The Person In The Mirror Part 4
Scriptures: James 1:21-24; Deuteronomy 28:1-14; 1 Peter 2:9-10
Introduction
This message is part 4 in my series “The Person In The Mirror.” The foundational Scripture for this series comes from James chapter one. He said “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness, and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” (James 1:21-24)
In the first three parts of this series I covered what it means to be a doer of the Word and what happens when we refuse. James said that when we hear the Word and refuse to do it, we are like that man who looked at his face in a mirror and after walking away forgot what he actually looked like. I have asked several times what do you see when you look in the mirror. This morning we will take a look at what we see in the mirror and I want to use a bumper sticker as the backdrop for the points I want to make over the next few weeks.
Many years ago there was a bumper sticker that was very popular. The bumper sticker simply said that “God is My Co-Pilot.” My father purchased one of these stickers and placed it on his car. When I saw the bumper sticker, I asked my father why he had put that on his car. You see, I knew what he was professing – that he was a Christian and that God was with him wherever he went – God was co-piloting the car with him. I understood the profession of faith that he was making, but my mind went to the actual meaning of the words. Let me explain.
I. God Is My Go-Pilot
My brother Barry did some research on this when he was preparing a sermon with this title after one of our lengthy discussions. He found that “God Is My Co-Pilot” was a movie produced in 1945 and was based on the autobiography of Robert Lee Scott, Jr. It tells the story of Scott’s involvement with the Flying Tigers and the United States Army Air Forces in China and Burma during World War II. Robert L. Scott had dreamed his whole life of being a fighter pilot, but when the war came, he found himself flying transport planes over The Hump into China. While in China, he persuaded General Chennault to let him fly with the famed Flying Tigers, the heroic band of airmen who’d been fighting the Japanese long before Pearl Harbor. Scott gets his chance to fight, ultimately engaging in combat with the deadly Japanese pilot known as Tokyo Joe. This story of inspiration and faith in God has enthralled millions. This story led to the development of the bumper sticker I mentioned earlier that simply said “God Is My Co-Pilot.” Without intending to offend God, many Christians live their lives modeling this slogan – they are the pilot and God is the co-pilot. But should this be the case for how we live?
By definition, the pilot is one who “is employed to steer the ship; a person qualified and usually licensed to conduct a ship into and out of a port or in specific waters; a person who flies or is qualified to fly an aircraft or spacecraft; a guide or leader. In other words, the pilot is the one who is in charge. They are the ones making the decisions. The pilot calls the shots because he/she is the one in charge. The co-pilot by definition is a “qualified pilot who assists or relieves the pilot but is not in command.” Do you see the difference? The co-pilot is the number two person; they assist the pilot. They play a supporting/helping role while providing an extra set of eyes, ears and hands when required. They are capable of piloting the craft, but they are not the ones in charge of it. If the co-pilot did not perform his/her job they could be replaced with another co-pilot. When we place God in the co-pilot seat, we tend to “fired” Him when He does not do or perform up to our expectation. Many people have turned their backs on God when they went through difficult situations because they believed that God had turned His back on them. This turning away or rejection God was in fact “firing” Hi from His position in their life.
When I saw the bumper sticker on my father’s car, my mind went to that place where God was being put in the second seat versus the first seat. I know this was not what my father was meaning to do, but that is what the bumper sticker said. “I am the pilot and God is my co-pilot.” To say that a bumper sticker does not carry impact, consider the fact that after this bumper sticker was released, another bumper sticker for atheist and agnostics came out that said “God was my co-pilot but we crashed in the mountains and I ate Him.” Are you starting to see the picture that was painted with this bumper sticker? Finally someone realized the image that the first one gave and made a change to it. You see, as a Christian, even though I recognize that I have free will to do what I please here on earth, I choose to yield my will to that of my Savior. I could be the pilot, but I choose to allow God to be the pilot, the one calling the shots, and I take on the role of co-pilot, the one following the orders of the pilot. This is a mindset. One of the last bumper sticker in this line simply said that “If God is Your Co-pilot, Switch Seats.” This is my message to all of us this morning, we need to switch seats. If we look in the mirror and we see the pilot staring back at us, change clothes and put on the co-pilots’ uniform. We are not the ones calling the shots if we are truly trying to serve our God. When I take on the role of co-pilot, then I begin to accept what is being told to me by the real pilot – God!
II. The Head and Not the Tail
Many of us have experienced times when we have doubted ourselves. We have looked in the mirror and not seen the person that we thought we should see. We have goals that have not been fulfilled and dreams that are still out there somewhere. We have been serving God yet we are struggling and all the while hearing that if you are truly serving God and He is taking care of you that all of your needs are met. It is kind of hard to see all of your needs being met when you don’t have a job and you can’t pay your bills. Many people lose hope because they feel that God has turned His back on them. Then you come to Church, where you are supposed to feel encouraged and you leave feeling worse. Maybe you did not like the sermon or the subject matter. Maybe that particular word was on sin and you believed that you or someone you loved was being singled out. Maybe you are tired of hearing about everything that is wrong in the world and you just want to find your way to a sense of peace and a place of happiness. Maybe you’re tired of suffering and you want God to show up and show out on your behalf. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
God has spoken life into each of us, but that spoken word can only go as far as we take it. Yesterday when I met with the leadership team I told them that we have been acting like the tail and not the head. We have gotten to a place where we are tired and everyone carrying several responsibilities have resulted in some things not being done at all. I warned them that we have to be careful that if we believe that God is telling us to do something that we must do it and do it to perfection. Why? Because anything less than that is disobedience. When we know God has spoken, we have to move. The key is understanding when God has spoken. I asked my leadership team to begin functioning with a mindset of being the head and not the tail. Let me explain this through the word of God.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 says, “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways. The LORD will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you. The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you. The LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. The LORD will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.”
Now some of you may be thinking that since was written in the Old Testament to the Children of Israel that it may not apply to us. Well, if I am a child of God and I am obeying His word and I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, I choose to believe that this Scripture applies to me and I choose to live accordingly. Now you can make a different decision and the outcome will be according to your belief, but I choose to believe that this Scripture applies to me. As a matter of record, I also choose to believe what Peter said in 1 Peter 2:9-10: “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.” In the Old Testament the children of God were told they were blessed and in the New Testament it is confirmed, then folks I am blessed! It’s not about my material possessions, it about how I think about myself and my situation. Deuteronomy 28:13 says “The Lord shall make you the head and not the tail; and you only shall be above, and you shall not be underneath, if you will listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully.”
If I think I am the head, I will act like the head. If I think I am the tail, I will act like the tail! What is the difference? The head is the part of the body that contains the brain; a person’s mental ability. It is the upper or anterior part of an animal’s body. It also defines a position of importance, as in one in charge versus one who is not. The tail however is the rear end of the body of an animal. The tail is always referred as the rear part of something, as in the rear of the airplane. It also means to follow someone closely. In other words the tail can almost be said to be the opposite of the head. If a person is acting like the head, they are thinking and acting and taking responsibility for what is happening to and around them. They begin to walk in the authority that God has given them because they understand the one they are serving. They do not attempt to take God’s place, but they have been told that they are the head and thus they are expected to be the head! When I was in the military I started out as an airman first class. I took orders, I did not give them. After being promoted several times, I became the non-commissioned officer in charge of the OB/GYN clinic. While I had an officer that I reported to, I also had other airmen that reported to me. I was now in charge of the office. I was the one giving orders. When I was placed in this position I was told what my responsibilities were and how I was to carry out my job functions. So I did what I was told and what was expected of me as the head non-commissioned officer in the department. I did not overstep my boundaries, but fulfilled my job responsibilities.
God has told us, if you choose to accept it, that you are the head and not the tail. If you have a tail mentality, you see yourself as never being the head. You are a follower, in action and in how you think. If you go on a job interview and you are happy that “someone/anyone” would want to hire you because you do not bring much to the table that can be seen as “tail” thinking. Why? Because if you see yourself as bringing something to the table, your mindset should be that whoever hires will be blessed to get you. I am not talking about you being arrogant, but seeing the worth within yourself! Do you know how many companies could improve their worth by hiring someone who consciously serves the Lord because of how they would do the job? They would do the job as unto the Lord versus how many people do the job today unto themselves! I have witnessed qualified people not get jobs because even though they were more than qualified, when we interviewed them they interviewed with a tail mentality. They had what we were looking for but they could not convince us (or themselves for that matter) that they were worth hiring. You see this often when people cannot look you in the eye during an interview. Eye contact is a measurement of confidence that is considered when evaluating someone for employment. (That is a freebie for you to use during your next interview!) Tail thinking will cause your self-confidence to be so low that you will not think you deserve anything, let alone the job you’re interviewing for!
Tail thinking removes the responsibility of me of taking charge; being out front; leading. Tail thinking says “Woe is me and mine – I can never get ahead!” Tail thinking says I take two steps forward only to fall back 5 steps! While our situations can seem dire at times, we must always remember where God has placed us! We are the head and not the tail. We are a royal priesthood, a people for God’s own possession. Think about it, God possesses us! He will not let us fail! He will find a way if we are willing to walk in His ways! Now I want to make this very clear to you. If our Pilot has said that we are the head and not the tail and we take on the role of being the co-pilot and not the pilot, why are we trying to be the tail? Think about an airplane for a minute. The rear of the plane is down the aisle towards the last seats, near the restroom. If you have a tail mentality and you are the co-pilot, why are you sitting in the rear of the plane? You cannot carry out any of your co-pilot responsibilities sitting in the rear of the plane! This is what we are doing with God being the pilot yet in our walk with Him we go to the rear in our minds instead of at His side. If you are the co-pilot, come out of the rear of the plane and sit down next to the pilot so you can do your job!!!
The pilot is in charge, the co-pilot is there to help. Is God your pilot or your co-pilot? If God is your pilot should you not do what He has called you to do? If God is your pilot, are you not who He says you are? When you get on a plane and the pilot introduces himself or herself, they will often introduce their co-pilot. They do not say, “This is so and so, the co-pilot” they say his is so and so, my co-pilot.” The difference between the words “the” and “my” is ownership. If God is our pilot, then He owns us! We are His! Likewise if God is our co-pilot, then we own Him! I can’t own the One who created me, but He can definitely own me.
I will continue this message next week with more about what our Pilot has said to and about each and every one of us. This week when you look in the mirror, remind yourself that you are not the pilot. You are not in charge. You are not in control of the ship. You are not calling the shots! And, when you’re telling yourself this, be blessed because you are not the pilot; in control and calling the shots! I am who my Pilot says I am! What about you? If you are living with a tail mentality, remember what your Pilot has said about you. You are the head and not the tail! You have to choose if you believe that your Pilot has said.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
