WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.120 We've been walking through the book of Mark now for several months. 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:08.720 And a couple of weeks ago, we hit this pinnacle moment in Mark's gospel, Mark chapter eight. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:14.320 At the very beginning of Mark's gospel, he makes this declaration this is the good news about Jesus, the Messiah. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:27.920 But up until Mark chapter eight, that term is never used from that point on because Mark wants to actually demonstrate who the Messiah is by Jesus' actions as he heals and as he restores and as he casts out demons. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:37.200 But in Mark chapter eight, we have this pivotal moment where Mark's dis or where Mark has the disciples declare that Jesus is the Messiah. 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:50.000 And what we're going to see today is as we continue now moving towards the cross, Jesus is going to take that term that they've declared over him, and he is going to actually reorient it around what he's actually called to do. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:56.960 So he wants to shift their viewpoint to help them understand what it actually means for him to be Messiah. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:59.520 So we're going to continue on that today. 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:03.439 And Jesus is once more going to redefine the term Messiah. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:08.480 But again, if we go back to a couple weeks ago, I talked about the expectations of this term. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:21.519 The Messiah is this in their concept, this military leader, this Jewish anointed king who was going to come and beat down the Romans and reform the temple system and get rid of the corruption in the leadership. 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:28.319 He was going to find his significance by pushing others down. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:40.239 What's so interesting today is that once more Jesus is going to come to his disciples and he's going to tell them that the Messiah is not one who crushes others, but is actually crushed for others. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.200 And it just does not compute for them. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:02:05.599 And so as Jesus declares that he is going to live a life of sacrifice out of significance that he has had declared over him as the Son of God, we're going to see at the same time the disciples start to bicker and argue for significance by trying to compare themselves and asking the question, who is the greatest? 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:15.039 And I think what Mark is doing is not only inviting us to see who Jesus is, but inviting us to ask some questions about ourselves in the ways that we find significance. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:23.039 Because I think if we're being really, really honest, every single human being has this burning question in their hearts. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:31.120 Do I matter? 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:34.319 Do I matter? 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:41.840 See, every he's every single human being wants to understand if they have significance. 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:44.000 Do they matter? 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:53.439 And what Mark's going to do is as he contrasts Jesus with his disciples, he's going to invite us to see two different paths to significance. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:03.840 In Jesus, he's going to invite us to see a path where significance is not something that we can earn or strive after, but is actually freely given by God. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:07.919 And the way that it changes and transforms a person. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:19.280 And the disciples, we're going to see a picture of significance that is tried to get is tried to claim be claimed through climbing up the ladder over the people below you. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:34.719 But as we look at it today, what we're going to see is that Jesus is inviting us to step off the ladder completely and truly experience significance through the work that He's done for us in the cross. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:41.439 So if you have your Bibles, Mark chapter 9, we're going to start in verse 30, where we just uh read through. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:46.639 So they, meaning Jesus and his disciples, left that place and passed through Galilee. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:52.719 Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were because he was teaching his disciples. 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:54.800 I just want to pause here for a moment. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:57.759 So I frame this up as a conversation about significance. 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:01.520 And I just want you to think for a second about what's happened in the story so far. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:03.520 So Jesus has been doing miracles. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:04.879 He has been casting out demons. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:06.080 And what's been happening? 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:08.159 A crowd has gathered around him. 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:11.439 There's a ton of people who are very interested in Jesus. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:19.839 By all stretch of the imagination, by any modern concept of success, Jesus is walking away from his path to significance. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:25.600 He has had an entire crowd of people that are hanging on his every word, that are flocking to him. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:26.399 And what does he do? 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:32.959 He leaves them all behind and begins to focus deeply on just a few people. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:38.079 Now, this is a bit of a tangent, but I think it's a tangent worth traveling on. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:46.319 What we're seeing is Jesus actually demonstrates what a life lived from significance, not for significance, looks like. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:51.439 Jesus doesn't need the crowds to make him feel better about himself. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:58.720 Jesus doesn't need the crowds to affirm his own sense of self. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:07.839 Because Jesus is fully, fully set in who he is, he can be obedient and serve the smaller community. 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:11.759 A few months ago, I was looking at some stats. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:13.120 It's very interesting. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:19.600 The upcoming generation, the one that's just now moving into adulthood and in their careers, is called Generation Z. 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:25.040 And uh what's happening in church world is there's this bit of this crisis of ministry leadership. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:45.920 Because for every person now who in Generation Z who's going into college and seminary and coming out with a degree and stepping into full-time ministry, uh, for every one of those, seven people are leaving, which means that we're gonna hit this moment in Canada where there are hundreds, if not thousands, of churches that do not have full-time paid ministry staff. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:49.439 Now, this is not a sermon about full-time paid ministry staff. 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:51.199 There's lots of opinions on this. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:06:05.040 But what I want you to see is that one of the reasons, not maybe the only reason, but one of the reasons as you talk to some of the people in Generation Z or Z why they're not pursuing full-time paid ministry is because they think the platform is too small. 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:15.519 Why pastor a church of a hundred or two hundred or fifty or seventy or even a few hundred when you could get on social media and build a platform of thousands? 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:26.160 But the problem is that sometimes the greatest work God wants to do is not through reaching the thousands. 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:36.720 The greatest work God wants to do is through the ordinary, average, deep investment and faithfulness in the few that are right in front of you. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:50.399 And I fear that our culture is starting to seep into our church in some really unhealthy ways, and starting to affect our heart as we're going to see happens to the disciples. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:52.879 Jesus continues on. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:54.560 So this is the content of his teaching. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:59.199 He said to them, The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:03.040 They will kill him, and after three days he will rise. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:10.319 But they, meaning the disciples, did not understand what he meant, and they were afraid to ask him about it. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:12.079 So here's Jesus. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:24.319 He leaves the ministry momentum behind, he takes the twelve, he goes off into the wilderness, away from the crowds, away from the success, away from the platform, and he starts to teach them. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:26.079 And what does he teach them? 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:29.120 He says, Well, this is what it means to be the Messiah. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:31.439 I am going to go to the cross. 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:34.879 I am going to suffer and die. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:40.319 And the disciples, they just don't get it. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:42.800 It does not compute. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:50.720 Now, I think we can probably cut the disciples a little bit of slack because let's be honest, Jesus has been speaking in parables up to this point. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:53.360 And so it's quite possible that they're like, I don't really get this. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:54.879 Is he speaking metaphorically? 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:55.839 Is this real? 00:07:56.079 --> 00:08:01.920 And if you remember a couple weeks ago in Mark chapter 8, when Peter was like, Jesus, you're the Messiah. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:03.360 What did Jesus do? 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:06.639 He like Peter's like, just said, hey, this is what the Messiah does. 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:07.600 He suffers and dies. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:09.279 And Peter's like, no, that can't be it. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:10.480 And Jesus calls him Satan. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:14.319 So I imagine that you probably didn't want to get called Satan if you were a disciple. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:16.240 So you're like, I'm going to leave this thing alone. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:18.160 But here's what's really going on. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:26.720 The disciples didn't get it because it did not compute, because in their mind, the Messiah was the most significant person that could live. 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:41.519 And they had no concept of significance outside of a significance that was built from climbing over others, from conquering the Romans, from conquering the temple system, from reforming the people of Israel and establishing that kingdom. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:53.279 And so when Jesus declares to them that the Messiah is going to be someone who goes and suffers and dies for the sake of others, that picture of success just does not match. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:08:59.600 But here's what they're missing. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:09.840 See, in their minds, significance is something that you have to work for. 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:19.519 But we see in Mark's gospel over and over and over again is that Jesus is working from significance. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:24.159 A few weeks ago, Matt brought us to the beginning of Mark chapter 9. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:37.360 And then the voice of the Father speaks over him. 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:39.519 And this is what the Father says. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:46.320 He says, This is my son whom I love. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:52.320 This is my son whom I love. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:58.320 Like the creator of the universe just declared who Jesus was. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:03.120 The creator of the universe just declared Jesus' significance. 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:06.000 So he had nothing to prove. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:08.080 He had no one that he had to climb over. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:12.240 He had no ladder that he needed to work his way up to find significance. 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:13.519 He had it. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:18.399 It's the very thing that the apostle Paul talks about in Philippians chapter 2. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:20.000 And many of you are familiar with this passage. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:24.240 Paul's writing to the church of Philippi, and he calls the church to live this way. 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:29.200 He says, In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:30.399 What's that mindset? 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:34.960 Verse 6: who being in the very nature God, so this is what Paul's saying. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:37.759 He's saying Jesus understood who he was. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.639 He actually was rooted in his significance. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:43.679 He did not need someone else to hold him up. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:45.679 He did not need someone else to amplify him. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:49.200 He did not need someone else to make him feel like he had significance. 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:50.399 He knew it. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:52.799 But what does he do with that? 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:58.080 He did not consider equality with God something to be used for his own advantage. 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:06.720 Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a human. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:31.840 See, Jesus was completely and utterly, um, he was completely and utterly secure in who he was. 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:33.919 He didn't have to prove himself. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:36.799 He didn't have to show that he was better than anyone else. 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:38.720 And so what does he do instead? 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:41.600 He serves, he sacrifices. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:47.440 His actions don't flow for significance, they flow from significance. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:54.240 I'll flesh this out in a minute, but but I want to just give you an illustration to maybe help us understand how this works. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:58.399 I have been a father, uh, become a father now four times over. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:04.159 And uh every time I become a father, the thing that oftentimes amazes me the most is my wife. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:08.639 Um, you know, we we think about this term motherhood. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:12.480 And in motherhood is a term of significance. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:14.480 We're declaring something over someone. 00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:16.559 But think about how motherhood works. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:34.000 Now, whenever we have kids, I watch as um Shannon, first of all, and some of you ladies, you get this intimately because some of you are pregnant right now, and you're like, ugh, but she her body just gets wrecked for like the first 13, 14 weeks as she's like puking and sick and feels terrible all the time. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:51.600 And then, well, we finally get to the end, and after all the bloating and all the stuff that happens, all the uncomfortableness and you know, this feeling like crap for for weeks at a time, then we go into the the uh hospital, and and because this is our story, Shannon gets C-sections. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:53.919 So then she gets cut open. 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:58.720 And then after that, she nourishes this child. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:03.600 And and and everyone who tells you that breastfeeding is this beautiful, lovely, like easy thing. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:07.679 I mean, I've talked to enough people to know that that is not most people's experience. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:10.639 It's a painful, hard, challenging thing at times. 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:20.240 And yet you're nourishing this child, this this little human being who can offer you nothing, who gives you nothing, who only takes and takes and takes and takes. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:27.120 And yet, Shannon doesn't do any of those things to become a mother. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:31.679 She does them because she is a mother. 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:43.039 Like her significance as a mother actually fuels the way that she serves and cares for our babies. 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:47.759 That's a bit of a picture of what uh what Mark is describing here. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:56.399 Jesus does not become the Messiah by going to the cross, he goes to the cross because he is the Messiah. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:01.840 He sacrifices because he is the Messiah, he already has his significance. 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:08.879 Now look at the contrast that we have with the disciples. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:14.000 Verse 32. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:16.399 Sorry, verse 33. 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:23.279 They came to Capernaum, and when they were in the house, he asked them, What were you arguing about on the road? 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:30.720 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:33.200 Who was the greatest? 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:38.480 So here's this contrast that Mark is intentionally building for us. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:44.240 On one hand, you have Jesus who saying, I'm gonna go and sacrifice and die for the sake of others. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:47.039 And then the disciples who hear it don't get it. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:56.399 And it's clear that they don't get it, not just because they didn't ask questions about it, and Mark tells us, but because you can see the huge contrast in how they start to respond to each other. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:02.399 They're on the road and they start arguing about who is the greatest, who's the best, who's the most significant. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:03.519 I can just see it now. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:08.320 There's Peter, and Peter's like, listen, guys, you know I'm Jesus' favorite, right? 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:09.919 You know I'm the best. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.960 And John's like, Yeah, Peter, get a life. 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:14.399 Jesus just called you Satan. 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:16.080 Like, back of the line, bud. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:20.159 And James comes along, he's like, uh, John, you think you're so hot. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:24.639 You think Jesus loves you the most, but listen, I know I'm the best. 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:27.279 Like when Jesus goes, I'm the next in charge. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:29.440 Like, this is the conversation they're having. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:31.279 But at the heart level, what's going on? 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:36.080 At the heart level, each and every one of them is trying to figure out do I matter? 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:37.679 What's my significance? 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:39.440 How do I rank? 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:52.399 And at the very deepest heart level, what we see playing out in this moment with the disciples is the same thing we see played out in the Garden of Eden. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:57.679 When Satan comes in the form of a serpent and he tempts Eve, and what does he do? 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:05.440 He tempts Eve to say, You can find your significance apart from receiving it from God. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:08.720 He tells Eve, Do you want to be like God? 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:11.679 Do you truly matter? 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:13.679 Are you truly significant? 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:18.720 Now, what's happened up until this point? 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:23.360 In the biblical account, God has declared the significance of Adam and Eve. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:26.399 He has said, You are made in my image and likeness. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:30.559 You are called to be rulers and have authority and dominion over all the earth. 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:32.240 They had their significance. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:33.279 It was declared over them. 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:35.519 There was nothing that they had to do to get it. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:40.799 And then the snake comes along and he says, No, no, no. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:43.519 You're not as significant as you thought. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:45.200 There's something more that you need. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:48.879 All you have to do is go and grab it. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:17:01.200 Now, I want to pause here for a moment because one of the mistakes that we can make is that we can assume that a desire for significance is the problem. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:12.480 But if we go on in Mark's gospel in verse 35, it says, sitting down, Jesus called the 12 to him and said, Anyone who wants to be first must be very last and the servant of all. 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:15.279 Jesus is here. 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.480 He's not telling them it's wrong for them to want to be first. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:21.119 It's not wrong for them to want to have significance. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:28.480 The problem is that they are looking to earn or gain their significance through their actions and their achievement. 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:32.480 A desire for significance is actually a gift from God. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:35.440 If you are here today and you're wondering, do I matter? 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:48.799 That is actually something that God has placed in your heart because he wants it to drive you to him so that he can declare that you do, that he can tell you that you're a matter, that he can define your significance. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:55.039 So a desire for significance, a desire for meaning is not the problem. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:04.880 No, the problem is that sin takes that good desire given to us as human beings by a good God to drive us to Him. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:12.880 And instead places it in an idol, something that we worship instead of God. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:18.799 An idol of status, an idol of success, an idol of achievement. 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:32.480 But ultimately, an idol that declares, I must win my significance by my own work and achievement. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:39.759 And so what we begin to worship is status. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:50.799 Because the inevitable result when we look to our achievement to give us significance is comparison. 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:56.720 Because achievement does not work without measure. 00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:59.599 This is exactly what's going on in the disciples, right? 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:01.359 They're arguing about who's the greatest. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:02.400 How do they know who's great? 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:06.720 Well, by comparing themselves to someone else, I have to be better than that person. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:13.759 And what Jesus is highlighting for us here is that is actually an outworking of the culture of his day. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:26.079 If you go to Matthew chapter 20, verse 25, Jesus, in a similar conversation, calls his disciples together and says to them, You know that the rulers of the Gentile lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:37.920 Jesus is looking at his disciples and saying, You know how the culture around us actually defines significance by how much better you are than everyone else. 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:53.119 And the disciples had bought into that mentality instead of accepting God's gracious invitation to receive their significance from Him in church. 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:59.200 If anything, our culture has taken that and made it ten times worse. 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:01.839 Just think about social media for a second. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:09.119 Uh, Shannon and I are starting a school in September, and we've had to start um social media marketing, and I absolutely hate it. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:10.000 It sucks. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:13.599 You know, and we're constantly now like trying to figure out how many followers do you have? 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:15.200 How many likes did you get? 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:19.759 Uh, but this is actually how we value success and significance in our culture. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:27.440 Followers, likes, meow meow beans, whatever it is, these are the things that are now starting to make us feel better about ourselves. 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:32.079 And we know how we're doing because we're better than that person over there, or better than that person over there. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:35.039 We have more likes, more followers than those other people. 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:44.480 And that's just one of many of the ways that our culture has saturated us with this idea that we can gain our significance by climbing up the ladder over others. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.720 Another one is productivity. 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:53.200 How many of you judge how well you're doing by how much more you've achieved than the people around you? 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:56.079 I'm guilty. 00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:08.720 Shannon and I uh are having this interesting moment because I'm about to go in sabbatical in a couple of weeks, and she's going to be ramping up into uh becoming our head of school for this school that we're launching. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:11.839 And so we're gonna switch roles for a couple of months where I'm gonna be at home. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:21.920 And we have had this ongoing conversation, husbands and wives, maybe some of you can relate to this where uh I'm I'm like a task-oriented person, and I'm always like, hey, how can I get the most amount done? 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:24.480 Shannon is much, much, much wiser than me. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:26.559 Um, and so she's a people-oriented person. 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:31.200 So she's she's trying to balance out like I need to get some stuff done, and I also need to like nurture and care for our kids. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:33.680 I'm like, kids go play, dad needs to get some work done. 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:40.640 So we have this joke because I I and in my flesh sometimes come home and I'm like, Shannon, why don't you get more done? 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:43.039 Like, I could be more productive than you. 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:47.440 But what's going on in my heart in those moments is I'm actually making a value statement. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:54.319 I'm saying, because I can produce more, therefore I have more value, I have more significance. 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:58.720 How about parenting? 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:05.599 Do you ever look around and try and figure out how well you are as a parent by comparing yourself to other people's kids? 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:07.200 What they're doing? 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:09.359 Are you guilty of that? 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:13.440 Again, confessions with Andrew. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:16.559 Shannon and I are we're hyper-intentional with our kids. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:17.279 We love them. 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:18.319 We want to nurture them. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:20.079 We want to create environments for them to flourish. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:26.480 We're literally starting a school so that they can have the best possible educational opportunities that will help form their character. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:28.960 And we are big on things like free play. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:31.519 You know, we we talk about giving our kids like a 90 summer. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:37.839 We want them to go out and not be on screens and be able to go and play in splash parks and pools and run around with their friends and go on bikes. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:46.160 And so we have built an entire culture in our family of just letting our kids kind of go and explore and adventure and gain life skills. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:49.200 We're pretty proud, proud of them. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:56.720 Sometimes we're looking around, we're looking at other people's kids, and we're like, yeah, our kids are they're just gonna do a little better, they're a little better behaved, they're a little well. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:02.400 Let me tell you, God had me go through a very humbling moment this uh this past um holiday. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:09.119 We were in uh Alberta visiting my in-laws, and we went to the drum heller, uh, the Royal Tyrell Museum. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:17.920 Let me tell you, when your three-year-old decides that free play is happening on the triceratops skeleton, you get humbled real fast as a parent. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:20.160 But we do this, right? 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:31.359 We look around at other people's kids, and we try and evaluate our significance as a parent based on how our kids measure up or how we are doing against them. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:37.279 And our culture, again, is saturated in this virtue signaling, right? 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:43.599 You know, something's going on, and I'm I'm gonna fight the cause. 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:50.400 I'm gonna put that uh filter on my Facebook profile or my Instagram profile to support this group or that group. 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:54.559 I'm gonna give this land acknowledgement because I'm all about this cause or that. 00:23:55.119 --> 00:24:01.279 Like our culture is building itself around this idea of virtue, but what is it really saying? 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:06.720 It's really saying, how do I make myself better than those around me? 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:09.039 And a kind of weird reversal. 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:16.880 We even have this inverse reality in our culture where uh the way that we compare significance is actually around victimhood. 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:22.720 Am I part of a more oppressed class of people? 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:27.680 Well, you're a visible minority, but I'm a visible minority who's also a woman. 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:31.039 So I'm I'm actually more significant. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:32.079 Oh, yeah? 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:36.079 Well, I'm a visible minority who used to be a woman. 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:44.559 This is, I mean, I know it's a little bit strange, but this is the way that we are fueling significance by comparison. 00:24:46.480 --> 00:25:02.000 And just like the Gentiles had affected the disciples and their view of what significance was and how they could achieve it, our culture today I think is starting to have an effect on our church. 00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:10.720 Think about some of the most celebrated churches in our culture. 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:12.400 What makes them significant? 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:13.680 What makes them special? 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:18.160 Is it their numbers, their social media presence, their platform? 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:24.720 Is that how we truly judge who is successful and who is significant? 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:32.400 And yes, I could I could go off on uh mega churches and celebrity Christianity, but I don't need to because here's the reality. 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:40.400 Is it possible that right here in West Village, that we do the same thing in our own small little microspheres? 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:45.519 How do you judge whether your missional community is successful? 00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:50.799 Is it by comparing yourself to what other missional communities are doing? 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:56.960 Well, you know, we're not doing great in this area, but we're definitely better in that missional community in this area. 00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:05.759 Or maybe even on a personal level, how do you know if your life is successful, if you have significance, even as a person in your spiritual life? 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:14.640 Do you go and look and well, you know, I'm not I'm not awesome over here, but look at that guy over there. 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:16.720 I mean, he is a mess. 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:23.200 We can do this in so many aspects of our lives. 00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:35.200 And here's the problem this way of living ultimately can never give us the significance that we desire. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:42.720 It can never truly answer the question with an affirmative of do I actually matter? 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:53.039 Because comparison isn't evidence of pride as much as it's evidence of an awareness that we know we haven't arrived yet. 00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:00.000 We know we're not enough. 00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:14.720 And the reality is once you're on this ladder of trying to figure out your significance by comparing yourself to others, ultimately you will find that this is a life that will crush you. 00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:20.720 Because the ladder will continually demand that you climb the next rung. 00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:26.559 And as soon as you get there, you'll look up and you'll see that there's one more person ahead of you. 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:44.319 So no matter how hard you work, how hard you sacrifice, how hard you perform, how high you achieve, you will never get to the place where you feel like you actually matter and have the significance that you are craving. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:49.759 And here's the tragedy of this moment. 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:54.319 Here's the tragedy of this contrast with the disciples. 00:27:54.880 --> 00:28:10.640 The disciples are completely obsessed with trying to climb this ladder for significance at the same time that Jesus is marching to the cross to tear the ladder down. 00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:19.759 Mark finishes off his account. 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:32.319 As he does, he describes what happens when we step off the ladder and live a life like Jesus did from significance rather than for it. 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:39.200 Sitting down, Jesus called the twelve and said, Anyone who wants to be first among you must be the very last and the servant of all. 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:48.240 And then he took a little child whom he had placed among them, and taking the child child in his arms, he said to them, Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me. 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:53.359 And whoever welcomes me does not just welcome me, but the one who sent me. 00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:56.400 Now there's two things I want us to see here. 00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:05.200 Number one is when we think about servant, sometimes we might have an overly optimistic view of what that term meant in the uh first century. 00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:08.000 We think about servant like we have servant teams, right? 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:12.880 You come to West Village and there's a nice person who smiles at the door or gives you a scone or a muffin, and that's awesome. 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:14.880 That's it's like a really good and beautiful thing. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:18.160 Or we talk about servant leadership or or public servants. 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:20.799 We have all these elevated terms for servanthood. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:26.960 But in Jesus' day and age, this term servant was actually uh the Greek word do los, which is the term slave. 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:30.079 It is the person who is given no value. 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:35.279 They are the bottom of the pecking order, the the uh bottom rung of the ladder. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:48.240 And Jesus is essentially saying, when you actually live a life of uh from significance, not for it, then you can be at the bottom and it won't matter. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:51.119 He also uses this picture of a child. 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:55.279 Now we live again in the 21st century and we love children. 00:29:55.440 --> 00:30:00.720 I mean, I have four of them, and they're like, they're amazing, they're awesome, uh, they're innocent. 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:05.039 Although we have all this language that amplifies and elevates children in our culture. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:06.720 Like they're just precious commodity. 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:08.240 Not so in the first century. 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:11.039 There was no these, there's not these idealized views of children. 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:15.200 Children were a liability, they were the bottom of the social stratosphere. 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:18.720 They were the ones who could contribute nothing to the well-being of the family. 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:20.319 They were takers, not givers. 00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:23.359 They had no significance, no legal privilege. 00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:27.759 They were the least possible important person. 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:48.880 So when Jesus is describing receiving a child, like we're receiving him, he's saying, You're gonna take the person who offers you nothing, who can offer you no chance to move up in the social sphere, and you are gonna treat them like you would treat me. 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:58.400 This is a picture of what life is like when we live from significance, not for it. 00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:05.839 Now, I want to flesh this out a bit in a second, but before I do, I want to ask this question. 00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:09.759 How can we actually do this? 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:19.839 Like, how is it that we can step off the achievement ladder trying to strive for finding our success through what we do and accomplish by comparing ourselves to those around us? 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:20.960 How do we actually do that? 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:23.440 Because, church, I've been doing this church thing for a long time. 00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:24.880 I've been doing this Christian thing for a long time. 00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:26.000 Literally, you guys pay me money. 00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:31.119 I'm like a full-time paid professional Christian, and I still find myself all the time on the ladder. 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:37.200 Even in this role, I can go and hang out with other church leaders. 00:31:37.519 --> 00:31:42.480 And there's moments in my heart where the questions I want to ask is like, how many people are your church? 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:44.640 How much of an impact are you having? 00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:46.319 What, you know, what am I doing? 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:48.480 I'm getting back on the ladder. 00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:53.759 So, how is it that we get off this thing? 00:31:56.640 --> 00:31:59.599 Church, we say this often. 00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:01.920 We're we're a band with one song. 00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:04.400 We're a one-trick pony here. 00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:06.400 The answer is always the same. 00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:09.519 It's the gospel, it's the cross. 00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:31.920 Because just as the father spoke the status and significance over the son, now because of the cross, Jesus, who humbled himself and went to die, who actually didn't just uh like try and climb up the ladder, but completely got off of it and went the bottom rung for the sake of us. 00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:36.240 And just like let's take this matter, this metaphor of the ladder to its highest potential. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:38.240 Jesus was at the top of the ladder. 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:39.039 He was God. 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:40.640 There was no one above him. 00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:44.640 He did not need to achieve anything, he was everything. 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:47.519 What does he do? 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:54.000 He goes to the very bottom and dies for sinners. 00:32:56.960 --> 00:32:59.279 And yet in that moment, something beautiful happens. 00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:07.200 The Bible tells us that there's this great exchange where Jesus' achievement, Jesus' accomplishment is gifted to us. 00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:24.400 So when God the Father looks at you, if you have put your faith in Jesus, he does not see you by your failures, he does not see you by the comparison to where you rank among others. 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:26.799 He looks at you and he sees Jesus. 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:35.279 And the things that were declared over Jesus are now declared over us. 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:40.079 This is my child whom I love. 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:42.720 And here's the beautiful reality, church. 00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:45.200 There's nothing you can do to get there. 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:47.440 You can't earn it, you can't achieve it. 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:52.000 It doesn't matter where you compare with anyone else, it is something that you can only receive. 00:33:55.680 --> 00:34:01.599 But when you do, you don't need the ladder anymore. 00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:04.480 There's nowhere to go. 00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:08.719 You have everything that your heart longs for. 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:14.559 The creator of the universe looks at you and says, Very good. 00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:29.440 Just imagine how you would live if you never felt like you had to prove anything. 00:34:31.519 --> 00:34:33.039 What would change? 00:34:38.719 --> 00:34:41.280 Jesus isn't just giving us pictures here. 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:46.320 I think Jesus is actually inviting us into habits because there's this really interesting reality. 00:34:46.559 --> 00:35:01.199 When you come to faith in Jesus, when this reality that Jesus declares your significance over you, we have still spent years and years and years living in a culture that completely tells us this reality that we have to achieve our significance by climbing the ladder of comparison. 00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:06.960 And so our hearts are oftentimes oriented back to that, even if our status has actually changed. 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:14.000 And so what Jesus has done here is he's actually given us habits to help us conform ourselves now to who we are. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:20.400 And the first habit I would call the servant mentality habit. 00:35:21.840 --> 00:35:29.360 See, the world is constantly asking us to look around and ask the question, what position do I have? 00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:33.920 And the only way you can answer that is by comparing yourself to others. 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:40.719 But Jesus is inviting you to adopt a servant mentality and start asking a different question. 00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:45.519 And the question is this How can I serve others? 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:55.440 Just imagine if we came into a place like this, and our primary question was, How do I serve? 00:35:58.320 --> 00:36:00.079 What do I contribute? 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:02.639 How can I lift others up? 00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:09.519 What resources do I have for the sake of growing other people? 00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:24.559 Jesus inviting us to start forming lives around this question, aligning ourselves with the significance that He has declared over us. 00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:28.800 The second habit is similar, but it's a little bit nuanced. 00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:30.559 It's receive the child. 00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:34.880 So it's not just the question that we're asking of who can I serve? 00:36:35.119 --> 00:36:44.320 But it's actually a means by which God is inviting us to start to look around and find the person who is like the child who can offer you nothing. 00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:54.239 Who's that person who you're going to be in a relationship with and you know they're not going to be able to give you anything? 00:36:54.480 --> 00:36:57.119 They're not going to be able to contribute to your life. 00:36:57.440 --> 00:36:59.760 They're not going to be able to pour into you. 00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:08.960 There's a man in our church, a man who is a godly man in our church, and a couple of months ago, he was wrestling through this similar problem. 00:37:09.119 --> 00:37:17.039 There was a young man in his life he'd come to know, and the young man had a lot of issues going on, a lot of mental health issues. 00:37:17.360 --> 00:37:22.880 He was struggling, and it was clear that this was going to be a very one-sided relationship. 00:37:23.920 --> 00:37:29.440 And this man in our church said, This is the child. 00:37:29.599 --> 00:37:41.440 This is the person who can offer me nothing, and began to mentor him, speak to him, help him understand the word of God, show up at inconvenient times, go out for coffees. 00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:47.119 The man he's mentoring will likely never be able to contribute anything to his life. 00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:55.039 But he is doing this because he needs nothing from him, because he has everything he needs from him. 00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:04.480 And I would be remiss if I didn't also say I think this could actually be applied to children. 00:38:04.719 --> 00:38:17.760 Because as much as our culture elevates children as these beautiful, lovely snowflakes that are completely innocent and we've all ruined them with our cultural, all that kind of jargon, the reality is that we still have a tendency to push children aside. 00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:19.280