The Absolutely Positively Proper Perspective

THE ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY PROPER PERSPECTIVE

(All my sermons use illustrations found on sermoncentral.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted)

Having the proper perspective is truly one of the most important things we can have in life. Another way of saying this is: Having a positive attitude is essential if we are to ever have joy in our lives. In weeks gone by we have talked about the church, and the essential aspects of having a successful church, we have talked about encouragement, and we have talked about success. The growth of a church depends solely upon the people’s willingness to trust God completely, to do as His Word instructs and give Him ALL the glory He deserves, no matter how things might appear to us.

I think having the proper perspective of things determines our attitude, and perhaps that works backwards as well, if we have the proper attitude it will give us the proper perspective. It is always easy to find the negative aspects of any given situation. It is easy to feel the trials and pains of any growing experience, it is always much easier to whine and complain about life, then it is to find the praise that God so richly deserves. And yet, the scripture is quite clear about what our attitude and our perspective should be, it should always be POSITIVE.

The story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation, the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!"

To which the king replied, "No, this is not good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail. About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.

As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so, I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this." "No," his friend replied, "This is good!" "What do you mean, ’This is good’? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?" "If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you."

Attitude is the minds paintbrush. It can color a situation gloomy and gray, or it can paint it cheerful. Attitudes are more important than facts.

Now the Bible is clear about what our attitude should be, in his letter to the church at Phillipi Paul tells us what our attitude should be. If you have your Bible with you this morning, turn with me to Phillipians, chapter 2 starting in verse 5. Here Paul will explain what our attitude should be like and explain the benefits of having such an attitude. Phillipians Chapter 2, starting in verse 5.

Phil 2:5-11 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. PRAYER

We should have the same attitude as Christ, but Paul explains himself very clearly here. Jesus, who in His very nature is God, didn’t worry about who He was, or how important He is, He didn’t say, “you know what, I am God and because of that I should not have to die on a cross for all these measly low-life sinners on earth.” He had every right to say so, BUT instead He gave us a great example of how we can have the ABSOLUTE POSITIVE PROPER PERSPECTIVE, the right attitude. He became a servant, he took on the nature of a servant and became a man, and HUMBLED Himself. Folks, if you only take one thing away from the sermon this morning let it be this, OUR ATTITUDE SHOULD BE THAT OF HUMILITY.