Extreme Makeover
Stuff Jesus Changed, part 5: Decision-Making
Wildwind Community Church
David K. Flowers
May 6, 2007
Today we conclude our series on Stuff Jesus Changed and I want to talk to you about decision-making. When we talk in the church about decision-making, or about knowing the will of God, don’t we almost always think of it in a “knowing what’s over the horizon” kind of way? Forget the road immediately ahead of me, I want to see what’s way over the horizon. I want to know the future. We’re curious about what’s over the horizon. It offers promise of something new and different, maybe more exciting than where we are now. Besides, the big exciting stuff in life doesn’t happen very often, so it’s usually over the horizon. Marriage, college, having kids, retirement – that’s the stuff we want God to tell us about, so we spend a lot of time trying to see over the horizon. But what about the road ahead of you?
C.S. Lewis said a glimpse of the road immediatey ahead of you is more useful and important than a view of the horizon.
What if your goal was to get from Grand Blanc, MI to San Diego, CA in a vehicle, but there was something on your windshield so that all you could see was the horizon? I mean, you couldn’t actually see the road ahead of you. All you could see was the one spot where the road disappeared over the horizon. How effectively could you make your trip? How long would you last? Your trip would almost immediately end in disaster, wouldn’t it? No chance of getting where you need to go if you can’t see what’s in front of you.
So the road ahead of you is the most important thing, isn’t it? And why is that? Because the horizon is an illusion. I mean, it exists, but you can never reach it, can you? The horizon is just the part of the road that you can’t see because of the curve of the earth, and we all know the earth will continue to curve no matter how far you travel. The only way to get beyond the horizon you currently see is to keep traveling the road immediately in front of you.
This is the image I want to get into your head as we begin our message on knowing God’s will today. Let’s get out of our heads the idea of finding some magical way to be transported over the horizon, and get into our heads the simple idea that if we keep our eyes on the road ahead, we’re sure to get there eventually. There are many Christians who are spending a lot of time wondering about God’s horizon for them and not paying much attention to the road they’re on. Who does God want me to marry? Does God want me to take that job? Does God want Wildwind to hire that staff person? Does God want me to stay home or go back to school? There are many who want to be godly, but fewer who want to become godly. Being godly is a destination point – a place that lies over the horizon. But becoming godly is the road ahead – it’s what lies immediately before us.
Ever tried to drive down the road not by looking out the front window, but by looking out the side window at the lines on the road? Pretty shaky, huh? Why isn’t that a good way to drive? Answer: Because you can’t see where you’re going. The view is too narrow. So if that isn’t a good idea, why not get a broader view by looking to the horizon? Answer: Because again, you can’t see where you’re going. The view is too broad. In order to see where you’re going, you have to look just the right distance down the road. In other words, you have to have a proper perspective. You can’t concern yourself with things 20 miles away, and you can’t get too absorbed with the lines that are whipping by you at 70 mph. Perspective.
What we need, my friends, is an extreme makeover in how we think about God’s will and about decision-making. It’s easy to just lose perspective – to stare at the lines, or to try and gaze over the horizon – but doing either of those things is a way to make sure you don’t get to where you need to go. We have to learn how to look the right distance down the road. Today I want to introduce you to a really cool idea, a different way of knowing God’s will for your life.
Colossians 3:2-3 (MSG)
2 Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.
3 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life.
Don’t get lost looking at the lines. They’re whipping by too fast. You don’t have enough time to make corrections. Look up, look around, be alert to the presence of Christ. Learn to see things from his perspective. That’s the right distance down the road. That’s where Jesus is.
Seeing things from Christ’s perspective is the extreme makeover we need. Because that’s not our natural perspective, is it?
Colossians 1:21 (NCV)
21 At one time you were separated from God. You were his enemies in your minds, and the evil things you did were against God.
Colossians says at one time you were separated from God. You were his enemies [WHERE?] in your minds, and the evil things you did were against God. Before we become Christ-followers, it is not natural for us to do what pleases God.
Much of the rest of this message is an adaptation of material from The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity. When I see really solid stuff in books, I always figure no sense reinventing the wheel. The section there on guidance lists some obstacles to gaining a Biblical understanding of the will of God. I want to list those for you quickly and then move on to actual steps to discover the will of God and make the kinds of decisions that he would have us make.
Knowing God’s will – 7 obstacles
1. False – God has a wonderful plan for my life. True – God has a wonderful purpose. (Blueprint vs. Stream)
2. False – God wants to make decisions for me. True – God wants us to take action!
3. False – God has one way for me to do God’s will. True – Many ways of doing God’s will within his purpose.
4. False – It’s hard to know God’s will. True – Christ-followers are given both the wisdom and Spirit of God to guide them.
5. False – If it’s God’s will, there will be a sign. True – In the books of Acts and the letters of Paul we constantly see Christians using their “redeemed judgment.” Fact: In the Bible, all cases of supernatural leading were unsought!
6. False – I should just look for the “open door.” True – Christians are encouraged not only to go through open doors, but sometimes to break down closed doors for God. Guidance by circumstances? No way!
7. False – The way I think and the way I am made cannot help me find the will of God. True – Our highest and best thoughts are from God and we fulfill God’s will by doing what he created us to do!
My friends, if we can get away from the falsehoods about God’s will, and embrace the truths, we will be free to stop looking toward the horizon, stop looking down at the lines, and finally look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ. This is where the extreme makeover is required in our minds – at the place where we believe all this untrue stuff that is keeping us from being able to know God’s will for us.
Okay, with that in mind, let me introduce you to seven practical steps you can take to discover the will of God, these also adapted from The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity.
First, you must know and obey the scriptures. Big surprise, huh? Don’t preach that very often, do I?! When it comes to God’s will, the Bible shows us God’s sovereign will, which is how God wants to restore all of creation – bring all of us out of the Kingdom of Cosmos we talk about all the time, and into the Kingdom of God. That is God’s sovereign will. The Bible also shows us God’s moral will, so we don’t have to keep asking whether premarital sex or gossiping are right or wrong! And the Bible shows us God’s individual will which is that each of us is called to live for God’s glory, for Christ to be formed in us.
Second, you must pray. The main point of prayer, folks, is not to get guidance on particular issues, but to deepen your relationship with the guide. After all, to serve Christ is to follow him, right, to go where he goes? But in order to go where he goes, you must believe the guide is trustworthy and in order to believe that, you must have a good relationship with him.
We often pray prayers seeking God’s will for specific things. What if instead we prayed prayers seeking God? Seeking to know God, to see God more clearly, to live within his daily purpose for our lives? Do you think THAT prayer would be in God’s will? And do you think if God answered that prayer you would find yourself knowing more naturally what God’s will is?
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NIV)
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Parents, do you have a will for your children? Do you want them to grow up in certain ways and become certain kinds of people? Do you think it’s fun to keep that a secret from them, to make sure they always know you have a purpose for them, but that you’ll never quite tell them what it is, and always leave them guessing? Isn’t that a fun thing to do to our kids? Of course it’s not fun, it’s cruel! God has not treated us that way! God has not given us the rights of sonship and of daughtership, called us children, revealed to us that he has a purpose for us, and then taunted us by keeping it a secret.
Let me ask you, parents. How do your kids discover what you want them to do in specific situations they have never encountered before? Two ways. First, you hope you have taught them enough general principles that they’ll figure it out. Second, you hope they know you enough as a person to know what you stand for and what you would tell them if you were with them.
In other words, you hope you have instilled your voice in them, so that even when you are not directly there, they can continue to be guided by your voice. Now let me ask you another question. When you find out your child was in one of those situations and that he/she did what you’d have had them do, how do you respond:
a. Do you get mad because they didn’t get a cellphone and call and ask you.
b. Are you proud of them because they listened to your voice you have cultivated inside of them, and did your will even though you didn’t specifically tell them in that situation?
Of course b, right? Most of us parents realize that we are doing a great job when our child no longer needs to consult us about every single thing they do, but they are beginning to develop their own sense of what we would have them do. Not only that, they are beginning to do it naturally and with grace and wisdom.
Why do we have it backwards in Christianity? Why do we think the most spiritual people are the ones who insist on praying about every single detail of their lives, instead of having learned to listen for the voice of God and being able to respond? Hey, will you serve in this ministry? Let me pray about it. Will you give to this cause? Let me pray about it. Will you do this or go here or be part of that? Let me pray about it.
Now realize, I’m not denigrating specific prayer at all. There’s a certain time in our spiritual development where we really need to pray and ask God about those specific things. But folks, as we mature, we should find ourselves more and more capable of living prayerfully, and knowing what God would require us to do as he has cultivated his voice in us. Does that make sense?
John 10:27 (MSG)
27 My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me.
As we mature spiritually, we should simply recognize the voice of God. We should respond to it instinctively. We should find ourselves more and more frequently doing what God would have us do based on God’s voice inside of us, God’s character qualities that have taken root in us and are leading us to act and think and speak more like he would act and think and speak.
This is the most important purpose of prayer. In prayer, we learn to hear the voice of the Master so that when we’re in a situation we can respond and know what we should do, just like Jesus did when he healed that boy. Let us be people of prayer and move on to maturity, where God has not only redeemed our hearts, but also our consciences and our minds and our judgment and our opinions, so that we can increasingly trust the faculties God is redeeming in us to serve the purposes of his will! See what I mean? An extreme makeover is needed for some of us to get this! I pray the Holy Spirit is Ty Pennington in your mind and heart right now!
Third, you must seek godly counsel.
Proverbs 11:14 (MSG)
14 Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.
It doesn’t matter how smart you are, you cannot do well in this life without direction. And your primary Christian community – your small group – is the normal context to experience, test, and confirm the leading of God.
What does godly counsel involve? It could mean talking to your small group leader, or perhaps your entire small group. It could mean getting a referral to a good counselor or spiritual director who can help guide you. Maybe talking to me. Maybe a friend or family member, but the key is that it must be someone who 1) you respect; 2) preferably who is further along on their journey than you are; 3) you have given permission to speak truth to you; and 4) appears to have a good track record of making decisions in their own life.
Fourth, do the thing at hand for God’s glory. This goes back to this horizon idea. Do the thing at hand for God’s glory.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Ever seen a child pretend to drive a car? What does he do at the wheel? He makes huge sweeping motions from side to side, doesn’t he? Of course you realize that this would mean death if he were actually driving. It’s not needed, and it’s dangerous. But when a kid gets behind the wheel, he wants to feel like he’s DOING something, so he lays into that wheel. When we’re serving God, we want to feel like we’re doing something, so we look for God’s input on the big stuff – who I should marry, what school I should go to, what job to get, whether and when to have children. We’re not content to make the slight adjustments on that wheel that actually determine whether or not we stay on the road – how do I serve my family today, when will I pray, who will I be accountable to, how will I use my time. Driving is usually a matter of very small adjustments at the wheel. The massive turns don’t come that often. Living life for God is usually a matter of very small decisions – the big ones are few and far between but if we don’t stay diligently at the wheel for those small adjustments, we’ll get off course before we ever get to the big ones. Do the thing at hand for God’s glory. It’s easier to steer a moving car than a stalled one. Keep living your life for God in all the small decisions, and you will be more likely to move God’s direction in the big ones.
Fifth, cultivate a renewed mind.
Romans 12:2 (NLT)
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
The way we think must change, and I have preached entire series on this because it’s so essential. The difference between those who cultivate a renewed mind and those who do not comes down really to one thing: wisdom. To cultivate a renewed mind is to seek wisdom. In July we’re going to do a whole series on wisdom, talking about where to find wisdom and how to love, speak, and make friends wisely. Learning what God would have us do requires a mind that is growing in wisdom, that is not just going along with the rest of the world like a sheep, but is allowing God to sharpen it and shape it.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (GW)
14 A person who isn’t spiritual doesn’t accept the teachings of God’s Spirit. He thinks they’re nonsense. He can’t understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them.
This is where those little corrections at the wheel come in. Learning humility in daily living. Making sacrifices. Learning how to manage money and not let it manage us. Getting control of ourselves sexually. Learning to tame that temper and let things go. If we do not allow God to work in us to change our minds in small things, we will have no clue what he desires for us in big things.
Sixth, be open to supernatural confirmation from God. Do not depend on it, do not expect it, but be open to it.
Seventh, when you have made a decision, do not keep looking back.
2 Corinthians 5:7 (NCV)
7 We live by what we believe, not by what we can see.
Make the call and then live with it. Sometimes it will become clear that what you did was God’s will, that you made the right decision. Other times it will become clear that you did not make the right decision. Many times, perhaps most, you won’t know for a while. Your life in God is not based on making all the right decisions, but on always seeking God diligently.
So there you go – some misconceptions about godly decision-making, and seven principles that I hope can be helpful for you. Folks, this is stuff you can hang your hat on, that you can walk out of here and begin practicing today. I encourage you to work as hard to reject the misconceptions as you work to apply the seven principles. We must reject wrong thinking and embrace right thinking if we are to know God.
So I leave you with the obvious question. If we are to do the thing at hand for God’s glory, what is that thing for you? Will you pray with me?
Father, may we be less focused on the horizon, and more focused on the road ahead. We realize most of life is the lines going by on the highway, and if we don’t learn to hear your voice during those times, we won’t recognize it when the huge moments come over the horizon. You promised that whoever seeks finds. May we seek and find you in the ordinary moments of life. Amen.
