The Secret of Being Secure

Okay, all that said, I have a question, and I want you guys to respond a little bit if that's okay.

I really want to know who I'm talking to.

And here's the question.

Are you comfortable with the idea of riding in a self-driving car?

Raise your hand if you're like, yeah, I'd get in a self-driving car.

Okay, it's a really small number of people.

I just thought it'd be a lot more than that.

So I like have you guys heard about these?

If you if you haven't, they're a thing, and they're becoming a thing.

There's companies that are investing millions and millions of dollars into developing self-driving cars, and these are cars that are completely and totally controlled by a computer.

There's sensors, there's cameras, they're making all the decisions, and you literally get in this car and you do nothing.

You can eat, you can read, you can sleep, you can text to your heart's delight, because the car is doing all the work.

And the idea is that they will be safer.

Now, there have already been a few fatalities in self-driving cars, just so you know.

But it's in the early stages.

The idea is this that it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be better than us.

And when it comes to driving, that's not like the highest bar.

Just be better than people.

You know?

Because how many of us know that it's like proof to you that God exists, that you haven't gotten in a wreck in the last couple of weeks?

Like you've had moments and you're like, yeah, that's a God thing.

You know?

Just has to be better than us.

How about this?

How about this?

Uh again, those of you who would say, Yeah, I'd get in a self-driving car, raise your hand again.

I want to see who I'm talking to.

Okay?

Those of you, the rest of you, you're out.

You're out of this conversation now.

You've opted out.

Those of you that just raised your hand, how many of you would be comfortable getting in a self-flying vehicle?

Talking about in the air, raise your hand.

Even fewer.

You're dropping like flies.

In Dubai, they have these new things called self-flying taxi drones.

It's a real thing.

In Dubai, this is what it looks like.

You just get in it, there's no pilot, you tell it where you're going, and it will fly you to the building that you need to go to.

You in the air by yourself, trusting this computer.

How many of you are like, yeah, that will never happen?

Never in a million years.

I have seen the Terminator movies, I know how this plays out.

We are one step away from Skynet.

The machines are gonna take control and kill us all.

There's gotta be a reason, like half the sci-fi movies, that's the story.

The machines, we made them too smart, they killed us all.

That's like what happens.

So I understand your concerns.

There are certain things in life that we do not like handing over.

We don't like handing over control.

Even though those of us in the room, when it comes to like self-driving cars, know that honestly, a computer could probably do it better than me.

We still are like, yeah, still no.

No, no, no.

I like control.

I don't want to hand over control to anyone or anything.

At the same time, there are certain things that we hand over to other people all the time without even thinking about it.

We're gonna talk about one of those this morning, and it's our self-worth, it's our value, it's our identity as people.

We we are practically programmed to hand over control of who we are, to the formation of who we actually are, to our sense of self.

We are programmed by our culture to hand that over to other people all the time.

Essentially saying, hey, you tell me who I am, you tell me how valuable I am, you tell me how worthy I am, I'll let you control my feeling of self-worth.

That is something that Jesus never did.

Jesus was as far away from insecure as you could possibly get.

In my life, most of my biggest mistakes have come from insecurity, from me not being secure in who I am and my standing with God, with other people.

And when you're insecure, you are susceptible to your biggest mistakes.

When you are desperately seeking the adoration or the approval of other people, you are you are prone to make huge mistakes.

I've done that.

I can look back at almost all of my biggest misfires in life, and so many of them, oh, I was insecure.

I was trying to compensate for something and it didn't go well.

Jesus is completely secure.

And if we learn from Jesus, if we learn to follow his example, we can actually learn the secret of living life totally secure in who we are.

Now, for some context, we're in a series right now called A King in His Kingdom.

We are exploring the teachings of Jesus.

Anyone here interested in Jesus?

Show of hands?

You like Jesus' interesting?

Yeah, you should, he's interesting.

Even if you don't believe that Jesus is God, you can't deny that he's an interesting dude.

I mean, how many people, 2,000 years after the fact, are being talked about?

There's not many.

That's one of the coolest things is back in the day, whenever the Christians were an early thing, there was an emperor named Nero.

And Nero had it in his heart to exterminate our faith.

And the church, the early church, was brutally, brutally persecuted.

They were killed.

And the idea was we were gonna like stamp out the church.

And so you have like the apostle Paul and other other of the early followers of Jesus, and it was them versus Nero, and anyone in that time would have said, Yeah, Nero's gonna win.

And yet here we are, 2,000 years later.

I heard a pastor say it like this once.

We live in a time where today we name our dogs Nero and our children Paul.

Like you he lost, is what that means.

Our faith for years and years and years has been attacked.

But it's it's withstood every attack because there's just something undeniable about Jesus.

Even if you don't believe he's God, there's just something undeniable about him.

So if you're interested in Jesus, you should be interested in what he said.

Because what he said is really interesting.

How many of you would say, I love Jesus?

Like, I love him.

If you love him, you should love what he said.

You should eat it up.

You should you should want to have a craving and a desire to know what Jesus said.

One of the tragedies of modern Christianity, at least in our country, is we are so much more familiar with what Jesus did than with what he said.

And if we don't know what he said, how can we follow him?

How about this?

How many of you would say, I worship Jesus?

If you worship Jesus, then what he says should guide every aspect of your life.

Because he's not just a guy who lived 2,000 years ago.

He's a king.

He is the king of kings.

We sang about it this morning.

And he spent his time on this earth doing amazing things, performing miracles, but he also spent a lot of time, the majority of his time in his ministry, teaching people what his kingdom, his way of life is all about.

That's what his kingdom is.

It's what life looks like under his reign.

And so we've just been spending time studying the teachings of Jesus.

Let's be Jesus followers who know what he said.

So that when we hear someone or something else in our culture tell us something that's the opposite of Jesus, we can recognize and go, oh, no, no, no.

That's not what my God says.

We've got to know his teachings.

And right now we happen to find ourselves in the middle of this section of Jesus' teaching, very interesting, often called the Sermon on the Mount, and this is Matthew chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

It's the longest, uninterrupted section of Jesus' teaching that we have.

So this is really special because we can just sit and listen to Jesus talk.

And we're gonna jump into Matthew chapter 6 today, and remember, this is about the secret of security.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

So let's just jump in.

Matthew 6, 1.

Watch out! That is a good way to get people's attention.

Start with a warning: watch out.

Don't do your good deeds publicly to be admired by others.

So you will lose the reward from your father in heaven.

When you give to someone in need, don't do as the hypocrites do, blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity.

I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.

But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

Give your gifts in private, and your father, who sees everything, will reward you.

When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on the street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them.

I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.

But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your father in private.

Then your father, who sees everything, will reward you.

When you pray, don't babble on and on as the Gentiles do.

They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.

Don't be like them.

For your father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him.

Pray like this.

Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

May your kingdom come soon, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today the food we need and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.

But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled, so people will admire them for their fasting.

I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.

But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face, then no one will notice that you're fasting, except your father, who knows what you do in private, and your father, who sees everything, will reward you.

So this is Jesus teaching on three spiritual disciplines, which were very common, very, very much known and recognized in the Jewish faith that he came out of giving, praying, and fasting.

And Jesus says, hey, look, when you do these things, and I love by the way that he says when not if, when you do these things, there's an expectation there, don't do it like the who?

The hypocrites.

That's one of Jesus' favorite words.

If you study the teachings of Jesus, there's certain things that he liked to say.

And I love that because Jesus is a person.

You know, he's he's both God and a person, which is which is awesome.

And it's easy for us sometimes to see him more like like God, and when we see him like God, we forget that he has a personality.

God has a personality.

But when we picture Jesus as divine, sometimes we just picture Jesus like ethereal and and he's just he talks like this, like everything's sort of a whisper.

Listen to me, my children.

Like that's that's what we picture.

No, no, Jesus had intense personality.

Jesus is really funny.

I don't know if you've ever noticed how funny Jesus is.

Like, one of his favorite things to say to the religious leaders was the phrase, have you not read?

And then he would reference like a very obvious story in the Bible.

And you gotta imagine, these are people who are trained, like they're they're trained to know every single word of the Old Testament.

And Jesus is like, have you guys never read the story of Moses?

And can you just imagine that?

Like, he's funny.

Jesus has such an amazing personality, and there's certain things that, just like all of us, Jesus says a lot.

He has favorite words.

One of his favorite words is the word hypocrite.

And this whole section where Jesus talks about giving and praying and fasting, denying yourself, training your flesh to be obedient to your spirit, essentially.

He's not saying, hey, don't worry about these things.

No, he emphasizes when you do it, there's expectation there.

When you do this, don't be like the hypocrites.

So I want us to explore for a minute what Jesus meant when he said hypocrite, because if you read his teachings, you'll see this pop up pretty often.

The word hypocrite in the Greek, the language Jesus was using, hypocrites, I am definitely mispronouncing that, but just go with me.

Pretty similar in spelling to hypocrite today, has a very specific meaning in the Greek language.

And it means an interpreter from underneath.

It's weird, right?

An interpreter from underneath.

So, like, why?

Okay, here's the deal.

This is actually the Greek word for an actor.

For an actor.

The Greeks were the ones who really created the idea of drama.

And in Greek plays, every actor on stage wore a mask.

That's why, if you ever see like art for drama, oftentimes you'll see two masks.

There's like a sad face and a happy face.

Well, that goes all the way back to the origin of theater, which was with the Greeks, and every actor would wear a mask.

And so if they were on stage, they would have a mask that would clearly signify if they were the villain, the hero, happy, sad.

It was very easy for the audience to relate.

Oh, that's the happy guy.

That's the type.

That guy looks mischievous.

He's a bad guy.

And they would all talk from underneath their mask.

So the word for actor was someone who speaks from underneath, someone who's wearing a mask.

Now, what this means is that if you're a student and you're taking a drama class, Jesus doesn't like you.

Um I'm joking.

I'm just joking.

Jesus is not coming after professional actors.

He's not coming against the idea of acting.

In fact, we actually have some really successful actors at his hands, which is pretty cool.

Um, there's a couple that's in our high school team.

They help out on the high school team, uh, Lowry and Lindsay Brown, and they're both really successful actors.

Lowry, in fact, has like a legit IMDB page.

You guys know what IMDB is?

It's internet movie database.

That's a site you go to when you're arguing with your wife online about, or like when you're sitting next to your spouse in bed, and you're like, no, no, no, that actor was in this movie, and they're like, nah, the actor's in this movie.

You go to IMDB and then you get proven wrong by your wife.

That's what happens.

That's why that site exists.

That's that's my whole life, is me saying, I think that's that person, and she's like, no, they were in this, and I'm like, nah, let's pull out IMDB and I am wrong.

Okay, let's move on.

Lowry has a legit IMDB page with a profile picture.

He's been in recurring roles on like big time television shows.

So, Lowry, if you're here right now, Jesus loves you.

Don't be offended.

When he says hypocrite, actor, he's not talking about people doing this as a profession.

He's talking about people who live a life where they're just acting, they're just wearing a mask.

And everything they're saying, everything they're doing, is to please the people around them.

They're performing to an audience, and it's whoever's watching.

And that's what he says.

You see it in Matthew 6, where he's like the hypocrites, the religious leaders, they love it when they look a certain way, when they act a certain way, because it gives them attention.

Jesus, he emphasizes this elsewhere.

Luke chapter 11, verse 43, he says, What sorrow awaits you, Pharisees?

Luke 11:43

For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces.

He's saying, Look, you guys love the attention.

That's why you do it.

You don't really love God.

You don't really care about what God wants.

You just want to be honored, you just want to be liked.

You're an actor.

Everything you do is an act.

Jesus says, Don't be like that.

I love the fact that scripture, our our scripture that we call the Bible, the newest parts are 2,000 years old, by the way.

Not the oldest, the newest parts are 2,000 years old.

You wouldn't think that something written that long ago would be relevant today.

But it's awesome how incredibly relevant it is, even more so than we we might realize.

Because we get acting, right?

We live in a world where acting is everywhere.

We have more acting around us than we've ever had historically as a group of people.

There's TV shows, left, right, there's movies.

Like everywhere you turn, there's something that will entertain you.

There's acting, right?

So we can all imagine being an actor or an actress.

This metaphor holds up.

And if you're an actor or an actress and you like make it big, like you make it really big, you will become what is called a celebrity.

And a celebrity is simply a celebrated person.

That's what the word celebrity means, a celebrated person.

And our culture loves celebrities.

Like we love them way too much because we let them tell us things that they probably know nothing about.

You know?

That's why I love it when political shows have celebrities on to like tell us about politics.

And I'm like, I don't know if this person knows anything about politics.

I don't think they're connected to everyday life at all, but I guess I should listen to them tell me who I should vote for.

So I'll do that, right?

It's just, we love celebrities.

They're everywhere.

They're just celebrated people.

And if you're a celebrated person, you're an actor or an actress, and you hit the absolute pinnacle of your field, it means you would win something called an Oscar.

Anyone here watch the Oscars?

Like that's something you enjoy doing?

You watch the Academy Awards.

You don't have to be ashamed.

Some of you are like, I do.

Like, just it's okay to watch the Oscars.

Anyone know what an Oscar is?

All right, good.

Anyone have a pulse and has been alive for the last, I don't know, 50 years or so.

Okay, you know what the Oscars are.

If you get an Oscar, that's a big deal.

It's this little golden trophy that makes you feel good.

Says, you did it.

Congratulations, you did it.

And then you give a little speech and you thank everybody but God.

Uh, even though you're an unbelievably attractive person, you didn't do anything to be that.

You thank everybody but God.

Yeah, I think when Brad Pitt thanks everyone but God, I'm like, dude, God made you look like that.

Come on.

You know, thank him.

Because that's really why you're successful.

It's that face thing that you have.

Like, let's just be honest.

Brad Pitt's actually from the town that I'm from, and it's awesome.

His family still lives there, and it always like it cracks me up that Brad Pitt has a brother that's really close in age to him, and he like kind of looks like Brad Pitt, but not, which has to be the worst.

You know?

Like, he's in every family picture he's in is in a picture with Brad Pitt.

Can you just imagine, like, every family picture, you're like, there's me, and and that's my brother, Brad.

He's great.

I kind of look like him.

If you know, he let himself go a little bit, wasn't quite as attractive, whatever.

All right, that's a side note.

So if you're an actor and actress and you reach the pinnacle, you get an Oscar and you give a speech and you you say some things.

There's one very, very famous Oscar speech that you're probably familiar with, even if you don't realize it.

It was given by Sally Field in 1985 for winning an Academy Award for the movie Places in the Heart.

Okay?

And she says this one line in her speech that became infamous, mocked.

It's still something you've probably heard today.

Does anyone know what it is?

Does anyone just like want to shout it out if you know it?

What did she say?

There you someone said it.

You like me, you really like me.

Now here's what's interesting.

She didn't actually say that.

She said, You like me right now, this means you like me.

But it it got mocked because it seemed like something very like pandering and insecure, and and and the way it gets talked about all the time.

And go back, watch the video.

She says, You like me right now, this means you like me, but everyone laughed at it, and the the whole meme became, you like me, you really like me.

I don't know if if she was being vulnerable or just brutally honest, but if you actually look at those words, she is dead on.

Because all that little award meant was that right now, people like her.

Right now, in this moment, I am celebrated by you.

Tomorrow, I don't know.

We'll see.

There are a lot of actors and actresses who have won Academy Awards and then gone on years later to be uncastable, like jokes.

Winning an Academy Award doesn't guarantee you anything.

Nicolas Cage won an Academy Award.

I'm just saying.

It's either not that hard, or you can fall from grace.

Not with God, but with the Academy.

So, like, all that award means is that right now, in this moment, you're liked.

You're celebrated.

The problem in our world is that people are fickle.

And you can go from being celebrated by people in one moment to be despised or forgotten by people in another.

That's why it's so dangerous to be an actor in society, in life, to be someone who's living for an audience of those around you, because those people's opinions change.

Now it's interesting because very few of us are in a position where we might be receiving an Academy Award soon.

Lowry has a chance, but the rest of us, unless I don't know who you are, like we do, we don't.

But all of us, we live in an interesting time.

All of us have the opportunity every day to be like a low-level celebrity.

Because we have this thing called social media.

And it gives us the ability to put stuff out there and get liked.

Get liked.

Like people literally hit a button that says like.

And so we live sometimes, those of us that do a lot of this, we live to be liked.

It's just easy.

You can put up a picture of yourself and and then it can get liked or even loved.

Or that laughy face, it's emojis.

It's just whatever emoji goes with your picture, right?

You can you can post a video of your kids.

That's something I struggle with as a dad, allowing my children and their success and their just cuteness and funniness to be something that gives me a sense of pride.

Like, people like my kids.

That makes me feel good.

You know, it's a bit of a trap.

You can make a political statement, and and people who agree with you already will look at it and go, like, and you're like, yeah, I did it, I said it, I am brave.

Or you can just post something funny, and people will like it.

We live in a society that makes it easier for us than ever to pursue celebrity status.

Where we're all just living to be liked.

And let's be honest, if you're someone that has social media and you put the picture up on Instagram or Facebook or Pinterest or whatever it is, I don't I don't use most, I have Facebook, but I don't have the other ones.

So whatever, right?

Twitter, right?

Is that a thing still?

Twitter?

Tweet?

Okay.

You you post whatever you post.

Do you just post it and then walk away, like, well, I said what I needed to say, I put that picture up and I don't care what anyone thinks about it.

Or like five minutes later, you're like, I wonder what people think about it.

Hmm.

Only eight likes.

Or you're like, ooh, 20 likes.

It's it's a trap.

It's this trick that our culture throws at us, teaching us you need to be liked.

Give away your your ability to feel self-worth to everyone around you.

Let other people tell you how smart you are, let other people tell you how attractive you are, let other people tell you how successful you are, let other people tell you how successful your children are, let other people tell you how funny you are.

That's my trap, by the way.

I like to be funny.

I like making people laugh.

When you grow up insecure, laughter covers a lot, especially if you want to have a girlfriend.

You know?

It was pretty obvious to me in middle school that, like, I'm not gonna be the first pick.

I'm not gonna be The one that the girls are they're not gonna pick me.

So I gotta be funny, and I can be funny.

And there's times even on stage where I am tempted to indulge that and be funny just for the sake of being funny.

In fact, I did it last week during the second service, and I was really mad at myself.

Hadn't done it for about a year.

First service was fine, second service, there was this moment, and I had this funny thought, and I'm like in my head having a conversation as I talk, which is a weird thing to do, but I do it all the time.

I'm doing it right now, and uh and like and I'm thinking in my head, like, oh, that'd be funny, but then in my mind, I was also like, yeah, that has nothing to do with what we're talking about, that has nothing to do with with God, this is just you being funny, and I was like, I shouldn't say that, and then I went, nah, I'm gonna say it.

And I did, and that was wrong.

It really was, because this can't be indulgent.

Ministry can't be an indulgent thing, it can't be about, ooh, I want to feel good, so I'm gonna do this, so I feel good.

That was just me being insecure and needing to be liked.

And so I had to get off the stage and pray and say, God, I'm really sorry.

And next week I'm gonna be funny, but for you.

Not for me, right?

Our society, it gives us so many opportunities to let people tell us who we are.

We're all tempted to pursue celebrity status.

I want to be a celebrated person.

That was what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 6.

Do not live and do all the things you do so that other people approve of you.

That's not the way Jesus lived.

We see the way Jesus lived.

It's so clear.

Let's let's look at John chapter 2, verse 23.

John 2:23

Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust him.

Now, this is a really interesting statement.

Many.

How many?

Thousands.

Scripture tells us that everywhere Jesus went, thousands of people followed him.

And I'm not talking about thousands of people bought a ticket for a few bucks to listen to him for an hour or two.

No, no, no.

Thousands of people followed him everywhere he went.

They walked, they left their jobs, they left their families just to be where Jesus was.

Jesus couldn't even let it be known where he was staying.

One time Jesus tried to go be by himself just to mourn a little bit, and 3,000 plus people.

Like probably five, six thousand people.

They they just they're like, hey, Jesus is going that way.

Let's just walk around and meet him where he's at.

And he gets off the boat, and there's the people.

That's Jesus.

There's never been a celebrity quite as famous as Jesus.

Can you imagine had he had Instagram what he could have done?

Can you just imagine?

Jesus was an actual celebrity.

But the next verses are really interesting.

Verse 24 and 25.

But Jesus did not trust them because he knew all about people.

No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person's heart.

Jesus knew how dangerous, how foolish it is to entrust your sense of identity and security and value to the opinions of others.

Because people change quickly.

Quickly.

The same people who shouted Hosanna, Hosanna, as Jesus walked into Jerusalem at the end of his ministry.

That, by the way, that statement, Hosanna, that's the declaration of royalty.

Those exact same people were screaming, crucify him a few days later.

And it did not shock Jesus because he knew human nature.

That's why it's a trap to entrust your sense of value and worth to the people around you because they change quickly and unpredictably.

But like predictably, unpredictably.

Jesus got none of his value, none of his value from what people said about him.

He got none of his value from how popular he was.

There were times in his ministry where there were people as far as the eye could see, and there were times when there was no one.

And that didn't, it didn't change him because that's not where he got his value.

We see where he gets his value.

John chapter 5, verse 19 says, So Jesus explained, I tell you the truth.

John 5:19

It's another one of his favorite things to say.

The son can do nothing by himself.

He does only what he sees the father doing.

Whatever the father does, the son also does, for the father loves the son and shows him everything he's doing.

Now, when you speak in the third person, you have confidence.

This is Jesus going third person, the son.

And he says, the father loves the son.

That's a bold thing to say.

And by the way, in in their culture, their understanding of God was very conditional.

So someone saying, God loves me, that's bold.

How do you know God loves you?

And if you would have asked, How do you know God loves you?

Jesus would have said, because he told me.

Matthew chapter 3, verse 17, Jesus has just been baptized.

Matthew 3:17

And a voice from heaven said, This is my dearly loved son who brings me great joy.

And this, by the way, was something that other people heard too.

This is my dearly loved son who brings me joy.

Can you imagine the rush of hearing the voice of God saying, I love you, I am proud of you, you bring me joy.

I remember the first time that Megan said she loved me.

And it was not the first time I said I love you to her.

First time I said I love you to Megan, she said, Thank you.

That is sweet.

That was her response.

I was like, all right, well, that's a start.

You know, I'm gonna keep going, I'm gonna wear her down.

That's been my strategy for 15 plus years.

I'm gonna wear it down.

And and eventually she said she loved me months later.

And the first time she said she loved me, I ate it up.

Can you imagine hearing God?

Like hearing God and other people being there to see it and hear it too.

It wasn't just like a moment with you, like other people heard it too.

God saying, I love you, I am proud of you, you bring me joy.

Jesus heard that and he believed that.

And then he went on to have this ministry where people said all kinds of horrible things about him.

The religious leaders, like important people, people with influence, said Jesus is demon-possessed.

And when they said he was demon-possessed, he didn't get defensive.

He was like, I'm not, how dare you?

How dare you?

Don't you love it when people do that?

How dare you?

Like, I dare.

I'm telling you, I d you're like, but we have how could you?

How could you just didn't do that?

He wasn't wounded, he wasn't hurt, he didn't even try to get other people to speak up for him.

He was like, hey guys, that's not true.

Guys, tell them, tell them what you heard God say.

Remember that time I got baptized?

You heard God?

Tell him, tell him what God said.

He didn't do that, because if Jesus had done that, that would be him entrusting his value and his security and who he is to other people.

You speak up for me, you tell him what God said.

When people said, No, no, you're demon-possessed, he's like, Nah, I'm not.

You might be, but I'm not.

Because Jesus knew exactly who he is, he knows exactly who he is.

And when I said this is a big thing for us, Jesus followers.

Hear me.

There is no difference between the way that God the Father feels about Jesus and you.

There's no difference.

What separates us from Jesus is not the love of God.

God the Father loves us the same as he loves his son Jesus.

What separates us from Jesus is our ability to receive that and believe it.

Jesus believed it.

He just believed it.

And I don't know this because scripture doesn't say this, but I just imagine it.

He had to replay that moment back in his mind all the time.

And so when someone would come and say, You're this, you're that, you're just the carpenter's son.

I remember what God said.

I'm a son.

He loves me.

He's proud of me.

I bring him joy.

Shut up.

I added that last morning.

He thought it though.

Right.

Do you know what God says about you?

Ephesians 2 10.

You are God's masterpiece.

He's created you anew in Christ Jesus so you can do the good things he planned for you long ago.

I know it says us and it's talking to all of us, but I want you to take this personally because it is personal.

You're included in this.

1 John 3.

See how very much our Father loves you?

For he calls you his child, that is what you are.

Ephesians 4 24, put on your new nature, created to be like God, truly righteous and holy.

God calls you righteous and holy.

You know who else is righteous and holy?

God.

1 Corinthians 6.19.

Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you and was given to you by God?

God has seen it fit that you are where he lives.

His presence, his spirit is in you.

This is just a building.

This is just bricks and a new roof.

That's all this is, right?

Thank goodness.

Amen.

But like this used to be a Kmart.

Kmart's not good.

That's why it's not a Kmart anymore.

What makes this, what makes this where the Holy Spirit is, is not this.

It's you.

You are the temple.

You are where the Spirit of God lives if you've given your life to Jesus.

That's who you are.

You are his child.

You're his son, you're his daughter.

He loves you.

He's given you his spirit, his presence.

He's called you holy, he's called you righteous, he's called you a masterpiece.

But how often do we struggle to receive that and believe it?

And how much time do we spend because we don't really fully believe that, looking to other people to add to our sense of worth?

It's almost like we go, yeah, yeah, God, that's really sweet.

No, I know you don't really mean it.

Because, you know, why would you?

But that's great.

Like, hey, um people.

You think I'm funny?

Like, come on, I'm pretty funny.

Right?

I'm being serious.

I I am funny.

That's all I've got.

All I've got.

You know, hey, I'm I'm I'm smart, right?

Like, I'm smart, I'm successful, I'm a good father.

Right?

You put those pictures online, like I'm a good mom.

Look at my kids, their shirts match.

Come on, like it.

Like me, please like me.

Really like me.

Please tell me that you like me.

That's what our world wants us to do, and it's a trap.

You are loved.

Do not settle for being liked by people when you can be loved by God.

Those two things do not come close to one another.

What Jesus is challenging us to do in worship team, you guys can make your way out.

What he's challenging us to do here is very simple, but very powerful.

In Matthew 6, when Jesus says, Don't be like the hypocrites, don't be an actor.

Don't live your life viewing everyone around you as an audience.

He's saying, rethink your audience.

The word repent means rethink.

It means change your mind.

That's the literal translation of the word repent.

Change your mind, change the way you think.

Scripture says that we will be transformed by the renewing of our what?

Of our minds, the way we think.

They may even give you a little gold trophy.

Today.

Tomorrow?

Who knows?

But God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And the way God feels about you is not going to change.

He's never going to change his mind.

Like he's all in with you.

He loves you.

He's made it so clear.

He gave up his son to know you.

How much, how much clearer can he be?

So why on earth, if that's true, would you would you give even an iota of your value and your sense of worth to anyone other than him?

I'd be a liar if I said, I don't struggle with that.

We all do.

We're trained to.

But if we can recognize that and go, oh, that's what I'm doing.

You need to let go of being a hypocrite.

And I understand what I'm doing.

I'm calling all of you hypocrites.

I'm one too.

We're all pretty good actors.

But we need to change our audience.

We need to change whose opinion counts in our lives.

Whatever you do, don't ask the question, will this please the people around me?

Will they like it?

Ask the question, will this please the Lord?

And when you live that way, you don't have to perform because you're already secure in who you are.

You don't have to perform to be God's child.

He loves you.

Receive that.

Just receive it.

That's the hardest thing to do, by the way.

Receiving love is not easy.

If you can receive it like Jesus did, and you can actually believe that and hold on to that and let that be what shapes you and defines you.

I'll change everything.

I'll change everything.

The past few weeks have been a really interesting few weeks for me because a year ago, if you would have talked to me and asked me if I was performance-oriented, I would have said, no, I used to be, but I've gotten past that.

And then some things happened.

And I made some decisions that I needed to make that were the right decisions, but they were decisions that not everyone was going to agree with.

And as a result, some people who used to be like, yay, Justin, were like, boo, Justin.

Even some people pretty close to me in my life.

And I have struggled to deal with that.

Kind of caught me off guard because I thought, no, I'm not performance-oriented.

And it hit me like when Jesus spoke, what did he see looking back at him?

It wasn't a bunch of smiling faces.

It wasn't a bunch of people who were like, Yeah, you go.

There's only one time we have in scripture where Jesus' family shows up to hear him teach, and they're actually showing up to take him away.

They want him to shut up.

When Jesus spoke, he often saw people looking back at him expressing deep frustration, angry faces, people who wanted to kill him.

And it hit me, like it hit me.

Oh man, could I handle that?

Or do I need the people looking back at me to smile and approve?

I'm not just talking about right here on this stage, I'm talking about in life.

The decisions that I make.

Am I living to be liked?

Or am I living in the love of God?

It's a good thing when you kind of come to the end of yourself and realize how you're actually wired.

It's humbling, but it's like, okay, here's where I'm at.

I care way too much about people.

I don't mean people like their needs and helping them and loving them.

I care, I care way too much about what they think.

And that's gotta end.

So practically speaking, I want to ask you a question.

Is there one person in your life?

And you can be honest in your heart.

Don't shout their name out in case they're sitting next to you.

But like, is there one person, honestly, in your life that you just care way too much what they think?

Their opinion of you carries more weight than it should.

And if you're truly honest with yourself, you'd say, I kind of live for them to hit the like button in my life, so to speak.

Jesus would say, Change your audience.

Change your audience.

Live for God.

Just think about what he thinks and do what he would want you to do.

And if everyone else disagrees with it, so be it.

They're wrong.

If people disagree with God, guess what?

They're wrong.

Because he's God.

He's not like, he's never nervous about that either.

There's never me a moment where people are like, God, I disagree with it.

And he's like, Really?

I've I've never thought about it that way.

That's wow, you make a good point.

No.

If you disagree with God, you're wrong.

And God says he loves you.

And you're his child, and you're the temple of the Holy Spirit, and you're holy, and you're righteous, and you're a masterpiece.

So believe it and receive it.

Walk out of here today, knowing what he has said about you.

Hold on to it.

And this week, if people say the opposite, just be like Jesus.

Nah, that's not true.

Let's pray.

Jesus, thank you for this day.

And thank you, Lord, for the strong words of caution that you gave us.

Watch out, you said.

Watch out.

Don't live life as an actor.

You tell us not to live for an audience other than you.

Jesus, we'll be honest, we really struggle with this.

We really struggle with this.

It's so easy to chase after being liked.

We don't have to settle for being liked.

We're loved.

We're loved by you.

So, Lord, I pray that we receive that.

Lord, I pray if there's one person in the room right now who's yet to entrust their life to you because they're just not quite sure if they can.

I pray that that ends.

I pray that you speak to their heart right now.

I pray that they sense a stirring inside of them that is undeniable, that they recognize that that is you, that they surrender to you.

Lord, you love us.

Thank you for your love.

We did nothing to earn it.

And we're committing in your name, Jesus, to not live as hypocrites any longer.

We have an audience of one, and it's you.

It's in your name we pray.

Amen.