Ephesians 2:10 – For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Philippians 1:6 – [I am] confident of this, that He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
One of the cable channels Sue and I watch these days is HGTV. How may other HGTV viewers do we have out there? If you raised your hand then you probably know that several HGTV shows have the same basic plot and it goes something like this: there’s a home where a room is in desperate need of renovation. Perhaps a young couple has bought their first house and they knew this room would require a lot of work but they soon discover that fixing it up is just too much for them. So they call on the HGTV people for help and they send a team experts to their rescue. They give the room a thorough looking over and then the HGTV team sits the couple down and they use their fancy computer programs to show them what this room could look like after they redid it from top to bottom.
For example, if the room is a kitchen, the team shows them what it could look like with new cabinets and new flooring and a new sink and appliances. Sometimes their plan includes building a food prep island in the middle or knocking out a wall so that the kitchen flows into the family room. It almost always involves a fresh coat of paint and new a ceramic tile floor and a new sink and granite counter-tops with a back-splash to match. Then for the full drama the team shows us—the viewers—both what the room looks like NOW…and what it could look like in all it’s glory once this team of experts does its work. Well, at this point in the show I feel like I’m the homeowner because I WANT that new kitchen. I want to get from point “A” to point “B” on the “kitchen renovation continuum. I want to bridge the “gap” between the old beat up kitchen and the brand new model. I want the OLD kitchen to BECOME the NEW kitchen.
I bring this up because as Christ followers there is a sense in which we experience a similar longing. There are times when we are not happy with where we are spiritually. We want to grow so that we are more like Christ in our attitudes and actions. We want our old self to BECOME more like the NEW creation Scripture promises. In short, we want to bridge the gap between who we are—and the person God calls us to become.
Today we are beginning a five week study of John Ortberg’s book The Me I Want to Be as a way of helping us all to learn how to bridge this gap. In short, the purpose of this series is to help us BECOME the kind of Christians we need to be…yearn to be. I’ll be preaching on the Biblical truths of Ortberg’s book for the next five Sunday mornings and we are also offering small-group studies that are designed to compliment the messages. You have three options for joining in this small group study.
- Roger Price and Mike Craig will be teaching a class during the Sunday School hour.
- Bobby Cook will be teaching one on Sunday evenings during Awana.
Both of these studies begin today.
- And I’ll be teaching one on Wednesdays at 6:30PM starting this week.
We are also selling copies of the book. You can purchase one at whichever small group study you choose for only $10. They come in four beautiful colors! I hope you’ll plan on joining us both here in worship for the messages and also in one of the small groups, because as Ortberg puts it in his book: “The most important task of your life is not what you DO, but WHO you BECOME.” And as I said, deep inside each of us do indeed yearn to BECOME the ME God has called us to be. We hunger to experience the peace and joy and fulfillment that comes with BECOMING more Christlike, because, let’s be honest, when it comes to spiritual growth there are times in which we all feel like we are LANGUISHING a bit—and I use this particular word because in his book Ortberg talks about “the languishing self” — as the person who is not growing spiritually. He refers to the other end of the spiritual growth spectrum as “the flourishing self” — the person who is making progress toward becoming more and more like Jesus.
Let me describe these two selves and see if you can relate. Our “languishing self” tends to feel uneasy and discontented. When we are languishing we are focused on self most of the time—mainly because our thoughts drift toward fear or anger. We have difficulty when it comes to relationships and our conversations tend toward sarcasm or gossip. On the other hand, our “flourishing self” experiences joy and peace. Life is fulfilling and meaningful and we tend to focus on the needs of others more than our own. We find other people to be a source of wonder and we are more authentic in our interactions, feeling genuine empathy for the pain of others and honestly confessing our own shortcomings. On top of that when we are on the road to BECOMING—when we are growing in Christlikeness—TIME itself is transformed. Ortberg describes it like this: “You have confidence that whatever life throws at you will not overthrow you. When the day dawns, you awake with a sense of expectancy. You begin to receive each moment as a God-filled gift.”
I don’t know about you, but this summer as we studied some of the great heros of the faith: people like these guys: Boothe, Wilberforce, Bonhoeffer, Graham, ten Boom, Carver, and Muller…as we studied their lives—lives that obviously FLOURISHED…well I had a hunger inside my “languishing self” to be more like them. I wanted to experience the fulfilment and joy and sense of eternal purpose that they experienced as they grew and did amazing things for God.
Well, how about you? How many of you felt that way this summer? Even if you missed the series, how many of you have an inner longing to flourish spiritually more than you are now? How many want to experience more of the abundant life Jesus promised?
Well, how do we satisfy this longing? How do we get from where we are—to where we long to be? How do we bridge the gap between our LANGUISHING self…and our FLOURISHING self?
What do we need to know in order to become the kind of person God wants us to become? This morning I want to suggest four things.
(1) First to make progress toward bridging this gap we must understand that BECOMING is not optional.
This is important for us to remember because some Christians tend to believe that being transformed spiritually is something they can take or leave…like extra frills on a new car they are purchasing. But the truth is everybody is in the process of being transformed spiritually—everyone is BECOMING—whether they want to be or not. The REAL question then is HOW are you being transformed? What or who are you BECOMING like? Do you remember Paul’s words in Romans 12:1-2? He warned, “Don’t be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Implied in this admonition is the fact that if you’re not being TRANS-formed by God’s renewing power, then you’re being CON-formed by the forces opposed to God. So the issue is not IF you’re going to be influenced and formed spiritually; the question is BY WHOM will you be influenced and transformed.
Of course…God wants us to become more like Jesus. As it says in 1st Thessalonians 4:3, “It is God’s WILL that you should become SANCTIFIED.” So God wants us to become sanctified. He wants us to grow spiritually—He wants us to FLOURISH—but He will not force His influence upon us. It is our choice. And if we don’t make this choice…if you don’t seek to be transformed by God, then we have a spiritual adversary—the Evil One—who will be more than happy to transform us…according to his purposes. You see, we live in a fallen world….an environment that deforms people spiritually and constantly pulls them away from God….a world that pulls us away from FLOURISHING and toward languishing.
One of my favorite movies is the original version of The Flight of the Phoenix. It starred Jimmy Stewart as the pilot of a plane that crash lands in the African desert. There are about eight survivors and after waiting several days for rescue one of them decides to walk a couple hundred miles through the desert heat to the nearest town and get help. Stewart’s character asks him if he is right-handed or left. The man says he’s right-handed and then Stewart says that this means his right leg is stronger than the left…which also means his natural gate will pull him toward the left which will make him miss the town by many miles. He would walk right by it and never see it and end up dying in the desert.
In my mind, this gives a picture of what it is like to be a sinner in a fallen world. Due to our sinful nature we tend to move toward sin. That’s the “leg” we “favor.” As the prophet Isaiah put it, “All we like sheep have gone ASTRAY…each of us has turned to his own way.” I’m saying if we don’t choose to be influenced by God…if we don’t “set our minds on things that are above,” if we don’t tap into His power…then we will be influenced by the fallen environment around us.
Now, there are several ways this fallen world pulls us away from the flourishing self. Ortberg refers to them as COUNTERFEITS that elbow to take the place of the person GOD wants us to become…and they will…if we are not intentional about preventing this.
A. For example, there is THE ME I PRETEND TO BE.
This is when we pretend to be holier than we really are. It’s pretending to be closer to Jesus than we are in actuality, like Moses who put on a veil after being with God. Remember? Being in God’s presence made Moses’ face literally glow so he wore a veil to keep the other Hebrews from having to wear sunglasses in his presence. But Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians 3:13 that Moses wore the veil long after the glow faded—and that’s the way we are at times. In an attempt to impress others we pretend to be closer to God than we really are.
I’m reminded of the freshly minted lieutenant who wanted to impress the first private to enter his brand new office. So when the private came in, the lieutenant pretended to be on the phone with a general to prove to the lowly enlisted man that he was somebody. The lieutenant talked into the phone saying, “Yes sir, General, you can count on me.” Then he banged the receiver down and asked the private what he wanted. The private replied, “I’m just here to connect your phone, sir.”
The sad truth is that many times we settle for pretense instead of reality. We do our best to make sure everyone thinks we are very close to God—when in reality we’re living in the far country. To BECOME the me we want to BE, we have to start by being honest about the me that we ARE.
B. Another counterfeit that pulls us away from flourishing is the me I THINK I should be.
This is when we slip into the sin of COMPARING ourselves with others. We look across the pews—or in our case purple seats—and think to be what Jesus wants us to be—we have to be like so and so sitting over there. But sinful comparison like this kills growth. Plus, it forces us to live under a cloud of guilt. Henri Nouwen wrote, “Spiritual greatness has nothing to do with being greater than others. It has everything to do with being as great as each of us a can be.”
The fact is God made you unique…special…one of a kind…so when we BECOME the me we want to be…we’ll be more like the ME God MADE us to be. As God helps you bridge the gap between languishing and flourishing, you will change, but you will always be you. Think of it like this: an acorn can grow into an oak tree but it cannot become a rose bush. It can be a healthy oak or a stunted oak but it won’t be a shrub. So—you will always be you—a growing, healthy you or a stunted, languishing you but God did not create you to be someone else.As you grow—as you bridge the gap you’ll be come holier—but you’ll also become YOU-IER. Becoming God’s new creation doesn’t mean becoming completely different. Instead it’s like an old piece of furniture that gets restored to its intended beauty.
C. One other worldly counterfeit we have to guard against is THE ME OTHER PEOPLE WANT ME TO BE.
This is when instead of letting God change us, we allow others to do so—and there is a long line of people who want to change us. Ortberg says, “You boss wants you to be more productive. Your health club wants you to be more fit. Your credit card company wants you to be more in debt. Networks want you to watch more TV and restaurants want you to eat more food. Your dentist wants you to visit more often. Everybody has an agenda for you.” Well, if we fall into the trap of spending our lives trying to become THAT me, we will never be free. Nobody else can tell you exactly how to flourish because nobody but God knows. Even you can’t tell yourself how to change because you didn’t create you. Only God promises to “work in all things for our GOOD.” (Romans 8:28) Only He can deliver on that kind of promise! Here’s a second principle we need to grasp if we want to bridge the gap between LANGUISHING and FLOURISHING.
(2) We must remember that BECOMING more like Jesus is a PROCESS not an EVENT.
In Philippians 3:12 Paul wrote, “I have not already obtained all this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
In other words he said, “I haven’t arrived yet. I’m still on the road.” Paul had learned—probably the hard way—that spiritual growth TAKES TIME. And this may be the most difficult thing for us to grasp when it comes to bridging the gap…because we live in such an instant gratification society. We impatiently want everything right away. We have self-check out lines at our grocery stores and nearly blow a gasket if we end up in one of these lines behind someone who can’t figure out how to use the machine. We have HOV lanes and if we see someone driving an empty van we get ticked and lay on the horn so they’ll know it. We want elevators to respond to our needs instantly. Have you ever seen anyone impatiently waiting for the elevator and watched them respond by pressing the button repeatedly? Somehow they seem to believe that the elevator is going to say to itself, “That bald pastor making hospital visits on the fourth floor is in a big hurry. I better skip all the other floors and head right down there for him.”
Well, we tend to be just as impatient when it comes to spiritual growth. We want it to be fast. But becoming Christlike just does not happen that way. It is more of a marathon than a 100-yard dash. In fact, one of the most important lessons to learn about the Christian life is that God isn’t so much into SPEED as He is into DISTANCE. I believe it was Oswald Chambers who said, “Discipleship is a LONG obedience in the same direction.” The Biblical picture of spiritual growth is one of forward motion: a pilgrimage, a journey—not an arrival. In actuality we never “arrive” on this side of eternity—because the Christian life is not just a one time commitment. It is an ongoing walk. This is what Paul means in Colossians 2:6-7, when he writes, As you received Jesus Christ as Lord…so WALK in Him rooted and built up in Him.
Another thing—in your life-long pursuit of BECOMING the person God calls you to be, you will often fail. You will mess up from time to time—but you don’t quit. You ask God’s forgiveness and help to start over and He graciously gives us both. The Apostle Paul tells us what we must do at this point. In Philippians 3:13 he says, “this one thing I do: FORGETTING what is behind…I press on.” We tend to think that FORGETTING is a bad thing…something we shouldn’t do…but forgetting is indispensable to spiritual growth and maturity.
There was once and elderly couple sitting on a park bench. The husband looked at his wife and said, “I’m going over to that ice cream store. Do you want anything?” And she said, “Yes, I want a sundae. Strawberry ice cream with hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts, and no cherries. In fact, you better write it down….you’re liable to forget.” But he said, “No I won’t. I have a mind like a steel trap.” She said, “No….I know what your memory is like. You will forget. Write it down.” He insisted, “No I will not forget.” Well, he leaves and is gone for an hour. When he comes back he hands his wife a brown paper bag. She opens it up and pulls out a ham sandwich. She looks at her husband and says, “You forgot the mustard.”
Now this is a silly story but we DO tend to think of forgetting as something that gets us into trouble or something we shouldn’t do….but the truth is you can’t make any progress at bridging the gap unless you follow Paul’s advice and “forget what lies behind.” Forgetting is a key tool that we must learn to use, if the process of spiritual transformation is to continue in our lives.
Now, of course we DO need to confess our sinful mistakes and learn from them…but then we do need to move on. We can’t be shackled by the past. You will slip and mess up…that is guaranteed…but we must avoid the danger of becoming discouraged and quitting when this happens….because spiritual transformation is a process…not an event.
(3) Here’s a third principle of BECOMING. You can’t bridge the gap—by looking out for number ONE.
Ortberg writes, “Flourishing never happens by looking out for number one. It is tied to a grander and nobler vision. The world badly needs wise and flourishing human beings, and we are called to bring God’s wisdom and glory to the world. The truth is, those who flourish always bring blessing to others—and they can do so in the most unexpected and humble circumstances.”
Listen, fellow becomers. There is a subtle danger in pursuing spiritual growth. You see, many times in our desire to become more and more like God we get off track and get individualistic and even narcissistic. The scribes and Pharisees in Jesus’ day are a great example of this, because they thought of themselves as very holy….very Godly…but they were so absorbed with themselves that they lost their desire to love anyone else and this brought their progress toward Godliness to a grinding halt.
Listen, if we’re not careful, the pursuit of spiritual growth can get distorted. We can get preoccupied with how WE are performing spiritually and how spiritually fulfilled WE feel, that we forget to live a life of servant hood and love. In short, we warp spiritual growth until it becomes all about ME. Then instead of becoming freed to serve others we become spiritually proud and self-absorbed. The real goal of spiritual growth…in one word is LOVE….love of others more than self. Let me put it this way. There is a huge difference between being SANCTIFIED and being SANCTIMONIOUS.
Plus, the New Testament never defines spiritual maturity in solely individualistic terms. It is always defined in terms of community. We are not called to Christlikeness for our own benefit….but for the benefit of others. 1st Corinthians 12:7 says, “To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given—FOR THE COMMON GOOD.” In other words….our spiritual growth is not just for our own benefit, but for the benefit of all. Flourishing believers are not pre-occupied with self….but instead are focused on lovingly meeting the needs of other people. It’s as Paul wrote in the love chapter, “love is not SELF-seeking…” When a Christian matures, he or she becomes like God, “Who loved so much that He GAVE…”
(4) Final principle: We can’t BECOME Christlike on our OWN.
We need God’s help to flourish. We can’t flourish by just relying on our own strength. It’s a team effort between us AND God.
Psychologists say that one of the primary causes of conflict in homes these days has to do with disputes over whose job it is to do what….the “division of labor” so to speak. Family members argue over who is supposed to take out the garbage and who’s supposed to wash the dishes, etc.
I remember my parents having disagreements over this issue. Dad was raised on the farm and to him the division of labor was simple…whatever had to be done outside the walls of the house was man’s work and whatever had to be done within the walls of a house was woman’s work.
This is how it worked on a thousand acre farm and he just felt it should work the same way in the suburbs of Dover, Delaware….even though our yard was the size of a postage stamp. Well, my mom wasn’t raised on a farm. Her dad was a civil engineer, so they had no fields to plow or cows to milk. They were city folks. In her home everyone—male and female alike—helped out…both within the house and outside of it as well. This led mom and dad to have some heated “discussions” in the early years of their marriage—and as usual….mom won. She allowed dad to teach my brothers and me to mow the lawn and do basic yard work but she also taught us to iron clothes and wash dishes. We did both!
For many Christians there is a similar confusion about the “division of labor” when it comes to spiritual growth or sanctification.They ask, “Is it God’s job to mature me or is it mine?”
NOW…some Christians think that our becoming Godly is totally God’s job.
They say, “If I do anything at all….if I make any effort to be holy, then I am living by works and not by grace. So sanctification is SOLELY God’s job!” They support their position by quoting verses like 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 which says, “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you entirely…the One Who calls you is faithful and He will do this.” Citing verses like this they say that human effort at Godliness is futile. It’s doomed from the start.They feel that spiritual growth is simply not their responsibility and that to teach that it is—is to be opposed to the doctrine of grace.
Then….on the other hand some Christians believe just the opposite and say that spiritual growth or sanctification is all OUR job.
They may cite verses like Leviticus 11:44 which says, “I am the Lord your God. Sanctify yourselves, therefore. Be holy for I am holy.” In effect, they believe God’s job is to make sure HE is holy; our job is to make sure WE are holy. Perhaps you’ve met some of these “Rambo” Christians who are determined to make themselves into Godly people. They see Christianity as a contest to see who is the most holy, who has memorized the most Bible verses, witnessed to the most people, has the most regular quiet time, etc.
But you know….neither of these viewpoints is really wrong. In fact they are both right…for…spiritual maturity is a joint effort between God AND us. In Philippians 2:12, Paul wrote, “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…” But then he continued and said, “…for it is God Who is at work in you, enabling you to both will and to work for His good pleasure.” So Paul pulls this all together and says that both God and believers have a part in their spiritual maturity.
To understand this further, look again at Romans 12:2 where it says, “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” In this verse Paul uses a certain grammatical form which is a combination of the imperative and the passive. Now….an imperative is of course a COMMAND—like when you tell someone to do something like, “Stop!” or “Go!” But a passive is when something happens to you like when you get hit BY a truck. Well, in this text Paul uses a combination of these two grammatical forms known as a, “passive imperative.” He says, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” So, Paul doesn’t say spiritually transform yourself….nor does he say sit around and do nothing. He says actively pursue the transforming power of God. Do all you can to make yourself changeable by God. You see, we DO have a role to play in spiritual growth but we don’t control it. Our spiritual maturity is a “both/and” thing…a joint effort between us and God.
Now—in life there are some things we CAN control. We can make phone calls, drive a car, run an errand. But some things we CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT—like the weather. Only God can change the weather—or the Redskins. So in life there are some things we can control and things we can’t but there is also a THIRD category. For example—think about going to sleep. You can’t make yourself go to sleep the way you can make a phone call or drive a car. But you can get in a dark room, lay down on a soft mattress, turn out the lights, play one of my sermon cds, and eventually sleep will come. You can’t control it….but you can make yourself more open to it. You can make yourself better able to go to sleep. Think of the differences between a motor boat and a sail boat. In a motor boat I’m in control. I start the engine, control the speed, and go wherever I want. But Jim Burke would tell you that sailing is different. You don’t control the speed. Now, when we’re sailing, we’re not totally passive, we have a role to play—we hoist the sails and steer with the rudder—but we are still utterly dependent on the wind. There is no room for believing we’re in control, because if the wind doesn’t blow, we’re dead in the water. When the wind blows, on the other hand, amazing things happen.
The third chapter of John’s gospel records a time that Jesus was talking about life in the Spirit.
He said, “The wind blows where it chooses. You hear the sound of it but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Jesus is reminding us that the wind is free and powerful—way beyond our control. And He compares the sanctifying, maturing work of the Holy Spirit to the wind. It is powerful and mysterious. We can’t control or manufacture it. We can’t come up with a program with predictable results we control. Spiritual growth is empowered by God. He is the One Who supplies the “wind.” But….on the other hand, we’re not passive. There are several things we can do that enable us to catch the maturing, transforming wind of God’s Spirit. Things like developing a growing prayer life…..or devoting ourselves to the study of God’s written Word….or becoming active in a local church like Redland. In these ways we can “spread our sails” and be empowered by God to grow and mature as His followers. But, if we don’t do this, if we don’t make ourselves open and available to God—if we don’t learn to abide in Him, then we are dead in the water spiritually. We don’t progress in our journey toward Godliness. We can’t FLOURISH on our own. We need His power.
Okay—we’ve looked at four principles of becoming—things we need to know to bridge the gap between the “me” we are…and the “me” we want to be. How many of you want to begin bridging that gap? How many of you want to grow as Christ-followers? Would you pray with me?