“5”
Part 3 – You Need A Big Black
The Rob and Big show helped MTV2 achieve its highest rated day in channel history on January 15, 2007. The first full season reached over 70 million total viewers, and was ranked #1 in its time period.
Robert (Rob) Dyrdek was born in Kettering, Ohio and began skateboarding at the age of 11, winning his first competition 24 days later. The same year, Dyrdek became the youngest member of the G&S skateboard team. He turned professional at the age of 16, joining the Ohio-based Alien Workshop team, forgoing his senior year of high school. He reached fourth place at the 1991 World Championships, the first contest he competed in as a professional.
At the age of 25, Dyrdek rededicated himself to street skateboarding. He began competing for the first time since his early professional years and received a multitude of awards and international recognition.
Christopher "Big Black" Boykin (born January 26, 1972) is an ex professional bodyguard.
Boykin is a U.S. Navy veteran, where he was a chef.
Boykin worked as an executive protection specialist until he met Dyrdek in 2003. Boykin is also a member of the hip-hop group "The Chunky Boys." But the thing that sets Boykin apart and garners him his nickname “Big Black” is his obvious size. He is 375-pound, 6-foot-6-inch of protection.
Big Black has Rob’s back.
In life not only do you need someone who is your friend (a Samwise), someone who will kick your rear, you also need someone who will cover your back. You need a Big Black.
3 accounts of someone who acted in the role of Big Black.
The first is rather obscure and may not be that obvious to you. It is found in:
Genesis 9:20-23
20Noah, a farmer, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21He drank from its wine, got drunk and passed out, naked in his tent. 22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and told his two brothers who were outside the tent. 23Shem and Japheth took a cloak, held it between them from their shoulders, walked backwards and covered their father’s nakedness, keeping their faces turned away so they did not see their father’s exposed body.
Noah has worked and toiled. By the sweat of his brow he has planted a vineyard. By the work of his own hands he has produced fruit. Now the fruit is ripe, so he makes wine and drinks it until he is drunk. As I read this portion of Scripture I realized that Noah had become drunk on the fruit of his own hands. And one of his sons ham’s it up. Ham goes outside laughing at his father’s nakedness. But Shem and Jepheth step in and guard their father’s back. They walk backwards and cover up his nakedness. Ham is cursed for his attack. Shem and Jepheth walk backwards into blessing.
The second instance is one that you were reminded of recently so I won’t spend a lot of time on it this morning. It is the story of Jonathan’s bodyguard/armor bearer found in:
1 Samuel 14:1; 6-7
Now the day came that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side." But he did not tell his father. Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few." His armor bearer said to him, "Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire."
Jonathan was a man of action. He didn’t like sitting on the sidelines very long. The order has been given by the king who happens to be his father that no one is to engage the enemy. However, Jonathan wouldn’t be held back. Against his father’s order he attacks the Philistines and single handedly turns the battle. However, it wasn’t really single handedly. He was joined by an armor barer that was willing to follow Jonathan into battle and watched his back as he fought.
The third instance is one I have preached from before. I just want to remind you again about Abishai in:
2 Samuel 21:15-17.
15War broke out again between the Philistines and Israel. David and his men went down to fight. David became exhausted. 16Ishbi-Benob, a warrior descended from Rapha, with a spear weighing nearly eight pounds and outfitted in brand-new armor, announced that he’d kill David. 17But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to the rescue, struck the Philistine, and killed him.
I hope you remember the story. David is now and old man. He goes out to fight the Philistines like he has so many times before. However, this time when the Philistines begin to retreat David begins to chase and grows so tired that he lays down on the battle field. Goliath’s little brother who was also a giant (Ishbibenob) sees a chance to take revenge and stands over David ready to kill him. Abishai the “Father of a Gift” steps in and kills the giant and saves David’s life.
Shem & Jepheth, an unnamed armor bearer, and Abishai were all big blacks!
One man said that “Everyone who has made a dent or a difference for God in history has had ‘protectors’ – people who have said to them, ‘I’ve got your back.’”
Why do you need someone to guard your back?
There are people out there who specialize in attacking you from behind.
I hate to burst your bubble this morning and force you to face reality. I so wished I could tell you that everyone is sugar and spice, but the reality of our world is that there are people who are gifted at attacking and destroying others. The truth is the more you try to do for God and for others the more exposed and likely you are to be attacked from behind and the more important a Big Black will become for you. People smell weakness. People attack weakness. People smell success. People attack the successful. People are equal opportunity attackers! Jesus himself had this happen. He was attacked from the outside by the religious leaders. He was also attacked from the inside by one of his own. If you do right you will be attacked. If you do wrong you will be attacked. If you attempt something for God you will be attacked. If you attempt to do nothing you will be attacked. The facts of life are that you will be attacked. You need a Big Black!
Football teams understand this truth. Did you know that every quarterback that is successful has a gifted tackle on his off-hand side that has one job . . . protect the quarterback’s blind spot. If you are right handed you need a left tackle that will guard your back!
What does a Big Black do? This is how you know who is a Big Black in your life.
Before we examine the truths revealed in these stories, may I first mention that the very first thing that a Big Black must do is:
1. They cover you in prayer.
You must not ever take for granted this gift from God. If you have someone, anyone who prays for you on a daily basis you should count yourself the most blessed person on earth. How often has tragedy been thwarted due to their prayers? How many times have you been spared misery or mistakes because of their prayers? Some of you need to make it a point to thank the people who have covered you so long in prayer!
We need a prayer warrior in our lives!
Ephesians 6:18 encourages us to be involved in this kind of back covering.
8In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
In fact, we are commanded to live this way in James 5.
6Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.
Who is developing calluses on their knees for you? Who thinks of you and prays for you the first thing in the morning or the last thing at night? Who is awakened to cover your back in prayer during the middle of the night?
You should enlist prayer warriors to serve as a Big Black in your life! I can still remember walking past my parent’s room as a teen hearing my father calling out my name in prayer!
MC Hammer the great theologian was correct when he said we’ve got to pray just to make it today. We need someone to pray so that we will make it. Someone to look the devil square in the eyes and say about me … you can’t touch this!
Who is your prayer warrior?
2. Cover your character.
Shem & Jepheth refused to allow the character of their father to be assassinated! They protected their Dad’s character from being attacked by their own brother.
I hate to tell you this but the world we live in is full of character assassins. People are just waiting for something to talk about. They are just hoping to be able to spread the news. And if they can’t find something, they will make it up! That is when you need someone in your life that will stand up and give you the benefit of the doubt! They will stand up and say, “No I know them better than that and until I hear it from them I won’t believe it.”
That is what Barnabas did for Paul. In Acts 9, Paul has had a conversion experience. He tries to join the disciples, but they are afraid of him. They have heard about and experienced this man’s character. But a Big Black steps in. 26Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn’t trust him one bit. 27Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus’ name. 28After that he was accepted as one of them, going in and out of Jerusalem with no questions asked, uninhibited as he preached in the Master’s name.
You need someone to vouch for you!
3. They cover your nakedness.
The truth is Noah made a mistake. To put it in today’s slang, “He got caught with his pants down.” He was at fault. He blew it. He was to blame. But a Big Black will cover our nakedness because they care more about us than they do about our mistakes.
The truth is that we have all come short of the glory of God. We all, at some point, in our lives find ourselves uncovered and exposed. We seldom live at that such a level of faith that we are immune to failure or weakness. But a Big Black knows you aren’t perfect, that you make mistakes, but they love you enough to stand up for you anyway. They give you the benefit of the doubt. They believe you are worth saving!
You have had people in your life that run for the hills when they discover you aren’t perfect. This person isn’t that way. They see your mistake. They don’t like your mistake. They might even confront you about your mistake. But they won’t expose your mistake. They will cover it and try to get you help!
Arthur Pink: "It is human to err, but it is also human to conceal the blemishes of those we admire."
We are in dire need someone who will get involved in the great cover up! We need people like Shem and Japheth who see nakedness and weakness and respond with mercy and grace. Notice that they didn’t turn their faces to act as if there was nothing wrong. Their mindset wasn’t “Ignore the situation and weakness and it will go away.” No, they turned their faces signifying that the sin was bad, ugly, and unacceptable. I am in no way suggesting that we ignore sin and act like everything is fine. Remember last week’s message. You need someone who can kick you into straight. But you also need someone who will walk in backwards and cover up your nakedness. They don’t ignore or make excuses for the nakedness, but they refuse to allow that nakedness to be the final statement about you!
Who covers for you?
3. Won’t tell everything they know.
Did you notice in the passage that I read to you that the last sentence of verse 1 says, “But he did not tell his father?” Jonathan didn’t want his dad to know what he was doing. His armor bearer could have blown the whistle. He could have ended Jonathan’s plan before it ever got started. He didn’t tell everything he knew.
You need someone in your life with whom you can share your pain, your secrets, your goals, your plans who won’t feel the need to tell everything they know! I have discovered that this type of person is not only harder and harder to find, but is more and more of a gift from God. People like to share news! It makes them feel important. You need a Big Black that covers you in silence. They hear your heart and they keep quiet.
There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. A Big Black understands this.
5. Will put themselves in harm’s way.
In the account of Jonathan’s armor bearer and of Abishai, these men put themselves at risk to protect others.
You need someone in your life whom will go out of their way to protect you even if it puts them in danger.
Who is willing to fight for you even if it means they may be wounded? Who sees you in danger and runs to your rescue in spite of the pain it costs them?
6. Will defend you when you can’t defend yourself.
David was defenseless. He was so exhausted that he couldn’t move a muscle or lift a sword to defend himself. He was at the mercy of the giant. But David had a Big Black in his life. Abishai steps in and defends David when he couldn’t defend himself.
There will come a day when you can’t defend yourself. Have you ever been in a situation where you were dead if you did and dead if you didn’t? If you say anything it will come off wrong or if you keep quiet you are deemed guilty? It is in that moment that you need someone who can come along side of you and defend you. You need someone who will fight for you when your hands are tied.
Close: Some of you have these folks and don’t even know it. Some of you need to enlist these folks. If you don’t have someone like this you can.
Jesus is the ultimate example of a Big Black. He is forever interceding for us or praying for us. He covers our character and believes in us even when we are naked. He provides grace and mercy to cover our wrong. He doesn’t tell everything He knows about us. In fact, He forgets it. He put himself in harm’s way for us. He defends me when I can’t defend myself. He’s got your back!
Prayer:
I got your back. Begin to cover them in prayer. Guard their character. Fight for them when they can’t fight!
