I2
September 9, 2004Next week we begin a new series of evotionals titled ID: The True You.
A few weeks ago our family was on vacation at Rehoboth Beach and one of our traditions is renting a surry - a limousine of bikes - and bike around the beach. I knew from past experience that the bike rental is pretty busy during peak season so I knew it’d take a while. Those of you who have young children know that it’s no fun waiting in line with little kids. It can make ten minutes seem like twenty. We finally got to the front of the line and I told him we needed a large surry to fit our family of five. We went and got helmets for the kids and the next person working there helped the next person in line. I don’t know how to say this, but I was keenly aware that there was only one large surry left - number 26.
The woman behind me knew that our family would want that large surry. And I knew that she and her two daughters would want the surry. It was like this psychic battle for this large surry. Well, she declared war! She just came right out and said, “I want number 26.” At that moment, I didn’t like this woman - a lot. To be honest, I was upset - disproportionately upset - that she tried to “steal” our surry, but I assumed it was first come, first serve. I assumed wrong!
I came so close to causing a stink. Have you seen those car commercials where two people are angling for the same car and one guy goes over and licks the door handle? I wanted to lick the steering wheel.
I wish I could say that I just got over it, but it kept bugging me. The good news is that a large surry was returned a couple minutes later and we actually caught this woman and her daughters. I have to admit that I pedaled a little faster and rang our little bike bell with a little more glee as we passed Number 26. Eat my dust!
Let me zoom out and make an observation. Isn’t it amazing the way the smallest offense can elicit such negative feelings inside of us?
I think this is especially true on the road. Someone cuts us off in traffic or tails us as we’re going forty in the fast lane or takes our parking space. And we’re ready to run them off the road.
I did some thinking and honestly it was embarrassing to me that I disliked that woman as much as I did. Let me make a confession and it’s probably true of all of us: on my bad days I can treat people pretty bad. On our worst days, we write people off for the smallest offenses. We view them as problems or annoyances or inconveniences or interruptions.
All of us will have bad days, but to grow in Christlikeness is to see people the way Jesus saw people - as invaluable and irreplaceable.
II Corinthians 5:16 says, “From now on we view no one from a worldly point of view.” The NLT says, “We have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them.”
I love the way C.S. Lewis said it. “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, exploit.”
The Lost Choice
I recently read a great book titled The Lost Choice. The author, Andy Andrews, does an amazing job of mixing fact with fiction. The basic premise of the book is this: “Our decision to act or not to act, to help or not to help - those choices create a ripple effect that can last for centuries.”
In 1970, Norman Bourlag won the Nobel Peace Prize. Borlaug worked at an agricultural station in Mexico and through his work with wheat and corn he single-handedly prevented worldwide famine and saved an estimated one billion lives.
But the story doesn’t end there.
In 1940, Henry Wallace was on vacation in Mexico. Wallace served as Secretary of Agriculture under FDR in 1933 and also served as Vice President of the United States of America. Wallace knew that corn was the main staple in the Mexican diet, but the yield of corn was much lower than his native Iowa so he had an idea - start an agriculture experimental station like the ones in his native Iowa.
But the story doesn’t end there.
As a six-year-old, Henry Wallace used to take walks with a student at Iowa State named George Washington Carver. Wallace was infected with Carver’s love of plants. He said, “His faith in me aroused in me a natural instinct to excel and deepened my appreciation of plants in a way I can never forget.”
George Washington Carver is one of the most remarkable men I’ve ever read about. He didn’t exactly get a head start in life. He was born a slave and orphaned when he was just a few weeks old. He couldn’t get an education because of the color of his skin, but that didn’t keep him from learning.
Carver used to get up at 4 AM, walk into the woods, and ask God to reveal the mysteries of nature. One of his favorite verses was Job 12:7, “Ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the air and they will teach you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you.” Carver took that verse literally. He asked the earth to reveal its secrets and it did. He came up with hundreds of uses for everything from sweet potatoes to peanuts.
Carver said, “To me nature in its varied forms are the little windows through which God permits me to commune with him, and to see much of his glory, by simply lifting the curtain, and looking in. I love to think of nature as wireless telegraph stations through which God speaks to us every day, every hour, and every moment of our lives.”
On January 20, 1921, George Washington Carver testified before the House Ways and Means Committee. The Chairman, Joseph Fordney of Michigan, told him he had ten minutes. It’s hard to describe what happened, but the members enjoyed his testimony so much that an hour and forty minutes later they invited him to come back any time he wanted. He showed them dozens and dozens of uses for peanuts and won the day for the Peanut Growers Association.
Carver landed on the front page of newspapers as a result and thus began his worldwide notoriety. He was elected to Great Britain ’s Royal Society of Scientists. His services were sought by everyone from Henry Ford (a close personal friend) to Thomas Edison (who reportedly offered him a six digit salary to come work in his lab) to the Russians during their famine in the 1930’s. When he died Gandhi sent a delegation from India to honor him.
I’m sure one of the greatest compliments Carver ever received was from a polio patient he treated. “Upon leaving your office I remarked to my wife that I could well conceive the fact that Jesus was a man of color after knowing you. Your spirit of deep humility moved me and made me resolve to be a better man and to attempt to live more accurately the teachings and principles of the lowly Nazarene.”
One more footnote. Carver earned an annual salary of $1,000 from Tuskegee. That’s all they could pay him. His life earnings came to an estimated $72,000. When he died he started a foundation with the money he had saved. The total amounted to more than $60,000.
But the story doesn’t end there.
Carver influenced a lot of people, but a lot of people influenced Carver. One of his defining moments happened as a young boy. An eight year-old boy invited him to Sunday School. Afterwards, Carver went up into the hayloft, knelt down next to a barrel of corn and prayed for the first time. He said that God came into his heart that afternoon. Let me fast forward a few years.
Carver’s collegiate career began at Simpson College studying art. Etta May Budd was one of his professors. She helped him find gardening jobs to work his way through school and she encouraged him to study plants instead of painting them. And She got him admitted to Iowa State where her father was a professor.
When she went to visit him she discovered that he had to eat his meals in the kitchen instead of the dining hall with the other students. She went into the dining hall with him and ate with him until he was accepted by the other students. Carver went on to become the first black teacher at Iowa State before his amazing career at Tuskegee.
I could go on, but let me stop there and make an observation.
Norman Bourlag wouldn’t have done what he did if it weren’t for Henry Wallace. Henry Wallace wouldn’t have done what he did if it weren’t for George Washington Carver. And Carver wouldn’t have done what he did if it weren’t for Etta May Budd.
Norman Borlaug won a Nobel Peace Prize and saved a billion lives. Henry Wallace became the Secretary of Agriculture and Vice President of the United States. George Washington Carver became one of history’s greatest teachers and scientists. But there may have been no George Washington Carver or Henry Wallace or Norman Borlaug as we know them if it hadn’t been for Etta May Budd.
The Lost Choice says, “Everybody - every single body - makes a difference! But there is a choice that determines what kind of difference you will make. Most folks don’t see how important they are…how much they matter to all of us. So they never choose to do something special with their lives. And not making the choice? That is a choice…a lost one.”
There are people all around you all the time that you can invest in - a silent prayer, a kind word, a pat on the back. It’s about seeing and seizing those opportunities. The seeds we sow often outlive us and produce a harvest in places and at times we would have never guessed.
Eulogy
I Corinthians 3:12 says, “If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”
I’ll never forget my father-in-law’s funeral. He pastored in one place for more than thirty years. His roots went deep. He died without warning of a heart attack on January 6, 1998. Nearly 6,000 people came to the wake to pay respects. We met people who had never met dad, but they were impacted by his radio broadcasts. The line of cars at the funeral stretched five miles and held up traffic for forty-five minutes according to one police officer.
At the end of the day, what will you have to show for your life? What kind of investments are you making? What kind of seeds are you planting?
After Franklin Delano Roosevelt died, Eleanor was comforted by a piece of poetry given to her by a friend. It said, “They are not dead who live in lives they leave behind. In those whom they have blessed they live a life again.”
When we influence another person we never know what kind of ripple effect it will have. Here’s the problem: too often let what we can’t do keep us from doing what we can. Helen Keller said, “I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.”
Tag Team
I never ceased to be amazed at the way people find NCC. Whenever I meet someone for the first time I often ask how they heard about NCC. This week I met an NCCer and asked the question. He said that a girl invited a friend of his who isn’t a Christian and this guy was kind of suspicious because we met in a movie theater so he asked him to go with to see if it was legit. And then he said that this girl heard about NCC from someone in Switzerland. After service, someone came up and said, “We think we’re your ‘Swiss agents’.”
How crazy is that?
I never ceased to be amazed at the way people find NCC, but the bottom line is this: almost 90% of people come to NCC for the first time because someone invited them.
One invite can change the eternal trajectory of a person’s life. Let me share an email I got a couple weeks ago.
I attended NCC during my senior year of college at Marymount University. I wanted to express my sincere gratitude for the positive impact the church had on my life. I was born and raised Catholic and never really questioned my faith until I attended college. I then realized that I went to church because it was expected, not because I enjoyed it. After this realization I stopped going to church all together. About a year later a fellow student introduced me to National Community Church. After my first service I know it was the church for me. The energy and sincerity brought new light to my faith. I graduated in May and moved to New Mexico with hopes that I would someday find a church like NCC. I have found one that I enjoy going to and it is no longer something that I feel is expected of me. Though I thoroughly enjoy the church I belong to now, NCC will forever hold a special place with me because it introduced me to the type of worship I believe God wants me to partake in. I’m forever grateful and it is my hope that you can continue to impact other people as you have impacted me.
I could share dozens of stories like that one. I can’t help but think whenever I hear about stories like this: where would they be if someone hadn’t invited them?
I just don’t believe that I meet anybody by accident. I see those “accidents” as divine appointments. They are opportunities to share the most important part of me - my faith.
You’ve got people in your circle of influence whose lives could be totally revolutionized by finding a relationship with Christ and a spiritual family. And all you have to do is invite them.
We have a pretty simple philosophy at NCC - we believe Church is a tag-team event. From day one, our dream has been to create an experience where people who are unchurched could come and connect with God in a meaningful way. When you walk into church you tag me and say, “Go for it.” And I try to speak the truth in love. When you leave I tag you and say, “Go for it.”
Seeds
I recently read an interesting book titled My Grandfather’s Blessing. It is written by a granddaughter who was impacted by her grandfather in some pretty profound ways. She opens the book by telling the story of how her grandfather gave her a cup of dirt one day and without telling her what was beneath the surface he told her to water it everyday and something amazing would happen. She grew impatient. It was tough to remember. But she watered it everyday. Sure enough, a few weeks later, a little green leaf sprouted. Her grandfather said, “Life is everywhere, hidden in the most ordinary and unlikely places. All it needs is water. All it needs is your faithfulness.”
What a great mental picture and metaphor. We’re called to plant and water and we never know where a seed will sprout and grow.
Plant some seeds this week!
Four Levels of Transformation
This message will be short lived if God doesn’t do something in the innermost part of your heart. During my forty days of prayer and fasting the Lord revealed some things to me that radically changed the way I look at and live my life. I think one of the things that I realized is that the most important transformation and the deepest transformation and the most difficult transformation is at the level of desire. But anything less is short lived and superficial.
I think there are four levels of transformation.
Level one is behavioral - it is acting different. The Pharisees had this level mastered. From a behavioral perspective, they were as good at it gets. But Jesus said, “Their lips honor me, but their hearts are far from me.” Behavioral change is good, but it’s not good enough. The truth is that Pavlov can train a dog to make behavioral changes. Too often we reduce spirituality to a bunch of behaviors and end up with legalism. God wants the change to go deeper than that.
Level two is intellectual - it is thinking different. The word repentance comes from the Greek word metanoia which literally means “change of mind.” It is a paradigm shift. You think different thoughts. Intellectual change is good, but it’s not good enough. Too often we reduce spirituality to intellectual assent. God wants the change to go deeper than that.
Level three is volitional - it is deciding different. This is the level where you do what’s right even when you feel like doing what’s wrong. It is a restructuring of values and standards. Volitional change is good, but it’s not good enough. God wants the change to go deeper than that.
Level four is motivational - it is wanting different. It is the level of passion and desire. It is genuinely wanting what God wants. I hate what He hates. I love what He loves. The things that break the heart of God break my heart.
Some of you have never experienced this kind of transformation and that’s why you’re frustrated. You act different. You think different. You decide different. But you still have these sinful desires that almost like a computer virus infect everything you do.
I don’t think we have behavioral problems. I think we have desire problems. We desire the wrong thing too much and the right thing too little.
Galatians 5:24 says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them.” This is half the battle - crucifying sinful desires.
The other half of the battle is allowing God to download new desire. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” When we are walking in right relationship with the Lord, God gives us the desires of our hearts. The word “give” means “to conceive.” In other words, when we’re living for God’s glory, new desires are conceived in us. God literally downloads new desires!
Acts 13:22 says, “I have found David a man after my own heart. ” I think that’s the goal. God wants to give us a new heart with new desires. He wants us to want what He wants.
Here’s the bottom line: if you want what God wants then everything else takes care of itself. You begin to think like He thinks and feel what He feels and see what He sees and do what He does. It is living from the inside out. It’s no longer about legalism - religion from the outside in. It’s no longer about external pressure. It is about internal pressure. It is about desire. You desire what is right in God’s sight.
And here is where we make the leap. I believe that God’s deepest desire is to be in eternal relationship with every single person He has created. God never has and never will send anyone to hell. When Jesus died on the cross he was saying the only way you can go to hell is over my dead body! And don’t get caught up in the physical metaphors of fire and darkness. To focus on those physical metaphors is to degrade hell. What makes hell “hell” is separation from God - the glory, the love, the grace, the joy of God. Hell is godlessness - eternity without God.
If God’s deepest desire is to spend eternity with us, and we want what God wants, then our deepest desire will be for everyone to spend eternity with Him. Evangelism isn’t something we have to do. It’s something we can’t not do. Just like Peter and John in Acts 4, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Let me close by redefining evangelism. I like to think of worship as bragging about God to God. Evangelism is bragging about God to others. Evangelism is a form of worship. We just keep bragging about God to others. It becomes the natural overflow of our relationship with God.
Start bragging about God and don’t stop!