"If you ain't first, you're last!”
Will Farrell as Ricky Bobby
We have a desire to be first and a desire to not be last.
Who remembers second place let alone last place!
Tony Stewart in 2008 after the Daytona 500, “I took the White Flag in first of course I am disappointed in not winning!”
Baseball quote from Scott O’Connell “Optimism is what every team has during spring training. Reality is what every team knows by July.” . . .
We have an innate desire to be first and to win And if not us winning - then at least our team!
During the life of Jesus he repeated a message so often that I think we miss it amongst all of His teachings.
In our examination of the life of Christ, we have heard His call to follow Him. Last week, we learned the secret to this call – spend time with Him.
Today I will tell you when we spend time with Christ, we will begin to hear a repetitive message about how success is measured and it might surprise you:
Matthew 18:3-4 (New International Version)
And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 20:26-28 (New International Version)
Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Luke 18:9-14 (New International Version)
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
As you read through Jesus’ teaching the humble concept comes up a lot.
The dictionary defines humble in the following manner:
1) having or showing a consciousness of one’s defects or shortcomings; not proud; not self-assertive; modest
2) low in rank or condition or unpretentious or when used in a verb tense as in humbled - to lower in condition
So by comparison with the world’s thought process, we are being called to a new paradigm of thought.
What is the new paradigm of thought? It is a thought that puts others before yourself.
IT is our nature to think differently than this. It is our nature to think that the world revolves us. It actually began in the Garden of Eden. We are born in to a world of me first – it begins with our first cry.
The world constantly reminds you that it is all about you. The world wants to convince you of the secret to happiness - you control all that happens to you – You can do anything you want because morality is functional at best or in the least it is situational. So, “If it feels good do it!” or “Just do it!”
Jesus told a story about two people praying, it is not the humble prayer I want you to look at, but rather the other prayer. It is this person, this Pharisee that we often allow ourselves to become. Perhaps it is not in praying that we become this person, but rather it a thought that goes through our mind that leads us to living our lives above others with an “I am better than you because” attitude.
As a group that has answered the call to “Follow Me,” as a group that has chosen to spend time with Jesus, we are called to be “Salt and Light” in this world. We are expected to stand out. We are expected to swim against the current of the culture. We are expected to dare to be different.
But how will we be different?
I owned my own company. I was the Undercover Boss with Customers. I always believe that the best way to get something out of my employees was to life them up and not push them down. I called it pedestal management – not that I was on the pedestal (neither were my employees) – the idea was that were all there to support one another – no one more important than the other. A pedestal shows off that which it holds up and not itself.
Starting to get the new picture of success?
Humility is the way to discover THIS NEW SUCCESS.
Humility is something you do before God before you do it anywhere else.
Remember the definition?
Coming to grips with all of your faults and shortcomings and bowing before a Holy God. James understood this James 4:7-10 (New International Version) . . .
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Do you understand this change in your way of thinking? If you want to make a difference with your life – don’t conform – be different. I think that many have heard this message and responded in a very extreme manner.
Reality TV is the direct result of this mentality gone in the wrong direction. When we all exclaim “Look at me, I am different” in that moment we became like everyone else. Church and Christians have become in many cases a Reality TV show gone bad – very bad. We strive to be perfect – holier than thou – a home for the perfect and the blameless – folks we are not perfect and the sooner we admit it and begin to live it the better we will be as people and as a church.
The world is being turned off by the church and by Christians. Folks we aren’t perfect. The world isn’t expecting us to be perfect – they know what we refuse to admit – We are hypocrites. We do a lot of pretending that we are more than are – that we are better than we are. The sooner we stop trying to pretend that we are perfect and instead humbles ourselves before God and others – the better we will be and the sooner that others will want to have some of what we have . . .
Humility is not something we do well as people – Stuck in a Look at me World – want to be on TV – I want my 15 minutes of fame. Humility must become a new paradigm of thought for us. A new way of thinking must be introduced. But in practicing humility we must start with the basics.
Are you still stuck with the “How do I do this question?”
Just ask – God will transform you – A new paradigm of thought is needed in this world and it begins when we as a people, as a church, as individuals take the first step in humbling ourselves before God.
Is this a day, where you can begin to respond to the call to Follow Me?
Have you spent enough time with Jesus to understand this action of humbling yourself before God?
We cannot do this on our own. God will lift us up, not our actions, not our morals, not our thoughts, but in our humility towards God we will be lifted up! Church we must first stop being the “me first” group – we don’t have all the answers, but I do know the one who does?
I have been with Jesus. I have humbled myself before God.
Humble Yourself in the sight the Lord and He will life you up.
Success is available to us all
You just have to find the right definition.
Can you change your thinking and do the same?
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