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Andy Stanley - Not In It To Win It Christians Politics and the Local Church · Andy Stanley Sermons

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  Speaker 1: If this is your first time joining us, you could
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  Speaker 1: not have chosen a better time, because today you are
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  Speaker 1: going to learn something important about us, our churches, and.
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  Speaker 2: Why we do what we do the way we do
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  Speaker 2: it now.
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  Speaker 1: As you might imagine, the response to our decision to
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  Speaker 1: suspend weekend services for the foreseeable future was met with
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  Speaker 1: varying reactions. So I want to spend a few minutes
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  Speaker 1: today talking about why we've chosen this particular path, and
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  Speaker 1: not as a defense, but because our decision is actually
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  Speaker 1: connected to something central to the Christian faith that while
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  Speaker 1: it's important in normal times, it may not seem all
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  Speaker 1: that relevant or as relevant now. For example, if you
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  Speaker 1: have if you have never had a flat tire in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night,
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  Speaker 1: chances are you probably have not dropped by a dealership
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  Speaker 1: or looked up a YouTube video that explains how to
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  Speaker 1: change the tire on your particular vehicle. Right not because
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  Speaker 1: it's not important, it's just not that relevant right now.
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  Speaker 1: Generally speaking, we learn on a needs to know basis.
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  Speaker 1: So today here's something we need to know, and here's
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  Speaker 1: something specifically we need to know about our faith that
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  Speaker 1: has been highlighted by recent events. So I want to
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  Speaker 1: discuss our church's response to the pandemic as an illustration
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  Speaker 1: of a larger point, a point about which Jesus is well,
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  Speaker 1: he is crystal clear, a point that should inform and
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  Speaker 1: influence the posture I think of every local church at
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  Speaker 1: all times, but perhaps especially in times like these now,
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  Speaker 1: in our current climate, there are three dynamics that have
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  Speaker 1: merged to create really kind of a perfect storm of
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  Speaker 1: confusion as it relates to something Jesus taught.
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  Speaker 2: And Jesus modeled.
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  Speaker 1: And the first of these three things is and this
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  Speaker 1: isn't new information, right, everything, Everything.
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  Speaker 2: Is politicized everything.
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  Speaker 1: There are no neutral topics right now, right, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: school opening has been politicized, mask protest, the virus. And
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  Speaker 1: my favorite is Anthony Fauci. I mean three months ago,
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  Speaker 1: four months ago, Republicans loved him. Now Democrats claim him,
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  Speaker 1: and a lot of Republicans aren't sure they trust him anymore.
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  Speaker 1: So again, there are no neutral topics. Apparently there aren't
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  Speaker 1: even any neutral people. The second dynamic that adds to
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  Speaker 1: all this confusion is the cancel culture. Right, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: if you say one thing I don't like, or if
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  Speaker 1: you say one thing I disagree with. I discount everything
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  Speaker 1: you've ever said, and I discount everything you've ever accomplished
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  Speaker 1: in your life.
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  Speaker 2: Right now, this isn't new.
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  Speaker 1: We just haven't had a phrase that captures this unfortunate
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  Speaker 1: dynamic before. And I've certainly been on the receiving end
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  Speaker 1: of the cancel culture. In fact, if I'm honest, I've
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  Speaker 1: been on the receiving end from some of you. I've
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  Speaker 1: gotten quite a few voicemails, emails, and actual letters to
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  Speaker 1: my home from longtime church attenders who are leaving or
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  Speaker 1: who are telling me they're leaving our churches because of
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  Speaker 1: our decision to suspend services for.
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  Speaker 2: The remainder of the year.
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  Speaker 1: And whenever I get a voicemail or an email like that,
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  Speaker 1: or a letter, I always ask my assistant Diane to
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  Speaker 1: track down a phone number, and I call almost all
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  Speaker 1: of the people who have responded, especially those of you
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  Speaker 1: who've been involved for a long time and raised your
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  Speaker 1: kids here and served here. I've called just about everybody
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  Speaker 1: that I can find the number four and I listen,
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  Speaker 1: and in one hundred percent of the cases, this is
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  Speaker 1: so interesting, and some of you are actually listening today
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  Speaker 1: or watching today. I hope in one hundred percent of
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  Speaker 1: the cases. Once I call and convince them that it's
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  Speaker 1: actually me, they begin the conversation by telling me how
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  Speaker 1: much the church has meant to them and how much
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  Speaker 1: it's meant to their children. That one gentleman, when I
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  Speaker 1: finally convinced them it's really me, he immediately went into
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  Speaker 1: this amazing story and these are his words, not mine, about.
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  Speaker 2: How I saved his marriage.
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  Speaker 1: But now that I have bowed my knee to Caesar,
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  Speaker 1: since I refuse to take a stand, since I'm more
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  Speaker 1: concerned about being popular than calling people to repentance, they're out.
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  Speaker 1: After the message I did call this human race, you'll
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  Speaker 1: remember that same thing. Andy, Clearly you have embraced a
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  Speaker 1: left wing Marxist agenda, so we can no longer call
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  Speaker 1: this our church home. And so to all these and
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  Speaker 1: all of these conversations, I respond with, okay, so let
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  Speaker 1: me get this straight. You've loved and served in and
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  Speaker 1: supported our church for in many cases eight nine years,
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  Speaker 1: and after one sermon, come on, after one sermon that
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  Speaker 1: you disagree with or took to mean something that, based
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  Speaker 1: on our church history.
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  Speaker 2: I clearly did not mean. You're out. Now.
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  Speaker 1: The good thing is this, these conversations always end on
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  Speaker 1: a friendly note, and then I add, well, I guess
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  Speaker 1: this is a good time to leave our church, but
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  Speaker 1: it is a bit hard to leave a church that
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  Speaker 1: isn't meeting anyway. We chuckle and then we hang up,
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  Speaker 1: and I hope they don't actually, because I don't want
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  Speaker 1: anybody to.
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  Speaker 2: Leave our church.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so that's the first two. But there's a third
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  Speaker 1: element to this perfect storm. And this third element has
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  Speaker 1: been around a long time, but it raises its divisive
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  Speaker 1: head even higher during political seasons. And it's the one
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  Speaker 1: I want to directly address because it's the one that
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  Speaker 1: intersects specifically with our faith. It's actually a version of Christianity,
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  Speaker 1: and it's a version of Christianity that I have worked
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  Speaker 1: very very hard to help us avoid. And it goes
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  Speaker 1: by a lot of names, but I'm just going to
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  Speaker 1: refer to it as culture war Christianity. Culture war Christianity.
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  Speaker 1: This is the version of Christianity consumed with winning, the
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  Speaker 1: version that sees itself perpetually under attack and consequently feels
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  Speaker 1: the need.
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  Speaker 2: To attack back.
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  Speaker 1: It requires an enemy for sustainability. We could talk about that,
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  Speaker 1: but we won't. And here's the thing I am intimately
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  Speaker 1: acquainted with this version of Christianity because I grew up
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  Speaker 1: with this version. Again, I have purposely, purposely attempted to
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  Speaker 1: lead in such a way that we avoid it at
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  Speaker 1: all costs, because I am convinced that it is a.
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  Speaker 2: Perversion of our faith.
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  Speaker 1: And not only is it a perversion of our faith,
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  Speaker 1: it actually sets the Church up to be a tool
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  Speaker 1: of politicians rather than the conscience of the nation. And Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I guess looking into the future and seeing
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  Speaker 1: where we would be today in terms of the state
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  Speaker 1: of the church, the Church, especially the church.
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  Speaker 2: And our nation.
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  Speaker 1: We have been called to be the conscience of our nation.
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  Speaker 1: But this version is a version that actually defines itself
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  Speaker 1: by what it's against, by what it's standing against. A
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  Speaker 1: version that sees the Church is always under attack by
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  Speaker 1: the government and secularism. It actually forces the Church into
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  Speaker 1: a defensive posture. It comes across as if it's more
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  Speaker 1: concerned with winning than loving. It's fueled by the fear
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  Speaker 1: of losing something. And I call it a version of
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  Speaker 1: Christianity because it does not reflect it does not reflect
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  Speaker 1: the first century Jesus version of our faith. Worse, it
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  Speaker 1: actually represents the opposite of what Jesus taught and model. Now, this,
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  Speaker 1: a hope, doesn't come as a surprise our churches. Our
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  Speaker 1: churches skew conservative, and as far as churches go, that's
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  Speaker 1: a good thing, because liberal or hyper progressive or active
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  Speaker 1: as churches often not always, but often eventually allow an
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  Speaker 1: agenda to erode their commitment to the centrality of the Gospel.
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  Speaker 1: And when I say gospel, I mean specifically that we
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  Speaker 1: all have a sin problem, that all have sinned and
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  Speaker 1: fallen short of the glory of God. We have a
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  Speaker 1: selfishness problem, that we need a savior, and that Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: That Jesus is the savior who literally physically rose from
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  Speaker 1: the dead to punctuate his claims about himself and about
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  Speaker 1: his father. And in many cases liberal leaning churches, like
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  Speaker 1: culture War conservative churches have their own way of recreating
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  Speaker 1: and reimagining Jesus in the image of their agenda. Now,
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  Speaker 1: once you abandon, once you abandon the divinity of Jesus
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  Speaker 1: and our need for a savior, this is so important,
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  Speaker 1: you actually abandon the foundation of morality, justice, and the
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  Speaker 1: dignity of the individual.
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  Speaker 2: And you know what you're left with.
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  Speaker 1: You're left with majority morality majority morality, where the majority
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  Speaker 1: determines what's right and what's moral, and that is a
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  Speaker 1: dangerous thing. It's a dangerous place to be as a
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  Speaker 1: nation or a community. And ultimately, do you know who
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  Speaker 1: suffers the most women and children? So we dare not
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  Speaker 1: abandon the claims and the resurrection of Jesus, and theologically speaking,
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  Speaker 1: churches who hold a high view of scripture and who
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  Speaker 1: defend the divinity of Jesus and the literal bodily resurrection
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus are considered conservative churches. So we are conservative theologically,
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  Speaker 1: but we have not and we will not embrace the
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  Speaker 1: far right leaning approach to our faith that is in
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  Speaker 1: it to win it.
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  Speaker 2: And more on what I mean by that in just
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  Speaker 2: a minute now.
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  Speaker 1: So you know, and I've told you this before, you
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  Speaker 1: can raise a lot of money, and you can sell
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  Speaker 1: a lot of books on the far left and the
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  Speaker 1: far right, but you cannot you cannot solve problems there,
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  Speaker 1: and you can't love people well there, and you won't
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  Speaker 1: find Jesus there, And if it's up to me, I
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  Speaker 1: will ensure that you don't find Us there either. So
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  Speaker 1: at this point you may be asking, hopefully you're asking
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  Speaker 1: so andy, where are you getting all of this?
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  Speaker 2: Are you just kind of making all this up?
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  Speaker 1: And what in the world does this have to do
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  Speaker 1: with our decision to postpone our services, glad you asked
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  Speaker 1: during his earthly ministry. During his earthly ministry, everybody, everyb
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  Speaker 1: body wanted Jesus to take their side, to take a
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  Speaker 1: stand against the other side, and he refused. He refused
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  Speaker 1: because both sides were fueled by a common assumption that
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  Speaker 1: he refused to embrace. And the assumption was simply this.
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  Speaker 1: The assumption was that power and resources are to be
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  Speaker 1: leveraged primarily for the benefit of the powerful and the resource.
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  Speaker 1: I mean people on both sides. Both groups held this
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  Speaker 1: assumption that power and resources are to be leveraged for
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  Speaker 1: the primarily for the benefit of the powerful and the resource,
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  Speaker 1: and Jesus refused to play their game of tug of war.
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  Speaker 1: He refused to take either end of the rope. As
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  Speaker 1: I've reminded you on multiple occasions, he was the king
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  Speaker 1: who came to reverse the order of things. Paul said
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  Speaker 1: it best, And we looked at this passage not too
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  Speaker 1: long ago, but apparently we need to look at it
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  Speaker 1: again and again. Remember the apostle Paul has the advantage
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  Speaker 1: point of being on the other side of the resurrection.
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  Speaker 1: He spent time with Peter, he spent time with James,
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  Speaker 1: the brother of Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: He spent time with John.
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  Speaker 1: So the apostle Paul gets his inform from eye witnesses
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  Speaker 1: as they described what it was like to spend three
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  Speaker 1: or three.
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  Speaker 2: And a half years with Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: And now the apostle Paul describes for us how they
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  Speaker 1: described Jesus to him. And here's how he described your savior, Jesus, who,
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  Speaker 1: being in very nature God, the people who were closest
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  Speaker 1: to the action were absolutely convinced that Jesus was God
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  Speaker 1: in a body. The apostle John was convinced that God
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  Speaker 1: is Love, not because of what he experienced in the world,
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  Speaker 1: but because of what he experienced for three years with Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: because Jesus was Love personified. Hey, you want to know
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  Speaker 1: what love looks like, you want to know what love
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  Speaker 1: acts like, you want to know what love sounds like.
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  Speaker 1: Just follow Jesus around the gospels. Paul continues, who, being
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  Speaker 1: in very nature God, did not consider equality with God
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  Speaker 1: something to be used to his own advantage. In other words,
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  Speaker 1: and this is disturbing, but this was the differentiator. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: did not play to win the way that first or
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  Speaker 1: even twenty first century people define when Jesus played.
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  Speaker 2: To lose.
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  Speaker 1: And I'll be honest, that doesn't sit well with me.
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  Speaker 1: It's not very American. I like to win. We are
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  Speaker 1: wired to win. Turns out, Jesus was not against winning.
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  Speaker 1: Turns out, he was playing a completely different game that
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  Speaker 1: had completely different rules with a completely different win. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: played to lose so that the other team that would
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  Speaker 1: be me and that would be you. Jesus played to
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  Speaker 1: lose so that the other team could win. This is
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  Speaker 1: why he never took sides, because the other sides neither
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  Speaker 1: side was willing to lose for the sake of the
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  Speaker 1: other side. Paul continues, He says this rather again talking
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  Speaker 1: about Jesus. He made himself nothing. He made himself a nobody,
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  Speaker 1: and nobody on either side of the other sides was
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  Speaker 1: willing to do that either. Right, everybody wants to make
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  Speaker 1: themselves to somebody. Everybody wants to make themselves something. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: made himself nothing. Jesus refused. Jesus refuses to attach his
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  Speaker 1: name to the what's in it for us party, the
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  Speaker 1: party that insists on winning, the party that fears losing
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  Speaker 1: the party, or the person who clings to rather than
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  Speaker 1: gives up.
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  Speaker 2: Paul continues by taking the very nature of a servant.
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  Speaker 2: What is a servant?
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  Speaker 1: A servant is someone who wakes up every single day
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  Speaker 1: thinking about how to better serve someone else, someone who
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  Speaker 1: wakes up every single day committed to leveraging themselves their
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  Speaker 1: resources for.
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  Speaker 2: The benefit of someone else. Now this is important.
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  Speaker 1: Remember the apostle Paul is describing Jesus of Nazareth. If
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  Speaker 1: we are his body, if we are his body, if
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  Speaker 1: we are his hands and feet, this should describe us.
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  Speaker 1: And this is why, This is why the Church always
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  Speaker 1: looks more christ Like when we are defending other people's
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  Speaker 1: rights rather than our own. The Church always looks more
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  Speaker 1: christ Like when we are giving away rather than demanding
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: our way. And if that scares you, if that makes
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  Speaker 1: you feel like you might lose something, if that makes
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  Speaker 1: you feel like you may lose, then now you understand
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  Speaker 1: this is so important.
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  Speaker 2: Now you understand why Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: Disciples refused to accept the fact that he would be arrested, tried,
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  Speaker 1: and crucified. I mean, he told them over and over
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  Speaker 1: and over, and they just didn't get it. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: because if you're arrested and tried and crucified, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: that's what losers do.
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  Speaker 2: That means you've lost.
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  Speaker 1: He told them over and over what was going to happen,
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  Speaker 1: and they just didn't have a category for it. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: as we've discussed before, you remember, they're on their way
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  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem. I mean, this is Jesus' date with Destiny, right,
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  Speaker 1: and the twelve are still discussing amongst themselves who's going
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  Speaker 1: to be number two and number three in his kingdom
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  Speaker 1: once he wins, once he defeats their enemy. Once that happens,
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  Speaker 1: which one of them will sit on his left and
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  Speaker 1: which one of them will sit on his right when
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  Speaker 1: he declares himself the winner, Which one of them will
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  Speaker 1: wield the most power, the most authority. In fact, it's
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  Speaker 1: even worse than that, Luke and Luke Chapter nine tells
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  Speaker 1: us about that describes this incident. Where they're going from
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  Speaker 1: You'll remember our big map that we've used before, from
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  Speaker 1: Galilee to Samaria, you know, to Judea. They're moving from
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  Speaker 1: Galilee toward Jerusalem, and they decide to go the shortcut
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  Speaker 1: right through Samaria, and so as they move into the
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  Speaker 1: area of Samaria, Jesus sends a couple of disciples ahead
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  Speaker 1: of time to a Samaritan village to secure lodging for
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  Speaker 1: the night, because this is going to take two or
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  Speaker 1: three days. So Jesus and the rest of the guys
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  Speaker 1: are moving toward this village where they're going to spend
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  Speaker 1: the night, and they look up and here comes the
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  Speaker 1: two folks he's sent to secure lodging, and they're coming
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  Speaker 1: back toward Jesus, and they say, Jesus, these folks don't
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  Speaker 1: want us in their village when they found out that
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  Speaker 1: we are Jews on our way to Jerusalem. They don't
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  Speaker 1: want us spending the night in their village. And how
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  Speaker 1: did the disciples respond? After three years of being with Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: Here's what they said, Lord, do you want us to
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  Speaker 1: call fire down from heaven and destroy them? Jesus, they
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  Speaker 1: are so offensive. They are not our friends, they are
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  Speaker 1: our enemies. Would you like for us to call fire
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  Speaker 1: down from heaven and destroy them? Would you like for
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  Speaker 1: us to leverage our power in such a way that we.
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  Speaker 2: Win.
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  Speaker 1: Clearly, they don't know who you are, so let's teach
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  Speaker 1: them a lesson. Let's use our power to win. And
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  Speaker 1: if you've read this passage before, you'll remember what Jesus said.
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  Speaker 1: The text says Luke says that he rebuked them. He
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  Speaker 1: uses the same term that he uses to describe Jesus
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  Speaker 1: when he rebuked demons. This was his way of saying, guys,
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  Speaker 1: not in my kingdom. That's not how it works. That's
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  Speaker 1: how everybody else does it. But if you aren't willing
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  Speaker 1: to lose, if you aren't willing to go to the
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  Speaker 1: back of the line, don't even bother getting in my
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  Speaker 1: life line. I am the king who has come to
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  Speaker 1: reverse the order of things. Don't touch those dials, don't
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  Speaker 1: grab those levers, and don't push those buttons. That is
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  Speaker 1: not my kingdom. Now, let's go to Jerusalem or I'll
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  Speaker 1: be arrested. And you know, here's what they're thinking. But Jesus, wait, wait, wait, wait, Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: if you're arrested and killed, how are we going to win,
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  Speaker 1: to which Jesus would have smiled and said, fellas, that
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  Speaker 1: is how we are going to win. I'm going there
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  Speaker 1: to lose their game, and in doing so, we will
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  Speaker 1: win the game that I have been inviting you to
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  Speaker 1: play for three years. And so they go to Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: and the best possible person would suffer the worst possible
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  Speaker 1: death to illustrate that even the best posa, even the
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  Speaker 1: son of Man, had not come to be served, but
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  Speaker 1: to serve and to give his life as a ransom
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  Speaker 1: for many. Even the son of Man had not come
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  Speaker 1: to win a game of tug of war between the
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  Speaker 1: kingdoms of this world. He came to establish a completely
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  Speaker 1: different kind of kingdom with a completely different set of
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  Speaker 1: values that operate under the assumption that the last would
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  Speaker 1: be first and the first would be last, because.
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  Speaker 2: In his kingdom there is no first and there is
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  Speaker 2: no last.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: And finally they get it. As they gather for that
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: final passover, Jesus washes their feet, and then they would
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: stand and watch him crucified, and they would hear him
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: forgive the men.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: Who crucified him.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: And then they would listen to him as he promised
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: a criminal paradise. And then after the resurrection, it all
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: came together for them. This is so important, and that
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: first generation of Christians, that first generation of Christians refused,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: they refused to leverage privilege or power for their own benefit.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: It was always for the benefit of others. They were
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: not in it to win anything. They weren't even in
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: it to change anything. They lived selfless lives in Jesus' name.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: They let go of the old way, and they embraced
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: the law of Christ, and as Jesus predicted, neither the
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Gates of Hades or the legions of Rome, with all
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: its imperial power, could stop them. Jesus, how are you
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: going to build your church? If you're arrested and crucified. Guys,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: that's how I'm going to build my church. The only
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: question is will you follow me? Will you take up
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: your cross and not your rights, your cross and follow me?
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: Throughout history, throughout history, when the Church is opted for
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: the tools and the machinery of the kingdoms of this world,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: the church ends up looking just like this world, and
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: the Church ultimately becomes a pawn. When the Church leverages
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: the tools of the kingdoms of this world, the church
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: looks weak, it looks desperate, it looks fearful. When we
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: the church demand our way, defend our rights, not as citizens,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: that's different, I'll come to that in a minute. But
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: as the church listen, we actually abandon our distinctive, the
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: distinctive that sets us apart to begin with, the distinctive
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: of we are not in it to win it for ourselves.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: We are in it to win it.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: For others.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: When the church digs in its heels in order to
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: win on behalf of the church, we've already lost. We've
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: surrendered our voice and our influence. We're just another organization
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: with a self serving agenda. Now, to be clear, as
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: an American citizen, vote for and stand for your rights
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: and your freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution of the
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: United States of America. But when we speak as and
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: when we act as the body of Christ, it must
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: not be for our benefit, but for the benefit of
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: the community and the people in our communities. If Jesus
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: didn't play the God card, Come on, think about this,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: If Jesus refused to play the God card, if Jesus
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: refused to exercise his authority and his rights for his
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: own benefit, then neither should we. Political parties by nature
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: are in it to win it. We all get that
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: church is not and the church must never be. This
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: is why, in my opinion, this is why pastors and
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: churches should never ever publicly align themselves with anything or
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: anyone other than.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: Jesus of Nazareth.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: The minute we do, we abandon our defining virtue, the
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: defining virtue of the Kingdom of God. We abandon our
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: commitment to play to lose so that others might win.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: So Church, church.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: People, Christians, we are not in it to win anything
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: for ourselves.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: We are Jesus followers.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: he made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: being made in human likeness, and being found in the
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: appearance of a man, he humbled him. To think about this,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: he humbled himself. He who was highest became lowest. He
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: who was highest became loose. He did not fight for
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: his rights, he did not demand his way. He submitted
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: himself to evil men by becoming obedient, to death, even death.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: On a cross.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: And the world has never been the same. Remember, it
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: was Christianity, not the Republican or the Democratic Party, that
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: shaped Western civilization. It was the teaching of Jesus, not
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: our political parties, that laid the groundwork for our modern
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: notions of justice and fairness and dignity for all. So
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: with all of that as a backdrop, here's why we
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: have chosen our current course as a group of churches.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: It is not what's best for us. Our decision is
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: not what's best for us, the best thing for us,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: for our churches. In fact, to be honest, the best
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: thing for me personally would be to open up as
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: soon as possible.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: That would be a win for us, that would be
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: a loss for our.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: Community, both in terms of what could happen and in
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: terms of the message it sends. So we are saying
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: no to us as a way of saying yes to
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: those around.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: Us, because it's not about us.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: We did not suspend services because of government pressure.
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: There was none. We're not afraid.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: We're not bowing to social, cultural, or political pressure. We've
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: not bowed our need a Caesar. I've heard that so
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: many times, so quick lesson. Okay, And this is so
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: important for Christians to understand in this climate. We don't
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: have a Caesar. The last Caesar died in the fifth century.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: The government, our government, is not Caesar. A president is
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: not Caesar. We have a we the people representative form
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: of government. The person at the top.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: Come on, they're.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Here for a few years and they move on. Every
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: four to eight years, we have a new person. That's
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: why it is a mistake. It is always a mistake
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: for a church to drape itself in the garb of
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: either political party.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: And it's why every American, it's why every American.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: Citizen should exercise their ultimate freedom, a freedom that was well,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: it was unimaginable in.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: The age of the Caesars. Every American should vote.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: And Christians, Christians, you should vote in accordance with your
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: law of christ informed conscience. Now back to us, and
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: I'll wrap this up. Our decision to suspend weeken services
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: or gatherings was not politically motivated. It wasn't fear based,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: it wasn't anti any person or any party. As we
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: stated at the very beginning, at the very onset of
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: COVID nineteen, this is how we are choosing to love
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: our neighbors. And this is how we're choosing to love
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: our neighborhoods because that is what Jesus commanded us to do,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: and that's what he did for us. We are airing
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: on the side of caution, but our churches are certainly
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: not shut down. So for those of you who have
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: written to encourage me to take a stand.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: This is our stand. For those of you who've.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Asked, where's your faith? This is our expression of faith.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: We are putting the good of the community ahead of
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: our enjoyment of gathering together inside on the weekends. For
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: those of you who are convinced that we've given into fear,
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: let me assure you that if the leadership of our
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: church was motivated by fear, if I was motivated by fear,
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: we would have never suspended weekend services to begin with.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: But while I'm not fearful, to be honest, I am
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: concerned not for our survival. My concern is that we
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: get so focused on what we can't do that we
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: miss this once in a life opportunity to do what
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: we can and must do. Come on, you know this.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: Our mission has never been together on the weekends.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: Our mission is to.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Inspire people to follow Jesus right and for us to
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: get distracted by what we can't do and miss out
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: on this unique opportunity to do what we can and
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: must do. To miss out on this unique opportunity to
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: inspire more people to follow Jesus would be tragic, And
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: I know most of you agree. So congratulations, you are
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: doing the difficult thing. You are doing the courageous thing.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: You're doing the kingdom thing. You're doing the other's first thing,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: the thing that is better for people whom God loves
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: and Christ died. Now, I know some of you are asking,
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: so do you think every church in America should follow
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: our lead and suspend weekend services. No, that's up to
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: the leadership of each church as they take into consideration
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: the health risk to their local community. But I would
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: encourage every church and every church leader to resist the
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: temptation to do what's best for your church if it
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: jeopardizes the health and well being of the people.
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: In your churches community.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: So that's the why behind our decision. Now, the next
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: question is what do we do in the meantime? I mean,
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: your amazing church staffs are already rolling out plans even
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: as I speak. One initiative that involves all of us
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: is be Rich. If you haven't heard already, we launch
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: be Rich on September thirteenth, September the thirteenth, rather than
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: in November the way that we normally do it, and
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: I'm hoping, I'm hoping that be Rich twenty two is
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: bigger than ever, because the need is greater than ever.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: On the personal side of things, I want to suggest
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: four new habits for you and your family during this season.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Four new habits to replace some good habits that well
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: circumstances have forced us to curtail for now anyway. And
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: I suggested these to some of you in an email recently,
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: but I want to go over them again. First habit
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: is this, I want you to establish a new Sunday
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: morning routine because for most of us, our old Sunday
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: morning routine just doesn't work anymore. And I want you
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: to establish a routine for you and your entire family.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: As you probably know, our services open up at seven am,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: so you don't have to wait until nine. If you
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: have kids at home, you can let them sleep while
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: you get up, grab some coffee, and enjoy the service
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: before the kids are up. If you have older kids
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: and enjoy watching the service together, pick a specific time
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: and announce it to them ahead of time. The second
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: habit I want us to stay in is our small
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: group habit, our small group routine. Again, circumstances have forced
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: most of us out of our small group habit. If
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: you're in a group and your routine has been disrupted.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: I want you to take the lead and establish a
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: new routine, even if you're not the leader of the group.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Obviously it can be online, in a driveway, on a
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: patio inside, but don't give up on community. It is
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: more important than ever. And then the third habit is this,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: keep your kids connected. Make sure you keep your kids
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: connected to the local church. Get your kids to our events.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: And if you have middle school or high school students,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: encourage them to participate in their small group.
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: They're going to love some of what we do.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: They won't love everything we do because well they're kids, right,
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: But don't make church optional during this season, and we
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: will do our best to make their experience exceptional.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: And then the.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: Last thing is this, I want you to begin praying
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: for your church every single day. For some of you, honestly,
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: it has never crossed your mind to pray for your
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: local church. And why do I want you to pray
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: for us? Well, for the reasons I've already outlined. I
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: do not want us to be consumed by what we
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: can't do and miss out on what we can and.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: Must do in this season.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: And specifically, I want you to pray three things I
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: want you to pray for innovation, influence, and impact. I
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: made it easy for you. Innovation, influence and impact. Twenty
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: five years ago, our church was one giant innovation.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: I say, let's do that again.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Ask God to give us more influence in our communities
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: during this season and as a result, greater impact. So
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: think about it that when we reopen for Sunday services,
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: there would be hundreds, maybe thousands of adults and children
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: who became followers of Jesus in this season because instead
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: of sitting around waiting for a reset, we took advantage
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: of an upset and we seized these opportunities.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: And here's the thing. Here's what I know.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: If you will pray to that end, you will be
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: far more inclined to see those opportunities when they present themselves.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: We are all inclined to see what we're hoping for,
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: and we are all inclined to see what we are
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: praying for. So here's your takeaway from today's message. Established
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: a new Sunday morning routine, Establish a new small group routine,
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: keep your kids connected, and pray for your local church.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: Now close with this, as I've reminded you on so
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: many occasions. You're probably tired of hearing this, but it's
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: so important. Once upon a time, imagine it. Once upon
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: a time, a handful, a handful of disorganized, socially disenfranchised, landless,
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: technology less Jewish men and women took to the streets
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: of Jerusalem with the most outlandish message imaginable. But if
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: it was true, it would have been the best news imaginable.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: And as it turned out, it was true, and that
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: good news change the world. That good news perhaps changed
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: your life, it's certainly changed mind. And here we are
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: and we have no excuse, do we, But we have
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: an extraordinary opportunity. So come on, let's do something remarkable.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: I have never been more excited about church, and I've
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: never been more excited about our church. And I've never
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: been more excited about partnering with you to inspire people
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: to follow Jesus