Grasshopper Mentality
Theme: To show that comparison is the enemy of growth and ministry.
Text: Numbers 13:25 - 33
Opening Scripture
Numbers 13:25-33 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days. (26) Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. (27) Then they told him, and said: "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. (28) Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. (29) The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan." (30) Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." (31) But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." (32) And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. (33) There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
As I left last Sunday I felt like a left something on the table from this passage. We came to a clear understanding that it was the Lord who would give them this land. It was not about their ability to fight or strategize. It was about God’s fighting for them.
The crazy thing is that the people were afraid of Israel. The king of Moab, Balak, asked Balaam to curse the people because he was afraid they would invade the land. All the nations here were not united together but separate.
When Joshua finally shows up at the walls of Jericho, he sends in two spies into the city. They are told by Rahab.
Joshua 2:9-11 and said to the men: "I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. (10) For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. (11) And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
Listen how God approaches Jericho.
Joshua 6:1-2 Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. (2) And the Lord said to Joshua: "See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.
So to take the land was totally based on God and Israel’s faith that they had in God. There was one problem. We find this in the last sentence of our opening passage.
(33) There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants) (we know that there were giants there, we have read about Goliath who also had five other brothers); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
"Notice the wording, they were not grasshoppers compared to the people, but they were like grasshoppers.
Notice another critical phrase “in our own sight”. This is how we viewed ourselves. So compared to them we were like grasshoppers.
This called the Grasshopper myth: The false impression that our life is less than what God says it is because we compare ourselves with others.
When we Compare: it will either fill us with pride or with shame and either one of those are not healthy.
Let me pause right here and ask you what you would put in there.
The false impression that our (what) _____________ is less than what God says it is because we compare ourselves with others.
Family? Marriage? Skill set? Talents? Intellect? Personality?" (from Karl Vaders book the Grasshopper Myth)
Grasshopper Myth
But you know grasshoppers can be scary: Watch this movie.
If you don’t see a grasshopper in the mirror no one will see a grasshopper in, you. – Karl Vader
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” – Anna Rosevelt
If I feeling like a grasshopper because of what they did, I can’t change them so I a. But if it is because of my interior attitude, I can change it and I can have victory over it.
Hopper the Grasshopper Illustration
The humorous part is that that is what The Bugs Life movie is all about. Flik was trying to convince the colony that they were more powerful than the grass hoppers.
When we compare ourselves we wind up Despising their own role. This is New Testament.
1Corinthians 12:15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body?
Your identity is in Christ.
Problem with Comparison – How to Fight Comparison by Peter Toy
1. First comparison sets unrealistic expectations.
2. A second problem of comparison is it conforms us to copy others.
3. Third, comparison minimizes God's work in us
4. Comparison takes our eyes off the goal.(prize)
How to Overcome – Illustrations
I. Moses – God created and supplies us.
Moses found himself at the burning bush talking to God. Not just any God but the “I AM”. Wow. Such a powerful encounter with a mighty God. What an introduction. A burning bush that was not consumed should be enough to get out attention.
God calls Moses to “let my people go”. Lead Israel out of Egypt. Instead of accepting the call right off Moses makes excuses.
Insecurity can be disguised in false humility.
What if they doubt, who do I tell them you are?
What if they don’t believe? Okay here is a miracle Moses
But I cannot speak? (Compared to others)
Exodus 4:10-12 Then Moses said to the Lord, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." (11) So the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? (12) Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say."
It is God who has made us and we are not ourselves. He created us and gave us everything we need to be the man or woman of God He has called us to be. Do not despise those things that God has called you to do.
II. Gideon – God will fight for us.
God shows up in Israel after they had been oppressed by the Midianites. It was so bad that every time Israel had a crop the Midianites would invade the land. They would destroy the crop, so Israel was struggling to survive.
In Judges 6 we are introduced to Gideon. Notice where he is found.
Judges 6:11-12 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. (12) And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!"
Excuse me angel, don’t bother me now. I am too busy threshing wheat in the winepress.
Judges 6:15 So he said to Him, "O my Lord, [15] how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."
God saw Gideon bigger than Gideon saw himself.
God sees something in you that you do not see in yourself.
This reminds me of the Rahab story because God gives Gideon confirmation by allowing him to go into the camp.
Judges 7:12-15 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude. (13) And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, "I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed." (14) Then his companion answered and said, "This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp." (15) And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, "Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand."
III. Parable of the talents – God owns it all, it is his talent
Matthew 25:14 – 30
I believe this is what happens with the one with the talent of one. He compared himself to the others and decided to do nothing.
Conclusion – Overcoming Comparison – from No Comparison sermon by Ken Hensen
1. Take the Eternal Perspective (Joseph, David)
2. Count others as better (humble yourself)
3. Follow Jesus (Heb 12-Mark 4/John 6 & 21)
4. Be so busy being cool that you don’t notice what others are doing
5. Give Thanks.
Characteristics of Comparison: Jealously and Envy
1. Confess
2. Repent
3. Stay focused on Christ.
