learn

“It’s not about you.”

Rick Warren opened his bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life, with these words, “It’s not about you.” Warren was talking about purpose and mission in life. He’s right.

Since the beginning of summer, I’ve been preaching from the book of Proverbs. The last several weeks I’ve dealt with several convicting subjects according to the book of Proverbs: pride, words, and anger. You can listen to the podcasts of recent sermons by searching for Wilkesboro Baptist wherever you find podcasts or by visiting our podcast page here: https://www.wilkesborobaptist.org/podcasts.

That sentence, “It’s not about you” covers the basic truth behind the character and virtue that the book of Proverbs is attempting to teach us.

We live in a “have it your way” culture where advertising, marketing, and media are aimed at making your life more convenient or happier. Just observe the self-help section in a bookstore or watch carefully the next set of commercials on television. If you listen to the subtle (or not so subtle) messaging, then it is easy to think that everything is about us. If I want a new car, then I deserve one. If I want to fit in, then I must have the newest iPhone. If I want to have a happy lunch, then I’ll get it “my way.”

I don’t mean to pick on advertising and marketing so much. It is just an illustration of a far deeper problem with humanity.

Let’s just take the subjects of the last three sermons I preached: pride, words, and anger. The vice of pride tells us that everything is about us. And when our pride is damaged, we act out. Our words are not necessarily good or bad, but most often they are about us. It is so easy to get caught up in the I, me, mine culture where everything I communicate in spoken or written word is about me. Think social media. If you want a convicting exercise, look back through your social media feeds and reread your posts. How many of them are about you? How many times did you write, “I,” “me,” or “mine.” And then there is anger. Most of the time, my anger is caused by something or someone that doesn’t match my expectations. I get angry when “I’m” impatient, frustrated, disappointed, etc. Essentially, these three topics are symptomatic of self-absorbed thinking.

We need to tell ourselves over and over again, “It’s not about me.”

If it’s not about us, then what on earth are we here for? In short, we’re here as reflections of the Creator. God made us in his image, for his glory, to accomplish his purpose. God made us to make us like Jesus (Romans 8:29).

To put it one way, we exist to lead our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus. At Wilkesboro Baptist, we do this by worshiping, learning, serving, and replicating. These steps are good reminders that life is not about us.

In worship, we focus our attention on the Lord who is worthy of our praise. In true worship, our preferences and desires take a back seat to the praise and glory of Jesus Christ.

In learning, we humble ourselves to be taught. As followers of Christ, we realize that we are on a journey to learn more about God, ourselves, our world, others, and our mission.

In serving, we put others first. Instead of being consumers of church culture, we are servants of others. We give our time, talents, and tithes as investments into the lives of others: be it people in our church, community, or across the world.

In replicating, we realize that the mission of making disciples is our priority. To replicate is to reproduce the life of Christ in someone else. We can’t replicate the life of Christ in someone else if the life of Christ is not the controlling presence in our own lives. And if we live each day as if it is about us, then we are actively working against the purpose of Christ in our own lives.

Is your life about you? If your behaviors, habits, and decisions say “Yes,” then maybe it’s time for some life analysis.

This message series has been convicting to me as well. Over the past several weeks, God has reminded me of ways where I have behaved as if my life is about me. May we learn to follow Christ and let the life of Christ live within us.

May Paul’s affirmation to the Galatians be true of us:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

Galatians 2:2O

Photo by Ben Robbins on Unsplash

In all your ways…

This past week my sermon came from the most familiar Proverb.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Solomon offers a number of incentives in this chapter for the person who walks wisely. Verses 5 and 6 detail the demands for one to be wise. In my sermon, I listed those demands:

  • Trust the LORD completely.
  • Reject self-reliance deliberately.
  • Acknowledge the LORD constantly.

God often convicts me with my own sermons. And one of the ways he is convicting me this week is about acknowledging him constantly. In all my ways, I must acknowledge him. In all your ways, you should acknowledge him.

What are our ways? Well, we have many of them. We have the way of our own spiritual walk. We have the way of family interactions. We have the way of work or school. We have the way of leisure. We could on. What is clear is that Solomon teaches us to acknowledge, that is recognize and testify to our relationship with the LORD in all our ways. Acknowledge comes from the Hebrew word da’at which means a relational knowledge. So we must confess and testify to the LORD’s saving presence with us in all our ways.

A verse in Isaiah relates what we mean.

Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
    all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from before your birth,
    carried from the womb;
even to your old age I am he,
    and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
    I will carry and will save.

Isaiah 46:3-4

The LORD knows us from before birth and carries us into old age. He guides, protects, saves, and defends. He knows all our ways. He watches over his own throughout their lives. His saving compassion is motivation to acknowledge him in all our ways.

One way we could acknowledge the LORD is in light of our mission. Our mission at Wilkesboro Baptist is to lead our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus. We do so by worshiping, learning, serving, and replicating.

Here are some thoughts I’ve jotted down for myself for this week.

In my way of worship today and this week, I will acknowledge the LORD. I will remember his greatness and majesty (Isaiah 46:9). As best as I’m able, I will go through the day and this week acknowledging the presence and greatness of the LORD in my attitude and practice of worship.

In my way of learning today and this week, I will acknowledge the LORD. I will be attentive to what I read, hear, and learn from others. Intentionally, I will seek to be teachable and to grow in my understanding of what’s going on around me.

In my way of serving today and this week, I will acknowledge the LORD. I will seek to serve the LORD as I serve others personally and ministerially. Rather than be overwhelmed by the ministry conversations and interactions of the week, I will seek to let each of them be a means of serving the LORD who is worthy.

In my way of replicating today and this week, I will acknowledge the LORD. I will consider conversations, relationships, and opportunities in light of the Great Commission mandate to make disciples. From my discipleship group to interactions with family and even to strangers, I will seek to acknowledge the LORD in these relationships by seeing these moments as opportunities to replicate the life of Jesus in someone else.

There are of course many other ways that we will walk this week. If we truly want the LORD to make our paths straight, then we need to acknowledge him in all our ways. The opportunities and decisions are in front of us. So let’s acknowledge him in our ways today.

Photo by Gunnar Ridderström on Unsplash