Power Shifts - Attitude

Missions is at the heart of God. God wants every people group and person to hear about a heavenly Father who loves them and sent His son to die for them. The church is God’s agent to accomplish this goal. The only way this can happen is for the church and individuals to obey the Great Commission. But why are we going backwards? Why is there a “waiting world” of 41% of the global population who have not heard? Power Shifts is a theme we will be covering throughout this series. You will learn how to make personal “power shifts” in your life to help multiply the harvest. These shifts are attitude, actions, alignment, abundance and anointing.

Introduction

“Life is like a game of tennis,” a wise person once said. “The player who serves well seldom loses.” We smile at this phrase and its double meaning, but truth is, few of us are eager to live a life characterized by service.

In the book, The Ugly American, a Burmese journalist says: "For some reason, the [American] people I meet in my country are not the same as the ones I knew in the United States. A mysterious change seems to come over Americans when they go to a foreign land. They isolate themselves socially. They live pretentiously. They are loud and ostentatious.”

Bob Maile, an American in diplomatic service, went to serve in Asia but he was very different from the ugly American described above. An Asian friend said, “He did more to raise American prestige than anyone else over there.” How did he do it? Instead of barging in at the top with the air of an ambassador, Bob Maile started off by trying to become familiar with our language and country. He made friends with the common people—the laborers. He did these things without asking for credit or telling anyone. In return, he wanted tutoring in our language, lessons in our cooking and help in getting his children into our schools. He was humble about everything, and he made it clear that he thought he was getting more than he was giving.

That is a true example of service. If the secular world can learn this lesson, we who claim to follow Christ can do at least as well. Roy Hession, in his Christian classic The Calvary Road, notes, “Nothing is clearer from the New Testament than that the Lord Jesus expects us to take the low position of servants. This is not just an extra obligation which we may or may not assume as we please. It is the very heart of that new relationship which the disciple is to take up with respect to God and his fellows if he is to know fellowship with Christ and any degree of holiness in his life.”

God does not expect us to accomplish it on our own. We have His empowering Spirit, and our Lord’s words and example. “The greatest among you will be your servant,” He said (Mt. 23:11). The Apostle Paul wrote, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” (Phil. 2:5–7)

In the mission’s environment, our ability to make a lasting change depends largely on our ATTITUDE. We are compelled to develop a commitment to servanthood.

“Life is like a game of tennis,” a wise person once said. “The player who serves well seldom loses.”

Main Teaching

Strength in Servanthood John 13:1-17 records Jesus’ actions in the upper room at the Passover Feast just before His suffering and death. Here Jesus shows Himself as a strong individual who chose to serve rather than be served.

“Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power,” John noted, “and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him” (John 13:3-5).

That little word “so” is like a hinge on which the rest of this passage hangs. It implies that Jesus’ understanding of His power undergirded His desire and ability to serve. In short, this passage says, “Jesus knew... and so He washed....”

The Greek tense used here also indicates that, without the action of serving, the power of the verb in that initial phrase would be nullified. The implication is that Jesus knew His authority (Greek word here is exousia, which means “delegated authority) had one purpose, and that was to do His Father’s will. A revelation of the meaning of His exousia led Him to lay down his life, exousia to serve—not pick it up in a display of majesty.

Authority with Purpose “After He washed His disciples’ feet, Jesus asked them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? ...Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you... Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:12–17)

Jesus set us an example. We must choose to serve those who are lost and to disciple and nurture those in the Church. The result of that kind of attitude adjustment will unleash a power shift. John 17 records Jesus’ prayer just before His arrest.

“Father, the time has come,” He said. “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him” (verses 1–2).

Authority and power are given for a specific purpose ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium