Rick Warren - Succeeding in Your Mission—Part Two

Hey, everyone, Welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible teaching.

Ministry of Rick Warren.

And today we're continuing with this powerful series called the

Jesus Model. In this series, Rick will walk you step

by step through the process of true biblical discipleship. Rick's

giving you practical tools to grow spiritually, experience God's peace,

live with greater purpose, and become more like Jesus in

every area of your life. Well, I can't wait to

get started. So here is part two of a message

called Succeeding in your Mission.

Then number three third principle, he says, simplification. And this

is the principle on any mission, whether you're doing it

at work, at school, or an overseas. Keep it simple,

don't complicate it, keep it simple. This is the principle

of simplification. You see a lot of times. In sure,

you have to understand that some of the scriptures the

hardest understand, have the deepest truth in them, but you

have to understand the application. Bridge When you look at

a passage in scripture, you say, what did it mean

for them? That's the interpretation, Then the implication, what's the

timeless principle? That's the bridge, and then the application.

What does it mean to us? Now?

Now, notice the second thing Jesus says. He says, don't

take a traveler's bag or even an extra pair of

sandals when you go on your mission trip. He's sending

them out on short term mission. Don't take a traveler's

bag or even an extra pair of sandals.

Down.

What does he saying here, Well, he's not saying don't

take any luggage. He's not saying only the clothes on

your back. Here's the point you might write this down.

Travel light, travel light, don't overpack, don't take a lot

of extra stuff, don't take extra pairs of shoes, extra

you know, why does they say do this? Well, a

lot of luggage just slows you down. And on top

of that, it can be misplaced. Anybody ever had any

misplaced luggage in life? Yeah, I've left it in every continent.

He said.

You can slow you down, and it can be misplaced,

it can be stolen. But there's a deeper reason. It

says you don't want to show off wealth. You don't

want to show off wealth. You're not going out on

a fashion show. You're going out to serve the people

in need and you want to blend in. You don't

want to draw attention to yourself, and it would be insensitive.

For instance, if you took a whole bunch of pairs

of shoes that you're used to wearing different shoes every day,

and you go to a place where they don't even

wear shoes or they only have one pair for a person,

would that be insensitive. Yes, And so he's saying, just

make it, keep it simple. Don't take a lot of

extra clothes, don't take a lot of extra stuff.

Just keep it simple. Wear plain clothes.

When I travel around the world, I f be very

plain clothed, not the fashion plate that I am in

front of you. Oh you laugh, you laugh. The point,

here's the point that Jesus is making. Here's the timeless principle.

When it comes to your mission in life. It's how

you love, not how you look that matters. It's how

you love, not how you look. It's not your apparel.

It's your attitude. It's not your appearance. It's your attitude.

And it's your attitude that gets due to people. It's

the attitude of love. So he says, get a partner,

depend on God, and keep it simple. Now the fourth

thing that Jesus says is the principle of concentration, and

it's stay focused. Stay focused on your purpose. Remember what

you're going to do, he says. You know, Remember you're

not out there just for it's not for gospel tourism. Okay,

you're not on vacation. You're going to help the poor.

You're going to help the sick, You're going to help

share the good news. You're going to represent Christ. The

fourth thing Jesus says, because he says, don't stop to

greet anyone by the way, it's not great. It's greet

to greet anyone on the road.

And what does that mean?

Do you mean I am supposed to be rude to everybody? No,

I'm supposed to be discourteous. I'm to be impolite, I'm

to be uncivil to people. I shouldn't be friendly when

I'm on mission for God. No, No, he's not saying

that at all. In fact, the Bible says the exact opposite.

It says, show respect to everybody there. You must be

polite and respectful to everyone. But what he says when

he says don't stop to greet, you need to understand

that in the Middle East, particularly in New Testament days,

greeting could take hours, maybe even a day, and a

greeting meant long conversation, It meant a lot of rituals

that maybe meant some food. It could take hours of storytelling.

And if you greeted everybody you happened to come across

in Middle Eastern hospitality, you had to go to their

house and you would never get to where you were going.

That's what he's saying here. Here's the point. Write this down.

Don't be distracted when you're on mission for God. Don't

be distracted. Remember your mission as a service. Say you're

not on vacation, You're not a tourist.

It's not about you.

And so you want to make every moment count. You

want to have a sense of urgency. You don't loiter around,

You don't wait precious time. People are dying, people are needing,

people need your message.

You need to be purpose driven. Now.

The number one reason why people miss their mission in

life is they get distracted. They get distracted and they

get delayed and they start thinking themselves, well, I'm going

to serve God when this happens. After I get business

to a certain stage, after I get married, after I

get out of school, after I have kids, after the

kids leave home, after I retire, someday i'll and then

you never get to it, and your life is over.

Mission is not something you do later on in life,

after you've done everything you wanted to do. God's mission

for your life is what you do now during your life,

in the middle of life. And he says, don't get distracted,

don't get delayed. So let me ask you, what is

it that distracts you from the suffering all around you?

What is it that gets your attention so much that

your eyes can't see the people who are hurting in

your office, who are hurting next door to you where

you live, who are hurting at school, who are hurting

on at the bus stop, who are hurting in the

grocery store. What is it that causes you to get

distracted and not see that the whole world is hurting.

Jesus said, don't allow that to happen. Don't get distracted.

Number five, The principle of affirmation, and the principle of

affirmation is very important when you're on mission for God,

and that is begin with a blessing. I need to

explain this to you. You begin with a blessing. Now,

this is how you get effective in making a difference

with your life. You begin with a blessing. And the

next thing that Jesus tells his peace teams when he's

sending about he says, when you enter a house in

those days, there weren't any hotels or motels, plays like that.

When you enter a house, first say peace be to

this house. Was one of the reasons we call this

the peace plan. If a man of peace is there,

your peace will rest on him. If not, it will

return to you. Now what's he saying there the new

living translation, that's versus. When you enter a home, give

it a blessing. When you say peace be under this house,

that is a blessing. You go anywhere in the Arab world,

you hear people say a Salama lekum, which means peace

be under you. It means I'm blessing you with the

peace of God. And He's saying whenever you go and

you want to make a difference in some of these

life you don't start by telling them they're a sinner.

You start by blessing them. You start by affirming them.

You start by saying God's peace be upon you. Now,

what does he mean by this? Well, let's just take

this in a practical situation, because this applies not only

globally if you go overseas, it applies when you go

to work tomorrow, or when you go to a school,

or wherever you do it. He's saying to you first,

when you go into a new situation. Let's say you've

got a new job and you don't know anybody there,

and you're wondering, Lord, is there anybody here you could

use me in their life? Or you go to a

new school, you got a new class you, Lord, is

there anybody in here that you'd like for me to

minister to? You're gonna use me as your agent for

good in their life? Are you going your neighborhood? You

get in a new situation, he says, the first thing

you do is you look for a person of peace.

Now circle the phrase man of peace. If a man

of peace is there? Who is a man of peace? Well,

first play. He doesn't have to be a man. He

could be a woman. But a person of peace has

two things. They're receptive and they're respected. They're receptive to you,

they'll listen to you, and they're respected by other people.

They're open, and they're influential. You can find a man

of peace or a person of peace in every village.

You can find one in every office, in every business.

You can find one in every school. You can find

them in every government. You can find him in every neighborhood.

They're all around you. And he says, if you're going

to start a ministry or a mission, you start with

the most receptive person. Don't worry about the person who's

not interested. You start with a person who's receptive and

respected by other people. Find that person of peace. And

he said, that's where you begin. He said, well, how

do you find that person? He said, You offer a

blessing and you see how they respond. You offer a

blessing and you see other responders and say, well, how

do you do that? How do you give a blessing? Okay,

listen to me very closely, because you use us this week,

every day this next week. Here's how you bless people.

You do it the way Jesus did. And Jesus always

blessed people with a look, a word and a touch,

a look, a word and a touch, a look, a

word and a touch. He would give a look of understanding,

I understand what you're feeling. He would give a word

of encouragement, and then he would give a touch of affirmation,

a touch of friendliness, you know, a handshake, a pat

on the back, you know, a squeeze on the hand,

something like that. And that's how you bless other people.

Jesus did this with everybody. He'd give them a look

of understanding, I understand where you are. He would give

them a word of encouragement, and he would you know,

you're gonna make it. God is with you, and he

would give them an affirming touch, you know, pat on

the back. Why because everybody in the planet is starving

for three things. Everybody is starving for understanding. Everybody is

starving for encouragement, and everybody is starving for affection. And

when you give those three things to a little child

or a senior citizen or anybody in between, you are

fulfilling the mission of God. You are blessing other people.

You are blessing them the way Jesus would bless people.

You give them a look, a word, and a touch,

and he says, start with a blessing, and he says,

you go out, and you go into that new office

or you go into that new school classroom, or you

go into the new neighborhood, or you got and you

offer a blessing, and if the person responds to that,

you know they're a person of peace.

And you start with them. He said.

If they don't, they just turn it off. They shut

it down. He goes, don't worry about it. I'm still

gonna bless you anyway. It'll bounce back to you. Notice

what the verse said again, look there on your outline.

When you enter a house, say peace be to this house,

that's the blessing. And if a man is of peace

is there, your peace will rest on him. If not,

it will what return to you. You know what God's

saying there. He's saying. If you go out and you'd

be nice to people, and you give a look, a word,

and a touch and they don't respond to God says,

that's okay, I'm just going to bounce that blessing right

back to you. Because you cared about blessing somebody else,

I'm going to give you that blessing.

Isn't that cool? God?

So it doesn't really matter how they respond if you respond,

if you treat people the way Jesus would he said,

whether they respond and openness or not. He said, I'm

going to bounce that blessing right back to you. I

wonder who you could bless this week? Who do you

know in your life is going through a tough time.

They just had a rough they just lost their job,

or their parent just died, or they got a bad

help report, or their marriage is in trouble, or they

got a kid who's having difficulties, or on and on

and on.

They're all around you, They're all around you. Who could

I bless this week?

That leads us to the principle number six, which is

the principle of incarnation. And the principle of incarnation is

invest time to build a relationship. Invest the time to

build relationships. Now, what does the word incarnation mean. Incarnation

comes from the wordcarnate. Now, if you know Spanish, you

know what carne means. It's meat chili cone carnate, not

just plain old chili. It's got with the meat added in.

And in the Greek it's the same thing. Carne means flesh.

And the Bible, when we use the word incarnation, it's

what Jesus did. God became flesh, God, the spirit came

in a human body. That's called the incarnation. Jesus became flesh.

He became a human being with real skin and bones.

And Jesus said, that's the way you minister to people.

See. The thing I love about Jesus is.

That Jesus just didn't facts in his love. He came

in person. Okay, he came in person. And this is

what God wants us to do. Now, he says, here,

first incarnation, invest the time to build relationships. Notice to

the point here, he says, when you enter a town,

don't move around from home to home. Stay in one place.

And he says, settle down, stay in one place. Don't

go looking for better accommodations. This place doesn't have any

air conditioning. Don't be fickle, don't be hard to please,

Just stay in one place. Now, why does he say this, Well,

there's several good reasons. First, it's good for your character.

It's good for your character to not always have first

class stuff. It's good for your character because you learn contentment.

Paul said this, I've learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

I know what it is to be in need, and

I know what it is to have plenty he saying,

I know what it's like to stay in a five

star hotel, and I know what it's like to stay

in the roach motel. And you know, I can be

happy in either place. Okay, you know a military bunk

bed or you know a nice suite whatever he said,

I've learned to be content and everything. It's it's good

for your character. But there's a deeper reason when Jesus

says when you go into an area, stay in one place.

It's the only way you build relationships. It's how you

build relationships. And this is what we call the presence principle.

What is the presence principle is that in order for

you to make a difference in somebody's life, you got

to show up. And a lot of ministry and a

lot of missions is simply showing up. You don't have

to do anything spectacular. You just show up. You be there,

You get in their life. You can't help somebody unless

you're there with them.

You show up. You can't.

You know, it's so important. It's how you build relationships.

You see, you cannot win your enemies to Christ, you

can only win your friends. And the way you win

friends is by spending time with them. Let me say

it this way. You have to be with people in

order to win people. You can't do it long distance.

You can't do it distracted and disconnected. You've got to

be with people in order to win them. You got

to spend time with them. I've been to China many times.

In in Asia, they have the old saying that missions involves a.

Lot of tea drinking. And it's true.

You spend a lot of time just drinking tea, just sitting.

And why.

This is what Jesus did. When God wanted to tell

us that he loved us. He didn't send a letter.

He didn't send a Hallmark card. Actually he's like hallmart

and that he cared enough to send the very best.

He came himself.

And when God wanted to tell you that he loved you,

he simply showed up. He said, I'm coming to Earth.

I'm going to be there. I'm not faxing this in,

I'm not emailing you. I'm going to be there. The

Bible says this, the Word became flesh incarnay. The Word

became flesh incarnation and made his dwelling among us. And

we have seen his glory, the glory of the one

and only who came from the Father full of grace

and truth. And that's what we want to say, get

grace into Sometimes it was Christ's length. Thing you can

do for somebody in that office, somebody in your neighborhood,

somebody in your family, somebody at school is simply show up.

You know, when they're going through a tough time. You go, man,

I you know, I'm embarrassed. I don't know what to say.

They just had this terrible christis I don't know to say.

You don't say anything, Just show up, Sit in the

corner of the room and sit there. Just being present

with somebody in their pain reduces the pain it has

the pain. I've talked to people in Africa, in many

countries there who say, you know, when Americans come to Africa,

they always want to do something. Americans are such doers.

They always want to build something, They always want to

create something. They always want to fix something, They always

want to reorganize somethings that just show up. Being there

is the sacrament of presents. Chill out, relax, build a

relationship before you start working on activities. Now, that's true

whether you're going across the street or across the ocean.

Build the relationship, and you build.

A relationship between your heart and their heart, and Jesus

Christ can walk across. That's how you do your mission

in life. This relax, don't try to do everything. Just

showing up means your care, means your care. And what

we discover is when peace teams actually brought their kids,

they go you brought your kids.

That means you really care.

Actually, actually, you know, knocked it up a bunch. How

do you know when you're building a relationship, Well, globally,

I'll tell you this, when you get home, you still

remember their name. That's one of the ways they weren't

just a fathless person. You remember their names and you

learn to do that and you build that relationship. And

the peace plan that we do is built on what

we call the baton model. Is that when a team

goes in and then when they leave, they pass the

baton off to another team, and then a new team

goes in and they continue the relationship.

That was such an encouraging message from Pastor Rick. And

now to encourage us more, here's Rick with a letter

from one of our listeners.

You know, I really like to end these broadcasts by

reading some of the letters that come in from you,

they always encourage me, and I think when I read

and they encourage you. This one's from a woman named Joy.

She says, thank you so much, Pastor Rick for the

daily hope devotional messages that are emailed to me. They

helped me get through tough times. She said, I feel

like I didn't have the right to question God, but

I wondered why He was letting me experience all these things.

But now, through these devotionals, I look on what's happening

as a challenge for my betterment. And I may not

know all of God's reasons in this moment, but I

believe that God will not let me down, and instead,

I believe He'll guide me in the right path where

his help, his guidance, his forgiveness, and his blessings and

his prayers are always abundant. Thank you, signed Joy. Well,

thank you, Joy. I'm encouraged by your faith and I

know other people will be too who hear this letter.

You know, we can always trust that God's in control

even when we don't understand why things are happening. And

it blesses me when I hear people like you finding hope.

That's the whole purpose of this program. Thanks for listening

today and join me next time as we continue looking

in God's Word for our daily hope.

To sign up for ricks free daily devotional, go to

pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com. Be sure to

join us next time as we look into God's Word

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