Called - How to Grow
August 23, 2020
Have you ever wanted to be like someone else? I remember as a kid growing up, I used to watch the Chicago Cubs all the time. I tried to emulate the way Fergie Jenkins pitched. I tried to swing like Billy Williams. I was Gale Sayers when I played football. I wanted to be Bobby Hull when I played hockey. Those were guys I looked up to . . . and did my best to try to be like them.
Have you ever wanted to be like someone? Maybe there was an athlete, or a musician or actor you really admired, and wanted to be just like them.
Or maybe it was someone’s character; their morals and ethics that really attracted you and you wanted to follow that person. You knew they were different, they had certain character traits and qualities that you wanted. Maybe it was a teacher, a politician, a friend, or a saint in the church,
Maybe it was a biography about someone and as you thought about them, there was something about them you admired and you wanted to be like them.
I had planned on talking about spiritual gifts today, but felt we needed to keep talking about how to get there, more about who we are before we can talk about the doing part.
As I mentioned last week, it’s discipleship. It’s the process of growing to become more like Christ. While we may want to emulate others in our lives; the main person we must seek to be more and more like, is Jesus Christ.
That’s not always easy. We would like it to be easy, but honestly it’s not.
I started this series about our purpose in life - all the way back in a different world. It was PV - Pre - Virus.
If we can remember way back then, we were looking at the reasons for our existence. That we were created by God and for God. We were created to love God, to bring pleasure to God - - to worship God.
We were also created to be in fellowship with God and with one another. When all systems are working right, we are supposed to be family. Worship and serve together in a system in which we truly love one another and want the best for one another. And even when we don’t agree with one another, we’re still unified and have this deep abiding love which is based on the love of Jesus.
That’s where we were at until I started talking about being called by God and what it means to grow in Christ. What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Another word we looked at last week was sanctification. It’s the life long process of growing and maturing as believers in Jesus Christ.
So, when God calls us, we are able to respond. We were created to become like Christ. From the very beginning, God’s plan has been to make each of us like His Son, Jesus. That is our destiny.
But there’s one huge, HUGE problem. And that problem is us. It’s the problem of sin. It creeps in and is always ready to pounce as Peter says, satan is like a roaring lion waiting to devour us.
Do you recall in the Bible where Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis 3? Listen to satan’s lie to Eve, he said -
4 “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, knowing good & evil
Did you hear that lie? He told Eve we will be like God. But we aren’t, are we? We would like to be and we would like others to think we are. But we aren’t.
Rick Warren wrote, “This desire to be a god shows up every time we try to control people around us. But as creatures, we will never be the Creator. God doesn’t want you to become a god; He wants you to become godly – taking on His values, attitudes and character.”
In Ephesians 4 Paul wrote something that ties in with this. I’m going to read it in 2 different versions. Firstly, let’s look at it in the ESV -
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ! 21 assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. - Ephesians 4
So, does that all make sense? We are to no longer live like the Gentiles. Don’t live like those people who don’t know God. Instead, we are to put off or get rid of that old person, and put on that new person who has been created in the image and likeness of God.
Now, I want to read this same passage according to the paraphrased version of the Bible called The Message -
17 And so I insist — and God backs me up on this — that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd.
20 But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! 21 My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to Him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. 22 Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything – and I do mean everything — connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life — a God-fashioned life, 23 a life renewed from the inside 24 and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you.
The main goal is for us to become more like Christ. It is when we place ourselves ahead of God that we run into trouble.
The springboard for this series was Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life. Before I was half way done reading the book, I knew what the most important sentence in the book was. It’s the very first sentence of the book.
Rick Warren wrote these simple words, “IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!” Is that not an in your face way to start a book?!
Repeat this phrase with me. I want you to say “IT’S NOT ABOUT ME!!”
It’s actually hard to say this and mean it. Because we really want life to be about us. But I want you to say it again. Say it at home or at work, or wherever you are. Ready? Say it with me, and say it with conviction.
IT’S NOT ABOUT ME!!
Remember it will never be about you, it will never be about me. It will always be about Jesus Christ. That’s great news. And it’s actually freeing. I can give myself a break because it’s not about me. It’s always, always about Jesus. It has to be!
Yet, some want the focus to be on them and only them. Even if others are hurt ---
We do it when we make every conversation about us.
We can do this in our social media posts.
When we talk about people behind their backs.
When we are malicious in attacking others.
When we gossip and slander.
When we are abusive in our relationships.
When we are phonies and hypocrites.
When we give in to addictions.
When we lie, steal or cheat.
Actually, we do this when we place anything ahead of Jesus Christ.
That’s the bottom line. Jesus Christ must come first. Until that happens, we will never grow in Christ and frankly no church can grow spiritually and become the church God wants them to be. We will always be trapped in sin.
God’s ultimate goal for our lives is not comfort, it’s character development. Christlikeness is all about transforming your character. God is not our servant. It’s not about us!! We exist for God’s purposes, not vice-versa.
As I age, it hits me more and more that God is continually developing our character. I know I’ve been tested and tried and tempted. They are never ending. And each time when I turn to God and act in a manner God desires, not in my way, then I have not only passed the test, but I have grown just a little closer to Jesus Christ and become more like Him.
We will all be tempted. Temptation is common in life, in fact temptation alone is not a sin. Sin happens when we make excuses to justify the sin. But remember what God told us in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 --
12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Do you see what Paul is telling us? Firstly, don’t have a chip on your shoulder. Don’t think you can’t fall. Don’t be so proud as to think it can’t happen to you. Don’t be over confident in your works and power. Be confident in God’s power.
God is not against our being confident, He is against our prideful arrogance that leads us to choose our desires over God’s desires. As we consider temptation and our Christian growth, we know these three things.
1. Temptation is common to everyone. You are not the exception.
2. God will be faithful to you – you won’t be tempted beyond what you can bear.
3. God will always, always, always . . . provide a way out.
When we say no to temptation, we are making a choice for God. And every time we say no to satan’s pulling and manipulative devices to destroy our lives and the church, we grow more as a Christian.
Sorrow, suffering, trials, and tribulations - - they will happen. The refining and developing processes are oftentimes slow and painful, but through grace, we emerge triumphant, more and more like Christ.
Nobody wants to grow through suffering and trials and struggles, but if we allow God to work through us, changing us internally, it will change who we become.
God wants us to grow and mature and develop the characteristics of Jesus Christ. Spiritual growth is not automatic. It takes intentional commitment. We must want to grow, decide to grow, make an effort to grow and be persist. Discipleship – becoming like Christ, always begins with a decision.
So what are we to do? Look at God with decisions, with conversations, with our work, our families, our play, our school. God cares about every decision you make.
Paul reminds us at the end of Ephesians 4 that we are called to put off our former life and put on the new self we have in Christ. A new self that is called to be righteous and holy. After verse 24, Paul says we are called to --
- put off telling lies
- speak truthfully
- be members of ONE body
- do not let the sun go down while you are angry
- do not steal
- do something useful with your hands
- share with others
- do not let unwholesome talk come out of your mouth
- say only what is helpful for building others up
- Get rid of all bitterness, anger, fighting, slander and all forms of malice.
- Be kind and compassionate
- Forgive as Christ has forgiven you.
- And do not grieve the Holy Spirit.
That’s a tough list! Yet, as we strive to be more Christ-like, I believe God empowers us to move and grow in holiness. That’s God at work within us.
I want to end with a story about a teenager who complained to that life was miserable and they weren’t sure they could make it. They were tired of struggling.
The father took the teen into the kitchen and filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee in the third pot.
He then let them sit and boil. After 20 minutes he turned them off. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He did the same with the eggs. And put the coffee in a cup.
He asked - - "what do you see? Look close and touch the potatoes." They were now soft.
The egg became a hard boiled egg.
The coffee had a pleasant aroma.
He explained the potatoes, the eggs and coffee each faced the same adversity - the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently.
The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile when put into the water. Then the inside became hard.
However, the ground coffee was different. When put into the boiling water, the coffee changed the water and created something new.
The question facing us is this - - "Which are you? When adversity comes, how will we respond?
Life will happen around us. The question is what do we do with what happens in life. How will we face adversity? How will we grow through life? When we face the difficulties of life using Christ’s power and grace, it will change who we are. Then we can show the world who Jesus is! We can be the difference makers in the name of Jesus.
The call is to grow in Christ! To have our character, who we are changed so that we can glorify and honor God. This is part of the process. Sometimes we will struggle, but when we work through it with God’s help, we grow and change, and then we can go out and change the world.
