Stop - Go - Slow Your Roll! - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. Amen, it's true. Well, just

a few weeks back, I came to the realization that

we begin to teach our children very, very young

how to drive a car. Oddly enough, right? And

I came to this deep revelation because one day

I had my granddaughter, Kensley, in the car,

and we were driving somewhere, and we stopped

at a traffic, an intersection that had a traffic

light. And as we were sitting there, the traffic

light turned green, and the car in front of me

didn't move. And my granddaughter from the back

seat said, doesn't he know that he's supposed

to go on a green? And I'm all like, yes, he should

know that, Kensley. And she's a kindergartner.

And I'm like, she's starting to already understand

the rules of the road. Just a few years in, right?

And last I checked, I haven't been in school

in a very long time, but I don't think they have

a driver's ed pre -K, right? I don't think that's

there. But even my granddaughter, who's in kindergarten,

knows that green means go, red means what? And

yellow means? Yeah, I was waiting for that, right?

Slow your roll is what the right answer is. I

heard floor it, okay? Green, for clarification.

Green means go. Red means stop. Yellow does not

mean floor it, all right? Yellow means slow your

roll. right? It's the traffic light. It helps

us to discern what's happening at the intersection

that I'm approaching. It's a traffic light that

helps me understand the conditions that I'm about

to drive up to, right? It's the traffic light

that helps me recognize, understand, detect,

perceive what is happening at the intersection

I'm approaching, how to respond to the person

in the other car. Green means go, red means stop,

and yellow means slow your roll. It's easy. It's

easy to pick out. It's easy to distinguish. It's

easy to discern. It's so clear that even a kindergartner

understands that rule of the road. But when we

come to human intersections, right? When we approach

a human intersection, it's not near as easy.

It's not near as clear to navigate when I'm getting

up to an intersection with an individual in life.

Human intersections can be difficult to discern.

They're tough sometimes to figure out who's in

front of you. Some of you get stressed at human

intersection. Some of you come to church, it

nerves you out because there's all these people

you got to intersect with, right? Freaks you

out just a little bit. Who's in front of me?

How do I proceed with this person? What does

this look like? Are they heading in the same

direction in life that I am? Or are they going

completely different entire path, right? Are

they going parallel with me or perpendicular

to me? Where are they going physically, emotionally,

spiritually, and mentally, and in particular,

spiritually? Because that's what we're here to

talk about this morning. How do I know when to

stop? How do I know to go? And how do I know

when to slow my roll? How do I know? Because

it's not near as clear as it is with a traffic

light. And if you don't develop some spiritual

discernment in this, you might be in for a crash,

a clash. or definitely some traffic jams at a

minimum. If you got your Bibles this morning,

I want you to open to Matthew chapter seven.

We're gonna go to verse six. I'm gonna pray as

you turn. Father, thank you for this day. God,

I pray that you would move in our ears and our

hearts, God, that they would be ready to receive

the word of God. We ask, Lord, that you would

guide us and direct us this morning as we look

into your word and we give you praise, we give

you glory, and we give you honor, Lord, for what

your word speaks, that it is truth. Lord, in

Jesus' name we pray this, and amen and amen.

Well, in this portion of Scripture, in Matthew

7, going to verse 6, Jesus is preaching to a

crowd, a large crowd, on the hillside of Jerusalem,

outside of Jerusalem. And at first glance, this

does not seem like something that would help

you in the stop, go, or slow your roll in human

relationships. At first glance, this is kind

of like almost one of those scriptures like,

what is Jesus really saying here? Anybody ever

read the Bible? They're like, what in the world

does that mean, right? What is this all about?

Well, Matthew 7, 6 says this, and this is Jesus

speaking. He said, do not give what is holy to

the dogs. Jesus is speaking a little bit about

a human intersection at the end of a road, right?

And actually this little portion of scripture

comes at the end of some previous scripture that

was also about human intersection. If you read

Matthew 1 through 5, Jesus is saying to the same

crowd, He's telling them, be very careful when

you judge somebody. Be careful when you judge

others. And he's talking about brothers and sisters

in the Lord. In particular, be careful when you

judge a brother or sister who is in sin, right?

They got something going on in their lives. And

be very careful how you judge them. Be very careful

how you approach them. And Jesus kind of tells

a little story. He says, when you judge somebody

that's a brother or sister in the Lord that's

got sin in their lives, be very careful that

you don't have some sin in your own life. That's

what he says in 1 through 5. He says, make sure

you don't try to get the speck out of somebody

else's eye, the speck of sin, and you got a whole

log of sin in your own eye, right? Don't be a

hypocrite. Make sure you got your stuff straightened

up and going on before you go approach somebody

else. It's kind of rules of the road in Bible,

right? It's rules of intersection in the Bible.

But then Jesus hits a whole other intersection

scenario. What do you do if you roll up into

the intersection and it's not a believer that

you're intersecting with? It's not a follower

of Jesus. It's not another rock life person who

is following Jesus Christ with everything that's

in him. It's someone actually who needs to hear

about Jesus. By the way, every intersection that

we hit, every human intersection that we make,

when we bump into somebody that doesn't know

Jesus, you're there for a reason. You're there

to let them know about Jesus. As believers and

followers of Jesus, we should want to give them

the greatest message that's ever been told and

the greatest thing that's ever happened to us,

you know, that coming to Christ and being salvation.

So every time I bump into an unbeliever, it's

an opportunity for me to speak about light and

life, which is Jesus. Talked about that last

week, about being light, right? Wake up in the

morning, Lord, help me be light at the intersection.

Help me, Lord, to light it up for somebody else.

That's what we're supposed to do. come to the

intersection in the road of life and you bump

into somebody that's not a believer, you have

to have a little bit of discernment when you

get there. Because some of the people that you're

going to bump into, and this is what Jesus was

talking about, when you come to the intersection

of life, right, human relationship, sometimes

you're going to bump into somebody that has road

rage. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Right,

we see it in the news. Sometimes you're going

to find somebody that is so anti -Jesus, they're

going to have road rage. If you read in Scripture,

you'll read about the Pharisees, and the Pharisees

were like that with Jesus. Man, they had road

rage with Jesus. They would get in the same place,

and they would just berate Jesus. They would

just rip it to pieces. And once in a while, when

you're traveling down the road of life, you hit

an intersection, and you start to talk about

Jesus. You're going to bump into somebody that

has road rage, somebody that is on a completely

different path spiritually, somebody not that

just doesn't disagree, but somebody that is angry

with you. Some of you have relatives like this.

Some of you know what I'm talking about, right?

Some of you have got relatives that don't follow

Jesus, and if you start a conversation, Thanksgiving's

coming up, it's getting close, you're going to

go sit down and eat turkey with them, right?

And you bring up Jesus, and man, it's like bringing

up politics. Right? It explodes. You know, there's

this rage. Don't raise your hand. I was going

to say that. Anyone got a relative like that,

don't raise your hand. You got somebody, right?

They're like a ravenous dog if you bring up the

name of Jesus. Jesus said sometimes, sometimes.

Say sometimes. Every once in a while, you're

going to come up to the intersection in life,

and you're going to hit somebody in road rage.

about Jesus. He said, do not give what is holy

to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine,

lest they trample them under feet and turn and

tear you in pieces. What was Jesus saying here?

What did he mean with this dog and swine analogy,

right? What does that got to do with human interaction?

Here's what he's talking about. Discern who you

just met at the intersection. When you come to

a human intersection in life, discern who you

just met. Discern who is in front of you and

who's moving forward. Because every once in a

while, and I think this is rare, I'm going to

tell you right up front, I think this is rare.

You're going to approach somebody at an intersection

and they're going to be a raging dog. When you

start talking about Jesus, they're going to just

get angry because you love Jesus. They're going

to bite. They're going to attack. They're going

to try to rip you in pieces. They'll work a little

bit like a swine who gets pearls cast before

him, and they just stomp it into the mud. Jesus

said, don't give what's holy to the dogs. Now,

for me to explain this a little bit and for you

to get a good picture of this, because we live

in Western culture, right? I need to explain

how dogs and swine and pigs were viewed in the

Near East back in that time and how it was looked

at in the Mosaic law a little bit. They didn't

view them like we do in Western culture, right?

Dogs were not domesticated animals in that particular

culture, in Eastern culture. They were not part

of the family like they are in our day, right?

In our day. How many got a dog? Raise your hand.

Dog owners proud. Yep, they're like everywhere,

right? That wasn't what it was like in Jesus'

days. Matter of fact, listen, I have a dog. I

want to live the life of my dog. My dog's got

it made. My dog's biggest decision in life is

to get up and decide when she wants to eat. All

right? She's always got food available. Her biggest

decision is, when do I go to the dish? All right?

Her other big decision is, when do I want to

go to the backyard? And she doesn't even have

to open the door. She just barks and waits for

me to do it. Right? You know, and she wants food.

She just goes to the dish and barks, and we take

care of it. I want to be my dog. She's got it

made. She doesn't have a job. She doesn't contribute

anything to the budget. It's shocking, right?

She doesn't do any of that. That's not what they're

talking about here. That's not how dogs were

viewed in the Middle East. They were scavengers.

They roved, man. They were nasty, roving scavengers.

They were aggressive. And if you're going to

think about swine or pigs, this was not a domesticated

pot -bellied pig that runs around the kitchen

and looks as cute as a dog. That's not what it's

talking about here. Think of them a little more

like a ravaging wild boar, right? Pigs were considered,

in the Mosaic law, they were considered unclean.

They didn't touch them. The Jewish people didn't

touch them. They didn't eat them. Jesus is saying

that sometimes in human interaction and sharing

the gospel with others, you're going to interact

and you're going to run into a ravenous dog.

It's going to happen. And if you're listening

closely to yourself or what's taking place at

the intersection and to the Holy Spirit, understand

who's in front of you. Discern what's taking

place. Be careful that they don't rip you apart.

This is a place in a human intersection where

you stop. Not very often, but I'll tell you that

spiritually. But here's a place sometimes you

have to know to stop. Jesus just said, stop.

These are not people who politely disagree with

you. This isn't even somebody who passionately

disagrees with you. That's okay if they passionately

disagree with you. This is somebody that wants

to take you apart because of Jesus, right? Hates

you and hates anything you have to do with because

they hate Jesus. They're scoffers, despisers,

despisers of Jesus. verbally, emotionally, and

sometimes even abusive physically. And while

I know this is not the case much in our society

and in the United States, it's not the same across

the globe. There's very much this type of persecution

that takes place. And Jesus said, when you run

into this, be careful. Be careful, all right?

Be careful, know when to stop. Know when to throw

the pearls. And you might say, well, what are

pearls, right? Why would that be in this scripture?

Such an odd scripture, right? Such an odd verse.

Well, pearls were highly sought after, and they

were considered of great value in Eastern culture.

And Jesus mentioned pearls in another place in

scripture. We always back scripture with scripture.

In Matthew 13, 45, he said, again, the kingdom

of heaven is like the merchant seeking beautiful

pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great

price, went and sold all that he had and bought

it. Jesus was talking about the gospel. He was

talking about the kingdom of God, right? That's

the pearl that you give somebody. That's the

pearl when you come to the intersection of life

and somebody doesn't know God, you know, like

somebody did for you and did for me. You come

and you hand them the pearl. Give them the pearl.

But just be careful who's got that. Discern who's

in front of you with this, right? Is this just

a person that's resisting or is this wrathful

rejection that's going on? And I know some of

you are like, right, this is like hard. This

is difficult stuff in God's word. But listen

to what Jesus says to his disciples in Matthew

Matthew 10:11

10, verse 11. It says, now whatever city or town

you enter, inquire in it who is worthy and stay

there till you go out. And when you go into the

household, greet it. If the household is worthy,

he's telling his disciples this, let your peace

come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your

peace return to you. And whoever will not receive

you nor hear your words when you depart out of

that house or city, shake off the dust from your

feet. Surely I say to you, it will be more tolerable

for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day

of judgment than for that city. Sometimes when

you offer what's holy and it's stomped in the

mud, sometimes you're going to have to stop,

shake the dust off your feet and go a different

direction. Can I give you a little illustration

of what I'm talking about? If you leave the church

this morning and you decide to go to lunch, right?

And you go down to one of the many intersections

in Carlisle and you pull up to an intersection

and there's somebody that's on the opposing side.

You meet the intersection at the same time and

you wave them on. And when they look back at

you, they give you the single finger wave. Does

everybody know what that is? I don't want to

explain that. All right, they give you the single

finger wave. And at the same time, they're pounding

on their dashboard, and they're screaming at

you obscenities. Now, you can't hear them, but

you can pretty well read lips, what's taking

place, right? They're beating on the dashboard.

And all of a sudden, they grab with the other

hand, they grab a gun and lay it up onto the

dashboard, screaming at you. What are you going

to do? You going to get out and invite them to

lunch? No. Make a right -hand turn. Go somewhere

else. Leave. That's kind of what the Bible's

saying here. This is what Jesus is saying. And

you might say, well, you know, that's kind of

duh, Pastor, right? But I know family members

who don't do this. They'll anger somebody so

much. When somebody, you come to the intersection

and somebody is that outraged about talking about

Jesus, there comes a point where you need to

stop and turn them over to the Holy Spirit. Let

the Holy Spirit, let Jesus work the rage out

of them. Let somebody else bump into them up

the line when they're not so rageful, they're

not so angry, they're not in that place, and

let them share the gospel with them. Or maybe

it'll be you up the line. Know when to stop,

right? But also know when to go or when to slow

your roll. Let me reread a scripture, Matthew

10, 11. I know you're all tense now, like relax,

it's all good. Now, whatever city or town you

enter, inquire who is worthy and stay there till

you go out. This is Jesus speaking again, rereading

one. And when you go into the house, greet it.

If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon

it. But if it's not worthy, let your peace return

to you. How do you know to go and to move forward

in a human interaction? How do I decide, like,

when somebody I don't know and they don't know

Jesus, how do I know whether to slow my roll

or to keep going? Well, here's one of the things

you can do. When you approach a human intersection,

slow your roll and offer somebody some peace.

Offer them the peace of God. You know, again,

It's a driving thing. When you pull up to that

intersection, when you go to driving school or

you go into driver's ed, they'll tell you when

you go to any intersection, when you're moving

up, right, you're driving to any intersection,

you're supposed to slow your roll. Even if the

light's green, you're supposed to slow down,

be cautious, look around at what's taking place

around you. You slow down. Slow down enough when

you get to a human intersection and offer the

peace of God to somebody. Just a little piece

of Jesus to somebody when you come by. Why do

you do that? Because you want to see how they're

going to respond. I learned this from Dr. Brian

Cutshaw. He's a pastor, preacher, leader of leaders.

I respect him a great deal. And he taught me

this in God's Word. And he says, when you come

up to the intersection of somebody that doesn't

know Christ, Offer them the peace of God and

see if they return it to you or if they grab

a hold of it. What does that look like? What

does that mean when I slow my roll and I get

to the intersection and I offer somebody some

peace? And are they going to take it and receive

it or are they going to hand it back to you?

What does that mean? That means, you know, I

want to give them just a little bit of Christ,

a little bit of something with Jesus. See, understand

something. Every person that's far from God,

and this was me, every person that was far from

God has the same thing going on in their life.

They got a hole in their heart. They got a hole

in their soul. They got this place that's empty

inside of them, and whether they realize it or

not, they're looking to fill that hole. People

try to fill that hole with all kinds of things.

Some people try to fill it with material things

like the pursuit of wealth and riches. Some people

try notoriety, fame. If enough people know my

name, I'm going to be full in that hole. Some

people try cheap substitutes. They try experiences.

They try substances. Sometimes it's human relationships

they'll try to fill that with, intimacy, sex,

any of those things, self -indulgence. It's pleasure

sometimes to try to fill that hole up that only

the God of the universe and the creator of the

universe can fill. Each and every one of us,

we were meant to be in relationship with our

creator. And if we're not, there's this hole

inside of us. There's this place, and we try

to grab a hold of it. We look for a happy, right?

We try to get all those selfie moments going

on. One thing fixes that hole, and it is Jesus

Christ. One thing fixes that hole, and it is

God the creator. So know when you come to an

intersection with somebody who doesn't know Jesus

and you offer just a little bit of peace, if

they're looking to fill that hole, that peace

they will grab a hold of. They'll grab a hold

of it. If they're not and they're still kind

of in that place of rejection, they'll just hand

it back to you. And you say, well, what does

that look like? Let me give you some practical

things of what that looks like. When you slow

your roll and you come to an intersection, right,

of human relationship, How can I, I could drive

up to Dixie and just say, how can I pray for

you today? She's going to say one or two things,

right? She's going to say, no, thank you. Or,

hey, I got this need. I got this need going on.

And you're going to know if they're a person

of peace. You can even make a statement. You

can make a statement. You can walk up, come up

to an intersection for somebody you don't even

know and just say, man, God is so good. You just

say that to yourself. You just say it to yourself.

And just watch close how they react, right? See

if they're open to something spiritual. See if

they're open. If they're a person of peace, they'll

grab ahold of it. If not, they'll just kind of

politely give it back to you and just send you

on your way. You can even say, what do you think

about? You could have came in today and say,

what do you think about all that sunshine that's

out there? And they'd be like, oh man, I love

sunshine. You're like, I know. God, isn't it

awesome God gives us sunshine for the day? That's

an amazing thing. And you'll start to find out

if you have a person of peace in front of you.

They'll grab a hold of it. Slow your roll. See

how they react. 1 Corinthians 3 .5 says this,

who then is Paul? I understand when you come

to the intersection, it's not about me. It's

about giving them Jesus. Who then is Paul and

who is Paulus? But ministers to whom you believe

as the Lord gave to each one. I planted, Paulus

watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither

he who plants is anything or he who waters, but

he. God who gives the increase. Now he who plants

and he who waters are one and each one will receive

his own reward according to his own labor. So

when you head into an intersection with somebody

that doesn't know Jesus, slow your roll. Throw

a little bit of seed. Throw a little splash of

water. Give them a little Jesus. Give them a

little bit of the peace of God and see if they

grab a hold of it. See if they take it in. If

they just simply hand it back to you. Worship

team, if you'd come. How do I get a green light

at the intersection? What's the green light look

like? How do I go all in in giving somebody the

gospel? How do I know when to proceed? We always

wonder this, right? Spiritual intersections with

people and maybe somebody that's far from God

in particular. How do I know just to, man, give

it all to them? From beginning, right, Genesis

to Revelation, just give them Jesus and the whole

story and the plan of God and the God's redemptive

plan to bring us back into relationship with

him and to one day be in his kingdom. How do

I know when to do that? How do I know, like,

right? When I get to that spot, like, just to

go, just to go. Well, if you live here in Carlisle,

and I do, one of the things that happens on these

side roads, there are about 103 million four

-way stops in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Amen? Anybody

know what I'm talking about? You wear your brakes

out going through Carlisle. And there's these

four -way stop signs and roads, right? It's just

like a cross. Normally, the rule is, right, when

you pull up at an intersection like that, there's

no traffic light. When you get to the stop sign,

whoever's there first gets to go first. That's

kind of the written or unwritten rule, that when

you pull up at the intersection, you kind of

go in order, whoever came. But every once in

a while, you converge and everybody gets to the

stop sign at the same time, right? How many know

that's a standoff right there? You're like, you're

scoping, like, who's going to go, you know? And

you're kind of revving, like, it's going to be

me, it's going to be me. What do you do? You

wait till somebody waves you on. Inevitably,

somebody at the intersection goes, right? Or

they'll do the wave, and they'll wave you on.

And that first person goes, and then boom, boom,

starts to go. When you come to the intersection

with somebody that doesn't know Jesus, and you

slow your roll, and you drop a little bit of

water, you drop a little bit of seed, and you

realize this is a person of peace, and they grab

a hold of it. Watch and discern. Ask the Holy

Spirit. Two things you can do. They'll either

wave you on. They'll lean in for more, right?

They'll lean in, and they'll want more. And if

they do, tell them about Jesus. Go right to Jesus.

Forget the small talk. Just go, right? Or if

they lean in, the Holy Spirit tells you, go,

go. Tell them. Tell them. Tell them the gospel.

Tell them the greatest story ever told. So many

times in rock life, right? We don't know when

to stop. We don't know when to go. We don't know

when to slow or roll. So we just don't do anything.

Anybody know what I'm talking about? Come on.

I'm being honest. I bump into an unbeliever.

I can't tell you how many times I've blown it

and I knew it. Walk up to somebody who doesn't

know Jesus, you know, and I'll do this stupid

small talk thing about the weather. and we get

talking a little bit, and I walk away, and I'm

like, oh, it was a golden opportunity to talk

to somebody, and I let it go. I let it go. I

remember hearing, I can't remember his name,

but I remember hearing an atheist, and if you'd

stand this morning, speaking, and he was talking

about not believing in God, and he was talking

about Christians, and he said, you know, I know

a lot of Christians, and it's funny, none of

them, some of them never mentioned Jesus to me.

And he said, if they really do believe what they

believe, how much must they hate me not to tell

me that they believe that Jesus is the greatest

story ever told? Because they never tell me anything.

And I try to remember that. Like, how much do

I have to hate somebody not to tell them something

that will save their life? It's a little bit

like driving by somebody in a swimming pool that's

drowning, and I got a life -saving device right

in my hand. And I'm like, ah, not today. And

I just go by, right? I know I'm not here to make

you feel goody. I'm with you in this. It's important.

Jesus was telling us, when you get to the intersection,

when you get to the intersection, these were

invitations, by the way. These are salvations.

These are intersections. We got to where people

invited somebody. Know when to stop, when to

go. Thank you for tuning in to this message from

Lifehouse Church. We pray that you are impacted

powerfully by this message. If you have been

personally affected by our ministry and you would

like to partner with us as we love God, love

people every day, visit our website at www .lifehousecog

.com.