SPEAKER_01: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_00: For a moment I thought moving from South Africa to North Dakota that I would be done with critters.
SPEAKER_00: You know, in South Africa we got a lot of critters.
SPEAKER_00: There, the other day, just about all the lights on my dash go on.
SPEAKER_00: ABS brake system is failing, and I'm like, what's going on here?
SPEAKER_00: I open the hood, and there's a rabbit looking at me.
SPEAKER_00: Chewing through my braking system of my car.
SPEAKER_00: So I just want to give you a warning.
SPEAKER_00: Don't drive in front of me.
SPEAKER_00: Just look in the rear mirror.
SPEAKER_00: I drive a white Kia and uh can guarantee there is a$50 reward for that rabbit.
SPEAKER_00: So if you bring it to me, I'll take care of him in an appropriate way.
SPEAKER_00: Now, speaking of South Africa, we are into cricket there.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever watched a cricket match?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_00: It's like it's very slow.
SPEAKER_00: It's like watching baseball go backward.
SPEAKER_00: But the game of cricket and the game of baseball are actually very similar games.
SPEAKER_00: They say cricket is played by hooligans viewed by gentlemen.
SPEAKER_00: On the other hand, baseball is played by gentlemen viewed by hooligans.
SPEAKER_00: So they say.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure if that is true, but South Africa was part of the former British colonies, and we play cricket.
SPEAKER_00: Cricket is a very consuming thing.
SPEAKER_00: It's a big thing.
SPEAKER_00: The players are not athletes, they are celebrities.
SPEAKER_00: Just about every cricket player is a celebrity that is idolized.
SPEAKER_00: Some are idolized more than others, and one such celebrity cricket player was Hansi Cronier.
SPEAKER_00: During a very tumultuous time in South Africa's history, he became a driving force of uniting a divided nation through athletics, through the game of cricket.
SPEAKER_00: Cronier was a picture perfect athlete, balancing his game with his faith.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you sat in Sydney or Bangladesh or in London, Hansi Cronier was perhaps the most idolized and the most loved of cricket players in the sports history.
SPEAKER_00: However, in 2001, Hans Cronier came under severe criticism for being involved in sports betting and game fixing.
SPEAKER_00: The bright shining star came plummeting down, and in the instant, the once idolized Hansi became the target of intense scrutiny and criticism.
SPEAKER_00: This is just the nature of the business.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a celebrity culture where someone is either idolized or someone is criticized.
SPEAKER_00: Our passage comes from First Corinthians four, if you would like to turn to First Corinthians four.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll read for us the first seven verses.
SPEAKER_00: But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you or by any human cork.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I do not even examine myself, for I am conscious of nothing against myself.
SPEAKER_00: Yet I am not by this acquittate, but the one who examines me is the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And then each man's praise will come to him from God.
SPEAKER_00: Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sake, so that in you, in us, you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.
SPEAKER_00: For who regards you as superior?
SPEAKER_00: What do you have that you did not receive?
SPEAKER_00: And if you did receive it, why do you boast if you had not received it?
SPEAKER_00: May God bless our time in this word, and I pray, Jesus, that you give us the grace to understand the scriptures with utmost clarity.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that you will guide my words and that I will speak in accordance to your will.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: The title of today's message is Idolize or Criticize the Celebrity Syndrome Comes to Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our passage has something to say about the celebrity culture of athletics coming into the church.
SPEAKER_00: The Corinthian church was a church where personal opinions ran high and people serving a ministry were either idolized or criticized.
SPEAKER_00: We know that.
SPEAKER_00: If we turn back to verse 12 in the previous chapter, we get a sense of that celebrity culture that has crept into the Corinthian church.
SPEAKER_00: I am of Paul, while another said, I am of Apollos, and another would say, I am of Cephas.
SPEAKER_00: This type of thing was not only destructive to the church, but it was a ridiculous display of carnality and immaturity.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 3 1, Paul says, You are mere men of the flesh, infants in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Paul exposes the bane of carnality in the celebrity culture that has come to the church.
SPEAKER_00: Some people were held in high esteem while others were held in contempt.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul's instructions here in the first four verses are, I think, is particularly helpful.
SPEAKER_00: It's helpful to identify an undercurrent of celebrity culture in a church.
SPEAKER_00: And there are four undercurrents that make it possible for us to see whether there is a celebrity culture even in our own church.
SPEAKER_00: I think we can for sure say there's a celebrity culture, or at least the undercurrents of that, if one person is favored above another person, merely because of their style, their talent, their giftedness, their personality, rather than their faithfulness and commitment to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, I think there's an undercurrent of a celebrity culture when decision making is all about serving the opinions of people rather than the purposes of God.
SPEAKER_00: Three, the celebrity culture, I think, is present within a church when the people who are ministering are somehow fearful of criticism rather than seeking the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: And then fourth, there's a celebrity culture in a church, evidences of that is when people minister to receive the praises and affirmations of people rather than seek the pleasure of God.
SPEAKER_00: That was happening in the Corinthian church, where personal preferences and opinions dominated over the mandates of Scripture, and we have that in verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says there, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written.
SPEAKER_00: You see, they were going beyond Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: They were laying unscriptural expectations and made unreasonable demands of people who would serve anywhere in the church.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul makes it clear the origins of that is a heart and mind that is arrogant.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: For who regards you as superior?
SPEAKER_00: Who do you think you are?
SPEAKER_00: You think a lot about yourself, right?
SPEAKER_00: The celebrity culture here in the Corinthian church caused much divisions.
SPEAKER_00: There was much argumentation about who is really important, really gifted, and really uh really uh somewhat to be idolized, and who should not?
SPEAKER_00: This church wound itself around this thing of certain things are important to us.
SPEAKER_00: We want these things, and all these things were not scriptural.
SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, opinions mattered.
SPEAKER_00: Opinions matter.
SPEAKER_00: Who do you like?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I like Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Who do you like?
SPEAKER_00: I like Cephas.
SPEAKER_00: Who do you like?
SPEAKER_00: No, I I like Apollos.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I can't sit next to you because you like Apollos and I like Cephas.
SPEAKER_00: Modern-day churches can suffer of the very same thing.
SPEAKER_00: This celebrity syndrome can come to church.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because we are by nature human beings that are prideful.
SPEAKER_00: Pride is beyond all this.
SPEAKER_00: Modern-day churches often pander to the opinions of the quote-unquote most important people, but they fail to see the purposes of God.
SPEAKER_00: For example, and I want to be careful here, but often people can play in a worship band, and they they they put it together in a way that they get the praises of people.
SPEAKER_00: Pastors themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness, they will preach in such a way they will sound more like a motivational speaker because they fear the criticisms on Monday morning.
SPEAKER_00: And those who serve somewhere in some obscure corner in the church like to be affirmed and noticed, and if they are not, they're upset.
SPEAKER_00: That says something, there's an occurrent of a celebrity syndrome in the church.
SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, you have those who do nothing.
SPEAKER_00: They sit on the bleachers, but they want to air their opinions because every Sunday they want to enjoy a smashing performance and a display of talents and gift on a Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_00: Any church can quickly spiral down into this celebrity culture.
SPEAKER_00: But let me tell you, dear brothers and sisters, the best cure for this malady is to prevent it from getting there in the first place.
SPEAKER_00: Anyone in a church is susceptible to falling into this celebrity mindset.
SPEAKER_00: The pastors aren't exempted, the elders are not exempted, and even those who minister somewhere in some obscure corner in the church, they are too not exempted.
SPEAKER_00: And so prevention, I think, is better than cure.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul gives us three ways to help prevent any church from spiraling down into the celebrity culture that was in the Corinthian church.
SPEAKER_00: I think Paul's instruction here will be helpful to inoculate us against this celebrity culture.
SPEAKER_00: It might even cleanse us of any vestiges of a celebrity culture.
SPEAKER_00: A church needs to be lifted from the burdens and the yokes of a celebrity culture because a celebrity culture is driven by number one, a wrong view of self.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, a wrong view of what really matters, and number three, a wrong view about whose opinion matters most.
SPEAKER_00: And therefore, I think it is very important that we begin by looking at ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: We are to have a right view of self.
SPEAKER_00: We are to have a right view of what really matters.
SPEAKER_00: And then number three, a right view of whose opinion is the most important.
SPEAKER_00: Paul uses himself as an example here.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is attempting to correct a wrong and disordered view about self by using himself as an example.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, to inoculate ourselves or cleanse ourselves of a celebrity syndrome, we need to look at who we are.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me tell you, the apostles, I think, were pretty important people.
SPEAKER_00: The apostles brought the gospel to the people in Corinth.
SPEAKER_00: They sowed the seeds of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: They planted, they watered the soil.
SPEAKER_00: And so, from a mere human perspective, they were very important people, but this is what Paul says.
SPEAKER_00: He says, so then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but God who causes the growth.
SPEAKER_00: You see, if there's somebody who's important here, it is God who causes the growth.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Paul gives a pencil sketch of himself, and he gives it to the people, and he says, This is how I want you guys to view us apostles.
SPEAKER_00: And the pencil sketch is a gritty picture of a slave rowing in a Roman ship.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 4 1.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 1 there in your Bibles.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Let a man regard us in this manner as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: This is a pencil sketch of self.
SPEAKER_00: If somebody, if you go to the police station and they and you have to do one of those identity kits where you the artist says, tell me how the guy looked, and so on.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is the picture of a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Who of you saw that movie Ben Hur?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, uh, it's freaky.
SPEAKER_00: He was there in the in the ship rowing.
SPEAKER_00: And my dad goes, yep, that's where bad people go.
SPEAKER_00: And I thought, man, I hope I don't ever end up in one of those.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, because he all he did was uh rowing in the galley of this Roman ship.
SPEAKER_00: And and this is what Paul is speaking about here when he uses the word servant.
SPEAKER_00: He's not some matrie of some sort.
SPEAKER_00: He uses a very specific Greek word, huperitas.
SPEAKER_00: Huperitas is the Greek word for an oarsman, an under rower.
SPEAKER_00: That is the lowest of lowest slaves.
SPEAKER_00: That is how you would serve a prison sentence by rowing for the the Roman Navy.
SPEAKER_00: We are to view ourselves as under rowers.
SPEAKER_00: There's no place to think of yourself as a celebrity.
SPEAKER_00: I don't care where you serve in church, whether you stand behind this pulpit, whether you sit in some boardroom, you are a huperitas, an under rower.
SPEAKER_00: The helmsman, on the other hand, is the person who directs all the efforts on the ship, and he makes sure that the rowing efforts happen in a syncretized manner.
SPEAKER_00: We can think of the Lord Jesus Christ as being the helmsman of our ship, and we are the mere under rowers in the galley who need to row and pace with the drumbeat and the commands of the helmsman.
SPEAKER_00: And anything else will result in an uncoordinated effort.
SPEAKER_00: And many churches today, dear brothers and sisters, do ministry in such an uncoordinated, unsynchronized, and unpredictive way that they accomplish nothing for the kingdom because everyone wants to be the helmsman and very few want to be the underrowers.
SPEAKER_00: We got to take caution here to the words of Paul.
SPEAKER_00: We too can become very ineffective and very impotent and very indecisive in all our ministry if each one wants to be rowing according to their own pace.
SPEAKER_00: Or some may say, I don't want to row here, I'm more important.
SPEAKER_00: I want to be the helmsman or the captain of the ship.
SPEAKER_00: But let us fix our eyes on Jesus, who is the author and the perfector of our faith.
SPEAKER_00: We have to keep our eyes on Jesus and row according to the drumbeat of his word.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, it's very important to view ourselves rightly in the bigger scheme of church.
SPEAKER_00: Each one of us needs to view ourselves as an under rower who rose to please not himself or the person next to him, but the helmsman Jesus Christ, on whom he fixes his eyes.
SPEAKER_00: To row to keep in pace with his purposes and his pleasure.
SPEAKER_00: Now Paul uses another word there in verse one and verse two.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Let a man regard us in this manner as a servant of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: These are both terms in relation to slavery.
SPEAKER_00: The one is the under rower slave or the galley slave, the other slave is the eukonomos, the eukonomos, which is the Greek word for steward.
SPEAKER_00: It's the Greek word for steward.
SPEAKER_00: A steward manages the estate and the assets and the finances of the despotos.
SPEAKER_00: The despotos is the actual owner.
SPEAKER_00: And he has a oikonomos that manages.
SPEAKER_00: Paul wanted people to view him.
SPEAKER_00: Not as the despotos, the master of the estate, but rather the economist, the steward of the estate.
SPEAKER_00: He is a steward of something.
SPEAKER_00: What is he a steward of?
SPEAKER_00: What does it say there?
SPEAKER_00: He's a steward of the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: We are stewards of the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm scratching my head here.
SPEAKER_00: What is the mysteries of God?
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you soon.
SPEAKER_00: Hold, hold on.
SPEAKER_00: I think anyone who ministers in the Church of Jesus Christ is a steward.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you serve as a greeter somehow, a childcare worker, an elder, a pastor, wherever you serve, remember, number one, you are a steward, a guardian, a custodian, a manager of something called the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: You're not the master, you're not the owner, you're not a shareholder, but you are a custodian steward of the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: Paul makes it very clear who we are.
SPEAKER_00: And even the most important, the apostles who brought the gospel to the Corinthians.
SPEAKER_00: He says, we are just stewards.
SPEAKER_00: We're not masters here.
SPEAKER_00: Stewardship is an important thing.
SPEAKER_00: While the steward is not the most important person of a household, faithful stewardship is of utmost importance to the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: First Peter 4:10 says that every Christian, every person who names the name of Jesus Christ is a steward of something, and here it is, of the gifts that God has given you.
SPEAKER_00: As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
SPEAKER_00: We cannot escape this thing of stewardship, says 1 Peter 4.10.
SPEAKER_00: But here Paul is focusing on the stewardship of the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone who ministers and serves in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is entrusted with the stewardship of the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what is this mysteries of God?
SPEAKER_00: It is essentially a phrase that describes the message of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: It is the gospel, the good news, but not just the good news hanging in the air in isolation from the whole council of God.
SPEAKER_00: No, it includes the body of doctrine and the theology that undergirds and supports the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: You and I am stewards of that.
SPEAKER_00: And God will hold us accountable for our stewardship of truth.
SPEAKER_00: The good and faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ constantly nourishes himself on the words of faith and of sound doctrine, says 1 Timothy 4, 6.
SPEAKER_00: As stewards, we are all entrusted with the gospel, but we also entrust it with the stewardship of the sound doctrine that undergirds and supports our faith.
SPEAKER_00: As stewards, we are expected not to be creative with the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: We are expected to be faithful with it.
SPEAKER_00: First Corinthians 2, 4, Paul says, And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and the power so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
SPEAKER_00: Paul preached the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't water it down, he didn't spice it up, he didn't sprinkle it with parmesan and chili flakes.
SPEAKER_00: He just gave it to people and trusted that God would work.
SPEAKER_00: Stuarts have not ever been given license to be creative or eloquent in the performance of duties, but rather what matters most to God is faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: You and I got to be faithful with this.
SPEAKER_00: We can't play loosey goosey with this.
SPEAKER_00: We can't water it down, pour some Kool-Aid with it, and say, okay, we're not gonna get people to stay.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's many visitors here today.
SPEAKER_00: I would really hope you would stay, but I am not gonna sweeten the word of God so that you would stay here.
SPEAKER_00: I am a steward.
SPEAKER_00: It is not my possession.
SPEAKER_00: I am merely giving it to the next generation of believers.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Timothy 2.2, Paul says to Timothy, what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who are able to teach others.
SPEAKER_00: We are responsible to be faithful stewards who then invest the mysteries of God into the lives of other people who are able and willing to give it to others.
SPEAKER_00: It's interesting that the Bible never exalts greatness, it always exalts faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: What does Jesus say to those who appear to him who were faithful at the end of days?
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say come here because you were great, come here because you were so eloquent and so good.
SPEAKER_00: No, come here.
SPEAKER_00: You were faithful.
SPEAKER_00: Our responsibility as a church is to be faithful with the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: We gotta make sure that this church remains the pillar and foundation for truth.
SPEAKER_00: Then we have to be faithful and reinvesting the gospel truth and biblical doctrine into the lives of the next generation.
SPEAKER_00: And hopefully, that generation will be faithful.
SPEAKER_00: I want to ask you to take some time and evaluate that and see whether you are a good and faithful steward with the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: What you listen to, what you read, what you put your time into, are you being a good steward?
SPEAKER_00: And are you being a good steward of investing what you've been given into the next generation of believers?
SPEAKER_00: Commit these things to faithful men.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Timothy 2, verse 2.
SPEAKER_00: We got to be accurate stewards.
SPEAKER_00: If we are held responsible for something, then we gotta be accurate.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine you have a broker of some sorts, an investment guy.
SPEAKER_00: You take your retirement, you give it to the guy, and he is to invest it.
SPEAKER_00: He is a steward of your fund, your retirement fund, your 401.
SPEAKER_00: And imagine you ask him, so how did you invest it?
SPEAKER_00: He's like, oh, I just like whatever.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever came up, I just haphazardly invested it.
SPEAKER_00: It's not mine.
SPEAKER_00: I don't get anything from this.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just merely a steward of what you gave to me.
SPEAKER_00: What would you do with that guy?
SPEAKER_00: Probably what I would do with a rabbit when I find him.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't plan to say that.
SPEAKER_00: I love animals.
SPEAKER_00: I really do.
SPEAKER_00: But I love other animals more than others.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, that picture of this sheep that you up there was very scrawny sheep for membership.
SPEAKER_00: That's not a picture of who you guys are.
SPEAKER_00: Those aren't well-fed sheep.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna feed you well at the membership lunch.
SPEAKER_00: But you do have to look at your pictures, Webb.
SPEAKER_00: Those were like drought sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Faithful stewards are faithful guardians of the truth of God's words, and they are to be faithful in handling the word and accurate in proclaiming the word.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Timothy 2.15.
SPEAKER_00: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, and the one who handles God's truth accurately.
SPEAKER_00: Cutting it straight.
SPEAKER_00: As stewards, we are not the source of truth.
SPEAKER_00: We are stewards of the truth.
SPEAKER_00: We never have license to change it, to manipulate it or be creative with it so that we are lawed at praises.
SPEAKER_00: We may never make it more palatable to avoid criticism, but we must be faithful.
SPEAKER_00: We must accurately proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ because he, after all, died on a cross, rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended to heaven and sitting at the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_00: And that accomplished the justification of sinners.
SPEAKER_00: We can't get these things wrong.
SPEAKER_00: Lives depend on it.
SPEAKER_00: And we might find that the Jews may be offended by this, and the Gentiles may think it folly, but it is the power of God unto salvation.
SPEAKER_00: And we cannot please people and please God at the same time.
SPEAKER_00: If we aim to please people, we will manipulate this truth to tickle ears rather than see lives transformed.
SPEAKER_00: Dear brothers and sisters, we must be faithful in our stewardship of the mysteries of God because lives depend on it.
SPEAKER_00: Number two.
SPEAKER_00: Let's read that again.
SPEAKER_00: But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court for that matter.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I don't even examine myself, for I'm conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this equitant.
SPEAKER_00: But, but the one who examines me is the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The one who examines me is the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We must have the right opinion of No.
SPEAKER_00: We must have the right view of whose opinion really matters.
SPEAKER_00: It is not that opinions didn't matter to Paul.
SPEAKER_00: It's not that when people said something to him, it didn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul rather kept God's pleasure in mind.
SPEAKER_00: He says in Colossians 1 10, my aim is to please him in all respects.
SPEAKER_00: Paul reminds us here that we are not to idolize the evaluations and opinions of people.
SPEAKER_00: Why not?
SPEAKER_00: Because they are fallible.
SPEAKER_00: Perceptions are fallible, perspectives can be fickle.
SPEAKER_00: What is important to Paul was the Lord's evaluation.
SPEAKER_00: That was his prime motivation.
SPEAKER_00: That was of prime importance to Paul.
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't Paul was Paul was basically saying, you know, I don't care really what you guys think of me.
SPEAKER_00: What I care about is what the Lord thinks of me, and that's all that matters.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine Paul stated this verse inversely.
SPEAKER_00: It could read something like this.
SPEAKER_00: And think how scary this would be for anyone ministry, thinking of your pastors, thinking of your elders, thinking of your worship leaders, thinking of people who teach your children.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine they say something like this.
SPEAKER_00: But for me, it is a very important thing what you think of me.
SPEAKER_00: And I minister accordingly.
SPEAKER_00: Your opinion is of utmost importance to me.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine I would say, I'm very aware of how you are evaluating my sermon.
SPEAKER_00: And that is a very important thing to me, and I will adjust things in accordance, aiming to please everyone in this pew.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if Paul or me or any one of us do anything like that, are we any different from the fickle Jews in John's gospel who were unwilling and unable to please God because it is said they love the approval of men rather than the approval of God, John 12, 43.
SPEAKER_00: Paul thought it a very small thing that these people were picking apart everything he did.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, whatever.
SPEAKER_00: But he was also like, whatever, if they came, oh Paul, that was just so amazing.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Paul, you're so great.
SPEAKER_00: We love you so much.
SPEAKER_00: You're such a cool dude.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't think they said that, but maybe they said something like that in Greek.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul thought it a small thing that people would either criticize him or idolize him simply because their knowledge and understanding of the real facts were imperfect, and the criticisms and the compliments were imperfect.
SPEAKER_00: God is perfect, and so only God can assess reality.
SPEAKER_00: What you think of me has little impact as to the motivations of why I do or do not do things, says Paul here.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, one pastor that I know, I was at his conference last week.
SPEAKER_00: He is the object of much criticism, but here are these words.
SPEAKER_00: He says, a caring minister of Christ cannot be insensitive to the feelings and the needs and the opinions of people.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: Can I read that again?
SPEAKER_00: A caring minister of Christ cannot be insensitive to the feelings, the needs and the opinions of his people.
SPEAKER_00: But no minister can remain faithful to his calling if he lets his congregation or any other human being decide how true his motives are or whether he is working within the Lord's will.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because only the Lord's evaluations matter.
SPEAKER_00: Dear brother and sister, wherever you serve in this church, we we underrowers.
SPEAKER_00: None of us are more important than the other.
SPEAKER_00: And some people may pick apart whatever you do and they might be critical.
SPEAKER_00: They may be, Lord, you praise us all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Rather think what your Lord and Master would say.
SPEAKER_00: Only God knows your motivations.
SPEAKER_00: Only you know your motivations.
SPEAKER_00: In Galatians, Paul says this.
SPEAKER_00: I am am I now trying to gain the approval of people or of God?
SPEAKER_00: Question mark.
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't very liked in the Galatian church, but he says, Am I trying to get your approval or God's approval?
SPEAKER_00: Am I trying to please people?
SPEAKER_00: If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You see, there's often a mutual exclusivity there.
SPEAKER_00: If we want to please people and keep everyone happy, we gotta think of, well, we are not gonna be faithful slaves to the master who enlisted us for the service of ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is very honest here in Galatians 1.10.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I cannot please two masters, the one master being the preferences and the opinions of people, and the other the purposes of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I can't serve both.
SPEAKER_00: But if I'm serving the purposes of Christ, I'm okay.
SPEAKER_00: And we should be okay with that.
SPEAKER_00: If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Paul was very cognizant of the unreasonable tyranny of the celebrity culture in the Corinthian congregation.
SPEAKER_00: But he would not be offended when people criticized him, neither would he show false modesty when he was praised by people.
SPEAKER_00: Very interesting.
SPEAKER_00: We wherever we serve dear brothers and sister.
SPEAKER_00: If somebody criticizes us, don't be offended.
SPEAKER_00: If somebody praises you, don't show false modesty.
SPEAKER_00: But just remind yourself whatever you were given was a gift.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever you do is a gift from Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: I think Paul was comforted in his ministry about the yoke and burden of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Christ says, My yoke is easy and my burden is light, Matthew 11, 30.
SPEAKER_00: But you see, in a celebrity culture, the yoke is hard and the burden is heavy.
SPEAKER_00: Celebrity culture just lays upon people expectations.
SPEAKER_00: It is an unforgiving, critical, self-serving culture that is contrary to this example of Christ who washed the feet of his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: And so, my dear friend, wherever and whenever you minister, don't carry the heavy yoke of people pleasing.
SPEAKER_00: Do it for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: If you do it for the Lord, you go, oh, this is easy.
SPEAKER_00: This yoke is easy.
SPEAKER_00: If you do it for people, or you do it to get the praises of people or to impress people, oh now this is a heavy yoke.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be Zealous for the praises of people.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be terribly distracted by the criticisms of people.
SPEAKER_00: Be aware that one day you will be idolized and the other day you may be criticized, but we carry the yoke of Jesus, which is easy and his burden is light.
SPEAKER_00: Just remember who you serve and evaluate your motivations.
SPEAKER_00: Motivations is of primary importance because it will come to light.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse five.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And then each man's praise will come to him from God.
SPEAKER_00: You see, we gotta be quick not to criticize.
SPEAKER_00: Did I say be quick to criticize?
SPEAKER_00: No, we should not be quick to criticize.
SPEAKER_00: We should not be quick to praise.
SPEAKER_00: Because you and I honestly don't know what the motivations are.
SPEAKER_00: Only God does.
SPEAKER_00: And God will make those motivations known.
SPEAKER_00: And so, dear brothers and sisters, you can be a very committed servant, you can be a very gifted person in ministry here in the church.
SPEAKER_00: But let me warn you, in the day of judgment, your motives will be made known.
SPEAKER_00: I think here's a caution, too, to not judge somebody's motives, because only God can judge somebody's motives.
SPEAKER_00: I know why he does that.
SPEAKER_00: I know why Anton preached that sermon on Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: I know.
SPEAKER_00: I know he was mad at the rabbit and took it out on the people.
SPEAKER_00: Well, we'll then might play into this, but uh let me give you something very freeing.
SPEAKER_00: Very freeing.
SPEAKER_00: Aim to please Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Do it for him.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever you do, do it for him.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a caution.
SPEAKER_00: Never, ever shoulder the yoke of seeking the imperfect praises of people.
SPEAKER_00: Don't put that yoke on.
SPEAKER_00: Never bear this burden of wanting the affirmations and confirmation and praises of people as you serve a ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Just see yourself as that that under rower, rowing.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody notices him, but the ship is moving forward in the right direction.
SPEAKER_00: Remind yourself that your praises will ultimately come, as verse 5 says, from God.
SPEAKER_00: Would you rather be praised by me or would you rather be praised by God?
SPEAKER_00: Here's an important thing.
SPEAKER_00: In the celebrity culture, we often see people as an audience, and we have to perform to impress the audience.
SPEAKER_00: But but here's a mind shift that I want you to think about.
SPEAKER_00: Think about God as your audience.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever you do, do it to God.
SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden, you will find out that God is not after a good performance, but rather faithful service.
SPEAKER_00: God never expects flawless performance.
SPEAKER_00: What God expects is faithful service.
SPEAKER_00: Be careful never to minister with one eye on the cross and the other eye on the scoreboard of popularity.
SPEAKER_00: Rather, fix both of your eyes on Jesus, who is the author and the perfecter of your faith, who we are told, for the joy before him, endured the cross.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus was about performance, if Jesus was about impressing people, wanting to be pleasing to God and one eye he has on the cross and the one eye on the scoreboard of popularity, he would have chosen popularity and he would have never taken the burden of the cross and the scorn and the shame that it incurred.
SPEAKER_00: Never give into petty preferences or even anonymous criticisms.
SPEAKER_00: Don't ever give it a second thought.
SPEAKER_00: Rather keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
SPEAKER_00: Let's wrap it up here.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be quick to law praises, but don't be zealous to dish out criticisms either.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be thinking of personal greatness, rather be thinking of faithful service.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be pleasers of people, but rather pleasers of God.
SPEAKER_00: Don't ever be thinking of performance, rather be thinking of faithful service.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's ask God to help us in our service and commitment to Him.
SPEAKER_00: Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for the clarity of your word and that things are just so plain and simple.
SPEAKER_00: I do pray, God, that the simplicity of the word will be received with humility and with grace, and may your spirit work it deep into our hearts, deep into our congregation, and may faith be free, though we are known for doing things well and for doing things with excellence unto the Lord, knowing that we do everything for the glory of you, whether we eat or drink, may we do it with the joy that we are given the gift of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: I pray, God, that we will never succumb to a celebrity culture.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that we will never become a church that is critical and nitpitting on things.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that we will never become a church that serves people rather than serve and please you, O Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that we will never become a church whereby the opinions of people influence decisions.
SPEAKER_00: May we be a faithful church when it comes to the mysteries of God.
SPEAKER_00: May this church be known for its commitment to biblical truth and sound doctrine.
SPEAKER_00: May we never compromise in this thing.
SPEAKER_00: I pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_01: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.