the Lord is ever useless.”
Don’t procrastinate. When you see people in need, help them out. The problem is we get so wrapped up in ourselves we don’t see the needs of other people. If you want to be more like Jesus Christ you’re never more like Jesus Christ than when you serve.
This week, the people in the marketplace, see them as your church. You’re the minister at that church. When you go to your job you don’t need to go into your job carrying a big Bible and wearing a robe with a collar – “Hello, brethren. I was at church and was told I was a minister in the marketplace.” If you do that don’t tell them you came from FOCUS*! But when you go in and you know the people are hurting all around you and everybody in your office, the people that you work with need to be accepted, encouraged, forgiven and helped.
When you do, what happens as a minister you then earn the right to be heard about this wonderful God who has so changed your life that you want to accept and encourage and forgive and help. God came to earth and died on the cross in the form of Jesus so that those of us who were broken and sinful could be connected with God and have a personal relationship with Him. In that personal relationship we would receive His power to do the things that don’t come naturally to us. When you do these things you earn the right to tell about that kind of relationship.
The closing challenge is I want you to go back to work this week with a new job description – serve. And a new title – minister. As you walk in the doors of your work remind yourself, “I’m a minister of Jesus Christ in the marketplace today.
I can minister by accepting and encouraging and forgiving and helping.”
Who believes that you can put at least one of these actions into practice this week? I believe you can too. I’m proud of you for trying.
Now today, we’re gonna get real practical. Today we’re gonna discuss making an impact in your work environment.
How do you change your work culture. Maybe God has got you there for a ministry to change your culture that would ultimately honor God. For a lot of folks, You don’t have to quit the marketplace to work full time in ministry. God wants your work to be full time ministry. He wants us to learn how to use our work not only as an act of worship but also as a ministry.
Colossians 3 “Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord and not merely for your masters. Remember it is the Lord who is going to pay you. He’s the one you’re really working for.” Put a star by that last sentence. It blows up that calling in sick thing. He’s the one you’re really working for. Off to the side write down the word “perspective.” If you get your mental arms around that passage it really is a shift for us in the marketplace. We talked about last week, working isn’t just for money and success. God is the one you’re really working for.
If we start there then the big idea is that God is who I’m really working for then I’ve got to figure out how I can work for God in the marketplace, in the work setting that He has given me. How can I work for God? I can work for God by serving others.
That’s what this message is all about. It’s a message of how do you serve other people.
The challenge today is to serve. Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 25 “Anything you’ve done for one of My brothers here however humble, however small, however little, you’ve done for Me.” Jesus says when we serve others ultimately we’re serving God. We serve God by serving others. The Bible is very clear about that. When you serve somebody in the marketplace, you’re serving God.
Not for the benefit of if I serve them I’ll make them more productive and that’ll make me look better and make me more money. Or if I work under somebody, I serve them with the motive that maybe I’ll climb the corporate ladder. No. You serve them with the motive to serve them. When you serve them you serve God.
Why serving makes sense. Let’s look at some of the benefits. You want to know why serving makes sense in God’s eyes.
1. It makes life meaningful.
God wired you and I and created us to serve. He created us on purpose for a purpose and to fulfill our personal mission. He says spend your life in helping others. When you serve, something happens to you.
Titus 3 “Have our people learn to give their time in doing good and provide for real needs and not live useless lives.” Nobody wants to live a useless life. The Bible says you want to live life to its fullest? You want a life fulfilled? Then invest your life in serving others.
I believe one of the reasons why we live in a world where so many people are dissatisfied with life, so many people are bored in their life, they live boring lives, because they just live for themselves. The marketplace mentality is: it’s all about me. It’s all about getting success. It’s all about increasing my value and my wage so I can have more stuff for me. Ultimately they’re unhappy and bored people. If you want to live an exciting life you serve.
If you’re not serving, you’re living a boring life. You could pretend all you want. You can pretend it’s a great life but if you’re not serving others there’s not excitement. There’s not meaning there. God created you to serve. Why serve? It gives your life meaning.
Why serving makes sense...
2. It makes me like Christ.
Serving proves that I’m a Christian. When I serve with the motive to honor God it proves that I’m a follower of Christ. In today’s world it is difficult to prove things.
If I serve in a marketplace long enough people are going to say, What is up with you? Why do you do that? What is different about you? This is very important – a little bit of an aside here. Most of the people, most of us here want to grow spiritually. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we come to church. We want to change. We want to grow spiritually, we want to be more like Christ.
The New Testament teaches that almost all spiritual growth happens in the context of community – when you’re connected with other people. You want to grow spiritually, it’s about your life touching other aspects of other people’s lives and serving them.
Here’s a great passage to memorize: Philippians 2 “Look out for each other’s interests, not just for your own. The attitude you should have is the one Jesus Christ had.” What was the attitude of Jesus Christ? This is a mind blower right here. Jesus said in Matthew 20, “I did not come to be served but to serve. ”
Time out. Let’s think about this one. Jesus – God in the flesh – comes to this playground that we call earth and says “I didn’t come to be served. I came to serve.” That is so different from our culture today. In our culture when you’ve arrived then you get to be served. You attitude – “Look out for each other’s interests, not just for your own.” That’s the attitude of Christ. Let me ask this. Does that come naturally to you? Does that attitude of looking out for other people come naturally to you? Yes or no. No! For most of us who live with other people the answer is no. That’s not a natural thing that I wake up in the morning and go, “Who am I going to serve today?” It just doesn’t happen.
KBL
Why serving makes sense: it makes my life meaningful, it makes me like Christ….
3. It will be rewarded in eternity.
This is hard for us to understand today because very few people aside from Mother Teresa are ever rewarded for their service. Most people in the world we live in don’t get rewarded for their service. But God said you’re going to be rewarded. Matthew 25 “Well done good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful with the few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”
There’s three types of rewards. Write down three words. There’s the reward of affirmation. That’s the “well done.” Can you imagine how exciting it will be when you get to heaven and God says to you, “Well done! Welcome! Well done!” If He says to me “Well done, Joe!” I just know my nature. I’m going to look over my shoulder to see if there’s another Joe around. Well done, Joe. Based on how you and I live our life, Well done, Joe!
That’s affirmation. Affirmation of a life well lived will be affirmation of a life of service. Serving others. You serve God by serving others. Write to the side “promotion.” “I will put you in charge of many things.” You’re going to get promoted. You’ve been faithful in a little, I’m going to give you faithful in much. You’ve been faithful in little, I’m going to give you much.
There’s a third part to this reward. It says “Come and share your master’s happiness.” That is the celebration. There will be reward of celebration. Affirmation – promotion – celebration.
Today, in the market place what are you living for? Who are you working for? Does it matter? Does it count? Jesus says you want to be great in eternity? Then serve here. John 12:26, “My Father will honor those who serve Me.” God the Father honors those who serve.
Let’s go practical. This week in the market place. How can I have a ministry at work, with the people I work with whether they’re Christians or non-Christians? How basically can I be a minister? If God is watching how I work how can I be a minister at work?
Let me give you some actions to put into play this week.
1. Accept others unconditionally.
If you want to be a minister, you accept people. Can you think of names of people that you work with that are difficult to accept? Yeah! A lot of people are difficult to accept.
anyone like this? (Lumbergh)
You’ve got people at work that you find difficult accepting. Everyone needs acceptance. I know what some of you are thinking. “Why should I accept people who say stupid things and do hurtful things to me and to others?” If you’re a Christian that’s exactly why you need to show acceptance. Just because they do foolish things is no reason to withdraw acceptance from them. Everybody needs acceptance. Why? Because we’re all broken. We’ve all messed up. We’re all filled with weaknesses and sins and inadequacies. We’ve got issues.
But here’s what we do. We all are broken. Yet we treat other people like they’re supposed to be perfect. Have you ever noticed the hypocrisy in this at all? It’s like the image that I thought, a mini-image of how we drive. Bad drivers tick you off. But have you ever been a bad driver? Absolutely. When I make mistakes and I cut people off and somebody flips me the bird, the international sign of displeasure, You know what I know about the guy who just flipped me off because I was a bad driver? In about twenty miles he’s going to do something and somebody’s going to flip him off.
That same picture that we see everyday on the highway is what’s happening in the marketplace. We have our own issues and faults and problems. Yet we expect everybody else to be different. Nobody’s perfect. If you expect perfection from people you’re going to be totally frustrated all the time. As a matter of fact I’d say that you can’t minister to people if you can’t accept them.
The Bible tells us if you’re a follower of Christ in Romans 15, “Accept one another just as Christ accepted you in order to bring praise to God.” Look at the result. It’s not to make them feel good, it’s not to make you feel good. It’s to bring praise to God. That’s why you accept them. And by the way, don’t confuse acceptance with approval. You can accept people without approving of their behavior or their lifestyle. You can love people without agreeing with their life or behavior. Jesus did this all the time. As a matter of fact because of who Jesus was seen talking to – postitutes, troublemakers, tax collectors. The people that He hung out with. What was Jesus called? A friend to sinners. Friend to sinners. He accepted people without approving of the things that they had done wrong.
I know that some of you are defensive right now. You’re saying, You don’t know the people that I work with. How many of you work with odd people? I know them! The key is this – here’s the key I’m trying to live out in my own life and the key I’m trying to teach my own kids. The key is when people are hurtful and they say dumb things and they’re mean, HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE, the key is looking past their behavior and into their heart. What we typically do in the marketplace we just focus on everybody’s behavior. What we don’t realize is that people who are hurting on the inside, they will hurt and attack people on the outside. We all get hung up on the behavior. It’s not really the behavior. People are so broken on the inside. I try to teach my kids, Don’t hate them. Neighbors do something stupid or whatever. Don’t hate them. Feel sad for them. They’re hurting on the inside. Have compassion. Turn your anger into compassion.
Everybody is crying out for acceptance. The people in your office or in the marketplace that are the least deserving, they’re the most obnoxious people, those are the ones who need your acceptance the very most. If you want to impact others at work, you accept them unconditionally.
2. To have a ministry at work you encourage others continually.
You minister to people when you encourage them. Here’s some things you can know about encouragement. Everybody needs it. Everybody’s hurting somewhere. What have we said here in the past, “treat everybody as if they have a need, because everybody does” Everybody in your world could use a lift, some encouragement. I’ve never met anybody in my whole life who’s said, “Don’t encourage me.” I’ve had it up to here with all the encouragement. That isn’t reality. There’s so much more that can be filled up. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5 “Encourage one another and build one another up.” If you’re a follower of Christ of all the people in the world we should be the ones who have the reputation to be encouragers at the office.
Let me ask you. Are you an encourager or a discourager? Do you compliment or do you criticize? Our world is so full of critics and cynics. Jesus said to the followers of Him, be different. The world lives that way. Be different. Don’t be a critic. Don’t be a cynic. Be different. Build people up.
Ephesians 4:29 “Speak only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen.” Can you imagine trying to live that one out? Maybe we need to write that on a 3x5 card and keep that in front of us. Only saying things that are going to build people up according to their needs. What do they need? They need to be appreciated.
People who brag a lot, you tend to think “They don’t need encouragement. They’ve got so much going.” No. That’s why they’re bragging. People who brag. People who namedrop. People who tell you how wonderful they are. They are weak and broken people desperate for validation. Since nobody’s validating their life they’re going to validate it in front of you. They’re the ones who need encouragement the most.
I’d say to you this week try to put this action into play. In the marketplace that God has put me, who can I encourage. How can I do it? When I say encourage, most of us think superficial. I’m not talking about superficial. A lot of times you watch what you say because you think you’re being encouraging but you’re really not.
Those of you in the marketplace, how many of you could use encouragement from people you work with? We all need it.
We minister at work when we encourage others continually and
3. We minister when we forgive others freely.
When people hurt you and they will, you offer forgiveness you will blow them away. People in our world we don’t typically respond with forgiveness. When people hurt us we just kind of bottle it up and we act moody or we do different things. When you forgive them you will minister to them. There’s a couple ways forgiveness works. You say, “I forgive you,” and you asking for forgiveness when you have hurt other people. Our world typically doesn’t do either one of those.
You want to minister to people? You forgive others freely. Then you ask for forgiveness when you hurt people.
Colossians 3 “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Underline that.
Look at the first part “Bear with each other.” What does that mean – bear with each other. That’s one of those phrases that seems weird and churchy. What is this? It means be patient with them. When you’re patient with people. Here’s what I see in the context of the marketplace. You minimize mistakes. You don’t have to make a big deal out of mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. Is the world going to come to an end because of this? The person already probably feels foolish. They know they made a mistake. I can either hammer it down and feel a little bit better about myself, showing them what a fool they were. Or we can say, “That’s not a big deal. I know you won’t do it again. Let’s move on.” That’s bear with one another. That’s being patient with on another.
What’s your motive for that? You forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Why do Christians forgive? Because we’ll never have to forgive anyone as much as Jesus Christ has forgiven us. Forgiveness is so rare in this world that when you forgive someone it’s like this shining light comes on. If you were to read the most famous sermon of Jesus in Matthew 5 what He says “You are different. You’re to be a light in the world. Like a light set on a mountaintop for all to see.” When you forgive somebody that light comes on and people are going, That’s different.
How many of you watch American Idol? Remember the woman who made it to Hollywood, she tried out, she was a larger woman. After she made it to Hollywood for the initial tryouts, as she was walking out the door, Simon one of the judges said, “Looks like this year we’re going to need a larger stage.” Fox played that for everybody to see. It was a fun little sound bite for the world. It crushed Mandesa. When Mandesa gets to Hollywood as she comes out to sing, she says, “Before I sing, Simon I just want to let you know that what you said hurt me very, very bad. But I want to also let you know that I forgive you. And the reason I forgive you is because I have been forgiven.” It so moved this guy. You could tell in his eyes and his response as he got up from around the counter and gave her a hug. The Fox executives you know were going, Great TV! The whole world is seeing this thing on forgiveness. It wasn’t just great tv. It was great theology. It was faith in practice that this young woman said, I forgive you because I’ve been forgiven.
How to have a ministry at work? You accept others unconditionally, you encourage others continually, you forgive others freely and you…
4. Help others willingly
This is the essence of servanthood – willingly. Because we don’t want to naturally we say God would You change what comes naturally, the have to, to the want to. That’s what I love about following Jesus. He says, Follow Me.
Being a Christian is a journey. It’s not this overnight sensation. It’s a journey. I’m not there yet. You’re not there yet. God would you change me from being unwilling to willing. I know that when I serve others it makes my life meaningful, it makes me more like Jesus, it will be rewarded in heaven.
Proverbs 3 says, “Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it. Never tell your neighbor to wait until tomorrow if you can help him now.” Circle “help him now.” The Bible teaches that offering practical assistance to people at work that when you’re ministering to them, you’re serving God. When you help others even if you feel like it’s in vain, God sees your heart. It changes your character. That’s what I was talking about. He opens the window of your soul and puts His favor in you. This is why I created you.
1 Corinthians 15:58 “Now my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work. For you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” Nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless!
Tomorrow in the marketplace. You’re helping somebody out on a project and you think, “Nothing I do for the Lord is ever useless.” You’re helping somebody figure out this software program. You’ve already showed them five times before and they’re asking for help again. You think, “Nothing I do for the Lord is ever useless.” You’re taking a shift for somebody else so they can be with their family and you have this space and margin in your scheduled to do it. You think, “Nothing I do for the Lord is ever useless.” You stay after work to help somebody out and you even do menial tasks that you think are below you and you think, “Nothing I do for the Lord is ever useless.”
Don’t procrastinate. When you see people in need, help them out. The problem is we get so wrapped up in ourselves we don’t see the needs of other people. If you want to be more like Jesus Christ you’re never more like Jesus Christ than when you serve.
This week, the people in the marketplace, see them as your church. You’re the minister at that church. When you go to your job you don’t need to go into your job carrying a big Bible and wearing a robe with a collar – “Hello, brethren. I was at church and was told I was a minister in the marketplace.” If you do that don’t tell them you came from FOCUS*! But when you go in and you know the people are hurting all around you and everybody in your office, the people that you work with need to be accepted, encouraged, forgiven and helped.
When you do, what happens as a minister you then earn the right to be heard about this wonderful God who has so changed your life that you want to accept and encourage and forgive and help. God came to earth and died on the cross in the form of Jesus so that those of us who were broken and sinful could be connected with God and have a personal relationship with Him. In that personal relationship we would receive His power to do the things that don’t come naturally to us. When you do these things you earn the right to tell about that kind of relationship.
The closing challenge is I want you to go back to work this week with a new job description – serve. And a new title – minister. As you walk in the doors of your work remind yourself, “I’m a minister of Jesus Christ in the marketplace today.
I can minister by accepting and encouraging and forgiving and helping.”
Who believes that you can put at least one of these actions into practice this week? I believe you can too. I’m proud of you for trying.
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