“Need Vs Want”
Series: 4 Letter Words
Thesis: We need to mature in our relationship with the Lord. We do this by wanting what we need. Not needing what we want. We place our life and faith in seeking God and following His lead in our life.
Scripture Text (Key verse): -Matthew 6:33:
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Introduction:
Discovering the difference between a need and want in our lives has a lot to do with our mindsets and even our expectations in life.
For example: Could a realistic expectation be that we can learn a foreign language in one week, can we in one week learn a new culture? No, we could not but our want vs need could be impacted if we believe we should be able too.
The truth is Christians become disillusioned and discouraged with faulty expectations: These fleeing expectations confuse needs and wants in a person’s life.
The following thoughts are from Sy Rogers:
God is event and process orientated – Most Christians are only event orientated.
But the development of a baby is a process caused by one passionate event in the bedroom.
Birth is an event but there is a process of growth and maturity. God will not zap a person through adolescent. A 2yr old cannot be a 12 year old. You have to go through the process of maturity and for us we must spiritually mature in our walk with the Lord so that our needs are clear and Biblical. When we have a mature mindset in Christ our wants change and our real needs become clear in view of eternity.
Phillip Yancey had this to say about people’s expectations:
Phillip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places (pages 187-188)
Daniel Boorstin, former librarian of Congress and director of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, offers this assessment of contemporary culture:
When we pick up our Newspaper at breakfast, we expect-we even demand-that it bring us momentous events since the night before. We turn on the car radio as we drive to work and expect “news” to have occurred since the morning newspaper went to press. Returning in the evening, we expect our house not only to shelter us , to keep us warm in winter and cool in summer, but to relax us, to dignify us, to encompass us with soft music and interesting hobbies, to be a playground, a theatre, and a bar. We expect our two-week vacation to be romantic, exotic, cheap and effortless. We expect a far-away atmosphere if we go to a near-by place; and we expect everything to be relaxing, sanitary, and Americanized if we go to a far-away place. We expect new heroes every season, a literary masterpiece every month, a dramatic spectacular every week, a rare sensation every night. We expect everybody to feel free to disagree, yet we expect everybody to be loyal, not to rock the boat or take the Fifth Amendment. We expect everybody to believe deeply in his religion, yet not to think less of others for not believing. We expect our nation to be strong and great and vast and varied and prepared for every challenge; yet we expect our ‘national purpose’ to be clear and simple, something that gives direction to the lives of two hundred million people and yet can be bought in a paperback at the corner drugstore for a dollar.
We expect anything and everything. We expect the contradictory and the impossible. We expect compact cars which are spacious; luxurious cars which are economical. We expect to be rich and charitable, powerful and merciful, active and reflective, kind and competitive. We expect to be inspired by mediocre appeals for ‘excellence’ to be made literate by illiterate appeals for literacy. We expect to eat and stay thin, to be constantly on the move and ever more neighborly, to go to the “church of our choice” and yet feel its guiding power over us, to revere God and to be God.
Never have people been more the masters of their environment. Yet never has a people felt more deceived and disappointed.
Opening remarks: Tonight some of you have come to church to this service because there is a missing link in your life. You are not exactly sure what it is but there is void. You have discovered that your car, your job, you’re I-phone, you’re computer, you’re friends have disappointed you and have not filled this missing void in your life. You have thought that the items I just mentioned were real needs but you soon discovered that they were really a want because they failed to fill that void in your heart and life. You know there is more to life than these things or even friends so you are searching for that in your life. You are looking to have your biggest need met in your life. I believe that key need is associated with a relationship between you and God.
One highly successful advertiser stated “I am a success because I can convince people that the longing they have in their lives can be fulfilled with the stuff I have for them to buy. I know that they will buy into my item and in turn buy my product only to discover that after a short time this product did not fulfill their inner hole. So then they will try another one of my products to fill this void. This becomes a money making circle for me.”
But the truth is nothing, no amount of money, no fame, power, or object will ever be able to satisfy our biggest need in life and that is a personal relationship with God.
Here is a question to ask ourselves tonight: “Should we get what we need or what we want in life?”
Now ask yourself this question, “What is it that you really want out of life?”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Want: In economics, a want is something that is desired. It is said that people have unlimited wants, but limited resources. Each person has wants. You might want a laptop while your best friend may want a desktop computer. Thus, people cannot have everything they want and must look for the best alternatives which they can afford.
Wants are often distinguished from needs. A need is something that is necessary for survival (such as food and shelter), whereas a want is simply something that a person would like to have. Some economists have rejected this distinction and maintain that all of these are simply wants, with varying levels of importance. By this viewpoint, wants and needs can be understood as examples of the overall concept of demand.
Think about it for a moment?
Let me share a few things we came up with as a staff that are wants:
1. Money?
2. Material possessions?
3. Career
4. Success
5. Significant personal relationships
6. Approval of others
7. Housing
Now ask yourself this question, “What is it you really need?”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need: A need is something that is necessary for humans to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from wants because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death. Needs can be objective and physical, such as food and water, or they can be subjective and psychological, such as the need for self-esteem.
Think about it for a moment?
Here is what we as a staff came up with as to what each of us really need.
1. The ability to hear God’s voice and wisdom in everyday life.
2. God’s love which leads to salvation.
3. God’s presence in our life daily.
4. Food
5. Water
6. Clothing
7. Health
The first list and the last four of this list are addressed by Jesus when he says the following in Matthew 6:19-34:
Treasures in Heaven
19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Do Not Worry
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
T.S. – What you want is that really what you need? Is what you need really what you want? The truth is the biggest need of ours is to hear the words of wisdom from above. It’s the idea of being in tune with the voice and insight from God.
I. What we need in life is really what we should want in life and first of all that should be wisdom from above.
a. I usually want things that I see through my own selfish mindset. But I should change my focus and earthly mindset to seeing things through the eyes of God which is a heavenly mindset or heavenly vision.
i. Scripture: Philippians 2:3: “3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. “
1. This passage tells us what wisdom from above does. This would be contrary to what wisdom from below would say to us.
b. Let’s look at James 3:14-16: “13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace–loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
c. As we ponder the two wisdoms in life we are challenged with asking the question, which one is more focused on supplying our needs in life?
i. James tells us that there are two different wisdoms trying to control our lives – one originates from Heaven above and the other is an earthly unspiritual wisdom.
1. The voice or belief system you listen too will have a different wants list and needs list.
ii. Our perspective – our mindset in life determines our view of what is a need and really what is a want in our live.
1. It’s the concept that tells me what I should place a value on in my life.
2. It should help me to prioritize my life’s wants and needs.
iii. Many today are in the pursuit of wisdom. They desire to be able to make right decisions that will affect their lives in a positive manner. They understand the key ingredient to have in their lives is this thing called wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to look at a situation and pick the correct way to handle it and therefore be in the position to reap the rewards of that wise decision.
1. But James tells us there is a problem with which wisdom you listen to and adhere to. Do you listen to wisdom from above which originates with God. He most likely thought of the Scripture in Proverbs 1:7 which reveals that the beginning of wisdom starts with the fear of the Lord.
2. Bill Hybel’s has this to say about how to attain true Biblical wisdom from his book “Making Life Work”:
a. Do you want to begin the process of acquiring something that is worth much more than gold? You start by obtaining the knowledge that is most central to the deepest human needs, the knowledge that there is a God who is powerful and personal and head over heels in love with each and every one of us, a God who has extended to us, through Jesus Christ his Son, the hand of forgiveness and grace. He says, “Come on, take that hand, and I’ll help you make your life work.” That is where we start. (24).
b. The other wisdom active in this world is the thought process generated by this world and influenced by the forces from below. This unspiritual wisdom leads to disorder and every evil practice. In other words those who live according to this wisdom or belief system will be in disarray and will be following the path of destruction. It’s path leads directly to the pit of Hell.
c. To make sure we are being influenced by the right kind of wisdom we need to go to school and discover what wisdom is controlling our lives. The best way to do this is to study the Scriptures and see what the School of Wisdom has to say about these two opposing mind sets.
d. So we need to explore Proverbs – this OT book paints a clear picture of the two types of wisdom in this world.
i. One breeds people who are called wise the other breeds people who are called fools.
ii. One produces a life filled with eternal blessing the other breeds a life filled with everlasting curses.
iii. One will set you free the other will put you into bondage.
iv. One will give your life ultimate satisfaction the other will bring discontentment and lifelessness.
e. Bill Hybels observes this about the book of Proverbs from his book “Making Life Work”: What is wisdom? Wisdom is what is true and right combined with good judgment. Other words that fit under the umbrella of the Biblical concept of wisdom are discerning, judicious, prudent, and sensible. Not very glamorous words perhaps, but words you can build a life on.
i. The first nine chapters of Proverbs form an introduction to the remaining twenty-two chapters of the book and present the central message of Proverbs, which is this: pursue wisdom. The introduction is written in the warm tones of a fatherly voice giving instructions to his sons and eloquently building a case for the lifelong pursuit of wisdom.
1. Hybels, “Listen, my sons, to a fathers instruction; pay attention…Do not forsake my teaching…get wisdom, get understanding…Do not forsake wisdom…Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding…Accept what I say…I guide you in the way of wisdom” (16, 17).
ii. Proverbs opens up telling us that wisdom is the key to a successful life and we need to make sure we pursue it with our whole heart.
T.S. – Our first need is to make sure we are listening and getting direction from wisdom from above in our lives. The second key need is the ability to see and hear God in our everyday lives.
II. Our wants can blind us to God’s presence in our lives. Our need is to see and hear God in our everyday lives even in the unexpected places.
a. My 2nd crucial need is to see God at work in my life each day.
i. Phillip Yancey stated in his book “Finding God In Unexpected Places”, “The job of a journalist is, simply, to see. We are professional eyes. As a Christian journalist, I have learned to look for traces of God. I have found those traces in unexpected places: among the chief propagandists of a formerly atheistic nation and refugees from a currently atheistic nation; in a storefront Chapel at Ground zero, an Atlanta sum, and even a Chicago health club; at a meeting of Amnesty International , on a weekend retreat with twenty Jews and Muslims, and on a panel addressing ‘Why do Muslims Hate Us.’ In the prisons of Peru and Chile and orphanages in South Africa and Myanmar; in the speeches of Vaclav Havel and even in the plays of Shakespeare” (Pages 4, 5).
ii. I add we need to see God at the coffee shop, in the traffic jams, as we drive by accidents, sitting on an airplane, looking at the people in the mall, in offices, on the trains, in my family and home life. I need to see God in the movies and TV shows and yes even in the political arena of this life.
iii. When we look and listen for God we do find God in unexpected places. Here is there in the hospital as we get the bad news and He is there when we receive applause for doing something good.
iv. God is also there in Haiti right now! He is in the prisons of China.
1. Yancey tells this story :
a. On a trip to South Africa, I met a remarkable woman named Joanna. She is a mixed race, part black and part white, a category known there as ‘coloured. ’As a student she agitated for change in apartheid and then saw the miracle that no one predicted, the peaceful dismantling of that evil system. Afterward, for many hours she sat with her husband and watched live broadcasts of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. Instead of simply exulting in her newfound freedoms. Joanna next decided to tackle the most violent prison in South Africa, a prison where Nelson Mandela had spent several years. Tattoo-covered gang members controlled the prison, strictly enforcing a rule that required new members to earn their admittance to the gang by assaulting undesirable prisoners. Prison authorities looked the other way, letting the ‘animals’ beat and even kill each other. Alone, this attractive young woman started going each day into the bowels of that prison. She brought a simple message of forgiveness and reconciliation, trying to put into practice on a smaller scale what Mandela and Bishop Tutu were trying to effect in the nation as a whole. She organized small groups, taught trust games, got the prisoners to open up about the details of their horrific childhoods. The year before she began her visits, the prison record 279 acts of violence; the next year there were two. Joanna’s results were so impressive that the BBC sent a camera crew from London to produce two one-hour documentaries on her. I met Joanna and her husband, who has since joined her in the prison work, at a restaurant on the waterfront of Cape Town ever the journalist, I pressed her for specifics on what had happened to transform that prison. Her fork stopped on the way to her mouth, she looked up and said, almost without thinking, “Well, of course, Philip, God was already in the prison. I just had to make him visible.” (page 5, 6).
v. I sat in the mall the other day watching people hurry by and wondered “Do they ever think about God in their day?”
1. Dietrich Bonhoeffer stated, “For Christians, the beginning of the day should not be burdened and haunted by the various kinds of concerns that they face during the day. The Lord stands above the new day, for God has made it. All restlessness, all impurity, all worry and anxiety flee before him. Therefore, in the early morning hours of the day, may our many thoughts and our many idle words be silent and may the first word and the first thought belong to the one to whom our whole life belongs.”
2. It was obvious Dietrich thought about God each day – looked for him in the midst of World War 2 and all the horrible death associated with it.
a. He saw God even in those days.
b. So can we not see God today in the midst of all that is going on?
3. I do believe we need to learn how to identify and see God each day. So you ask How do you do that? Ortberg gives us some ideas in His book and curriculum, “An Ordinary Day with Jesus.”
a. Be still in the morning when you wake.
i. Acknowledge God and invite him to guide you through your day.
b. Make sure that at different points in your day you quiet your mind and look to the Lord.
i. Post scripture verses around and or post it’s with one word to remind you to focus on God’s plan for your day.
c. Look for God’s presence in the ordinary moments of the day.
i. In conversation, in pressure moments!
ii. Learn from the difficult people.
iii. Look for ways to serve others in your day.
iv. Look for ways to encourage others.
d. Be ready to change a plan if God directs you too!
e. Remember God is not interested in an abstract spiritual life but He is interested in you and in using you for His Divine purposes.
f. We will have to train to become sensitive to God’s voice and presence. Training in His word, in prayer and praise helps us to achieve this daily.
g. At the end of your day review your day and see if you missed something – ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you in this meditative time.
vi. Understanding the difference between wants and needs will come as you significantly grow and see God in your everyday life.
1. He is right there with us all day!
a. Matthew 28:20: “…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Conclusion:
Christian maturity tells me that I should want two things in my life – they should be my 2 biggest or most crucial needs.
1. The first big need should be to seek wisdom and direction in life from above. I should live my day with a Heavenly mindset.
a. My heavenly mindset tells me that I do not need or should not want all the new gizmo’s out there? I don’t need or should I want a new car every year and or a new house every 5 years. I don’t need the latest techy gadgets every other month. What I really need is Heavenly wisdom from God. Why? To direct my choices and my daily decisions.
i. Paul’s comment: Philippians 4:11, 12: 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
ii. 1 Timothy 6:6, 7: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”
2. My second biggest need is to see God in my everyday life.
a. We need to train and to be intentional about seeing and hearing God in our everyday life.
b. This is essential if we want to keep the right perspective on what is our real needs in life and what are just unnecessary wants.
i. Psalm 118:24: “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
1. Every day is a good day with Jesus at our side!
2. Let’s utilize everyday for Him and make a eternal difference which each one of our days.
ii. Colossians 3:17: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Altar Call:
Open the altar up for people to connect with the Lord. To come and ask to be able to hear wisdom from above and to see you Lord at work in their lives daily.
