Live No Lies – You Are Not What You Do
MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION:
Well good morning everyone. If you’re new around here, my name is Virgil Grant. I’m the senior pastor of this wonderful community of faith that is called Eastside. I dunno if I shared this with you lately or not, but I just want you to know that I love you. I love being the pastor of this congregation. I love what you are allowing God to do in and through us as we are playing a small part in pushing back the darkness in central Kentucky. And I just want to say thank you for being obedient. Thank you for showing up week after week. I love you and I’m super proud of each and every one of you.
And we are in week three of a sermon series called Live No Lies and it comes from this bestselling author. He’s also a pastor, John Mark Comer, and I just ripped the title right off the book, A lot of the materials in the book, it’s not the sermon series. And if you’ve not read the book, I would encourage you to do that. And what we are, the premise of the entire sermon is that we believe that Satan, the devil, the accuser, he’s alive and well.
Now many of you may think that there’s no such thing as the enemy. There’s no such thing as the devil. That he’s more of a Santa Claus like or more of a Tooth Fairy like, or maybe one of those dark characters on a video game. But we believe that he’s real for various reasons. Number one, the Bible teaches it. Jesus called out the devil. We hear Paul Peter, other close disciples of Jesus all make mention. And what Satan is trying to get us to do is not to tell lies. That’s not his agenda. His agenda is for you and I to actually live out lies. And when we live out the lies of Satan, then we’re not living out the truth found in God’s word. And what happens is Satan hacks into our soul and he steals our identity.
And so in this sermon series, we are exposing some of the big time lies of Satan that he uses to hack into our soul. And the first one that we did in week number one is “I Am What I Feel” is that we talked about another way of saying this is that “You Do You.” And if you do you and you follow your heart, you follow your feelings, your emotions, your hormones or whatever you may want to call it is, then you’re going down a road of destruction and it never ends well when you follow your heart.
Last weekend we looked at this, “I Am What People Say About Me,” and we looked at a long list of why you might begin to believe the words of other people. Then at the end we flip the script, if you remember, and I said to you that God has three specific words that he wants to speak over you, “That you’re accepted, that you’re secure and you’re significant.” And we looked at a laundry list of verses that reinforces that.
Well, next week we’re going to look at maybe the most paralyzing lie of all is that “I Am What I’ve Done” is the things in my past that really defines who I am.
But today we’re going to go after this big time lie. And the lie that we’re going after is that “I Am What I Do,” in other words is that the lie says that my worth, my value and my identity is based on what I do and how well I do it.
Now folks, don’t get me wrong. Every one of us in this room is that we want to look successful. I don’t know if anyone who wants to raise their hand and go, Hey, I just want to look like a loser for the rest of my life. I’ve never known anyone to do that. Therefore, we all play the performance or the success angle of the game. We all, somehow or another, we exaggerates. We exaggerate our accomplishments and we try to hide our failure.
Now you want to talk about image management. Lemme just tell you what you have to do. If you want to see image management at its very best, go to a 10 20 or a 30 year class reunion and you’ll see image management on full profile, right? I mean there’s some guy there, he’s rented a car, he’s rented a suit, he’s rented some hair, he’s rented a date. I mean he’s done all those things and he shows up and he goes, you guys and gal you somehow or another voted me as the least likely to succeed. And then he starts singing Toby Keith’s song, How Do You Like Me Now? And he starts singing that.
And folks, listen to me. We all played the performance success angle game. But you know why we played that is because it starts very young. I don’t know if you’ve ever been on the playground lately and there’s toddlers running around and you evesdrop in on some moms and some dads who’s out there and here’s how the conversation go goes. When did she start walking? Oh, at two months. Good. Nice to know. When did he start talking right out of the womb baby? Right out of the womb? Well, my daughter can the ABCs, who cares? My son can say his ABCs in three different languages. How about that? And so what happens is is that this performance oriented society that we live in, it starts at a very young age and it’s crazy the competitiveness that we experience.
Now, folks, listen to me. I think that you should give excellence to God. I think we should give our very best to God. But you have to understand what is society telling us? What is the world saying to us? The world is lying to us. It’s throwing a curve ball at us. The message is this “win at all costs” is that when the bell goes off, then what are you to do? You’re to blow by your classmates, your teammates, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers, anybody and everybody because you have to be bigger, smarter, stronger, faster, richer, higher and better than everyone else. Listen, nobody remembers who won the silver medal. Second place is First Loser. You understand what I’m saying is second place means that you are not the best. And I don’t know if you have seen these two boys or not, but I mean competition in life is everywhere. And this was caught on the camera from the 76er basketball game and they spotted each other across the arena and they have a dance contest.
So watch this. Here he goes. He’s going after it. Everybody’s watching now look at this, the guy across the arena, now he’s really going after it. Now back to him. He’s going after it. Look at the guy in the grease. Oh, back to the other guy. Oh, here he goes. Yeah, woo. The dance contest back to him. I got you brother. He says, oh, here we go. There you go. He’s all in, right? And so the fans are getting into it. And so from a very early age, we see competitiveness everywhere. And I want you to see what a guy from the Old Testament wrote in his journal named Solomon. Ecclesiastes, chapter four verse four.
He says, “Then I observe that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors, but this too is meaningless like chasing the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 4:4)
And I just want to ask you a question or two, what is it about you and I that makes us run so fast, work so hard, and compete so intensely with each other? I mean, what is it? I mean, I think part of it is my friends is the God-given drives that God has placed in us? I think there’s some things that are hardwired into you and to me that wants us to excel, wants us to perform, wants us to get after it wants us to win. I mean it’s all of those things. And when those things are within boundaries, when those things are in a healthy balance, then what happens?
And what I’ve discovered is that we will flourish in life and we will actually somehow or another honor God with their lives. But what I’ve noticed, and I’m not being judgmental, I’m not trying to point any fingers at anyone, but here’s what I’ve discovered is that most people, these God-given drives and that’s hardwired into us. They’re not in balance anymore, they’re out of balance. And I go, well, why are they trying so hard? Why are they working so hard? Why are they competing so hard? Why are they doing this or that? And then I begin to think, well, why is it their lives are out of balance?
And here’s what I’ve come to the conclusion of is that they are hungry and they desire acceptance. I mean, just think about this. Many of you are in this room and you’re still looking for that elusive “attaboy” or “attagirl” that you’ve never received in your life. You’re hungry for approval, acceptance for affirmation. Do you realize that most workaholics today as adults is that they lived in a performance-based home, that the only time that they got acceptance, the only time that they got love is when they actually earned it and worked hard for it. And I don’t know if you know this or not, but in each and every one of us, there is the love-need inside of every one of us, especially in us as kids.
And as kids if we don’t get the love, the acceptance, the “attaboys” get the things that we’re looking for. They’re looking for unconditional love and they never get it. They never hear their words is that, I love you, I’m proud of you that you are worthy, that you are enough, that you’re talented. These kids, they never hear their parents or their grandparents or whomever is raising them to say these words. And you know what happens? They become adults. And you know what happens with adults? Here’s what happens is that they come, and I believe this is true for many of you in the room. Again, I’m not being judgmental, you just have to name it. And Alden, many of you are here in this room and you hate the feeling that you have deep in you. And the feeling that you have deep in you is that you are a nobody. And you believe that somehow or another that you’ve got to be a somebody.
And listen to me. Here’s what you’ll do when you are a Nobody and you believe that lie straight from hell, then you’re going to give everything that you have to become a Somebody because you hate the feeling of being a Nobody. And you know what you’re willing to do. You’re willing to do some things that you thought that you would never be willing to do. I mean, you are willing to go all in. You’re willing to prove to everybody that you’re actually somebody. I mean you are willing to work the long hours, you’re willing to work seven days a week and never take a vacation. You’re willing to sacrifice your marriage. You’re willing to sacrifice your family and your children and you’re willing to sacrifice even your soul for somehow or another to get the feeling to get people to say “There is somebody.”
And here’s the reality is that you may accomplish that. You may come to the point where everybody thinks that you’re somebody, but deep down inside of you, you know that you have sacrificed your family, your marriage, your children, everything. And deep down you don’t even know yourself. You don’t even like yourself. You sure you’ve got a million followers on X? Sure you’ve got some trophies. Sure, you’ve got nice financial portfolio, but deep down you don’t like yourself. You don’t even know who you are and you don’t even know the purpose of why you’re there. And this is the reason friends that Jesus said these words in Mark chapter eight, verse 36.
He says, “What do you benefit if you gain the entire world but lose your soul in the process?” (Mark 8:36)
He goes, what does it matter if you get all the accolades? What does it matter if you get the trophies and you get all of the followers if you don’t know God? And he’s saying, seek God first. Put him above everything else. Seek his kingdom. And then here’s the reason why I think when God gave us the 10 commandments, I think there was intentional reality on God’s part to give us the 10 commandments the way that he did. Because look how he begins the 10th Commandments in Exodus chapter 20.
He says, “You may worship no other God than me.” (Exodus 20:3)
Now, God’s not only ego trip, God’s not insecure. God is jealous for you and I folks listen to me. God created you so that you could worship him not to live and to try to please other people.
He says, “You shall not make yourselves any idols, no images of animals, birds or fish. You must never bow or worship it in any way for I the Lord your God. I am very possessive. I will not share your affection with any other god.” (Exodus 20: 4-5)
Friends, listen to me. Many of you, you have these drives, these behaviors, these things that’s hardwired into you and they are out of control because you’re trying to get something satisfied that only God can satisfy.
Now, here’s what I’m going to ask you to do. I’m going to ask you to take out pen and paper. Go ahead, take out pen and paper. If you don’t have pen or paper, I’m going to encourage you to take out your phone. And I’m shifting mode this morning because I want to teach you how the world is deceiving you and how the world is deceiving me. And then I want to show you how you can be set free from the “Identity Theft Cycle.” And then I want to give you the “Life-giving Cycle.” And so I’m switching modes. I want you to take pictures of the screen. I want you to write things down.
And here is the cycle that I call the “Identity Theft Cycle.” And it begins at the very top with the word image. Everybody say “image” with me. Say “image.” Say “image.” Now here’s the image. Now this is the image that you have in your mind what success looks like. Now, friends, I don’t know what success success looks like for you. For some of you it’s owning your own company. For some of you it means being the perfect mom, the perfect housewife, being the perfect father, being the perfect grandmother, the grandfather, I don’t know what it is, it doesn’t matter. But we are all somehow or another chasing the “image.” And this image is what the world tells us. This is what success looks like. And what success looks like for the most part is that you have to have the right car, you have to have the right close, you have to have the right job, you have to have the right title, you have to have the right home and the right neighborhood.
But not only do you have to have the right job with the right title, you have to know the right people so that the right people can get you into the right places. And we spend our entire life chasing this manmade image called “Success.” Now notice what happens. Here’s what I want you to understand. When you run after what the world holds up as success. Now I’m just going to tell you something. When you get to that thing that is called success, then guess what happens with success? It’s moved every single time, but you’re going to get there. You know how you’re going to get there. It’s going to cost you every ounce of your energy. It’s going to cost you all of your attention, all of your affection, all of your emotions. It’s going to require you to give all of your time. It’s going to require you to empty out everything that you have in you in order to pursue that image that the world is saying to you. That is success, folks.
It is a lie! I’m here to tell you is that when I started out in ministry, it says, get a college degree and you be successful. I got a college degree. And then I went and they said, no, no, no, you’ve got to go and you’ve got to get a master of divinity. I went and got a master of divinity and they said, oh no, that’s not success. Success is getting your doctorate. Then I go get my doctorate and I go pursue that and I get it. And then after I get the doctorate, they go, no, no, no, that’s not success. Success now is having a mega church and then never, never ends.
And listen to me, friends, the image that the world is putting up before you is nothing but a lie straight from hell itself. And I just want you to know that and you have to understand that.
And what happens is when you follow and you bow down to this image, then notice what takes place. It’s a word that we don’t use much. It’s the word “Idolatry”. Folks, when you are chasing the image of success, whatever success may look like for you, you are committing idolatry. And some of you have maybe never even heard that word. Don’t even know what the word means. The word means this. It means to worship anything other than God. It means worship anything other than God. I mean it means that you’re bowing down to the image.
And then what happens is the third step. And the third step in this is “Identity.” And because the image is your identity, you continue to reinforce the image, continue to practice idolatry, continue to live the identity. And lemme just say something to you, my friends, when it all comes crashing down and believe me, it will all come crashing down. This is a facade. This is shifting sand. This is not reality. This is what media is selling. You listen to me, my friends, this is a lie right here. And if you buy into that, you’re going down a path that’s going to leave you broken and shattered at some point.
Some of you’re going, well, that’s good, but is it really biblical? Yeah, it’s biblical. I want you to look with me at Luke chapter 18. We meet a young man who’s caught in the Identity Theft Cycle. I mean this young man is rich, he’s popular, he’s good looking, he’s committed to the image, he has everything going his way. I mean he has it all together. I mean, he’s building the image. He’s got skinny jean togas on. He’s got Gucci’s on his feet, right? He’s wealthy, he’s handsome, he’s on the cover of Mediterranean, GQ. He’s driving a Bentley chariot with all of the options on it. I mean he has everything going his way, but all of a sudden he noticed that something is empty on the inside of him, something is missing. And he goes to Jesus. And when he goes to Jesus, notice what he says in verse 18.
He says, “Good teacher. He says, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18)
He goes, what must I do? I mean, he’s a peak performer financially and religiously. I mean, he’s asking all the right questions, but he believes that he makes it to heaven on his good works. And can I be honest with you? Again, I’m not being judgmental. I’m just saying many of the people in this room, if I were to ask you how are you going to make it to heaven, many of you would say, well, I’m a good person. I do good deeds. I exhibit love to other people, friends, listen to me. We have a works mentality in how to get to heaven, but friends, listen to me. We do not make it to heaven by our works or our good deeds. We make it simply because of what Jesus did at the Bloodstained cross. It’s by his sacrifice, by his grace, by his love that we make it there.
This is the reason why Tim Keller said it this way, the late Tim Keller, he says, “The Christian identity is the only one that is received and not achieved.” (Tim Keller)
And many of us, we believe that we have to achieve salvation. It’s not achieved. It is only received by a gift from God. But look here at the next verse. So this young, rich, young ruler is working the whole image mentality. He’s got the whole thing going on. He gets to verse 20, and Jesus skips over the commandments that deals with the relationship with God and the relationship of honoring God. And he goes directly to the image management part of the 10 commandments. Notice what happens here is that Jesus says,
“You know the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder you shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. Honor your father and mother.” (Luke 18:20)
And the young man goes 4.0 baby, write it down. I’m the student of the week right here. And that’s what he’s thinking. But notice what happens in verse 21. He says it this way, all of these I’ve kept since I was a boy. He said, but look at Mark chapter 10, verse 21 and 22 mark’s account of the gospel. And Jesus brings it all back around and Jesus says… looked at him and loved him. The young man didn’t get it. I wonder what Jesus, when he looks at this congregation, when he looks at your heart and my heart wonder what his thoughts are, this young man didn’t get it. He says,
“One thing you lack, he said, go sell everything that you have and give it to the poor and you have treasures in heaven or treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me at this. The man’s face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth.” (Mark 10:21-22)
Now friends, listen to me. This is not about money. This is about surrender. This young man would not surrender his life to Jesus. You know why? It’s because he was surrendering his life to the false image that he was worshiping. See friends, listen to me. You can be poor as dirt and still be lost. This is about the heart and who has your heart and why do they have your heart? And so here’s a rich young ruler who was doing the image thing, doing the idolatry thing, doing the identity, and he was just running a race that would never ever end.
But I want to set you free this morning and I want to give you the Life-Giving Cycle. And the Life-Giving Cycle is what I call it. You can call it whatever you want. It doesn’t matter for me. Notice what is up at the top. What starts the Life-Giving Cycle is “Identity.” Say that with me, “Identity.”
Now, friends, listen to me. The first thing you do in your life is that you get to know God. You find out who God is and find out what he says about you is that you’ve got to get first things first. You got to have no other gods in your life, no other images except for him. And here’s the reality. Last week we looked at this reality that what God said about you, that you’re accepted, that you’re secure, that you’re significant. And I just want to remind you one last time in this sermon series, I want you to look at first John chapter three, verse one. And I want you to really pay attention.
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us…” (1 John 3:1a)
Listen to me, my friends, if you believe anything other than that, God is a God of love. You are worshiping a God I know nothing about. Because lemme tell you something, the God that I know, the God that I study in scripture, the God that I worship, the God that I bow down to is that he’s a God of love. And the only thing that he can ever give to you is nothing but his goodness. He cannot give you second things. He cannot give you leftover things. And if you are going around questioning the fact, if God loves you or if God has given you second best, then you don’t understand who God is. God lavish his love on us. How did he do that? He bankrupt heaven. What He said, his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross. And if he did not hold Jesus back, why would he hold back his love or his goodness for you and for me? Listen to me. Friends. God is a God of love and he lavish all of his wealth upon you and I.
Notice this, “That we should be called Children of God.” (1 John 3:1b)
That is your title, your primary title, your primary identity. Your primary identity is not the title that you hold at work. It’s not the title that you have as husband or wife or mom or dad or grandmother or grandfather. It’s not aunt or uncle. It’s not brother or sister. The primary title that you possess, that you are the beloved son or daughter of the Most High King. That is what we are. It says it right there. That is what we are. Folks. Your identity has to begin in God. If it’s in anything else, it is on shifting sand. It is on sinking sand.
Notice what happens When you understand that your identity is in God and God alone, then it moves to “Intimacy.” See folks, many of you are afraid of God. Many of you has kind of an arms length approach to God because you don’t believe God’s for you. But when you have your identity that you are the son and the daughter of the Most High King, then you’re willing to develop intimacy with God. You’re willing to get to know him. You’re willing to chase after him with your love and devotion and affection. Your heart is captured by his love for you. You start to feel his presence. You start to feel and hear the nudges of the Holy Spirit. You begin to experience the peace that passes all understanding. You’re filled with gratitude every single day of your life. And may I even suggest that there’s genuine transformation that will start taking place and maybe even healing in your heart.
Here’s how James, the half brother of Jesus says it in James chapter four, verse eight.
He says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8)
God wants to have intimacy with you. He wants to remind you that you are successful, that this world is not your home that you’re passing through. You’re just a pilgrim passing through. This is not your home. This is not your identity. Success is not your image. What he’s trying to say to you. You don’t become a person of influence? Become a person of influence with love and joy and peace and kindness and faithfulness and gentleness and long suffering, then you’re making a difference. But notice what happens when you go from identity to intimacy.
The third part of the life-giving cycle is that then the “Image” comes into play and you’re reflecting the image of God to a world that is watching and looking at you. It’s living a life of humility and purpose.
Now, I want you to understand that when I talk about this cycle, I’m not saying that we should be risk adverse. I not saying that we shouldn’t be competitive. I’m not saying that we pull back the throttle. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be passionate. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t go all in. I’m not talking about any of that. What I’m trying to help you to see is that we have to go all in on this and understand our identity, have intimacy with God, and then reflect the image of God to the loss and waiting world that’s looking at you and I and folks, because we do not buy into the Life-Giving Cycle because we’re hook line, sinker on the Identity Theft Cycle. Here’s what happens. We never buy into the verse. Then Ephesians chapter two, verse 10, we never buy into this. Listen to me, my friends…
“For we are God’s masterpiece…” (Ephesians 2:10a)
You don’t believe that your God’s masterpiece. And here’s the reason why you don’t believe that you’re his masterpiece is because you are dealing in the currency of image driven. You’re trying to keep your image alive, alive. You’re trying to be perfect. You’re trying to be successful. You’re trying to get rid of all the blemishes you’re trying to be Mr. or Mrs. Perfection.
And listen to me, my friends, is that that is a lie straight from hell. Because lemme tell you why I know that I dealt with that. I mean, I just say, God, why did you create me the way that you did? Why did you give me the voice that you gave me? Why did you give me the face that you gave me? Why did you give me all of the idiosyncrasies that I possess and I question and the divine sovereignty of God in my life? And as a result of that, I could never embrace that I was God’s masterpiece. But a couple years ago, God did a work in my life and he says, “Virgil, you’re wonderfully and fearfully created just exactly the way that I want you to be. I created you the way that you are so that you are my beloved son and I have no reservations in who you are.” And when I accepted that, my friends, it made all the difference. I’m God’s masterpiece. And yes, I cannot sing on note at all or on key. I cannot clap on beat. I have no ability to whatever whatsoever to dance. But let me tell you something, my friends, because I’m God’s masterpiece. That’s not going to keep me from shouting and praising and dancing and clapping on the front row down front because I know that my identity is in Christ Jesus.
“He has created us a new in Christ Jesus so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10b)
And friends, listen to me. God has created you just the way that you are. He’s placed you right where you’re at. See some of you, you can’t bloom where you’re planted because you’re trying to chase after the image driven society. But God has placed you right where you’re at, right with the talents and the gifts that you have so that you can flourish. And when you embrace that, then you push back the darkness in a region and you help people to live the all in life. And I want to introduce you to a gentleman named Charles Clark. I heard about Charles on a podcast and I did a little research and I found this clip of Charles Clark who lives in Uli, Texas. Watch this. If you don’t mind.
Video Interviewer:
Being a custodian here at Trinity High School in Euless, Texas isn’t exactly the most important job in America. But don’t tell that…
Charles Clark:
You all do that trash?
Video Interviewer:
To the custodian.
Charles Clark:
If I clean a toilet and you sit on that toilet, you can rest assured that’s the cleanest toilet you’ll ever sit on.
Video Interviewer:
I’ll take your word for that. Yeah! Charles Clark takes his job that seriously. But his greatest asset has nothing to do with his cleaning. It’s his counseling.
Charles Clark:
We can sit on this rock right here.
Video Interviewer:
Not long after he started at Trinity 25 years ago, Charles Clark began pulling kids aside.
Charles Clark:
Y’all anxious for it to find out who our new coach going to be.
Video Interviewer:
Kids he thought might be falling through the cracks.
Charles Clark:
I’m not asking you to be a Rhode Scholar
Video Interviewer:
Kids, he thought might need a little mentoring
Charles Clark:
before you get in trouble, you’re going to call me, right?
Video Interviewer:
Kids like 17-year-old Jesse UA
Speaker 4:
There. Mr. Clark’s been looking out for me ever since I’ve been here. I can tell Mr. Clark anything. I know he’s going to give me his honest opinion. He’s very wise, very loving.
Charles Clark:
I’m going to talk to you. They have never had a man. Tell them they love them before. Once they trust you and they know you love them, you can get them to buy into what you selling.
Video Interviewer:
What does the school counselor think of you?
Charles Clark:
Oh, they get most of my clients come from the counselors. Really.
Speaker 5:
That’s very true.
Video Interviewer:
Peggy McIntyre is a clinical counselor at Trinity with a master’s in social work. But she says Charles has a better way with certain kids.
Speaker 5:
He’s worked with a lot of our students here who ended up going to college, who ended up doing really well.
Video Interviewer:
So he gets results.
Speaker 5:
He gets results. He sure does. He sure does.
Charles Clark:
Now, you don’t want to wait until your senior year. By
Video Interviewer:
All accounts, this custodian has helped dozens of kids turn their lives around. Not because it was his job, but because it needed to be done
Charles Clark:
Proud of you as a young man.
Video Interviewer:
And there’s a lesson in there for anyone who feels trapped by their title.
Charles Clark:
Hey, now how you doing? You going to tell me I don’t have a good life. This custodial thing is working good for me.
Video Interviewer:
Steve Hartman on the road in Euless, Texas.
Charles Clark:
I got a great life.
You can have a great life if you stop chasing the image driven society, the image driven that society puts up. And just embrace your identity that you are a son or a daughter of the Most High King. And see friends. What I’ve discovered that when you embrace your identity as being the son of the Most High King, it leads to something. It leads to Second Corinthians chapter three, verse 17.
Paul says, “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)
Friends, I can have freedom because I’m not trying to climb a corporate success ladder. I’m not trying to pull the wool over your eyes. You get exactly what you see. I’m not trying to be somebody, I’m not, not trying to prove something to you. I’m not trying to hide anything from you. I’m not trying to protect myself to hide anything from you. When you know that your identity is in Christ, you can have freedom.
Here’s my personal belief. Dunno if it’s true or not, but this is my belief that we’ve begged and I’ve seen Carla beg… get on our knees to beg people, go to Life Group. And I’ve always wondered, why wouldn’t people go to Life Group? Why wouldn’t they be involved in a community of people? And here’s why I’ve come to the conclusion. They won’t go to Life Group because they’re trying to protect their image of success. If they go to Life Group, people are going to find out that they’re empty, that something’s missing in their life. They’re not perfection as they pretend to be on Sunday morning, people are going to find out that they have a past. But we all have a past, don’t we? They’re going to discover that I don’t have everything together. They’re going to discover that my marriage is not what it should be. My kids are struggling. And so instead of embracing community and embracing help from other Christians, we just forfeit all that because we want to keep the image alive and well.
And my challenge to you this morning is let go of the image, leave out of this service this morning, walk into the atrium, walk up the stairs, go to my people party lounge, and talk to someone about joining a life group. And so this morning, that’s my challenge. So Carla is going to come. She’s going to close this out with a couple announcements. Hopefully you’ll come back next week as we finish out the sermon series, “Live No Lie”.