SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
SPEAKER_00: My name's Cameron.
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the pastors here at Cross Points.
SPEAKER_00: Good to be here with you guys.
SPEAKER_00: You know, if you've been around for a while, you know you've heard me use as examples slash complain about my crazy children.
SPEAKER_00: I have three girls.
SPEAKER_00: I was thinking about it.
SPEAKER_00: I was not prepared.
SPEAKER_00: I think there's a lot of things I felt prepared for.
SPEAKER_00: We waited a while until we had kids, and I see a lot of people have kids before us.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I was prepared for how much just arguing on a day-to-day basis, though, I would be experiencing.
SPEAKER_00: One of the common phrases in our house is, well, how about this?
SPEAKER_00: when they hear something they don't like.
SPEAKER_00: Or our youngest Rosie, she has started playing that she's the queen.
SPEAKER_00: She'll come downstairs wearing like a princess dress, a crown, and say that she's the queen.
SPEAKER_00: She'll start bossing her sisters around.
SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of funny at first, and eventually they're like, Dad, make Rosie stop.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, Rosie, you gotta stop like bossing people around.
SPEAKER_00: She's like, but I'm the queen.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, you're not the queen of us.
SPEAKER_00: She's like, I'm the queen of the world.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, who made you queen of the world?
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, well, someone has to be queen of the world.
SPEAKER_00: It should be me.
SPEAKER_00: Just I'm like, oh my gosh, in like 15 years or 10 years, I am gonna be in big trouble, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um, so arguing with her, and then she says, I demand you give us candy.
SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden her sisters are like, you know what?
SPEAKER_00: She is the queen, maybe we should listen to her.
SPEAKER_00: Uh like, no, you're not having candy, we're about to have lunch.
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, Well, what are we having for lunch?
SPEAKER_00: Sandwiches.
SPEAKER_00: Ah, we don't want sandwiches, you know, it's all these things.
SPEAKER_00: Then there comes a point where you realize, no, we don't negotiate with terrorists.
SPEAKER_00: Like, this is not, I'm getting sucked into the drama and the argument of it all.
SPEAKER_00: But there's a point you're like, no, no, no, you're not the parent.
SPEAKER_00: You don't get to decide what I do or don't do, you don't get to judge how good of a parent I am or not.
SPEAKER_00: Which is another one of the threats they've learned.
SPEAKER_00: Like, well, we'll tell all your friends that you're a terrible dad.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, oh my gosh, what is happening?
SPEAKER_00: Um, but that is not their role, right?
SPEAKER_00: And in the same way, there's something similar happening in our passage we're gonna look at today.
SPEAKER_00: So we're in the book of 1 Corinthians, a little context.
SPEAKER_00: Paul had planted this church in a city called Corinth, um, and then he had got he was there for a while, then he went away for a while.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and at some point, this guy named Apollos came.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Paul had come and he preached very simply, he was like, the Corinthians loved like, you know, uh rhetoric and words of wisdom of the world and like uh like charisma and all of that.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul was speaking very simply for a reason to help them hear the gospel and not him just as like a really good preacher.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Apollos came along and didn't necessarily know that, so he's preaching the gospel really eloquently with charisma and all this, and now all of a sudden there's some divisions happening, right?
SPEAKER_00: They're arguing and dividing over who's better, Paul or Apollos.
SPEAKER_00: Some people like Paul, some people like Apollos, some and that to the point that they're starting to divide their church over this, and some of the people are getting really critical of Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so he uh he went there with them for a while, right?
SPEAKER_00: We've been in like three chapters of the book so far.
SPEAKER_00: He's there, he's uh getting into their reasons why divisions are bad, uh, why charisma isn't the most important thing.
SPEAKER_00: He's like giving them this rich theology, he's quoting Old Testament scripture, like he goes there in the argument, but today in our passage is kind of the point where he's a little closed the door on that.
SPEAKER_00: He's explained why they shouldn't be dividing as a church.
SPEAKER_00: But this is the point where he's like, but by the way, you shouldn't be judging all of this anyway.
SPEAKER_00: This is not your job.
SPEAKER_00: You're swerving out of your lane.
SPEAKER_00: And so what Paul's gonna talk about today is that him as a kingdom worker, as a spiritual leader, he doesn't answer to the church in Corinth and the Corinthians and their desires and their whims.
SPEAKER_00: He ultimately answers to God.
SPEAKER_00: And so the passage today is him getting at what's underneath their judgment and criticism, and that underneath all that is a misunderstanding of their role.
SPEAKER_00: So here's our passage.
SPEAKER_00: It's from chapter four, verse one.
SPEAKER_00: He says, This then is how you ought to regard us as servants of Christ, which is a similar word he's used already in the book of 1 Corinthians, but it's a little different.
SPEAKER_00: I'll explain in a minute.
SPEAKER_00: As servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.
SPEAKER_00: Now, real quick, David, I'm gonna jump ahead a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: When Paul says mysteries, uh, he's not talking about some like mysterious knowledge, but the word actually has more of the connotations of something that has been uh uncovered and shown.
SPEAKER_00: And the way Paul uses it is like this is something that was there all along, but it is only to once you see it, you can't unsee it, but maybe it was hidden for a while and now it's seen.
SPEAKER_00: So a couple pictures that you've probably seen things like this before, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's either a rabbit or a duck, depending on which way you look at it.
SPEAKER_00: You've got the bill or the ears.
SPEAKER_00: And once you see it, you can't unsee it.
SPEAKER_00: But before you, you know, before that, it's kind of like, what's happening here?
SPEAKER_00: Or here's another famous one, right?
SPEAKER_00: Old woman or young woman, depending on how you see it.
SPEAKER_00: But once you see both of them, you're like, oh, of course that was there all along.
SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of like what Paul's talking about is from the beginning of time, uh, God's plan of salvation like that culminates in the cross, was there to be seen, but people just didn't see it.
SPEAKER_00: But now this mystery has been revealed.
SPEAKER_00: All right, you can go back to the passage.
SPEAKER_00: Um, now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
SPEAKER_00: I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court.
SPEAKER_00: Indeed, I do not even judge myself, right?
SPEAKER_00: So I don't care what you guys think.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about what humans think.
SPEAKER_00: I don't even like judge myself, he goes on to say.
SPEAKER_00: My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.
SPEAKER_00: It is the Lord who judges me.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, judge nothing before the appointed time.
SPEAKER_00: Wait until the Lord comes.
SPEAKER_00: He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart.
SPEAKER_00: At that time, each will receive their praise from God.
SPEAKER_00: So again, Paul picks up on this metaphor here of that leaders are servants.
SPEAKER_00: So if you remember from a few passages ago, Paul talks about uh like leaders being like farmhands working out in the fields, some water, some plant, but it's God who makes things grow.
SPEAKER_00: Um and that word he uses is like kind of right above a slave.
SPEAKER_00: This word for servant has more of the connotation, he kind of nuances the metaphor, uh, as like an estate manager.
SPEAKER_00: So this is someone, if you think of like a Victorian movie or like the Count of Monte Cristo or something, like the servant who is empowered to go around the town, make business decisions, purchase things, all of this, but still ultimately working for the master and serving the master and working at the master's orders.
SPEAKER_00: Uh so they have responsibility, but they also have some freedom, but it's all under the authority of the master, because the master is the one who pays them and ultimately judges whether or not they do a good job.
SPEAKER_00: Uh the example I used before for this, bless you, is that uh kind of like a babysitter, right?
SPEAKER_00: Who is there, I hire to serve my kids, but they ultimately work for me.
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm the one who judges whether they do a good job or not.
SPEAKER_00: I've learned not to trust my children's judgment on almost anything, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um, so in the same way, Paul's saying, don't judge your leaders, because only God is qualified to judge them.
SPEAKER_00: They're his servants.
SPEAKER_00: God is the one who is capable of a final judgment, right?
SPEAKER_00: He's the only one who can see deep into our heart and our soul and what's happening there.
SPEAKER_00: So because of that, Paul is saying leaders are not subject to human judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Either Paul's saying, You as the Corinthians can't judge me, nor do I even judge myself, right?
SPEAKER_00: Which is kind of a crazy passage here.
SPEAKER_00: So uh he says here in verse three uh and four, indeed, I do not even judge myself, my conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.
SPEAKER_00: It is the Lord who judges me.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's a fascinating passage when I was reading it, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because Paul is, of course, examining in his own heart, but he knows how deceitful the heart can be, and knows that ultimately it's only God who can discern whether or not he's in the right.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about it.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is the guy who for years thought he was doing the right thing by going around and literally murdering Christians, right?
SPEAKER_00: His conscience was probably clear in those moments.
SPEAKER_00: He thought he was doing the right thing, but the human heart is deceptive.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: In our world, it's so tempting to just listen to that message to follow your heart, to do what your heart tells you to do, right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh but we need to have a little skepticism of that and realize, no, it's God who knows what to do.
SPEAKER_00: It's God who we need to follow and whose judgment we need to trust.
SPEAKER_00: Because God is ultimately the judge.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul's main point here in this passage is only God is ultimately qualified to judge his servants.
SPEAKER_00: Like he's the one who gave them the job, who's giving them orders, like he's the one that they need to listen to.
SPEAKER_00: Now, as we think about what this means for us today, I think there's a couple layers to be thinking about.
SPEAKER_00: One is we all need to be careful about how we judge others, especially, especially those in spiritual leadership, right?
SPEAKER_00: This is something we can release up to God because he's the one who takes care of it.
SPEAKER_00: But this should also, in some way, what Paul's talking about, his vision for leadership and working for the king and the judge of the universe, uh, should affect all of us because we all have positions of leadership and influence in God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Whether it's discipling others, serving in ministry somewhere, whether it's if you're a parent, right, you have a huge responsibility, kingdom responsibility, uh, to lead your family.
SPEAKER_00: And the fact that God is the one who will judge us and is ultimately our master should change how we relate to and fulfill these different roles we have.
SPEAKER_00: So let's start with that first one.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, judging those in leadership.
SPEAKER_00: Now, many of my examples will be very church leader specific, just because that's what Paul is writing about, and that's kind of the easiest one, I think, for us as a community to grapple with.
SPEAKER_00: But broadly, I think this can still apply to any of us who disciple and have influence over other people, not just those who work at a church.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're anything like me though, when I see that point, like, hey, only God should judge leaders, uh, I immediately have a bunch of questions.
SPEAKER_00: And like, well, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00: Like, really?
SPEAKER_00: That seems a little excessive, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Aren't there times we should be judging our leaders and judging people in leadership above us?
SPEAKER_00: Um, as a leader myself at this church, I know I'm not perfect, and there probably are times I should be judged and people should be examining me and looking at me, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um, and this is actually, this is kind of the main point that I had to really wrestle with as I started to study this passage.
SPEAKER_00: And I realized as I sat in it and studied more, that this is actually a fantastic example of why reading passages in context is so important, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Because you could, I could easily rip this out of context and avoid being judged, right?
SPEAKER_00: You could say anything to me like, actually, uh Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4, you shouldn't judge me, so you know, I'll do what I want, right?
SPEAKER_00: But that's not what Paul is talking about.
SPEAKER_00: The context is pointing to something specific Paul is talking about and has been talking about this whole time.
SPEAKER_00: Their judgment of Paul was about his simple speech, his rootedness in the gospel, that he wasn't going to depart from that, the desire to preach nothing but Christ and his crucifixion, that he wouldn't turn on the personal charisma like Apollos did.
SPEAKER_00: These are the things they've been judging him for, and these are the things Paul is thinking of in context as he says, like, hey, you should not be judging, like I work for God, like stop your judgment here.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul is not saying that you shouldn't be discerning about who you're following, right?
SPEAKER_00: Paul and Apollos are both rooted in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Paul doesn't have any worries about Apollos as a teacher or a leader.
SPEAKER_00: Um, if they were false teachers, Paul would be saying something very different, right?
SPEAKER_00: If you were to read 1 Timothy, Paul has very harsh words for people who add on to the gospel or for people who use the gospel to gain wealth, right?
SPEAKER_00: So Paul is critical of leaders and says we should be discerning and critical of leaders uh for certain things, um, but not for other things, what Paul's talking about today.
SPEAKER_00: So the things you should be discerning about is things like their sinfulness, right?
SPEAKER_00: I think of too many churches in our modern world who there's like these uh uh systems built up around like senior pastors or those in like high levels of leadership that protect them from accountability, right?
SPEAKER_00: And they end up getting away with all sorts of unhealthy stuff, whether it's abuse or affairs or whatever it might be, right?
SPEAKER_00: This is not what Paul is talking about.
SPEAKER_00: That we should just be like, hey, our leaders are perfect, we're just gonna let them do whatever they want to do, right?
SPEAKER_00: That's not what Paul's saying.
SPEAKER_00: Um, we should be discerning about things like faithfulness to the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Like, this is what Paul's been talking about.
SPEAKER_00: He's trying to shift their focus from the form and the eloquence and the like really nice big words that they and the charisma that Apollos was using to the importance of the gospel, the good news of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel is the center of it all and the foundation and is the standard through which we should uh be judging and discerning whether someone is a faithful leader or not.
SPEAKER_00: And then lastly, of course, is faithfulness to God, right?
SPEAKER_00: This is kind of pulseful point here is that God is the one we need to be faithful to.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one who's charged people in leadership with leading.
SPEAKER_00: God is the one we all ultimately answer to.
SPEAKER_00: Like, if I'm ever putting something above God, whether it's money or a person or a political party or whatever it might be, you should absolutely talk to me about that, right?
SPEAKER_00: That is not good.
SPEAKER_00: That's not something to be like, well, that's Cameron, you know, I guess we'll let him do whatever he wants to do.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you should totally talk to me about that.
SPEAKER_00: Not that I'm worried about that, you know.
SPEAKER_00: People do talk to me about stuff.
SPEAKER_00: We used to joke, uh, this hasn't happened for a while.
SPEAKER_00: We used to, we would get really critical uh feedback would come through anonymous prayer request cards.
SPEAKER_00: Uh it was really funny to be like, oh, look, a prayer request.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Um used to hang them up in my office sometimes just because I thought it was funny.
SPEAKER_00: So that's not what I'm talking about, is like just being like mean and critical and harsh.
SPEAKER_00: What I'm talking about is like uh we should try to sharpen each other, including we should sharpen our leaders uh with love and care and humility.
SPEAKER_00: Like I think of there's a couple people that come to mind just even recently within the last year or two.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know, it was Pete Lamb here.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
SPEAKER_00: I think it came to the second service, maybe.
SPEAKER_00: He came up after a sermon and talked to me.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, hey, like I've been studying First Corinthians.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know, I feel like that wasn't Paul's main point.
SPEAKER_00: Why did you do it?
SPEAKER_00: We had a great conversation.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it was one of those passages where it's like uh Mac preached it one week and I preached the same passage the next week.
SPEAKER_00: So I kind of thought, oh, I don't need to cover all that stuff.
SPEAKER_00: But it was a good sharpening conversation for me to be like, hey, if I'm gonna be a good Bible teacher, even if I feel like it's a lot of review, I just I have a responsibility to make sure people understand this is what Paul's saying.
SPEAKER_00: So it sharpened me.
SPEAKER_00: Or like Steve Angove, I think I saw him here today.
SPEAKER_00: Is he here?
SPEAKER_00: There he is.
SPEAKER_00: Um like we've had great conversations, and he's he's been a teacher, and he's like, hey, it'd be really helpful sometimes if you slow down.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, because you're like, you have a lot of good things to say, and when you get carried away, you can just go really fast.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it was not done with criticism, it was done out of love and care and humility.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like something I've thought about for the last year.
SPEAKER_00: Every week when I'm preparing a sermon, is like, okay, there's probably too much here, and instead of speeding it up, I should just cut some stuff.
SPEAKER_00: So thanks, Steve, after the service, if you've appreciated that.
SPEAKER_00: But it's been helpful for me, right?
SPEAKER_00: So we need to sharpen each other and help each other get better.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul's not saying we should never be discerning, we should never confront people, we should never sharpen each other in love.
SPEAKER_00: But what he is talking about is that we shouldn't use these standards that ultimately don't matter as like harsh critical forms of judgment towards people in leadership.
SPEAKER_00: So maybe a more faithful bottom line to the context of what Paul is talking about is the mark of a good leader is faithfulness to God and to the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is what God is gonna judge us on.
SPEAKER_00: Have we been faithful to his call?
SPEAKER_00: Have we been faithful to the gospel message we've been entrusted with?
SPEAKER_00: Uh Paul or God is not worried about how eloquent or charismatic or passionate or all of those things.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some people maybe have a specific call, like that's their personality, so they need to live into that.
SPEAKER_00: But this uh idea, this is like what the Corinthians were doing.
SPEAKER_00: They're just judging Paul and, like, hey, why aren't you entertaining us more?
SPEAKER_00: Why aren't you like presenting this in a way that's more entertaining for us?
SPEAKER_00: Um, and these are things we should not be judging each other for.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And I think in our world, this is really hard for us because we live in a world that is hooked on entertainment and hooked on stimulus.
SPEAKER_00: We have access to like literally the best of everything, like right at our fingertips with a cell phone.
SPEAKER_00: Like, check out this video.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna show you.
SPEAKER_00: It's fantastic.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a kid.
SPEAKER_00: Uh he is juggling three Rubik's Cubes while he's solving them at the same time.
SPEAKER_00: So watch the slow motion here for a minute.
SPEAKER_00: Promise it will.
SPEAKER_00: There we go.
SPEAKER_00: Twisting, look at that.
SPEAKER_00: Twisting as he's juggling.
SPEAKER_00: Like that is insane.
SPEAKER_00: When I was a kid, if you went to a sleepover and knew one kid who could solve a Rubik's cube in like eight hours, it was amazing.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And now we judge, we're like, huh, that's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_00: Uh he can do it in a minute and 59 seconds, right?
SPEAKER_00: That's insane.
SPEAKER_00: But we have access to just the most crazy, insane, over-the-top, best in-class things at all times, just right at our fingertips.
SPEAKER_00: And so our standards for what is entertaining or what is impressive in our world have never been higher than they are right now.
SPEAKER_00: And on one level, it's really cool to have access to all this information and all like the best that we can find, the best that humans are producing.
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: But we're also so desensitized uh to good things in our life because we're so used to seeing the best all the time.
SPEAKER_00: And what happens is we can judge people against the best that the world has to offer, right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is true everywhere, but it's so true in the church world.
SPEAKER_00: A couple examples to share with you.
SPEAKER_00: Um, one is like with traveling speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Like I remember a few years ago, we did a men's retreat up at Fort Wilderness, like we were a part of that.
SPEAKER_00: And there's this guy, he had this crazy testimony, he was super charismatic, super passionate.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he had been in jail multiple times, dealing drugs, like all this kind of crazy stuff, right?
SPEAKER_00: And someone uh from our church uh afterwards was like, Man, I really wish the preaching at Cross Point was more like that.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm sorry, man, that's never gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: Like, one, I'm not willing to start a drug addiction and go to prison just to have a really cool testimony for you to listen to.
SPEAKER_00: But also, like, I'm not the guy who's up there screaming with like five sweat rags wiping sweat off of his forehead because he's so passionate, right?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna suppress who God has created me to be in order to be what will be most entertaining to you.
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, there's all sorts of popular preachers you can find online, like Rich Felotis or Andy Stanley or Wesley Huff, and that's great if you love listening to people.
SPEAKER_00: That's like I have no problem with that.
SPEAKER_00: They're gifted, uh they have a lot more support and time to kind of hone their craft, and they're like God has gifted them in incredible ways.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but one thing to note, it's worth naming that a lot of those, like a lot of times people be like, oh, have you heard this person?
SPEAKER_00: They're the best, like I've ever heard.
SPEAKER_00: And you listen, it's like, oh yeah, sometimes I'm like, oh, that's really great.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I'm like, I don't know what people see in this person, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's so much of it is preference.
SPEAKER_00: We think it's like an objective criteria we're using about who's good and who's bad, but it's a lot of it is preference, right?
SPEAKER_00: Which is valid, but like 90% of it is preference.
SPEAKER_00: Uh there's all sorts of faith like influencers kind of outside the local church.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, think of like Tim Mackey with the Bible Project or John Mark Comer with Practicing the Way.
SPEAKER_00: If you were to say, Man, I wish the preaching at Cross Point was more like that, I'd be like, Yeah, me too.
SPEAKER_00: I wish I was as smart and articulate and well read and all of that.
SPEAKER_00: But let's be honest, I probably never will be.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, I'll get a little better as the years go on.
SPEAKER_00: But it is okay if I am not, thanks, I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00: If I am not as good as literally some of the best Bible teachers out in the world today, right?
SPEAKER_00: So here's the shift I think we need to make.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, is that the answer isn't necessarily like, hey, you need to stop listening to all that stuff.
SPEAKER_00: I want your standards to be as low as possible so you enjoy listening to me preacher.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what I'm trying to say.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but you can enjoy the best for what it is without letting it become the standard through which you judge everything else.
SPEAKER_00: I think there's a world where the Corinthians could have loved Apollos' eloquent preaching, but like, man, we really like that Apollos guy without letting it divide their church.
SPEAKER_00: Preference is totally valid, and it is okay, right?
SPEAKER_00: There's some people who really connect with Max preaching, some people who connect more with me.
SPEAKER_00: Like, it is okay to have preferences.
SPEAKER_00: The problem is when we let those preferences and those desires divide us as a community, or even uh maybe worse, pull us away from community entirely.
SPEAKER_00: This access to the greatest preaching or music or Bible teaching, whatever it might be, at our fingertips has the opportunity to draw us closer to God.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to draw us away from a local community.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it made me think of, as I was thinking about this, a couple.
SPEAKER_00: A few years ago, who left our church because they didn't connect with the preaching.
SPEAKER_00: But they're like, but we love Crosspoint.
SPEAKER_00: We have friends here, we love serving, we love worship, we love all this stuff, just not the preaching.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay, cool.
SPEAKER_00: And instead, they found an online church to be a part of because they really liked the preaching there.
SPEAKER_00: So it's like, man, by doing that, you just gave up like all the best parts of being part of a church.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what is happening?
SPEAKER_00: Like, preaching is the easiest thing to supplement.
SPEAKER_00: You can easily find like a podcast with a preacher who really fills you or speaks to you or whatever.
SPEAKER_00: Like the hardest part is being a part of a community and being face-to-face and digging into that stuff and serving and worship and all of that.
SPEAKER_00: But this is a fairly common story.
SPEAKER_00: People who find people they really like to listen to, they really resonate, they really like their books they read, and that ends up pulling them away from community because they they let that stuff that they start to really like that really speaks to them be the like the screen, the filter through which they judge everything else.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, no local church is ever going to live up to that idealistic standard you have in your head of what the church should be.
SPEAKER_00: And people draw away from church community all the time because of this.
SPEAKER_00: They get more and more dissatisfied with the real church right in front of them.
SPEAKER_00: And so access to the best, again, it's a lot of its preference, Christian content online should draw you closer to God, not away from a real life community.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to become the standard for which you judge everything else against.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a silly example.
SPEAKER_00: Um, July 17th was a big day in our house.
SPEAKER_00: There were two movies that came out that our family had been waiting for for like a year.
SPEAKER_00: One was The Odyssey, right?
SPEAKER_00: Christopher Dolan's next epic.
SPEAKER_00: The one other one was Descendants 5, Wicked Wonderland, found on Disney Plus.
SPEAKER_00: Um I don't know if you have kids, my girl's age, but Descendants is like one of the hottest things for them right now.
SPEAKER_00: And so when they watched the last movie, it's like there's little, there's gonna be another one.
SPEAKER_00: So like all year they've been waiting for this movie to come out.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: All year I've been waiting for this movie to come out.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's fair to say one is objectively better than the other, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um I think it's probably a fair statement.
SPEAKER_00: Um but I have a choice.
SPEAKER_00: I can either appreciate both for what they are, or I could become a snob and let my quest for like the best of everything uh and finding the most entertaining content content make me so snobby that like I miss out on a movie night with my family that night, right?
SPEAKER_00: I stayed up super late to watch The Odyssey that night it came out and got home like 2 and 30 in the morning, then that night we watched the Descendants 5.
SPEAKER_00: Again, I'll say there's one that was better than the other.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but if I if I just let like my quest for the best uh make me so snobbish, I would have missed out on time with my family, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because it oh, it wasn't good enough for me or whatever.
SPEAKER_00: And it feels like that's missing the whole point, right?
SPEAKER_00: In the same way, if you let your podcast listening or your book reading turn you into such a critical consumer of content that it draws you away from a church community, that is a problem, and you have missed the point.
SPEAKER_00: And yes, I am comparing my preaching to the fifth installment of a Disney Channel franchise.
SPEAKER_00: But I know myself, sometimes that's the best you're gonna get, right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh but as a family, we can sit down and be together through it all.
SPEAKER_00: So uh your hope for the preaching at a church shouldn't be that like your pastor sounds like Rich Felotis or John Mark Comer or whoever the hot pastor at the moment is, or even that like I sound more like Mac.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Our hope should be that I'm faithful to who God has created me to be and what he set before me.
SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately that's the call on all of us.
unknown: Right?
SPEAKER_00: I said there's kind of two layers to this as we think about what this means for us.
SPEAKER_00: One is judging others, and that critical spirit and posture does bad work for our churches, turning them into places of entertainment, and it does even worse work in our own souls, right?
SPEAKER_00: When we become nitpicky and critical of everything.
SPEAKER_00: And I know as someone who preaches, I feel like I can be the worst at it, right?
SPEAKER_00: To be critical, if I'm not careful, I can be judgmental or critical when I listen to like other people preach at like a conference or something like that, right?
SPEAKER_00: But that does bad work in my soul to feed that part of me, right?
SPEAKER_00: Even if I feel like I might be right or have valid concerns in the moment.
SPEAKER_00: But the other layer is for those of you who have stepped into some sort of spiritual leadership.
SPEAKER_00: Whether it is something more public, like preaching or being on the worship team, whether it's discipling someone, whether it's having kids or grandkids and parenting, whether it's leading or serving in ministry, uh, we all need to take the same view as Paul, that we ultimately work for God, not for the other people around us, or not even for ourselves and our own fulfillment and what we think we should be doing.
SPEAKER_00: Because of our culture, it's easy to relate to your call, whatever call God has on your life right now, uh, with the pressure to entertain or keep people happy or just like crush it and accomplish so much.
SPEAKER_00: But spiritual leadership is not just a product that we try to produce, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's not something we crush and try to get 100% on.
SPEAKER_00: It's not something uh that we do to look good for a social media highlight.
SPEAKER_00: It is a call to be faithful to, first and foremost.
SPEAKER_00: It is a humble act of service to be offered, not a performance.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, we should all want to get better at our call, whatever it might be, whether it's on the worship team, whether it's parenting, whether it's in a ministry, um, uh teaching in a kid's class or whatever it is.
SPEAKER_00: Like, we should want to be better at what we do.
SPEAKER_00: All right, this whole sermon is not some giant excuse for me to start leaving early so I can just like be like, hey, now you can't criticize me for being bad at preaching, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's not the point.
SPEAKER_00: Um, we want to be better, but better means more faithful, not more entertaining, or more passionate, or more charismatic, or polished, or more popular.
SPEAKER_00: If you step into spiritual leadership, again of any type, there will be times that you need to do or say things that people you're leading won't like.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're primarily concerned with keeping people happy with you or comfortable, they might applaud you and love you and be so excited, right?
SPEAKER_00: If I give my kids candy every day, they would love me so much, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um, but what matters most is what God has called you to do, not what the other people around you say, not even what your own internal conscience says.
SPEAKER_00: Though, of course, those are all things to be listened to as we try to discern what God is saying, but ultimately the one we serve is God, not anyone else.
SPEAKER_00: What matters is what God has called you to do and how he will judge when it's all said and done.
SPEAKER_00: All right, as we wrap up here, you know, we like to say that we don't want to just be people who like listen to a bunch of stuff and be like, cool, sounds good.
SPEAKER_00: Like we want to actually do something with it.
SPEAKER_00: Um, sometimes you might not know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: If you feel like the spirit's nudging you in some way, that's great.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a couple examples of ways you could respond to this passage this week.
SPEAKER_00: One, a couple reflection questions, if you're someone who likes to sit and pray or journal, is how judgmental are you?
SPEAKER_00: If you're honest with yourself, what standards do you use to judge others?
SPEAKER_00: Because my hunch is most of us don't, we probably have standards other than what God would use to get slipped into how we judge other people.
SPEAKER_00: And what has God entrusted you with?
SPEAKER_00: Like what area do you feel like God has like led you into leadership to have influence over other people?
SPEAKER_00: Couple practical ones.
SPEAKER_00: Release the desire to judge something you don't need to judge this week.
SPEAKER_00: Put away the prayer request card, you don't need to submit it this time.
SPEAKER_00: Um whatever it might be, just release that desire and be like, God, I'm just not gonna judge this, I'm not gonna like take ownership of this.
SPEAKER_00: A second one.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, is that it?
SPEAKER_00: Keep going?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Luckily I wrote them down.
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you struggle with judgment and comparison, just stop consuming Christian content for a season.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: If you find listening to other pastors or listening to other music makes you more critical of being a part of our community, like maybe you just need to take a break from that and let yourself settle a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: And then I'd encourage you, whatever it is God's entrusted you with, sit down with God and write like a mission statement.
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't think of a better phrase, for what faithfulness to God looks like in this season.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: If it's parenting, it's so easy to get like dragged off course by all sorts of different things.
SPEAKER_00: To be like, God, how do you want me to be a faithful parent in this season?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: If it's serving in kids' ministry or youth ministry, God, how do you want me to be a faithful youth leader in this season?
SPEAKER_00: Like whatever it might be, sit down and try to, because once you have that idea of what faithfulness looks like, it's a whole lot easier to hold on to and to not get dragged by popularity or by all sorts of other things when you know what you're supposed to be rooted to.
SPEAKER_00: So, a couple quick announcements and then I'll pray for us.
SPEAKER_00: There's a blood drive tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's still some spots open.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Versity says that their like summer is a really low month for getting blood.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, as people are on vacations and stuff.
SPEAKER_00: So if you have availability, I'd encourage you to go online and get signed up for that.
SPEAKER_00: And then lastly, is Kids Fest.
SPEAKER_00: We have Tuesday.
SPEAKER_00: So those of you who signed up to help, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: You'll be getting an email tomorrow afternoon with all the info.
SPEAKER_00: We had a ton of people sign up for the early shift, more than like we've ever had before.
SPEAKER_00: So thank you guys so much for catching the vision of how we want to be a blessing to our community.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we do have some people, we do have some slots still on the later shift.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're available Tuesday from like, you know, I don't remember the exact time, but it's like, you know, just a couple hours in the late morning, early afternoon.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we would love your help being a blessing to our communities.
SPEAKER_00: We have bounce houses and all sorts, stoke cones, all sorts of cool stuff to bless our community.
SPEAKER_00: So, all right, let me pray for us and then we can go and enjoy, I don't know, rainy, maybe not rainy day.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: Felt like it was changing a lot this morning.
SPEAKER_00: God, thank you so much uh for your love and your grace.
SPEAKER_00: God, I thank you that you convict us and challenge us, that you don't just let us be comfortable, um, but you have something so much better for us than just our comfort or keeping us happy, uh, something deeper and more satisfying and more fulfilling than we could ever get if we just searched for the easy hit of comfort and happiness.
SPEAKER_00: So, God, we just ask this week that we would stay connected, help us to stay connected to you.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to stay connected to your heart, to your call on our life, to how it is you want us to live out that call with the people around us.
SPEAKER_00: And God, give us the courage to step into things that might be difficult, that we might be avoiding because we're worried about how we'll be judged or what other people are gonna say or think.
SPEAKER_00: But God, give us the courage just to trust you wholeheartedly as we step into those things.
SPEAKER_00: In your name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks, guys.
SPEAKER_00: Have a good week.