He Is Good | Five Defining Marks Of A Follower Of Jesus | Mark 6:7-13 | Coleton Segars

We are in a series titled He is Good, looking at the Gospel of Mark.

And we've been rolling through that for a while.

And we are finally in chapter 6 and making our way to chapter 16.

It's going to be a minute.

But today we are looking at a passage where Jesus is actually sending out the disciples.

And the reason we are titling it He is Good is because that's how Mark titles it.

He titles his gospel this, Jesus is good.

This is the beginning of the good things about Jesus.

And so we're just marching through this gospel of Mark.

And so today we're teaching on Mark 6, 7 through verses 13.

And this is what Mark writes.

It says, Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village and calling the twelve to him.

He began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

These were his instructions.

Take nothing for the journey except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money in your belts, wear sandals, but not an extra shirt.

Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.

And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place.

Shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.

And they went out and preached that people should repent, and they drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

This is the word of the Lord.

There are at Christmas time, they're normally like defining markers for Christmas and what Christmas like it means Christmas to me when I do this, watch this, smell this, buy this, whatever.

So for me, I need the smell of a Christmas tree, and my wife hates Christmas and will not allow us to have a real Christmas tree.

And so since we got married, I've been anti-Christian Christmas, apparently.

So we have we have a fake Christmas tree, but she has been kind enough to allow me to buy a candle that smells like a real Christmas tree.

And so that's what we have.

For her, even though it's not real, the defining marker of Christmas is the tree.

Fake as it is, it's the tree.

And the decorations and the whole thing.

And she actually does, if you've been to our house, it's beautiful.

It's a real, it's it's actually there have been arguments between her and Teddy.

Teddy wants to hang up ornaments, and she's like, it's in the wrong spot.

Like, and like she'll like let him set up everything, and then he goes to bed and she's like, okay, and starts like rearranging the whole thing.

It's gotta look her a certain way.

Uh for me, a movie that I have to watch every year is The Santa Claus with Tim Allen.

I love that movie.

And um I really love that one.

Uh another thing was like when presents are placed out on Christmas, uh, you need you need the presents that are wrapped from the family.

Actually, I'm gonna skip this one.

There are people in the room.

Um, but there's uh we got in a huge argument one time with how the presents are gonna be displayed.

And uh I didn't buy any of the presents for Teddy that year, she did, and then I had a lot of thoughts on where they should go and how they should be set out, which did not go well on Christmas Eve at 11 p.m.

Um But there's just things, right?

Like there's things when you when you go about Christmas and you have your own, like this means Christmas to you, this is a defining marker of Christmas.

And the reason I bring that up is one, I love those things and I love those traditions.

But two, this text, in this text, uh, what this passage is revealing are defining markers of what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus.

So if you've ever wondered, or you've been like a Christian forever, you're like, I've just grown up as a Christian, what is this supposed to be about?

Or maybe you're not a Christian and you're like, I have no idea if I believe any of this stuff.

Honestly, the people I've experienced are the worst Christians I've ever met in my whole life.

Maybe you'll see something in this text, be like, oh, if they were like that, that would actually be good.

But I want us to look at this text because there are five defining things, five defining markers of what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus.

I want to look at those things and then see how those things take shape in our lives.

But uh, I'll just give them to you real fast.

One and then we'll roll through them.

But one of them is there's an understanding, a follower of Jesus has an understanding of what it actually means to be a Christian or means to be a follower of Jesus.

Uh they look, number two, they look and act like Jesus.

Number three, they have a compelling message.

And number four, they bring the qualities of the kingdom of Jesus wherever they go.

The qualities of Jesus and his kingdom, they bring those things in.

And then number five, they are and they will be, a follower of Jesus will be received and rejected.

If you're doing it right, you're being received and you're being rejected a bit.

So uh all five of these, you see them in the text.

This is the first one.

The first defining marker of a follower of Jesus is just an understanding of what it actually means to be a follower of Jesus.

There's a pattern that you uh, this text is the third part in the pattern, but there's a pattern that Jesus uses when he calls people to follow him.

So in Mark 3, Jesus calls disciples to him, and he calls these twelve to him, and this is what it says in Mark 3.

It says Jesus went up on the mountainside and called to him those he wanted, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast or drive to drive out demons.

And so you see that he called them to be with him, that he might send them out, but he doesn't send them out yet.

He doesn't do that just yet in Mark 3.

And then in verse uh in chapter 1, uh Jesus does the exact same thing.

Mark 1, 17 says, Come, he's calling the disciples, come follow me, be with me.

Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people.

So I want you to come and be with me, and then I will send you out.

I want you to come and be with me, and I'll send you out.

Uh John Mark Comer, on this fish for people idea being sent out, says this.

He says that when Jesus called the disciples to follow me and I will make you become fishers of men, this wasn't a cheesy preacher pun, nor was it a call to snatch people from the precipice of hell.

In the first century, fishers of men was a title of respect for great rabbis, because the best teachers had the power to capture the minds and imaginations of their listeners.

Jesus was saying, Follow me, and I will teach you to do what I do.

Follow me, be with me, so that I can send you out into the world to be like me out into the world.

So, what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?

Jesus would say, When I call people, I'm calling them to be with me so that they become like me, and I can send them out into the world.

This is not a, I'm not calling you to me so that I can change your behavior and make you good.

You're bad, and now follow Jesus and you'll be good.

He's not about behavior modification.

It's not about follow me so that you avoid the pits of hell.

That's not his story, that's not what he's saying.

I'm not saying that all that stuff won't take shape in our lives at some point, but his goal is I want people to come to me so that they can be with me and experience my life, so that they become like me in my life, and then ultimately I'm able to send them out into the world to do what I do in the world.

That is his desire, that is his goal every single time.

Be with me.

Just spend time with me, abide with me.

From the beginning of the scriptures, you see that God wants to spend time with his people.

And then we reject that, and then he spends the rest of the story of writing the scriptures of God pursuing us to spend time with us and to be with us again.

And then finally, in the book of Revelation, as it ends, it's like, look, behold, God finally happened.

God can dwell with his people.

It's finally happening.

And so at the beginning of it, like what Jesus wants more than anything, he just is obsessed with us.

He loves us, he likes to be around us, he likes to waste time with us, he just wants to be with us.

And the point of that is not just to be with him, but so that we take on his qualities.

You become like the people you spend the most of your time with.

It's the proximity principle, it's all these different things.

You just take the qualities and you those those things take shape in you.

And so he wants his disciples not to, thanks for you, you want to follow me?

Great, now go and do what I say.

It's not that.

It's like, stay with me.

It's probably two years that they spent time with Jesus before he ever sends them out.

He's like, I want you to watch how I teach.

I want you to watch how I treat people.

I want you to watch how when they reject me, how I respond.

I want you to watch how when they argue with me, how I respond.

When they're mean to me, I want I want to I want you to watch me and how I respond to them with goodness instead of evil for evil.

I want you to spend time with me so that your reactions become my reactions and that my reactions become your reactions.

And then he ultimately he wants to send them out to then do what he does.

This is what it means to be a Christian.

It's not a title of like just religious people.

I think it actually is that many times now, but it was never supposed to be that.

Comer again in his book, he says the word Christian literally means little Christ, which is beautiful.

It was originally used to mock followers of the way, but over time our spiritual ancestors embraced the slur and used it to self-identify as those devoted to imitating Christ.

I love that idea.

Like there's yes, we are little Christ.

We look like him, we sound like him, we talk like him, we we uh act like him, we react like him, we eat like him.

I mean, every single thing.

We've spent so much time with him, and now we just do what he does in the world.

The way that he was is the way that we are, and that's what we do.

So following Jesus or being a Christian was always supposed to be be with him so that you become like him, you experience his life, and then you take that life that you're experienced, you're able to pour that out into the world.

That was always the idea.

Being a Christian was never about be good, stop doing that, start doing this, be good.

It was never about that, never about acting better.

If you think that Christianity is about being a good person, what you'll do is you'll spend all of your time focusing on yourself, trying to be good.

All of your decisions and time will be focused on I just need to not sin, need to not sin, gotta make sure I don't sin.

And then every question is like, can I listen to this music?

Can I wear that hat?

Can I hang out with that person?

Can I watch that movie?

Can I see wicked?

Like it's like all these different things into this space where it's like, is God, or is he mad at me?

If I do this, will he be mad at me?

If I am I being good enough, am I being good enough?

It's like, what a terrible way to live.

It's a horrible way to live.

But that's how people think.

It's like, I gotta be a Christian, better start being good.

And then what happens is you're terrible at being good, because we all are, unless you think that you're better, then you're bad.

Um, but we're terrible at it, and what normally happens is like people give up on Christianity, or they give up on the church, they give up on whatever.

And they're like, I'm just no good at being good.

I'm just bad at this.

You know what I'm really good at?

Hedonism.

I really love doing whatever I want.

Really good at that.

I'm just giving in to all of my desires and all my natural instincts.

I'm really good at that.

It's very difficult to be good.

And it's like, he never called you to be good.

It's like, I want you to be with me.

I want you to spend time with me, I want you to become like me.

Things will shift and change in your character and your nature, but it won't be because you're willing it and working really hard not to sin.

It's not about trying to be good.

If you are good at being good, if you're like type A driven, like they are terrible and you're the best, if you are good at it, what it will lead you to is to become self-righteous.

You'll look down on other people, you're superior to them because you're better, stronger, you can do it, why can't they hack it?

So then you become a judgmental Christian, which all of us have probably experienced at some point in our journey with Christians, and they're the worst.

And if you're like, I've never experienced that, you're the judgmental Christian.

But in that way, like you think, I'm all I'm I'm loved.

God loves me because I'm crushing it.

God loves me because I'm doing it.

And it's like, no, God loves you because he was crushed.

Jesus was crushed, not because you're so good at being good.

So if you think it's all about those things, you end up living this life that's like, this is anti-living.

This is trying not to do something versus actually leaning into something.

If you think uh being a Christian is about avoiding hell, then the only reason that you're following Jesus isn't because you love him or the beauty of Jesus or the claims of Jesus.

The only reason to follow Jesus if you think it's about avoiding hell is I just don't want to go to the hot place.

Like I just don't want to go there.

Which is similar to saying, like, why'd you marry Rainey?

It's like, I just didn't want to be single anymore.

It's like, cool, a lot of love there.

That's great.

I bet she loves that, loves the Valentine card.

Thanks for being someone.

That's it.

Thanks for not saying no.

Um but if you think that it's about avoiding hell, you'll constantly be worried, am I committing the unpardonable sin?

Have I sinned, I've sinned so much in this same way.

Can he still forgive me?

Or is there a limit?

Did I finally like it's 101, and then all of a sudden, now, sorry, I had you at 100, and then now now you gotta go to hell.

Sorry.

Like if that's how you think Christianity is, it's about avoiding hell, then you're constantly having that as the driving factor and motivator for why you want anything to do with Jesus.

If you think this, your message primarily for why people should follow Jesus is not all the good things about Jesus and what you want to do in your life.

It's like you don't want to burn, do you?

Like that becomes the good news, which is just terrible news.

That's not good news.

And so there's this space where it's like if you think it's about being good or about avoiding hell, or if you think it's about going to church, you'll begin seeing church's duty.

I just need to be a good person, gotta go to church, gotta check that off my list, and you'll go to church.

And when you don't do, you don't go to church, then you'll feel bad about not going to church.

And it's like, man, it was never about all of this is gift.

All of this is supposed to be like you get to come and be with people that you can be so open with.

You can even share your sins with them and they won't condemn you.

You can be known completely in this space and have a family that cares for you and belongs to you, and will shoulder the burdens that you have.

If you only think Christianity is about going to church, then it's like all I have to do is walk through the door, sit through a lame, boring sermon by a bald dude, and then I can bail.

Like, and then it's like that's all it's about.

And it's like, man, you're gonna miss out.

He has implanted gifts in you that can take shape in the life of the church that you would see and find new purpose and meaning in this space.

And so there's this thing where it's like, don't think it's about any of that stuff.

And a follower of Jesus is supposed to be defined by understanding what is it that you do?

It's like, oh, I sp I I'm with him.

He died so I could be with him, so I want to be with him.

And he's he rose again so that I could actually engage with him, I can be with him, and then I become like him, and then ultimately I'm able to move into the world doing what he does.

And as we become like him, my fears have been replaced by his peace because I'm becoming like him.

He doesn't have fear, he has peace.

My anger is replaced by his compassion, my impatience is replaced by his patience, working on that one, my hate replaced by his love.

That's what happens.

You spend time with him, and his qualities break into your story and into your life, and then that takes shape in your life.

What's it about?

It's about being with him so that you take your life is filled with the fullness of him, and then you're moving out into the world into the people who need fullness and going, I got some fullness for you because it's been poured into me, I can pour it out into you.

That's what it's about.

All right.

That's number one.

That's the first defining marker.

The second defining marker is that a follower of Jesus looks and acts like Jesus.

Looks and acts like Jesus.

This is what verses 8 through 11 are referencing.

This is what he's telling them to do.

These were his instructions.

Take nothing for the journey except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.

Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.

Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.

And if any place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.

Their lives, the disciples, their lives as they interact with people, are meant to be a living representation of Jesus Himself.

Jesus has been teaching in these towns.

And so now he's sending them back out into these towns and going, be like me.

When they engage with you, when they interact with you, I want them to be like, wait, you sound and talk and act very similar to that guy that was just here with the hair and the beard.

Like you look, you look very similar to him, which maybe they all had hair and beards, but like there was this space where like they were supposed to represent him really well.

And so the qualities that they were supposed to, they were supposed to look ordinary, don't take anything special, just look ordinary.

It was Isaiah said that Jesus had no beauty or majesty to attract us to himself.

And so what he's telling the disciples is like, don't take extra stuff, tons of money, don't do it, just look like an ordinary person out in the world.

I look ordinary.

That's why people reject me most of the time.

But like, I look ordinary, and I want you to look ordinary as well.

You're carrying a beautiful message, but you don't, the message is beautiful.

You don't have to beauty it up, and you don't have to look more important in order to do it.

So he's telling them, look ordinary.

No money bag.

He's like, don't all these people who walk around and pedal a message in order to get something in return, that's not us.

We don't pedal the gospel in order to get money.

We're not trying to get like, hey, if you help me, I'll help you, kind of thing.

It's not that.

He's like, don't take a money bag.

We're not asking money from people.

We're trying to give something, not get something.

No bread, no extra money, no extra shirt.

And what he's saying is like, don't be worried about the cares of the world.

Trust that my father will care for you.

What you're gonna do is you're gonna give a witness to the world that, like, why don't you have extra bread?

You're going on a long journey, why don't you do that?

It's like, oh, I actually live with the confidence that God's gonna protect me.

And it's not a judgment on them, it's like this is available to anybody who wants him because he's a good father who cares for his kids.

And so it's this thing out in the world that you're presenting, like, I'm not burdened by the cares of the world.

I don't share their fears, I don't share their anxieties, I don't share their worries.

And that's why the message can be powerful, because it's like you don't even carry the same stuff.

You don't even, you're not even worried about the same stuff as me.

It's like, why?

It's like, let me tell you a good message, let me tell you about somebody I know.

And so it turns into this space where it's like that that witnesses to the world, and it's like, why aren't you worried about politics?

Why aren't you worried about Caesar?

It's like, honestly, Jesus didn't tell me to worry about Caesar, and so I don't have to.

So don't worry about the cares in the world, you trust in God.

Stay at one house.

Uh this is this is just a way of honoring the host.

It was very possible that as you got ground in a space and you go to one house, they they put you up for the night, people and take in your message, and then the rich people in town are like, oh, you're staying at that house, don't stay there.

Come to my house, it's much better.

And it'd be easy to be like, okay, cool, because I'll sleep on the floor.

But Jesus is going, no, that would dishonor the people that hosted you the first time.

Don't dishonor people.

Stay there among them.

It doesn't matter your accommodations.

Don't, you're not, you're not trying to build accommodations to where like now you're staying in a mansion.

You're not trying to do that.

Just show honor to the people who have been hospitable to you, be honorable towards them.

If you're rejected, and this is the best one, if you're rejected, he's like, if they don't want you, just leave.

Don't, he doesn't say, if you're rejected, yell at them, start an online coalition, boycott them, like make sure you find some people and tell them they're gonna burn in hell.

Like it just, he's like, they don't want you.

Walk away.

Like it's fine.

You've done what I've asked you to do.

You went and brought the message, they don't want it.

Don't stay there and make it worse for them and for you by trying to argue with them.

The message of the gospel is not trying to win an argument.

We're not trying to win something about people, we're trying to tell them about something that's awesome.

If they don't want it, walk away from them.

Allow them to actually, when Jesus was uh casting out the the demons in the garrisons with the demoniac, they're like, they're terrified of Jesus, and they're like, we want you to leave.

What does he do?

He's like, cool.

No judgment, no condemnation.

You don't want me here, you're terrified of me.

My presence here is gonna do more damage than good.

Let me give you what you want.

And so he does that with his family at his hometown.

They take offense at him.

We looked at this last week, and he just he's like, Okay, I'll go.

And so don't stand there and fight them and tell them, like, well, y'all are stupid anyways.

We don't want to come here.

Like, don't do that.

And so they don't do that.

They don't fight, they're not trying to win an argument, but the whole thing, Jesus wanted them to act like, to look like, to represent his life and to represent him so that when they saw them, they'd be reminded of Jesus.

And to me, as Christians, we don't place enough value on this.

It's so important.

Jesus gives instructions, and you know what he never mentions?

What they have to say.

He never mentions their message.

Hey, make sure you say he doesn't talk about that.

He's like, I just need you to represent me out in the world.

Don't be a jerk to people.

Like, I care a lot about how they see you.

I don't mind your theology as much as I mind your theopraxis, your theology in practice.

That's what I care about.

How are you going to treat the people around you?

And like, that's what I want you to look at and all those different things.

Make sure you represent me.

Honor people the way that I do.

And to me, this is what the world is aching for right now.

Christians who actually look like, sound like, react like, talk like Jesus.

That's what's lacking many times in the church.

Following Jesus is supposed to be this space, and followers of Jesus is supposed to be the space where like people are reminded of him because they're seeing me and the people who claim to be following him.

Jesus wants our lives to remind people of what he's like.

So he wants us to, just based on a just a perusal of the gospels, he wants us to sit with people.

I think I have this on a slide.

He wants us to sit with people who disagree with us without lashing out at them and calling them idiots because they don't agree with you.

He wants us to forgive people who have done you wrong and don't deserve your forgiveness.

He wants us to take notice of those that everyone else tries to avoid and include them.

He wants us to love and befriend people that others would say we should not love them, we should not befriend them, and we should do that even if it hurts our reputation.

Jesus wants us to not condemn people over their sin, but also to encourage them not to sin anymore, like he did the woman caught in adultery.

I do not condemn you, but also this sin that you're doing is hurting you.

Don't do that anymore.

No condemnation, just truth trying to lead you into health.

He wants us to look for the hurting and the brokenhearted and draw near to them.

He wants us to stand up and defend those who don't have a voice and cannot defend themselves.

He wants us to be willing to have our plans interrupted by those who are in need, to not insult those who insult you, but instead pray for them and do good to them.

He wants us to be filled with joy and peace instead of fear and worry about the world.

Again, he doesn't care as much about your theology or your message.

He cares a ton about how you represent him.

He wants to be seen among people through your life so that people are able to encounter and experience him instead of just us.

We are good, and there's something in us that's healthy for to be seen, and Jesus doesn't make us into a robot or anything, but more than anything, he's like, I need them to be able to see me and have evidence of what I'm actually like through you.

That's what I want.

Because when they encounter my presence, that will do far more in their lives than any message you're gonna say.

And if they don't know how much I love them and how much I care for them, they're not gonna care a ton about your message.

If your message comes through all angels, And judgmental, like it's just not gonna do anything, and we know that, we've seen that.

And so we care the tongue that we evidence him to the people that we're around, and that's why a follower of Jesus looks like him, evidences him, represents him well.

Third, third defining marker of a follower of Jesus is that they have a compelling message.

A compelling message.

This is verse 12, it says, The disciples went out and they preached that people should repent.

Now, that may not sound like a compelling message because many people see repentance as if, like, you know, tell people they're gonna, if they keep doing what they're doing, they're gonna burn, turn or burn kind of thing.

That's not what repentance is.

That's not what a message of repentance is.

A message of repentance is a compelling message.

Repentance means it's the Greek word metanoia, it's a compound word meaning to change one's mind.

And so if you think about it, you only ask someone to change their mind if you know that you have something compelling to offer them.

I'm asking you to change your mind because I have something better for you.

Something better is available to you.

A message of repentance is a compelling message, it should be at least.

It's been pivoted into something of like we just yell at people and condemn them.

It was never supposed to be that.

It was supposed to be like, I have something great for you, you should do this instead.

Change your mind.

And we do this all the time.

People, you know, you you've only eaten Marco's pizza and you think that's the best pizza?

No, no, no, I got good news for you.

You've got to go to Memphis Pizza Cafe.

Like, it's so much no offense to Marcos if you work there or whatever.

Uh but like you gotta try better food.

You've only had that wine?

Ooh, let me tell you, there's some actually real good wine out there that you could try.

Not me.

I'm I'm poor, I don't have good wine, but you guys do, and you can share it with me.

To kids in time out.

That was, I don't know, that's not in my notes.

I just need to stick with my notes.

Um to a kid, to a kid in time out, I have good news for you.

All you have to do is say you're sorry, and you can go back to playing.

Repent.

But it's not rude or angry, maybe, I mean, maybe, you know, depending on how you parent, but like it's just it's just asking them to change their mind.

You're it you're you're in this place, you don't have to be here anymore.

There's outside, it's available to you.

Like, but all you gotta do is say that you're sorry, and you can move out in this space.

A counselor will say, You think your relationship's over, you think you're stuck in this.

I have good news for you.

I can help you.

I can move your relationship, I can move your mental health into a space that's far better than what you think that it is.

A trainer would say, You're not, you think you're stuck with like this is what I'm like, Hannah.

You think you're stuck in this space and it's always gonna be the same.

I have good news for you.

Let's work together.

I can we can move you to goals that you actually have.

You're not stuck in this spot.

I have good news for you.

Repentance was always supposed to be if you're a Tennessee fan, I have good news for you.

There's an SEC team that wins in the playoffs, folks.

It's called Georgia.

You can join us, we're taking fans.

So sorry about that.

That was just had to.

If you don't know, I grew up in Georgia and I'm a big fan.

So but there's this space, like repentance was supposed to be that.

Like it was supposed to be this thing where not where you're standing on the street corner with a sign like and fire coming from the thing.

Not supposed to be that.

It was supposed to be this thing, it's like they walk into this space, they're like, hey, I have incredible news for you.

I have something so great for you that maybe you've never heard before.

And it was this compelling message that they contributed to the world that people started turning to because they're like, that sounds a lot better than what I'm currently doing.

And that's what repentance is.

It's a compelling message.

We call people to repent all the time, but when we do it, we normally only do it if we know we have something better.

Dallas Willard has this very long quote, but I've used it before, but it's just wonderful at describing what repentance was supposed to be like and what they would have heard in their time.

But he says this He says, As a child, I lived in an area of southern Missouri where electricity was only available in the form of lightning.

But in my senior year of high school, the REA extended power lines into the area where we lived, and electrical power became available to households and farms.

When those lines came by our farm, a very different way of living presented itself.

Our relationships to fundamental aspects of life, daylight and dark, hot and cold, clean and dirty, work and leisure, preparing food and preserving it, could then vastly be changed for the better.

But we still had to believe in the electricity and its arrangements and understand them, and then take the practical steps involved in relying on them.

You may think the comparison rather crude, but it will help you to understand Jesus' basic message.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

If we pause to reflect on those farmers who, in effect, heard the same message, repent, for the kingdom of electricity is at hand.

Turn from your kerosene lamps and lanterns, your ice boxes and cellars, your scrub boards and rug beaters, your woman-powered sewing machines and your radios with dry cell batteries.

The power that can make your life far better is right near you where you can utilize it.

And that's the idea.

Repent.

Change your mind.

There's something better that exists now.

Something better is available to you now.

And to me, if you don't have a compelling message of Jesus, if your message of Jesus isn't compelling, then you have no message.

You have nothing to share with the world.

And I would encourage you, please don't share anything with the world.

If you have nothing compelling to say, if your only compelling message is you don't have to go to hell when you die, I would just encourage you, there's greater things, and I'd pause on that one until you have a better one that serves your life here and now.

Because you're talking about something you haven't even experienced yet, and you can experience Jesus in your life now in a compelling way, and then you can share that story.

And to me, that's the way it's supposed to be.

You actually see that in the Gospels.

You see that all the time.

Followers of Jesus are meant to have a compelling message, and the people who have the most compelling messages of Jesus, the people who have a compelling message are the people who've experienced Jesus being compelling.

They have a compelling message because they've been compelled by Jesus.

And so, for instance, the woman at the well, her message is come and see the man who knows everything about me and doesn't judge me.

He has not condemned me.

I'm a Samaritan and he talked to me.

Come and see the kindest man I ever met, is basically what she's saying.

Why is she sharing that message?

It's like, because she found him to be kind and compelling.

And so she starts announcing to the world, not, I think hell's out there.

She doesn't even mention that.

She's like, there's a kind man I want you to come and meet.

He's compelling, and I think he can compel you as well.

We talked about this a couple weeks ago, but the woman with the issue of blood.

She was like, Come and see, I mean, basically, come and see the man.

I just touched the hem of his robe.

What would her message be?

Come and see the man who healed my body.

He did what doctors couldn't do.

The demoniac, come and see the man that didn't chain me and try and hold me down, but he was strong enough to actually not just subdue me, he was strong enough to set me free.

Everybody in my life cast me out and away and chained me up in tombs to die and live there forever.

And this man came and sought me and found me, and he had mercy on me.

And so all of a sudden he experiences Jesus doing this compelling thing in his life, and that is his message out into the world and to the people that he knows.

The thief on the cross next to Jesus.

Even though I was being rightly punished for my sin, Jesus had mercy on me.

Jesus forgave me.

Jesus gave me the assurance that I would be with him in paradise today.

As soon as this thing clicks into the next gear when all of a sudden I die and pass over into the next life, I don't have to sit there and be worried about my sin.

I actually can move into this space with Jesus.

And like, he just experienced something compelling.

And so for followers of Jesus who have compelling experiences with Jesus, they have a compelling message to share.

And that's the way it's supposed to be.

I can share a compelling message about what Jesus can do in your marriage because I've experienced him heal mine.

I can share with you about what God can do through prayer because he has done amazing things in my son's life in prayer and through prayer.

Like I have these stories and these interactions with Jesus where he does a compelling thing, and that becomes the message I'm able to actually communicate out into the world.

We are supposed to be shaped by and be formed by a message that is I've experienced him be compelling, and now I feel confident to share something and offer something to the world.

If you don't have that, it's available to you.

But it's in this relationship with Jesus where you actually experience him in real time and then able to say that.

For too long, the message has been if you don't want to burn in hell, follow Jesus.

And I just think there's better news, y'all.

I just think there's better news.

Here's uh the message of Jesus being compelling.

This is the this is part of it at least.

Out of love for you, Jesus left heaven to come and rescue you from things that were holding you captive, stealing your life, and keeping you from him.

He came to crush our sin by being crushed on the cross so that sin would no longer have a grip on you.

And now in life, with him, you can experience who you were meant to be, who he made you to be.

He will defend you, fight for you, help you, guide you, comfort you, care for you, not judge you, not condemn you, not punish you when you sin, because all the judgment and punishment fell on him on the cross once and for all.

He took it to save us from it.

Now, he invites us to follow him regardless of who you are and what you've done, and he promises to lead us into an abundance of life here and now, and then ultimately forever.

It's a compelling message, and it will be rejected.

People won't believe it and they won't like it, and that's fine.

And I'm not trying to convince them in a space where I'm like trying to argue with him.

I'm just saying I've experienced this compelling message, and it's real and it's true, and we need to have one.

A follower of Jesus is supposed to have this compelling experience with him that then compels us to go like, I got something better than Marco's pizza, y'all.

I like I just have something available to you, and that's the what how we're supposed to be shaped by those things.

A compelling message.

That's the third thing.

Followers of Jesus have a compelling message, and if you want one, you have to experience Jesus as compelling.

I think that's the offer to us.

Number four, they bring the qualities of the kingdom of Jesus wherever they go.

A follower of Jesus brings the qualities of the kingdom of Jesus.

So for the disciples here in verse 13, you see them bringing the qualities of Jesus' kingdom.

He's crushing evil, he's driving out the brokenness of the fall and like all the disease and all that stuff.

They're carrying qualities of what Jesus' kingdom and what he's like into the world.

They're driving out demons and healing the sick.

For us, maybe you've never driven out demons or healed the sick.

That's okay.

Those are only two qualities of the kingdom of Jesus, okay?

There's a lot of different things that represent his kingdom.

And James talks about those things that the wisdom of God is all these wonderful things versus the wisdom of the world.

But you may never cast out demons or heal anyone.

Maybe you will if you do.

I want to be there for one of those, not the other one.

Be kind of scared.

But it's broader than these two things.

We should carry the qualities of the kingdom of Jesus.

John Ortberg says this is what it looks like.

Every time a Christian is in conflict with someone, when you want to hurt them, gossip about them, avoid them, but instead you go to them and seek reconciliation and forgiveness, the kingdom of God is breaking into the world.

I actually had that happen this week.

Heard a story of this wonderful thing happening in the life of our church, of someone reaching out instead of holding on to something, actually reaching out and trying to have this conversation and make sense of it and seeking to reconcile and to be made brought back to unity and stuff.

It's like, man, the kingdom of God just broke out among us in our church.

And it will go unseen.

No one will notice it, but like all of a sudden, and in my life and thinking about this church, like a pocket of the kingdom of God just broke out.

It's a beautiful thing.

Every time you have a chunk of money and you decide to give sacrificially to someone who is hungry or homeless or poor, the kingdom of God is breaking into the world.

Every time somebody who's been who has an addiction wants to partner with God so badly that they're willing to stop hiding, acknowledge the truth, and get help from a loving community, the kingdom of God is breaking into the world.

Every time a workaholic parent decides to stop idolizing their job and rearranges their life to begin to love and care for the children entrusted to them, the kingdom of God is breaking into the world.

And you could just go on and on and on, and I did.

Every time you forgive instead of holding on to a grudge, you usher in a quality of the kingdom of God.

Every time you repay meanness or anger with kindness, you usher in the kingdom of God.

Every time you show gratitude instead of acting entitled, every time you're patient with others instead of acting impatient, gentle instead of acting harsh, gracious instead of acting judgmental.

Every time you honor others as better than yourself instead of seeking credit for yourself, you usher in the kingdom of God.

Every time you're generous instead of greedy, every time you serve instead of seeking to be served, you usher in to the world and to maybe just one single person or one single place, but you usher in, what is the kingdom of God like?

What is Jesus like?

You usher that into the world for it to be seen.

And it may be confusing, but at the end of the day, it's going to be compelling, it's going to be beautiful.

Because people are like, man, people don't.

If this happened at restaurants on Sundays, like, and like all of a sudden, like we want the ones who pray, that's what the waitresses and waiters were saying at Huey's, like, it's like we want because they're so generous and they're so kind and we got their food wrong and they didn't, you know, cuss me or dog cuss me.

Like they were so nice.

Like that would, if the kingdom of God could break out in a restaurant, I think it'd change the world.

But like it's this space where all of a sudden you have this thing which you're able to move into any space and be just like, just bring the kingdom qualities with you.

As they've taken shape in you, if he's been gracious to you, be gracious, and you're able to offer that thing.

This should be a defining marker of every follower of Jesus, just carrying the qualities of the kingdom of Jesus with us.

John Tyson, I've read this quote before, but it's the end of the year.

I'm recycling some of these things, but it's a really good quote.

But he talks about the early church and like that this is how they were originally defined, and the difference in krestos, which is the kind ones, and kristos, which was which means Christ.

And he says this is how the church used to, they used to be confused about it.

This is what he says.

We know from the early church fathers that people were often confused about what these strange followers of Jesus were called.

Because the Greek word for Christ, Christos, is so similar to the word crestos, which means kind, apparently many people, mistakenly, but perhaps fittingly, called Jesus' earliest followers, not Christian, but the kind ones.

And that's what I want.

And I think followers of Jesus are supposed to be that type of confusing.

Not, I don't know what their message is, about to the shirt, like, but like this kind of like I don't know, there's they're so kind.

Are they the kind ones or are they the Christians?

And if and I know that's not currently the world that we live in, but it should be.

It should be exactly that way.

We're supposed to carry these things out into the world.

We're the kingdom bringers, the kingdom bearers.

We don't just carry news, we carry an experience.

And we're able to bring that into the world.

And every time we act in the way that Jesus acted, we bring the kingdom to bear on the world, and we allow people to see something that's available to them that may be more compelling than any message that we ever preach.

That's number four.

They bring the qualities of the kingdom.

Number five, sorry, this is this is a five-point sermon.

I'm really sorry about that.

Normally it's only three.

Um, I was feeling lucky.

All right.

Number five is um a follower of Jesus will be received and rejected.

Jesus lets them know this.

You'll be received and rejected.

Some people will receive you, and some people will reject you.

That's just part of it.

Some people receive Jesus, some people rejected Jesus.

And I, if I'm honest, I have this, I had this view in my life early on after I came to faith.

I was like, honestly, I don't think, I think I'm so compelling.

Like, I think I could convince anybody to, you know, follow Jesus.

I just need to get near them.

And I think for some reason I thought I was a better evangelist than Jesus himself.

Because if they rejected Jesus, I'm gonna be rejected in some capacity.

Most of the time I've been rejected by people in the church, but that's another story and a different sermon.

Um but there's supposed to be this space where like we just understand this.

Understand, man, I'm gonna take this message that it's beautiful out in the world.

I'm gonna carry it out into the world.

And some people are gonna be like, that's the best thing I've ever heard.

And some like, that's the dumbest crap I've ever heard.

Like, it will be both of those things.

And if you're doing it right, people will receive you.

And if you're doing it right, they will reject you outright and go like, I want nothing to do with that.

But if you're doing it like Jesus, he was received and he was rejected.

Now, if all you ever are is rejected, don't blame that on Jesus.

You're being a jerk.

That's what that is.

Like you're like, I'm just I'm just suffering for Jesus.

No, you're suffering because you're kind of a mean person to other people in the name of Jesus.

So if you're only ever rejected, you need to be a little kinder like Jesus.

But the other is also true, if you're only ever received, it's not because you're better at evangelism than Jesus, it's because you're probably not being honest enough.

You're probably not challenging people, you're probably not going to people with the truth that they actually need to hear.

Because you will be received, and you will be rejected.

And I again, I love what Jesus says to do that rejection is part of it.

And he's like, don't try and stay, if you're rejected, don't try and stay there and force them, don't condemn them, don't try and change them and like I just need a couple more minutes, like I need a few more days.

He's like, No, you've done.

Now you can dust your feet off and say, like, hey, I all I'm just a kingdom carrier of the message.

Like I just have to, I have to let you know, otherwise you're the blood is on my hands, and now I can just, now it's on you.

Like, I don't, I don't have to deal with that.

You've done what I've asked you to do, and now feel free to leave.

And so I think we have this space where it's like we're talking to our family members, our people about Jesus, and our friends, or our neighbors, or our coworkers, and they hate us because we'll never stop talking about it, and they clearly don't want it.

And it's like all of a sudden you find yourself in this place, like, I don't that, but I'm gonna keep telling them.

It's like, where are you getting that?

Like, at what point do you feel like you should just continue to smatter them and batter them over the head with this thing?

Jesus says, if they don't want it, don't give it to them.

You can walk away.

And ultimately, it's not condemning them, it's leaving room for the door to stay open where you can go back at certain points, or maybe they will come to you.

But don't feel this obligation to be like, I'm gonna tell my kid over and over and over.

It's like, well, you're driving them away further and further and further and further and further.

And then all of a sudden you wind up in this space where it's like, I don't know why they hate it.

It's like, I know why.

You beat them over the head with it, and you shouldn't have.

There's a space where you are able to walk away.

You don't have to change your message to make it more acceptable.

And I'm gonna be like, well, I'll just I'll manipulate it a little bit to make it more accessible to somebody so that they'll like it.

Not that.

And you also don't have to stay in this space, doing more damage to them by staying there and continuing to say the same thing.

Leave room where they can actually be like, I don't want you here, and honor them by going, okay.

I don't want to talk about that.

Okay.

We would do that in almost every scenario in life.

And with the gospel, we're like, nah, I'm going in anyways, hard and fast, in the paint.

Here we go.

And that's and Jesus is like, just walk away from that and leave room.

And you again, you see that in the gospels, they do that.

They go to these towns, they leave some of them, but we know that they went back to these exact same towns with the message later.

They left and then they came back, and they do that in the book of Acts.

And then all of a sudden, in the book of Acts, they have a very different experience.

And all of a sudden now they're preaching and they're that it's being received.

They're being the people are being cut to the heart.

They're in the same towns, it's the same people.

But they left, left room, and then came back to this thing where now they're having a very different conversation.

It says thousands were coming to faith every single day.

And so I think there's this opportunity that Jesus is trying to get us to like, hey, you will be rejected, you will be received.

And that's part of it.

But leave, step away, leave room, and then maybe they'll come to you later.

But those are the five things.

Those are the five markers that should define a follower of Jesus.

There are probably more, but in this text, there were five, and I pointed them out.

Understanding that being a Christian is about being with Jesus, not about being good.

It's about being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and then doing what Jesus does.

That is what following Jesus has always meant.

Another mark, they look and act like Jesus, they have a compelling blessing, they have a compelling message, they carry the qualities of the kingdom of Jesus wherever they go, and they're received and they're rejected.

And so for you, if you're a follower of Jesus, I want these things to grow in you and I want them to grow in me as well.

One of the reasons I want those things, and then I'll be done.

Actually, I have two reasons, and then I'll be done.

First reason the people in my life, the people in my family, the pagan, non-Christian, unbelieving friends that I have and know that I love, they need that more than they need anything else.

They need somebody that represents Jesus.

When they hear of Jesus, it's similar to what Gandhi said, like, I love your Christ, I hate your Christians, they're nothing like your Christ.

Like their experience is very similar to that.

And they've had so many bad experiences with someone claiming the name Christ that it's very, very difficult to get over that hump.

I'm not saying it should, it's still their decision.

But when there's so much so many obstacles in the way, so many different people and so many different experiences, it just makes it makes it very, very difficult.

And so to me, the people in my life, people in your life, and probably people in this room, they need experiences with Jesus Himself.

They need encounters with the compelling person of Jesus and not people just bearing the name.

Dallas Willard says the greatest issue facing our world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who are identified as Christians will become practitioners of Jesus.

Steadily learning from him how to live the life of the kingdom of the heavens into every corner of human existence.

The greatest issue faced in our world today.

This is back in the 80s, I think, when he wrote this.

The greatest issue faced in our world today, and I think it's still true.

Like, I mean, even the scriptures testify like creation is groaning, waiting on the sons and daughters of God to be revealed.

Who are they?

Because when they're revealed, all of a sudden, even nature rejoices and is like, finally, a kingdom carrier.

Someone's going to care for the earth and for people.

So that's the first reason.

Second reason is growing in these areas, if we do grow in these areas, it's only possible by actually forcing us to spend time with Jesus.

And I say that because it can sound like, all right, you need to look like him, you need to act like him, you gotta have a compelling message, you gotta sound like a bunch of work that you're supposed to do.

But actually, a common thread in all of these different things is just all of these things take shape by being with Jesus.

Like all of that stuff will just happen for you.

If you just you spend time with him, you'll become like him, and then you'll do what he does.

If you spend time with him, you'll become like him, and you'll act like him and talk like him, and that.

If you spend time with him, you'll experience compelling messages or compelling experience with him, and that will be your message out into the world.

If you spend time with him, you will become people who carry and understand the qualities of the kingdom, and you will pour those qualities of the kingdom out into the world.

All of them hinge upon spending time with the literal Jesus and just spending time with him.

So it's not get to work, act better, make sure you look like him, stop doing that.

It's not that it's like he died to gain for us this space where we're able to be with him.

We can hear him talking to us, we can experience his presence, we can practice his presence, we can be with him and be formed by him by doing this, by spending time with other Christians, by reading the scriptures, by praying together, by meditating on those things, and just by seeking intentionally to be with him and understanding who he is.

But you can just be with him, and the cross has just made that available to us.

Jesus was rejected by God on the cross so that we could experience the reception of God always.

We'll never be rejected.

And so at any time we can march boldly into the throne room of heaven and receive help and mercy in the time of need, but we can march boldly and just sit with him and be formed into his image.

Not trying to be better, but being made into new people because we're being transformed by the Spirit of God in us, and then ultimately just spending time in his presence.

And so to grow in these areas is really just here, do one thing.

Spend time with him.

You become like the people that you spend time with.

These disciples go out into the world, change the world, and they were with Jesus for really three years, but it was so compelling.

And here they were only with him for two years, and they go out and they share these things into the world.

And for us, I just want us to have this space where we're with him and we're formed into his image so that people can experience that this is what Jesus is like still today, and you can know him as well.

Let me pray.

Father, thank you that you don't um you don't call us to um work for something.

That life with you isn't like, all right, get to work.

Ascend to me.

If you can be good enough, then you can be in my presence.

It was never that Christmas.

What the season that we celebrate is.

You can't be good enough, so I will descend to you so that I can ultimately bring you into a space where you experience life with me.

God, I pray that we actually hear it that way, that we see it that way.

The truth of the gospel is that we do not have to work to become more like you.

We just get to be with you.

And you've invited us into this space that's free.

And we're doing it now.

We're entering before the throne of grace, the throne of heaven.

And we have this space where we get to sing to you and to pray to you and to talk with you.

And in this space, we're being formed into your image.

And so, God, I pray that you would help us to have that vision of you, that you desperately, like a loving father, like a loving friend, want to just be with us.

And I pray that we take advantage of this thing that you purchased for us on the cross in Jesus' name.

Amen.