We are finishing up this 6-part series. If you’re ready for us to move on, we’re moving on
after this. We’re pretty excited about this, and as we wrap up, for those of you who have not been
with us for any of this series, I want to review really quickly. The title of the series is Guardrails.
Essentially, we’ve taken the idea of a guardrail and built a spiritual principle out of it. We’ll see
how well we do. Here’s what a guardrail is. You know this part. A guardrail is a system designed
to keep vehicles from straying into dangerous, or off-limit areas. We all know what a guardrail
is. The guardrail is actually placed in an area that’s safe to drive to keep us from going into
places that are unsafe to drive. A guardrail is always placed a few feet or a few yards away from
the area of danger. Guardrails are designed to cause a little bit of damage in order to keep you
from experiencing a lot of damage. We all know that on the other side of guardrails are places
that we shouldn’t go.
So, we asked the question a few weeks ago: What would it look like to create guardrails
or to establish guardrails in other areas of our lives? What would it look like to have financial
guardrails? What would it look like to have moral guardrails? What would it look like to have
guardrails that help us with our friendships or our marriage—academic, professional—just any
arena of life? What if we were to establish some guardrails that kept us back from the edge of
disaster, whatever that might be? So, we came up with our own definition, and here’s the
definition we’ve been using. A guardrail is a standard of behavior, or a standard of personal
behavior (which means you make these up yourself), a standard of personal behavior that
becomes a matter of conscience.
And the matter of conscience part is a little bit tricky. The idea is that you would create a
standard. You would say, In this area of my life, this is as far as I’m going to go. And you would
make that decision so personal that when you violated it or began to violate your own personal
standard, your conscience would light up and say, “Warning, warning, warning! You’re moving
towards something dangerous.” A personal standard of behavior that nobody else may subscribe
to, a personal standard of behavior that’s your own personal standard, but you’re so committed to
it that you actually feel guilty because your conscience lights up. You actually feel guilty when
you begin to violate your personal standard, the idea being to create some guardrails that keep us
away from disaster.
The thing we’ve said every single week is this (and this is never going to change), our
culture baits us to the edge of disaster in several areas, and then mocks us once we step over
certain lines. Our culture baits us to the edge of disaster financially—buy, buy, buy, buy now,
zero down, you can pay for it for the rest of your life, no one’s ever going to come bother you.
It’s just going to be great. And then you get yourself in a lot of debt and then the culture goes,
You’re pretty irresponsible. Look at all that consumer debt. Oh, that credit card debt. Nobody
wants to marry you. You’re a loser. It’s like, Wait a minute. I just did what you told me to do.
Well, sorry. That’s culture, right? Culture baits us to the edge of disaster morally, relationally, in
our marriages, and then we step over certain lines and people are going, Oh, you’re gross; you’re just disgusting, ugh. So the question is, again, how do you manage that? So that’s never going to
change, so we’ve said what if we establish some guardrails.
We’ve talked about every area. We’ve talked about finances; we’ve talked about moral
guardrails, talked about friendships—all kinds of stuff. Today as we wrap up, I want to address
the big pushback to all of this. If you haven’t been with us, I’m not going to give you much more
context than I’ve already given you. You can go online and listen or watch these for free. But if
you’ve been with us, I want to talk specifically about why we don’t do this. Because chances are,
if you’ve been in this series, you’ve had sort of two tracks running. One track is, I hope my
wife’s listening. One track is, “I’ve got to get a copy of this for my kids.” I’ve heard that so
many times. “I’ve got a get a copy of this.” In fact, a good friend of mine said this morning, “My
kids are young; I’m going to get a copy of this and save it for when my kids are older.” “I hope
my grandkids are listening. I hope my husband’s listening. I hope everybody else is listening.”
Because it just makes common sense that in order to keep from screwing up our lives in just
about any area you could think of, we need some guardrails, some things to kind of keep us back
from the brink of disaster. That’s one track.
The other one is this: “I’m not going to do this. I don’t want to do that.” Because, “Yeah,
Andy, it makes sense, can’t really argue with the logic. You don’t even need the Bible.” This is
just sort of common sense, isn’t it? Yeah, a lot of the Bible is common sense anyway. But there’s something in you and there’s something in me that says, “Okay, I got it, but the problem with the guardrail is it keeps me away from something I want. I don’t want to be a good example; I just want to make more money. I don’t want to give; I want to buy; I want to purchase. I don’t want to be wise and prudent; I want to date her, I want to date him. I don’t want to be fiscally
responsible; I want to lease that.” So the problem is, it makes a lot of sense but, “I don’t want to
study; I want an A, and there’s a way to make an A without studying. I know you always talk
about character and the story you want to tell, but the problem is, Andy, with guardrails,
guardrail—they’re actually just in my way. They get between me and what I want.” That’s the
pushback.
That’s why many of you, even though you sort of enjoyed this series and it’s been kind of
fun, you walk out of here and you just do what you’ve always done, and the reason is not
because the logic is flawed. Again, you hope all of your friends and the people you love are
paying close attention. You’re going to save this for your kids and grandkids. The problem is,
when it comes to you, when it comes to me, the whole idea of stepping back means there are
things between where I am and where I shouldn’t be that I’m missing out on, that I’m not having
quite as much fun as I possibly could, that I’m not as close to sin as I could possibly get without
actually sinning. So, I’m leaving some stuff on the table; I’m leaving some stuff out there; I’m
leaving some experiences unexplored. And honestly, Andy, that’s great, but I’m just not going to
do it. If you’ve had those thoughts, or if you’ve already kind of wandered in that direction, I
want to kind of point you to two things you already know. That’s basically all I do anyway. I
want to talk about two things you already know, and then I want to tell you a story from the
Bible.
The two things you already know—here it is: if you decide, Forget the guardrail thing;
that’s ridiculous, I’m missing out on too much. I’d rather live on the edge. I’d rather live life
dangerously, or however you view that. Here’s the thing you need to know: regardless of
whether you have guardrails or not, the tension that you feel is not going away. Let me explain
that to you. You see if you decide, for example, I know—financial responsibility and debt and all
that stuff, but I’m just going to lease a car I can’t afford anyway. If you decide to lease a car you
can’t afford, anyway, you are still going to be tempted to lease a car you can’t afford, anyway in
about 24 months or 36 months. So, leasing a car you can’t afford, anyway does not erase or take
away the tension or the temptation to lease a car you can’t afford, anyway.
Let me try a different way. If you decide, I’m married, and I know there are rules and
social things, but I’m going to go out with her anyway. I’m going to have a girlfriend on the side.
Here’s what you need to do. If you decide as a married guy to have a girlfriend on the side, that’s
not going to take away the temptation to have a girlfriend on the side. You will still be tempted
to have—once she’s gone—you’re still going to be tempted. It doesn’t solve anything. So here’s
what happens. Because all of us agree, out there somewhere—morally, financially, relationally,
professionally—all of us agree, out there somewhere are some lines we probably shouldn’t cross.
We may not agree on what they are, but we all agree, okay, a person really shouldn’t do that. A
single person really shouldn’t do that. A married person shouldn’t do that. A student shouldn’t
do that. There are lines out there. Here’s the problem: Wherever you decide to put the brakes on
(this is important), wherever you decide to put the brakes on, that will be the point of tension you
experience. That’s where your temptation begins. Your temptation begins wherever you decide
to put the brakes on. The temptation is never going away. The tension is never going away.
If you decide, forget this diet I’ve been on. I’m just going to eat whatever I want to eat,
well, at some point you go, well, I probably shouldn’t eat. Well, now you have a new point of
tension. The temptation doesn’t go away. And refusing to have guardrails does not eliminate the
tension; it does not eliminate the temptation. All it does is erode your resolve, and all it does is
bring you to a place of temptation that if you were to give in, the consequences are greater.
Going back to what we talked about a few weeks ago, we said married people shouldn’t
have meals—it’s a guardrail, this is a suggestion, it’s not the Bible—that married people
shouldn’t have meals alone with other married people who aren’t their spouse. That leads to
things. That’s sort of a guardrail. So if I decide I’m not going to have coffee with another woman
other than my wife, that’s my guardrail, and I go, “But I really want to have coffee with her.”
Oh, struggle, struggle, and struggle. “I really want to have coffee with her. I really want to have
coffee with her. I’m just going to have coffee with her.” Well, what’s happened? I’ve had coffee
with her. It’s not the end of the world, right? But what if that’s not your guardrail? What if it’s,
“Well, I’m not going to have dinner. Well, I really want to have dinner with him, I really want to
have dinner with him, I really want to have dinner with him. Oh, I’m going to have dinner with
him.” What have you done? Nothing. You’ve had dinner with him. No big deal, right?
But what if it’s, “I really shouldn’t go in. I really shouldn’t go in. I want to go in, but I
really shouldn’t go in. She’s inviting me in, but I shouldn’t.” It’s a little different, isn’t it? See,
the tension is not going away. “Okay, we’re in. Okay, I really want to go upstairs. I really want to go upstairs. I really want to go upstairs. I shouldn’t go upstairs. She wants me to go upstairs.”
See, my point is—now you’re giggling, right? So then what? My point is this, and this is true
academically, professionally, morally. It applies everywhere. At some point, you are going to put
a foot on the brake, and when you do, that’s where the temptation and that’s where the tension
begins. But the further you are in on some things, the more complicated the consequences if you
say yes, and the more difficult it is to say no. So, refusing to have guardrails doesn’t solve
anything. It just moves the battle line a little bit closer to disaster.
Let me say that a different way. I’ve said this before, but again, this is just stuff we
should remember from time to time. Your appetites are never fully and finally satisfied. Your
appetites are never fully and finally satisfied. In other words, you never have a meal to end all
meals. You never have a dessert to end all desserts. You never purchase a car to end all car
purchases. You never have a kiss to end all kisses. There is no appetite that you have that is fully
and finally satisfied. In fact, you may not know this, the more you feed an appetite, guess what
happens to it? It grows. That’s right.
Did you know the more you weigh the hungrier you are? See, people who are skinny look
at people who are overweight and go, I’ll bet they’re never hungry. Not the case. Because you
feed an appetite—it grows. So here’s the deal. Whatever area we’re talking about, financially,
the shopping thing, or a debt thing, or whatever it is—or relationships with people you shouldn’t
spend time with, alcohol, recreational drugs—you just pick an area. The point is this: Every time
you feed an appetite, it’s never fully and finally satisfied. It comes back and it wants more.
That’s never going to change in your life. Well, if that’s the case, then what does wisdom say?
What does common sense say? What would you do if you were you and loved you? If moving
closer and closer and closer to lines that spell disaster only feeds an appetite, the thing with a
guardrail is not only do you just draw a different line of temptation, a different line of tension,
you draw it far enough back to where the appetite is far more manageable, because appetites are
never fully and finally satisfied.
So, my point is this, in case you check out after this. Here’s all I’m saying. If you decide
the problem with a guardrail is it keeps me from good things, it keeps me from having fun, it’s
going to be so weird, my friends aren’t going to understand, it’s so extreme—I understand that.
All I’m saying is don’t deceive yourself. That’s where we actually started this series. Don’t
deceive yourself into thinking that by saying yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, you’ll never have to say no.
Because you decide, it’s your life, wherever you say no, that’s where your temptation begins. All
I’m saying to you, because I love you, is that the further back you stay from certain lines, the
easier it is to resist. You win.
Now, I want to tell you a story. 605 B.C. is where this story happens. It’s amazing we
even know what happened in 605 B.C. This is amazing. This is in the Bible, but it’s also
substantiated by secular history. It’s 605 B.C. and a king you’ve heard of named
Nebuchadnezzar, who was located in modern day Iraq, (in fact Saddam Hussein sort of wanted
to be the next Nebuchadnezzar and sort of modeled and styled himself after Nebuchadnezzar—
you may not have known that) Nebuchadnezzar, 605 B.C. decided to conquer Israel, and
specifically the city of Jerusalem.
Now Nebuchadnezzar was a brilliant guy, and here’s one of the things that made him so
brilliant. When he would go into a major metropolitan ancient city, instead of just destroying the
city and enslaving everybody, he gave his commanders these instructions: Go into the city and
arrest and take captive all the royal family, the best and the brightest, because the royal family
was generally the most educated. The royal family was generally the prettiest. The royal family
was generally the people who had eaten well and had taken care of themselves and been taken
care of. Go into the city and take as captive the best and the brightest, and bring them safely back to my capitol city, Babylon.
And so Nebuchadnezzar had the habit of importing the prettiest people in the world and
the smartest people in the world into his capitol city, then he would put them in a training
program and he would slowly strip away all of their culture and replace it with Babylonian
culture. So, his capital city of Babylon, back in this period of ancient history, was a magnificent
city, full of brilliant people, the brightest scholars in all the world, and the prettiest people,
because he would destroy their cities, try to destroy their civilizations—but he would import the
best and the brightest, re-create a culture within them, change their worldview, and, in some
cases, send them back out to export Babylonian culture. It was brilliant.
So, in 605 B.C. he sends his armies into the city of Jerusalem, conquers Jerusalem, goes
into the temple, the ancient temple that Solomon had built, pretty much destroys the temple and
loots it, takes all the things that are valuable, and brings them to Babylon. He enriches himself
with Israel’s gold, and he brings with him Israel’s best and brightest. And four of these people
that he brought with him are very famous people you’ve heard of. Daniel is one; the other three
are Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were part of this entourage that he captured and
brought to the city of Babylon.
So, he gets these guys with all these other people from all over the world, begins this
training process, and the goal, again, is to strip away all of their heritage and all of their belief
system and create new Babylonians that, again, are the brightest people in the world. Here’s how
the story begins. Daniel 1:5.
Daniel 1:5 (TNIV)
5 The king [That’s King Nebuchadnezzar, as part of his training program] assigned them
a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. [Which was awesome. This is like,
wow, this is the best food in the empire we get to eat.] They were to be trained for three
years,
This was graduate school. This was, you thought you were smart before, you’re getting
ready to get your Ph.D. You’re going to get your Master’s degree. We’re going to give you a
three year free, all paid for college education, with a food allowance that comes right off the
king’s table. In other words, most of the captives who found themselves in this program were
high fiving each other going, Oh, my gosh! We thought we were going to die in the desert. We
thought we were going to die like our parents and grandparents. We thought it was over for us. We thought we were going to work in the salt mines, the copper mines. We’re going to live in
the palace, eat the king’s food, and they’re going to educate us. This is unbelievable.
Daniel 1:5 (TNIV)
5 They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter into the king’s
service.
So, after they finished their three-year program, they would have an oral exam, and the
best and the brightest of this group would actually get to work for the king and live in the palace.
This is as good as it could possibly get in the ancient world.
But Daniel, who was one of these smart guys, was so smart he saw through the whole
plan, and he saw the end game, and he realized what was about to happen. Because once they
rescued his life, they gave him a new set of clothes, they shaved his head, they pierced his ear,
and they gave him a new name. In fact, Daniel’s name was actually Belteshazzar. They took a
Babylonian god, Bel, and attached it with part of their language, and it meant something like Bel
will take care of you, or Bel will watch over you, or Bel is your defender. They gave him a brand
new name. Daniel realized what was happening—that slowly, slowly, slowly they were going to
begin and continue to strip away everything he believed, everything he knew, everything he had
placed his faith in. And one day he would wake up and he would be Babylonian through and
through, worshipping Babylonian gods, taking part in Babylonian ceremonies, viewing Marduk,
or Bel, or all the different gods as the god, and having put in his past everything he grew up
believing was true. And he realized they were going to do this very, very slowly over time, over
time.
Daniel recognized something that many of us completely miss when it comes to the ebb
and flow of culture. Check this out. Here’s what he knew that we missed: that compromise does
not erase the tension, it only weakens our resolve. Compromise does not erase the tension. We
think, Oh, if I give in, I won’t have that tension anymore. Oh, if I give in, I won’t have that
temptation anymore. Oh, if I give in, I won’t have that pressure anymore. Daniel knew better
than that—that compromise does not erase the tension; it only weakens our resolve. If you cheat
once, it’s way easier to cheat the second time. Once you cross certain lines of debt and
compounding debt, it’s just easier to take on more debt. Once you compromise with alcohol or
recreational drugs, it’s just easier the second time. Come on, that second cigarette is way easier
than that first cigarette. There are so many lines, that once you cross them, the tension doesn’t go away, it’s just that your resolve is lessened.
Daniel saw this and he realized: They’ve changed my clothes, they’ve changed my name,
they’ve changed my habits, and they’ve changed my schedule. I realize where this is going. One
day I will have completely abandoned everything I held near and dear. And so Daniel decided to
do something that I want to encourage all of us to do. Here’s what the Scripture tells us.
Daniel 1:8 (TNIV)
8 But Daniel resolved
Another translation says, “Daniel made up his mind.” Enough is enough—that’s as far as
I go. That’s as close as I get. That’s as far as you’re going to be able to push me.
Daniel 1:8 (TNIV)
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the
chief official [who’s a guy named Asphenaz—pretty cool name, Asphenaz] for
permission not to defile himself in this way.
There’s a lot of speculation about why Daniel didn’t want to eat the food or drink the
wine. One is that this wine and food had been offered to Marduk or to Bel or one of the
Babylonian gods, and to eat this food would be acknowledging that those gods exist, so by eating this food or drinking this wine it would be like saying we believe these are real gods, and he thought they were pagan idols; so that may be one reason.
Another explanation is that he’s Jewish and he didn’t know if this was kosher, and he
knew he would be violating the Mosaic law and the teachings of Moses, and so he didn’t want to
eat it. There are several variations on that theme, but what we know is this: that he decided, you
can push me and push me, but this is as far as I go. And what’s so cool about this—because if
you grew up in Sunday school, you know how this story ends. It ends pretty good for Daniel.
This is the challenge for you and for me: Daniel made up his mind before he knew how
his story ended. Daniel made up his mind, and he hadn’t read the book of Daniel. And see, this is
the part we can’t even begin to imagine, because we’ve never been in this environment. He’s a
teenager away from home, surrounded by the most powerful people in the world. By saying no,
he’s essentially going to lose his life, and here’s the amazing thing. He uses—two times—he
uses the word defile. Imagine what an insult this was to his host; to eat your king’s food is to
defile my body. Hey, hold on, Cowboy. You know there are some people in this city who don’t
have anything to eat. We’re offering you the best there is, and you think it’s going to defile your
body? Well, aren’t you somebody special? This was a total insult to Nebuchadnezzar and his
entire household. He’s not going to defile himself.
He made a decision before he knew the end of the story, but let me tell you why he made
this decision before he knew the end of the story. He made this decision because he could predict the end of his story if he didn’t. He made the decision because he didn’t know the end of the story; he made the decision because he could predict the end of his story. Because he, like you and like me, he knew where this was leading, and so he made up his mind.
So, he asked the chief official for permission. Here’s what he did: He went to Asphenaz.
He said, “Asphenaz, look, me and my guys, me and my posse, me and my boys, we don’t want
to eat this food and drink this wine, and I know this is going to be a problem, but we just don’t
want to do it.” Now, look at this next verse. This is kind of the game-changer for everybody.
Look at this.
Daniel 1:9 (TNIV)
9 Now God
Now, here’s why this is so important. You see, as you’re evaluating your guardrails
and—Am I going to do this? I’m going to miss out. People are going to think I’m crazy. The
guys at work are going to go, What? But you always did this before. You’re not going to go there
anymore, you’re not going to drink anymore—however this lands for you. The problem is, as
you would think about your life, and your future, and what people are going to think, and what
you’re going to miss out on, and why even go on Spring Break—all that kind of stuff that goes
through your mind, here’s the part that you forget to factor in. And here’s the part that somehow
Daniel knew to factor in. It’s called the “Now God” part. It’s the “Now God” part. The “Now
God” part is that God will use your guardrails to actually not simply protect you, but to direct
you. Because what happens from this point on in this story, because of Daniel’s resolve, because
he made up his mind—this is amazing, you can read the rest of the story yourself—his decision
to kind of draw a line in the sand was the thing God used to direct his entire life. If he had not
made this decision, we wouldn’t be telling this story. There would be a missing book of the Bible
called Daniel. It wouldn’t be there.
Everything, more than you can possibly imagine, hung or hinged on his decision whether
or not to eat the meat and drink the wine. The fact that he said no—God said, This is a defining
moment. I’m going to direct your entire future by this decision. And do you know what I’ve
discovered in my own life and in talking to so many other people? You would be shocked at the
number of Christians I know who would say, You know what, Andy? God became the most real
to me and I felt the clearest direction in my life, not over praying, God, show me your will for my
life, but in a moment of temptation, a moment of trial, a moment of tension where I decided, in
this area of my life, this is where I draw the line. This is as far as I’m going to go. And they look
back and they would say, That is the decision God used to completely redirect my career, my
academic pursuits, and my friendships. I would’ve never met my wife. I look back, and I wasn’t
trying to make a directional decision. I was really just trying to make an ethical or moral
decision and God used that decision not only to protect me, but to direct me. And Daniel had no
idea that that’s what hung in the balance of the decision.
Let me tell you what I know about you for absolute sure. You have no idea what hangs in
the balance of your decision to establish guardrails for your life. You think you do, but you
don’t. And my hunch is that for many of you, that decision—whether it’s how you work, how
you manage people who are married, whether it’s a money thing—that decision, for many of
you, will be a defining moment, and you will look back and say, God didn’t simply just protect
me (guardrails are all about protection). I feel like God directed or redirected my entire life
because I made up my mind.” Let’s read the rest.
Daniel 1:9 (TNIV)
9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel.
And Daniel didn’t know this. But he realizes Asphenaz is kind of leaning into these guys.
Asphenaz is kind of treating these guys special, and he didn’t know that God had done
something behind the scenes just like you don’t know what God is going to do behind the scenes.
And so he goes to Asphenaz. He says, Look, me and my guys, we don’t want to eat this stuff and drink this wine. And Asphenaz says, Okay, here’s the problem. I can’t give you an out on this. I can’t let you off the hook. You’ve got to eat this meat and drink this wine. I understand your
conviction, but if I change your diet and if I make you an exception and then your health fails,
the king is going to have my head. I’ll be responsible. I’m responsible for your health, and I
know that young guys do better if they eat a lot of meat and drink a lot of the king’s wine. So I
can’t change my mind, as much as I like you guys. However, and the Bible doesn’t tell us this
part, but apparently there was some kind of wink-wink thing going on, he said, Look, but your
security guard over there, maybe you can work it out with him, wink, wink.
So, Daniel and his guys go to the security guard and say, We’ve talked to Asphenaz and
he said no, but he thought maybe … And so the security guard and Daniel, they came up with a
deal. Daniel says, Look, give us ten days. Just let us not eat the meat and drink the wine for ten
days. Just give us ten days. If our health has deteriorated, then we’ll talk, but just give us ten
days. Somehow Asphenaz and the security guard work it out, and they give Daniel and those
guys ten days, and after ten days they’re healthier than the rest of the guys. They’re smarter than
the rest of the people.
Here’s how the story ends. Maybe you know this part.
Daniel 1:17 (TNIV)
17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of
literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
God honored this decision. Then here’s the conclusion.
Daniel 1:19 (TNIV)
19 The king [Nebuchadnezzar] talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.
And this was the beginning of a journey that would end up making all kinds of difference
in the nation of Israel, the book of Daniel, the lion’s den thing, the fiery furnace thing. You’ve
heard all those stories. It all began, and this amazing story that happens with Nebuchadnezzar
that most people don’t know about, it all started right here with a simple decision to say, You
know what—can’t stretch any further. That’s as far as I go. I’m going to make up my mind
before I know the end of my story, because if I don’t make up my mind, I have a feeling I know
the end of my story.
Now, here’s the challenge for you and for me. You’ve just got to make up your mind to
do this. And to refuse to establish guardrails, it’s not going to remove the tension. It’s just going to erode your ability to say no. You already know that. You’ve just got to make up your mind.
You’ve got to make up your mind before you know the end of your story. Because if you don’t,
you can kind of predict in some areas of your life, can’t you, the end of your story. Because your
marriage is moving in a bad direction. Your finances are moving in a bad direction. Your
relationship with your son or daughter is moving in a bad direction, because you won’t draw a
line in terms of how much work you work and how many days of the month you travel.
At some point, as you predict your own future, and for many of you it’s not that difficult,
it really comes down to, are you going to make up your mind? Let me just go ahead and tell you.
You know this. Culture is not going to help you. Culture is going to continue to bait you in the
wrong direction. You’ve got to resolve in your own heart: you cut my hair, you give me new
sandals, teach me a new language, but that’s as far as I go, because not having guardrails doesn’t remove the tension, it just moves the line to where the tension is going to be.
I want to share this verse from Proverbs, and we’re done. This verse kind of summarizes.
Check this out. Solomon said this,
Proverbs 11:3 (TNIV)
3 The integrity [That’s to do the right thing] of the upright [the people who are trying to
do the right thing]
Proverbs 11:3 (TNIV)
3 The integrity of the upright
Look at this word:
Proverbs 11:3 (TNIV)
3 guides them.
Here’s the thing: again, you have no idea what God wants to do with and through you.
You don’t. And see, when I look at you, I think, Wow, look at their potential. She’s a junior in
high school. Oh, my gosh, she has another year of high school. I wonder what God would do
with her. Wow, he’s brand new in that company. I wonder what God would do with him if he
walked in with a different set of standards that everybody kind of talked about him bad behind
his back. Now he’s in a perfect position to be used by God. I don’t know.
I look at you and go, Wow! Imagine what God might do. But I’m telling you, you’ll never
know. You’ll never know until you do what Daniel did, and make up your mind. You know
what, culture, in this area, that’s all we go—that’s as far as we go. That’s it. I’m telling you, God
will use that ethical moral decision to direct possibly your entire life, but you’ve got to make up
your mind.
Here’s the thing. We’ve already agreed for the most part that some of our, if not all of our
greatest regrets would have been avoided if we’d had guardrails. Do you know what that means?
That means future regrets can be avoided altogether if you’ll establish some guardrails. But it
really comes down to this: You’ve got to make up your mind. Like Daniel, you have to resolve in
your heart—That’s it for me, regardless of what anybody else says.
And I want that for you so much. And I know some of this for some of you seems so
extreme. As common sense as it sounds when I’m talking about it, when you go home and start
trying to figure out in your own life, it just seems so extreme. But I believe with all my heart God
will honor those decisions. And God will establish you in your crazy, mixed-up industry, and in
your crazy, mixed-up culture, and in your crazy, mixed-up neighborhood with your crazy mixedup
friends—God will establish you as the person through whom he will use in those crazy,
mixed-up environments just like he did with Daniel. But you’ve got to make up your mind and
refuse to be deceived by the lie that by refusing to make up your mind, somehow the tension and
the temptation is going away. The only thing that goes away without guardrails, the only thing
that goes away without guardrails, is your resolve. And on the other side of those decisions, your
life just gets more complicated. So, my prayer for you is that you make up your mind. Now I
want to pray.
