sermonshorts

I have been in leadership for a little while now and there are two things that I have come to know that are essential.  They  are VISION and HEART.  There has been a lot of talk in leadership circles today about the centrality of vision and how important it is.  In fact, Marcus Buckingham says that the “One thing” a leader must do is create the future.  Without leadership there is no vision.  However, there is another stream that I have realized that must co-exist with vision and that is heart.  A leader can have a huge vision but unless he/she endears the hearts of those around them then their vision is only going to fail or worse yet succeed while ruining relationships.  A leader must work just as hard at leading with their heart and not just their mind and truly care for those God has placed around them.  If you continually engage people on their heart level they will work together with you for the vision God has given.

These two truths must co-exist together.  Without either you will be out of balance.  You can have a huge heart and love people but take them no where.  Or you can have a huge vision and only use people to accomplish it.  So lead FIRST with your heart and care for people at their level.  Then lead them into the future that you so clearly see as God has shown you.  The key is to contiue both of these processes as you walk into this future.  NEVER quit leading with your heart and with your ears.  Listen to people and love them deeply.  Then lead them into that future.  LOVE AND LEAD.

Here lately every time I am watching a sporting event where 2 teams are competing my son Jackson asks me “Dad, who are you going for?” Sometimes the answer is obvious because the Longhorns or the Cowboys are playing.  However, there are other times when I do not really care who wins and I am just watching for the enjoyment.  But still Jackson asks “Dad, who are you going for?”  I will tell him “I don’t really care who wins” but my answer is not good enough for him.  So he continues to ask and ask until I just pick a team and say ” I am going for the red one or the white one”.

Well, it just happened again and then it hit me.  This is exactly what Jesus asks us ALL the time.  He says in Matthew 12:30 ” “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.”  WOW.  Jesus puts it pretty plainly, you are either working with Him or you are opposing Him.  There is no middle ground or “Son, I am just watching the game.”  We are either actively working for His mission in the world or we are working against His mission.  You might say, well I am just trying to live a good life and be a good person but who is it for?  YOU.  This is one of the biggest mistakes I see in our churches today, people just trying to be good Christians but not really living on mission.  Where did we go wrong here?  Stop right now and listen for my son ask or even better the Holy Spirit, “Who are you going for?”

We have been doing a sermon series in element called “Don’t Waste Your Life”.  We got the title from a book that John Piper wrote and are talking about what we worship and treasure.  It is fitting then that I came across a tweet from Piper about the same subject that I had to share.  It is “My Paradise: With Christ. Not sinning. No pain. New earth. Precious in that order.”  Get it?  I can’t wait to get to heaven because there will be no more sin, no more pain and all things will be new.  However, more than ALL that Christ is my paradise.  If you could have all the other things in heaven and not Jesus would you still want it?  I would have to say no my friend, He is worth that much.  Is this your same order?

What is the chief end of mankind?  Insofar as what is the ultimate goal of being human or maybe better to ask why are we here and to what end are we striving?  There are a myriad of answers out there and no doubt religious and irreligious ones.  However, when you think about your answer what you think about man is not the key issue.  The key issue is what you think about God.  If you see yourself as the highest good then your answer will terminate on yourself because you become the chief end which ends when you end.  But if you see God as the highest good then your answer will not terminate on itself because there is no end to God.  My answer to the question lies in a quote from the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

“The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever”

I just found this one page synopsis of the difference between religion and the gospel by pastor Tim Keller.  He is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC and is one of my HEREOS in Christianity.  He has so profoundly impacted me and my theology that I have been forever changed and so has my preaching.  I love all the stuff he does and this one page PDF is a prime example of it.  Read it and let me know what you think.

religion-and-the-gospel