WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:06.879 We need to understand obedience outside of the context of just us and kind of take a step back and say, you know what? 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:16.000 That anonymous obedience, that going in the same direction for a long time, may not have gotten me recognition, but I promise you it will have influence. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:23.839 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:28.879 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandParkway.org. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:36.640 Pray with me. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:42.079 God, the reason we can sing in the midst of storms is because we've been through them and you brought us to the other side. 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:44.719 Your word tells us you are always with us. 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:47.359 And it's not just a companion coming alongside of us. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:48.479 You are the support. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:50.079 You're the savior. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:51.920 You're the one that redeems. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:57.520 God, if there's anyone here this morning that says, I don't know if I can get through this storm, Lord, I pray that you'd show them who you are. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:01.920 Show them your power and demonstrate to them how you feel about them. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:03.520 Thank you. 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:08.319 Thank you for the fact that we get to sing even louder in the presence of our enemies. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:13.840 We get to be that righteous influence, even when all around us is breaking down. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:16.640 And so, God, I pray that you'd make that true. 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:18.159 Be active. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:20.400 This morning, Holy Spirit. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:22.959 Speak in ways that we understand. 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:25.840 For it's in your name, Jesus, that I pray these things. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:26.799 Amen. 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:32.000 Well, this morning, uh, by the way, if you if you didn't hear, my name is Wade Burgess. 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:38.239 I'm the executive pastor here, and many of you got the email from Neil kind of outlining the preaching schedule said I preached today. 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:39.840 Thanks for showing up anyway. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:47.200 Um for those that maybe came unaware and feel like we ran some kind of scheme on you, we don't give refunds. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:48.879 So know that. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:57.760 This morning we're going to take a little bit of a break from the book of John, and instead, I want us to take a look at this idea of righteous influence. 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:06.000 We all have the power of influence, and our goal as believers in Jesus is really to have the right kind of influence. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:10.080 I want to give you a definition of righteous influence. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:12.159 It really comes from Jonathan Edwards. 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:15.759 He's an old, old school uh theologian and preacher. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:22.000 And Jonathan Edwards had a definition of righteous influence, and I kind of paraphrased it for you this morning. 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:35.120 It should be on the screen here, and it's just that the spirit that is at work in a people is plainly observed so as to convince others that Christ is the Son of God, died to save sinners. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:41.439 We are in great need of him, and our affections for him and God increases. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:44.560 That's what righteous influence will do. 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:46.719 I want to do a couple of things. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:54.000 So, first, I want to demonstrate to you this idea of righteous influence by highlighting three characters from the Bible. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:59.280 Then, after that, I want to give you four characteristics of righteous influence. 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:04.960 After that, I'll ask you three questions that I want you to consider this morning. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:06.639 So let's go ahead and dig in. 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:09.199 Our first character comes right at the beginning of the Bible. 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:10.400 It's Genesis chapter 4. 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:14.479 Now, if you have your Bibles and you want to turn with me, it's going to be a little bit of a sword drill this morning. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:15.599 If you don't, don't worry about it. 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:17.280 The text will come up on the screen. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:24.080 There's Bibles in your rows, so if someone needs one, just uh whisper to them and get a copy of the text if you'd like to have it. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:26.960 This is Genesis 4, chapters 2 through 5. 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:28.960 Now let me just set this up for a minute. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:34.719 Um this is Adam and Eve have been created by God, first two people that God create. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.360 He set them in the Garden of Eden, but they've sinned. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:46.719 They're cast out of the garden, and now they're living out their life, in a sense, with this separation from God because of sin. 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:52.240 And so they've now had uh two sons, Cain and Abel, two names you you probably recognize. 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:56.159 And this picks up with Cain and Abel here in verse 2. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:00.319 Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:11.120 In the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord, but Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:18.319 The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:26.480 When we examine the possible causes of why God looked with favor on Abel's offering and not Cain's, I think we can make a couple of safe assumptions. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:37.680 Well, one of them is that Abel, by giving God some of the first of what he had, was saying, God, I understand that everything is from you. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:42.560 And I'm just demonstrating it by giving back some of the first that you've given me. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:05:00.959 I think we can understand that if Abel has that kind of knowledge, if that's the kind of philosophy, that the attitude that he has, then I think it's safe to assume that Abel is rightly aligned with God, that his heart is rightly aligned with how he's supposed to be living. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:08.399 The point in that is if our hearts are aligned with God, we will be the kind of righteous influence we ought to be. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:15.199 And if it's not, and if we stay there, obviously we'll never be the kind of influence God commands us to be. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:21.360 Author Warren Wersby's written several texts and a theologian. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:30.399 He describes a false righteousness as this false righteousness cloaks its sins in the garment of religious activities. 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:37.519 That's kind of the picture we get from Cain, just kind of a religious activity of here's my offering, it's not the first, but it's something. 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:39.519 Sometimes we can do that ourselves. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:43.120 We can show up to church and we can go to Sunday school and Bible studies and this and that. 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:46.319 And sometimes it's just false righteousness. 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:55.040 True righteousness, on the other hand, aligns with God in our worship, in our lives, and in our influence. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:00.720 The second character of influence that I want us to look at it comes from the New Testament. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:06.480 It's kind of way in the back, and it's not a name that maybe you're going to recognize. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:12.079 It's a name that pops up in several places in the New Testament, but certainly he's not listed as one of those pillars of faith. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:20.639 He's not listed in Hebrews chapter 11 as kind of that faith hall of fame guy, but it's someone that I think we can we can learn from. 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:24.560 Turn to almost the end of the New Testament there. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.439 It's way back in Colossians, and this is a letter that Paul is writing. 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:29.680 Paul's an apostle of Jesus. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:31.680 He was converted after Jesus' ascension. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:32.800 Jesus appears to Paul. 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:36.399 Paul converts his life, and he writes a lot of the New Testament. 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:41.920 Paul says this about this name that no homeschoolers are naming their kids. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:45.680 It's chapter 4, verses 7 through 8. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:49.360 Titicus will tell you all the news about me. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:54.639 He's a dear brother, a faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:07:03.120 I'm sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:07.680 Paul spells out the influence of Tichicus. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:10.319 First he says, well, he's a fellow servant. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:25.120 What we get from that is, and if we do a little study, Acts, Ephesians, 2 Timothy, Titus, all letters that Paul has written, all of them mention Titicus as being a worker for the gospel. 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:30.240 All say that he was involved in the spreading of that good news that Jesus saves. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:32.639 So Paul certainly would call him a fellow servant. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:34.639 He also calls him a dear brother. 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:42.800 I think what we get from that is it's someone Paul can count on, somebody that's kind of been steadfast and with him, but also somebody Paul likes, likes to spend time with him. 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:45.199 Finally, he calls him a faithful minister. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:49.839 Now, for Paul, if you know anything about Paul, Paul's not going to use those words lightly. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:53.120 And for Paul to have said you're a faithful minister, you've really done something. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:58.480 So I think what we get from that is Titicus has been unswerving in his faith. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:03.680 He's been constant, always demonstrating his belief. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:05.680 That's been his influence. 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:12.160 Now, our third character is less about what he's done and more about what's been done to him. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:14.079 Sorry, I couldn't help it. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:14.959 I had to go to John. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:17.600 My Bible just automatically opens there, we've been there so long. 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.800 So turn to John, you probably know it by heart. 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:23.920 This is chapter 12, and the person we're talking about is Lazarus. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:28.879 Now, the last time I preached, I preached on Lazarus and Jesus bringing him out of the grave. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:31.759 This actually gives just a little small mention of him. 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:33.679 I want to footnote something though. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:41.919 You know the power that raised Lazarus from the dead is available to all of us. 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:47.279 Here's the difference, by the way, between Lazarus and us. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:58.480 One, Lazarus, my guess is Lazarus is sitting on his deathbed, and he's probably thinking, you know, Jesus does raise from the dead. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:02.559 I've heard some stories, maybe I saw, talked about it, things like that, but I don't know if he's coming for me. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:03.759 He's not here now. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:05.440 And then Lazarus dies. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:10.639 I promise you, Lazarus is probably not thinking in that very last moment, Jesus is going to raise me up from the dead. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:12.320 This is going to be awesome. 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:15.120 But here's the thing we get to think about. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:20.559 We know based on the promises of the Bible that we will be raised from the dead. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:24.399 And so why in the world wouldn't our influence reflect that? 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:25.919 Just a footnote. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:27.200 So let's get back to it. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:30.399 So this quick mention of Lazarus here, take a listen. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:34.480 This is John chapter 12, verse 9 through 11. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:44.639 Meanwhile, a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:48.240 So the chief priest made plans to kill Lazarus as well. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:55.200 For on account of him, many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:03.279 It's a quick mention, but I think a profound statement on the impact that Lazarus was having based on what was done to him. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:08.399 What happens to us has influence if we let it. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:12.960 Lazarus, I think, is not standing around going, hey, stop looking at me. 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:14.080 I'm my own man. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:16.639 Don't look at me like you've seen a ghost. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:23.919 I think Lazarus was just simply saying, as people were continuing to come, Lazarus was just saying, Hey, let me tell you what's been done to me. 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:25.519 And let me tell you who did it. 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:28.799 That's what I think Lazarus' influence was. 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:34.080 Now, what does all that have to do with influence? 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:37.840 And you may be asking, well, Wade, what does that have to do with me and my influence? 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:39.200 What does that look like? 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:50.320 Well, the reason I use those three names, names that maybe you've heard of, but aren't necessarily the first ones that you think of related to influence from the Bible, is just to remind us. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:57.039 I think more often than not, God uses the little known and the no-named to have influence. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:10:59.679 Really, that's just each one of us. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:03.840 Nobody's gonna write a lot of books about us or songs about us when we're gone. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:09.600 Likely no one's gonna say much about us except maybe at our funeral about our influence. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:10.799 That's all right. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:15.039 We still have power with our influence. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:27.759 And I think we have to understand that that idea of anonymous obedience, if you will, no one really knowing us, but we maintained obedience for a long time and demonstrated for a long time what our belief is. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:34.000 We need to understand obedience outside of the context of just us and kind of take a step back and say, you know what? 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:43.279 That anonymous obedience, that going in the same direction for a long time, may not have gotten me recognition, but I promise you it will have influence. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:49.519 If we're to be followers of Jesus, we should have influence in the right kind. 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:53.679 And in case you doubt that we do, I promise you, people are watching. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:57.039 Whether they even know it or not, people are watching. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:03.919 Just like we watch people, they're watching us as believers, whether they even know that that's what they're doing, or they know our belief yet. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:10.320 I promise you they're watching and they're seeing what we like, what's going on, what's this person doing? 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:17.200 And you might be saying, Well, look, I keep my head down, I go to work, I go to school, my mom beeswax, nobody's bothering me. 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:18.159 I don't bother them. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:19.679 I got three weeks left in school, dude. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:20.879 Just leave it alone, okay? 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:21.759 Just let me. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.159 I promise you, people are still watching. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:26.960 They're still moved, I think, by the influence. 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:29.279 And there's there's there's weight in that. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.399 By the way, even our temporary actions carry weight. 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:36.000 You know, if you work with someone for, I don't know, four or five years, okay? 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:42.559 Or maybe you've been married a while and I don't know, you you act uncharacteristically of yourself, okay? 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:45.840 You act out at work or something happens, you get mad and kind of blow up. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:49.279 The people that have been working with you a while would likely say, that's not really her. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:50.559 That's not how she acts. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:51.440 That's not really him. 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:52.480 He's different. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:54.080 That's just a bad day. 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:56.639 Here's the thing we gotta be real careful about. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:00.320 What about the people that just catch us in those temporary glimpses? 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:02.320 That's all they see of us. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:08.320 If you're like me, I'm kind of quick to judge, and so if I see somebody kind of going off like, well, that's them all the time, that must be them. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:10.960 We gotta be careful they don't look at us that way. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:14.799 Even the temporary can carry influence. 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:33.519 Uh so my family and I, we're um we're out one Saturday afternoon, we're over here on highway six feeder road there in front of uh Whole Foods, and uh we're at the light, a lot of traffic around us, and we're just sitting there, and all of a sudden the car in front, one lane over from us, opens the passenger door. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.159 And I'm like, oh, oh, get ready, get ready. 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:41.919 I don't carry a pistol, there's good reasons for it, but I'm reaching under the seat like I do, so they'll know, don't mess over here. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:48.879 And uh they open the door and they drop a full bag of garbage. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:50.960 Just drop it right there and close their door. 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:52.639 I'm like, oh no. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:53.279 Uh-uh. 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:55.360 Roll down the window, I get on the horn. 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:58.399 Kind of like that alert you're hearing right now. 00:13:58.559 --> 00:13:58.720 Fre. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:02.480 And I'm not sure what to do. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:06.000 My wife is like, they're gonna shoot us, they're gonna shoot us. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:07.360 She thinks everybody carries a gun. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:12.399 Anyway, I'm on the horn and I take my cell phone off and I'm I'm like holding it out the window. 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:15.360 I don't even know how to make the thing take a picture with that deal, okay? 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:16.720 I don't have one of those buttons or anything. 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:17.679 I'm about to drop it. 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:20.080 I'm just like, uh well, I guess they see it. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:24.559 They open their door, they pick up the garbage, they put it back and close it, and then we all drive off. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:26.480 Like, that's right. 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:28.399 Lay down a law. 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:31.519 Yeah, well, I'll tell you what. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.240 When I get to church on Sunday, I'm gonna talk to Trevor Nails. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:35.759 I'm gonna get I'm gonna get deputized. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:37.120 That's what I'm gonna do. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:43.679 We get home, by the way, and I contact Tex Dot or whoever you call. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:48.080 I probably call the wrong number, and I'm like, hey, look, I got a video of a litter bug. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:49.840 I I want to lay down a hammer here. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:51.600 I want you to send a deputy to their house. 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:52.879 I want them to get fine. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:53.840 Yes, sir. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:55.039 We don't really do that. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:56.480 Well, well, what do you do? 00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:59.519 Uh we send them a bumper sticker, don't mess with Texas. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:01.759 What the what? 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:06.399 So I'm a little worked up about it. 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:08.159 That was only five years ago. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:10.000 No, it was fairly recent. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:16.960 But fast forward now a couple of weeks, and we find ourselves in the Horterberger line one evening. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:23.679 I place my order and they move me to lane B, B for bad, because I believe you do not get the service you do in lane A. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:25.039 I'm in lane B. 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:30.639 But because I'm an optimist, I have the window down, thinking they're gonna come any second. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:40.080 We're sitting there, it's nighttime, and uh we're in the car, and I look over, and this four-door silver Jeep is in lane A, and I'm looking at them because I'm jealous. 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:41.440 I see them getting their food right now. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:42.960 How did you get your food before? 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:48.240 And all of a sudden the passenger door opens and they throw out a styrofoam cup, close the door. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:50.000 Uh-uh, coom. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:53.360 I hit that seatbelt button and I am coming out of there, okay? 00:15:53.679 --> 00:16:04.159 My wife looks over, and all you see of her is and I feel her fingernails brush my shirt as I'm on the way out. 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:08.639 My son hears that, he looks up from his phone like, what was what's what's going on? 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:15.440 I walk over and I pick up the cup, and there's a moment of where I have to make a decision. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:25.679 I could return to my car with the cup and demonstrate to everyone in lines A and B this is how we dispose of our trash. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:29.840 But instead, I have tunnel vision. 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:37.440 I cannot see anybody in the lines, I don't know where I am, it's just me and this cup and this silver Jeep. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:50.559 I pick it up, I go to the back door handle of the car, and I jam that cup in the door handle, and I walk back to my car, I get in and I close the door. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:56.080 At this point, my wife says, I can't believe you did that. 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:59.600 And my son says, I go to school with them. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:06.559 I'm like, well, I tell you what, you get to school tomorrow and you tell them, stop littering. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:08.799 I'd I'll come down to that school, I guarantee you that. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.920 Trevor Nell's gonna deputize me, I'll be down there. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:16.559 So they drive off with the cup and the door handle. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:19.440 White Mercedes pulls up. 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:21.119 Hey, Wade. 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:30.559 It's a lady I used to work with, and she has recognized me. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:35.279 And I'm like, well, maybe she was looking down at her phone and she didn't see what I did. 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:36.880 Hey, how you doing? 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:37.920 Good to see you. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:38.640 Good to see you. 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:40.240 I think we got our order, don't we? 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:45.359 The guys, and the next day I get an email. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:48.640 Hey, wait, I heard you were cleaning up the parking lot at the Whataburger. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:57.920 I I I tell you that to tell you, even our temporary actions carry influence. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:00.960 How do we have righteous? 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:03.440 Jesus reflecting influence? 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:06.480 I want to give you four characteristics of that. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:09.200 Four characteristics of righteous influence. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:12.240 Number one, a willingness to give everything. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:19.920 I think Abel showed that his worship, his heart, everything he did reflected his beliefs. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:26.160 If it didn't, we wouldn't have seen him giving the first, that idea of rightly aligned with God, everything he was doing. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:27.920 And by the way, God commended him. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:31.920 Hebrews 11 says, God commended Abel and called him righteous. 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:36.960 God is not going to do that if he didn't know Abel's heart and knew that it was rightly aligned with him. 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:41.039 Abel does it so well that Cain gets so mad he kills him. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:49.440 Now I recognize for the majority of Christians today, and probably for most of us, our lives will not be required of us. 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:52.400 Our everything else is, though. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:19:02.400 The way we speak and act, the way we spend our money and raise our kids, the way we go to work and school and at home. 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:07.119 Everything we do is going to have influence. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:17.519 Second characteristic of a righteous influence is little regard for self, but utmost for God. 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:21.759 I think all three characters exemplified this. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.559 Cain holds back, Abel doesn't. 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:27.279 I think Titicus could have found an easier employment. 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:38.400 I mean, this is when the religious leaders are, you know, they're at the height of trying to shut down the first generation church, and I mean they're, you know, ripping and roaring across the countryside trying to find these followers of Jesus. 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:43.680 I think Titicus certainly could have said, you know what, guys, I've been shipwrecked, jailed, spit on, whatever. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:45.759 Enough, I'm done, I'm gonna go do something else. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:46.400 And he didn't. 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:48.079 Little regard for self. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:53.440 I think Lazarus could have relocated or hidden, but instead he didn't. 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:55.440 Now, don't mishear me. 00:19:55.599 --> 00:20:00.079 Little regard for self is not hate for self, it's just the right priority. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:05.039 It's God first, others second, and ourselves third. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.039 Little regard for self, but utmost for God. 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:13.039 Now, you might be thinking, man, I don't know. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:17.920 That sounds like a lot of work, and influence seems like a lot of effort, and I'm not sure I want to go through it. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:19.200 Man, does it really pay off? 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:20.720 I mean, what what happens? 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:22.079 Well, here's what Paul says. 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:27.519 He says this in 1 Corinthians, it's the last verse in chapter 15. 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:28.720 It's it's verse 58. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:33.839 Paul just says this therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:36.079 Let nothing move you. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:45.599 Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:51.759 Everything has influence, and it doesn't take as much as we think. 00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:59.200 So when I um I graduated high school and I thought, I think I was a freshman in college, and I thought, man, you know what? 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:02.000 I I think I want to be a basketball coach. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:08.480 My wife taught me out of it, but um she said, Well, we're not gonna travel and you get fired a hundred times, so figure out something else. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:16.799 But in those early uh kind of my freshman sophomore year in college, I went back to my high school to volunteer assistant coach. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:19.359 And by the way, it's kind of like having a special cousin, I think. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:21.920 The coach would like just give me a clipboard and go go over there. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:23.519 Okay, fellas, here's what we're doing. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:24.480 Ignore him. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:28.319 But I was, you know, engaged in some drills, trying to help the boys with different things. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:33.599 I'd go to the games with them and all, and so I volunteered for a season of basketball. 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:38.079 I don't think we won very many, and I don't think I did very much while I was there, but it was a good time. 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:39.119 I think the kids enjoyed it. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:41.200 I enjoyed being around them and all that. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:49.680 About 10 years in the future from that, my mother calls me one day and she says, Hey, you remember so and so? 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:57.039 Now, by the way, I don't know if your mom would do this to you, but mine will do that all the time, and I have no clue who she's talking about. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:57.759 All right? 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:03.039 She will say, Hey, you remember when you were in the Third grade, and that nice man brought you that ice cream cone. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:04.559 Well, he asked how you were doing. 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:06.319 I don't have what, who? 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.680 And so my pat answer now is when she starts with, Do you remember? 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:11.119 I immediately go, No, no, I don't. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:12.720 I got no clue who you're talking about. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:17.839 And that doesn't help because then she explains to me their lineage and who they came from and all that stuff. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:22.640 My parents have lived in the same place, you know, almost 40 years now, and so they know everybody's whatever. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:26.319 But anyway, so she calls and says, Hey, do you remember so-and-so? 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:33.200 I'm like, I don't think you know, you you went to school with his older brother and his older sister actually babysat you. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:35.599 I'm like, Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember, sure. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:36.079 Okay. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:39.119 And she says, Yeah, he stopped by the house the other day. 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:40.640 I'm like, stop by the house. 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:42.079 By the way, they live rule. 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:45.119 You've got to be on the way to their house, okay, for you to get there. 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:46.640 And I'm like, stop by the house. 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:48.559 Yeah, he didn't know how to get in touch with you. 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:49.599 I'm like, uh oh. 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:52.079 Owed this kid some money, did something happen? 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:56.720 He says, didn't know how to get in touch with you, and he just wanted to come by and make sure that I told you. 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:03.680 He said, Thank you for working with him on shooting free throws when you were helping out at the high school. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:06.000 I'm like, oh, well, that's nice. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:10.799 Yeah, apparently he got a uh contract to play in the uh Italian basketball league. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:12.880 Kid went on to be a professional basketball player. 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:25.599 He had a growth spurt after high school, became kind of a big man down in the paint and all, and so he gets a uh a chance to go play overseas, and he was good enough that all they would do is foul him. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:28.240 He made his living at the free throw line. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:30.720 He just wanted to tell you thank you. 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:32.799 And I thought, man, are you kidding? 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:36.480 I don't even remember exactly who this is or what I did. 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:44.960 The point is, our influence can have a big impact, and it doesn't take much effort. 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:46.640 It's just a little thing. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:52.319 Buckminster Fuller, uh, quite the name by the way, but he's an inventor, very smart guy. 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:55.680 He came up with the concept of what's called a trim tab. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:24:00.640 You know, you've got a big rudder on one of these big ships, it'd take a lot to move that big rudder. 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:03.200 And so Buckminster came up with a trim tab. 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:05.519 It's a little rudder that's attached to the big one. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:11.920 And all you have to do is move that little rudder a little bit, and it in the water force turns the big rudder. 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:23.039 The analogy in that is it's just it's a little nudge in a different direction, is all it takes sometimes for that influence to land and have an impact. 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:31.839 In order for it to be a righteous influence, it's got to have this third characteristic, and that is that it speaks and acts differently. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:36.799 We cannot look like the world and expect it to see us differently. 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:42.000 We cannot act like the world just to kind of get in to then show them how different we are. 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:51.599 I can't go around a group of guys and use coarse language or coarse joking and just to show I'm one of the guys, then to say, hey guys, I'm not anything like you. 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:52.559 Really? 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:57.519 We've got to speak and act differently than the world from the very beginning. 00:24:57.759 --> 00:24:59.680 I think that's what Titicus did. 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:01.839 I think that's what Lazarus did. 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:05.039 I think, you know, they're combating the old guard Jews. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:08.000 I think they probably lost some friends along the way. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:19.519 Probably in every town they went in, they were concerned for their lives, and Tichicus, as Paul said, just faithfully ministered to those people, continued to have the influence that God had commanded him to have. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:26.720 And I think it's a safe assumption that he spoke and acted differently from the very beginning. 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:29.839 We've got to be sure to do that ourselves. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:40.000 Uh one of our ladies here at the church, um, she's a longtime pharmacist, and she recently got a job as like a contract employee working in Houston. 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:42.480 And uh, I was talking to her the other day how it was going. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:46.160 It was kind of a temporary job, and I said, Hey, how what's that look like? 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:49.359 And she said, Well, actually, they came to me the other day. 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:51.680 Uh, you know, I've enjoyed the job, enjoyed the people. 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:55.279 They're kind of all contract employees, they got their heads down in their cubicles. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:57.839 I walk in every day, hey Tim, hey John, how's it going? 00:25:58.000 --> 00:25:59.039 Hey, how are you? 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:05.680 The boss comes to me about a week ago and says, Well, coming to the end of your contract, and we'd like to renew it. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:08.000 She's like, Oh, okay. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:11.759 Yeah, you're one of the most popular people we have around here. 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:12.720 All right. 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:14.240 Oh man, people love you. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:17.920 I mean, they say you say hi all the time, and you're just so kind and friendly. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.559 And you know that IT guy that works with, he hasn't said so much in three months as he has all five years. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:24.400 I mean, I can't believe you even got him to talk. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:25.440 What was your trick? 00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:27.119 I mean, you're a real people person. 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:30.559 She's like, Yeah, I just uh said hi to people. 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:33.759 I was just being nice, I was just being me. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:41.519 Sometimes speaking and acting differently doesn't have to be I'm gonna wear a I Love Jesus t-shirt and get on the bullhorn. 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:45.200 Sometimes it's just acting the way the Bible has us acting. 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:48.720 Sometimes it's just demonstrating simple kindness and courtesy. 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:53.119 My point is, righteous influence will look different than the world. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:57.039 And it doesn't always have to be much to have an impact. 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:03.359 Here's the fourth characteristic of righteous influence and its consistency. 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:07.599 Now, by the way, let me just also give you this footnote. 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:11.200 Influence certainly sometimes can be unintended. 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:17.119 You ever notice how your kids remember things that they weren't really supposed to, that you didn't mean to have influence? 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:18.000 Right? 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:26.480 My son comes to me the other day, hey Dad, you remember that time about six years ago we were on the way to grandma's for Thanksgiving and that guy cut you off and you called him that name? 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:29.920 No, I don't remember. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:32.079 Oh my, let me test your memory. 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:35.119 I've been working 18 years to try to give you the biblical definition of manhood. 00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:38.240 Can you tell me one aspect of the biblical definition of manhood? 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:38.880 No. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:44.559 But boy, I remember, man, that guy cut you off and I unintended. 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:47.680 Sometimes our influence can be unattended. 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:51.039 How do you control what influence is remembered? 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:52.400 Consistency. 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:54.960 Are you the same in every situation? 00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:58.880 Day in and day out, can I count on you to act a particular way? 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:06.240 The people that you work with, that you go to school with, that you live with should not have to worry about, oh, it's Monday. 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:08.319 Here she comes, she doesn't like Monday. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:14.480 Oh boy, got to walk on eggshells around them because I don't know how dad's gonna act when he gets home based on the days head. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:14.960 Oh. 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:22.559