Attribute Three | A Man Is Radically Obedient Series

Radical obedience, gentlemen. Radical obedience. So each time – I said I was going to share with you one thing that Jesus did with each one of these attributes and the thing that he said in regard to it. Philippians 2:8 reads, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Now, no doubt guys, no doubt Jesus Christ was the most obedient man. We believe that. I assume you probably do as well because you’re listening to this podcast.

But Jesus Christ was the most obedient man. And he showed us the way; he didn’t just tell us about it. He showed it to us. That’s what I love about Jesus. Full integration of lifestyle, right? Fully integrated. But he also commanded us to do the same. John 13, verse 17, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them,” notice the conditions there. “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” So, we have a challenge, gentlemen. You have a choice. Are we going to be obedient or not?

Here’s attribute three for you.

Attribute three – a man is radically obedient. A man invites obedience to God’s moral code because he understands that morality exists outside of himself. He can obey God, even when he’s uncomfortable and cannot see the whole picture. Because he knows that his obedience is a living act of faith and trust in God. Obedience and disobedience will reveal a man’s true character.

Wow. This is an opportunity for us to become radically obedient today. And so today as you’re listening to the podcast, I want you to begin to reflect on where in your life you need to be more obedient. Well you know gentlemen, unfortunately, we are not Jesus Christ. So, we have to work on this one. This one doesn’t come easy for us. Because often – I believe, we learn obedience through our disobedience, right?

We know that everyone has sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God – Romans 3. We understand that Jesus Christ was the only perfect living human being and that he was the ultimate man. So, guys, we have to conclude that we have to learn obedience often through our disobedience. And this is true for each and every one of us. Just think about a moment that you did not listen or obey your parents as a child.

So here’s me, 13 years old, living with my grandparents over at their house. Next door is one of my best friends, Adam. No joke, Adam was a Jewish friend of mine. And he lived next door, and we were buddies for a long time. One day, he comes over to my house bringing and bearing in one hand a can of BB’s, and in the other hand a Daisy spring loaded rifle.

Yep. I was not exposed to guns as a kid, so this was my first exposure to guns – age 13, Adam bringing over this spring-loaded rifle. And no kidding, we were screwing around in the backyard with this big old can of BB’s and we shot up everything. We shot the fence, we shot cans, bottles, birds, bird feeders, neighbor’s houses – and finally ended up on my grandfather’s wind chimes.

Now, I will say I wasn’t very smart. Because I tell you, my grandfather only had a few prized possessions. One was his 1959 Chevy Apache step-side big window truck in the front yard, and the other was in the backyard. It was his wind chimes. He had a few of them hanging around underneath the shed. And I’ve got to tell you, I don’t know what happens when you get 2 boys together, but really what you get there is about half a brain between 2 kids. You get 3 boys, you got a quarter of a brain – you get 4 boys, you’ve got no brain.

So essentially what you’ve got is me and Adam in our backyard – my backyard, my grandfather’s backyard – sitting back there with the Daisy spring loaded rifle, and we’re shooting at my grandfather’s prized wind chimes. Okay? This is going on for probably about 20 minutes until my grandfather comes in the backyard and catches us, realizing what we’ve done.

He grabs that rifle out of my hand, he hands it to Adam. And I have never seen my bald grandfather get angry in my life, at this moment he was mad. His head turned red. He told Adam never to come back over to our house with that Daisy spring loaded rifle ever again. And Adam ran off with it in one hand, and the BB’s – what were ever left of them – in the other.