|
|
||
|
Plugging Into Your People Power |
||
|
We’ve spent the last three weeks discovering how to “Live Life As A Winner” and through each of those weeks our focus has been internal. We’ve discovered the four types of people, two ways we live with God and two ways we live with ourselves. Now it’s time to turn the focus outward. Living Life as a Winner is more than just dealing with ourselves. We all understand that we have to conquer the “self” part before we will ever be successful in life. Stories are all over the news today about highly successful people who could not get control of their own lives. But once we learn the steps to winning the internal battles we still must deal with those outside ourselves. That is where plugging into our people power comes into play. Outside of dealing with ourselves, probably the hardest thing we face is dealing with other people. In fact what else is there? There is “us”. And there is “them”. There’s me. And there’s you. I relate to the very profound words of that great philosopher, Charlie Brown when he said to Linus, “I love mankind, it’s people I can’t stand!” I doubt any of us went through this week without a “people problem”. If you don’t have people problems you are a hermit. We might wish to live our lives on our own terms, independent of other people – but it’s impossible. Few things in life can be accomplished without the aid of someone else. We need people. But beyond needing people, there is an even greater reason for learning to win with other people: God loves people. Listen to this song Terrie is going to sing. [More than anything © Randy Cross Music 1985] God loves people. People are important to God. He made them. He made us. He loves us. God wants to use people, people like you and me, to accomplish His purposes here in this world. Jesus died for people. He came to this earth so that people could have a personal relationship with Him God loves people which is why He gave us specific instructions on how to deal with people. He placed within each of us the utility, the power to get along with others. If we are going to live life like winners we will have to plug into this people power. In the Gospel of Matthew there is a passage that has come to be called The Sermon on the Mount. In that passage Jesus is teaching very practical truths about living for God. A lot of the principles Jesus teaches concern with our dealings with people, plugging into our people power. This morning we want to discover four of those tools and learn how to live like winners with other people. Four Powerful People Power Tools Tool #1: Watch how you watch Matthew 7:1-5 “Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” Before we go too far here, let’s notice what it does not say here. It does not say that we can not or should not discern between good and evil. The Bible is filled with instructions about doing good and avoiding evil. We must make judgments every day concerning those instructions. So that form of judging is not wrong. What it does say is we should not subject each other to unreasonable criticism. It’s so easy for us to notice the flaws in someone else and totally overlook our own. The word judge at the beginning of our passage deals with making one of those “once-and-for-all summary judgments”. It’s attempting to be judge, jury and prosecutor all in one. And that’s wrong. First impressions may count, but they usually don’t count for much in the end. The point is that we are not wise enough to make such criticisms. And more than that we are not good enough to make such criticisms. Honestly, we’ve got enough to do simply watching ourselves! We need to watch how we watch. Typically what we see in others the most is often a reflection of a similar problem in our own lives. The things that glare at us the most are usually our own weaknesses. Did you get the end of the passage? Don’t try to take the splinter out of the other guys eye until you deal with the log in your own. You know what the difference is between the log and the splinter? Nothing. Try this: take a small piece of wood (maybe a toothpick). Hold it as far away from you as you can…see how little it looks. Now put it as close to your eye as you can without hurting yourself. See how big it gets! That little sliver of wood is blocking everything! It’s not the difference in size, it’s the difference in perspective. When we watch how we watch we are careful about how we look at other people. We learn to see people with God’s grace. That’s the first people power tool: watch how you watch. Tool # 2: Do Double Duty Matthew 5:38-42 “You have heard that the law of Moses says, ‘If an eye is injured, injure the eye of the person who did it. If a tooth gets knocked out, knock out the tooth of the person who did it.’ But I say, don’t resist an evil person! If you are slapped on the right cheek, turn the other, too. If you are ordered to court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.” We’ve all heard this one before. “An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.” The original passage is found in the Old Testament book of Exodus, chapter twenty-four. It’s actually a list of the very first “personal injury laws”. They didn’t need personal injury lawyers back then – just a stick or a hammer! “An eye for an eye” we often feel that way. We feel like we are within our rights in taking out our vengeance or revenge on someone who we think has wronged us. And according to the Bible we actually have some justification to do so. The problem comes in when we spend most of our time focused on the offensives of others. Someone hurts us and we become consumed with that hurt and somehow “getting even”. We not only want to get even – we want to get ahead. By the way, that was the original intent of the law in Exodus. It was not saying that you had to poke out an eye, it was telling them that that was the limit! The punishment could not exceed the crime. So often we want to go beyond the crime when someone offends us. We want them to keep paying. Someone takes advantage of us and we become obsessed with making them pay. But notice what Jesus says. Though we may think we are perfectly “within our rights” to seek revenge – seeking it usually doesn’t get us very far. Jesus simply says, don’t fight evil people – you can’t win. If they insult you (slap you in the face). Don’t strike back with an insult, be willing to take another one. If you owe them – go beyond what you owe and show you are genuinely sorry. Jesus uses the illustration of being taken to court and found liable. In ancient civil court if you had no money to pay your debts they could take your clothes, but they had to leave you with your outer coat (a wise and modest law!). But if you are at fault, don’t just make restitution, make amends – go beyond what you own and show that you are really sorry by giving up your coat. If you are forced to do something unreasonable – do more. In the Roman Empire a Roman soldier could force you to carry his luggage for him, but only for a mile. After that mile you were free to drop it and he could do nothing. Of course it was unreasonable to make you stop what you were doing to meet his demand, but you had no choice. Go beyond what is expected, what is demanded, and willingly carry it farther. If you are asked for help – give it, don’t make excuses. Go beyond your selfishness and give. Jesus challenged His listeners instead to do double duty, to go beyond what is expected. You see it’s when you pass that “line of expectation” that people begin to take you seriously. To walk away when insulted, that’s what’s expected. To risk another insult in order to rebuild a relationship, that’s makes an impression. To replace what you broke, that’s what’s expected. To make it better than it was, that sends a powerful message. To do what is demanded, that’s what’s expected. To go the extra mile, that’s when they notice. To make excuses, that’s what’s expected. To help when we’re needed, that opens relationships. Be willing to do double duty. Watch how you watch. Do double duty. Tool #3 – Don’t Let the Pester Fester Matthew 5:23-26 “So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. Come to terms quickly with your enemy before it is too late and you are dragged into court, handed over to an officer, and thrown in jail. I assure you that you won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny.” Jesus gives two illustrations here, both having to do with us hurting someone else. Do you see the irony in all of this? The first illustration deals with us worshipping God while we are disrespecting others. We go to God wanting to make things right with Him, but are unwilling to make things right with others. We want to have fellowship with God – but don’t want to fix the problems we have with those we have offended. Notice what it does not say. It doesn’t say go to God and tell Him about everyone you have something against. Now notice what it does say. It says if you know someone has something against you! We often know when we have done wrong to others, but most often we either ignore or excuse our actions. We don’t like to say we’re sorry. And even more we don’t like doing what is necessary to right the wrong. Jesus says forget it. Don’t assume everything is right between you and God if things are not right between you and others! The second illustration makes it even more obvious. It involves being taken to court when you know you are at fault. Suppose you were being taken to court for something for which you are obviously guilty. If you had the ability to fix it, you wouldn’t wait around hoping the judge would just forget it. You would go and attempt to make things right so you would not be thrown in jail. So what’s Jesus’ point? Don’t avoid the problems you create – deal with them. Plugging into your people power means honestly admitting where you are wrong and working with those you have wronged to fix it. Too often we want to admit we are wrong, work on ourselves and leave it there. But there is a powerful tool here that tells us to get the other person involved. When you have wronged someone – go to them, not only seeking forgiveness, but seeking help. Typically pride gets in the way. We may be willing to admit wrong and even say we’re sorry. But it is humbling to ask for help from those we hurt. That’s the point. We tend to hurt those we have power over. When we seek their help, we relinquish the power and allow God to work in both our lives. When you have wronged someone – don’t let the pester fester – don’t allow the hurt, the injury to grow – seek to heal it. Watch how you watch – don’t be quick to criticize. Do double duty – go beyond what is expected. Don’t let the “pester” fester – be willing to reach out for help from those you’ve hurt And finally – Tool #4 Practice What You Pray For Matthew 7:12 “Do for others what you would like them to do for you. This is a summary of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” This passage has been named the “Golden Rule” because it summaries just about everything taught in the Bible about dealing with people. Treat them the way you want to be treated. Someone once said that this Golden Rule is worth all the gold in the world. This final tool is why I said earlier that God has already placed within you and me the tools and ability to have people power. All you need to do is what you already know you want others to do to you. You want others to give you a break – then don’t judge too quickly You want others to be patient with you – then go the extra mile for them You want others to allow you into their lives – then allow them into yours. You want others to be nice to you – be nice to them. This past Wednesday Terrie and I had the opportunity to have lunch with a couple who are new to our church. After the meal they showed us their beautiful new home. While we were there, Jerry gave me a tour of his “soon to be” garage workshop. He had every imaginable woodworking tool you could imagine. I couldn’t imagine one he didn’t have. (I wanted him to adopt me!) They had just moved in and were still in the unpacking stage so most of the tools were either in boxes or sitting ready to be assembled. But none were being used quite yet. Now imagine all of those tools sitting there, in the boxes. What if he decided to never use them? What if he never put them together, never took them out of the boxes, never plugged them in? What use would they be? What would get built? What would be accomplished? Now think about your own tools. The ones God has already placed inside you to deal with the people in your lives. Are they still sitting in the boxes or have you taken them out and started using them? Some of those tools need practice before you will be very efficient with them, but all of them are usable right now. What I’ve noticed is that people who have developed these tools are the ones that God uses in great ways. Because God loves people – more than anything. People are God’s first concern – and they should be ours. People are also God’s greatest tools for touching other people. Terrie and I used to sing a song called “You’re the only Jesus” [© WORD, Gordon Jenson]
You’re the only Jesus some will ever see. When we practice our people power others begin to see Jesus in us. And when we practice our people power we will begin to live like winners with the people around us. |
||
| For information on graphics and PowerPoint for this or any other message on our site, contact Paul Newell at paul@familyfellowshipchurch.com. | ||
|
(c) Paul Newell 2004 FamilyFellowship Church P.O. Box 465, Beaumont, CA 92223 |
||
