We’re recently started a new series called “reset”. Last week, we talked about how Jesus makes it possible to reset all of life, giving us a fresh start in life that impacts every key area. We’re going to look at many of these in depth, starting this week with how Jesus resets our goals.
When my wife and I were having our first baby, we were encouraged to write birth plan. This is where you write down a plan for who’s in the room, and make choices about everything from epidurals to breastfeeding to how bright the lights should be.
I know someone who works closely with an OB, and she has some wild stories about how people let some of the small choices get in the way of the big picture. In a perfect, routine childbirth, a parent’s ideal may be to have the lights just so, no pain with no drugs, and a favourite song playing at the exact moment the child is born.
But when things don’t go perfectly, there are some people who forget the point, or the goal. They start to argue for their personal preferences, instead of arguing for a baby’s health.
When my wife and I were writing up a birth plan, we decided to stay goal focused. The goal was to have a healthy child. All our personal preferences, hopes and dreams for the birth experience were going to be expressed, but we’d drop them in an instant if things were going wrong.
That was a moment we reset our goals…to make sure they were focused on the right thing. It’s not a bad thing in life to regularly reset our goals, and ensure we’re focused on the right ones. Not just in childbirth.
We can get so bogged down in day to day tasks we forget the point in our careers. Do we live to work, or work to live?
I heard a TED Talk (attached) that shared the job description of a hospital janitor. It was what you’d expect – mop, clean, scrub, restock. It had nothing at all to do with hospital patients and healthcare. But some psychologists interviewed hospital janitors. They met one who told them about how he stopped mopping the floor because a patient was walking slowly down the hall. Another told them how she ignored her supervisor and didn’t vacuum the visitor’s lounge because there were some family members who were there all day, every day.
In the drudgery of cleaning, these janitors remembered the real goal of the hospital, and perhaps even of their human race. They reset their goals to be about more than cleaning, but about caring for others.
Question: When have you had to reset your goals? Why did you do it?
Reminder: We are reading the Bible in sync as one community – so check out today’s reading here.
Reminder: The best way to grow spiritually this year is to join our Christianity 101 in the Cafe Course in Pickering starting this Wednesday, January 22nd. Register for you and a friend today!
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We're exploring who has influence on our spiritual lives. We've seen four tests to identify a negative spiritual influence.
The good news is that Jesus is the one teacher who satisfies the tests he’s just laid out.
Attractiveness. Long before his birth, Jesus was described in this way by the prophet Isaiah: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
People chose to follow him because of his teachings, and his claims about himself, that were far from superficial.
He taught with authority of his own, regularly hinted at his identity as God. This apparently had nothing to do with the way he looked, the tone of his voice, or the size of his hairdo. No one mentions it int he Bible. It has everything to do with the truth of his words.
Consistency. He made bold claims, but Jesus was absolutely consistent in living them out. Scour the Sermon on the Mount, and see if you can find any occasion where he contradicts his words.
He said to pray in secret. While praying to his Father, he went away, sometimes to a garden, to be alone.
He said to turn the other cheek. While being arrested, told his friend to put down his sword and let it happen.
He said, love your enemies. While hanging on a cross, said “Father forgive them”.
His words were also consistent with God’s word throughout centuries.
He told us in the Sermon on the Mount he was the fulfillment, not rejection, of the Old Testament law. God hadn’t changed his mind, God wasn’t wrong, God was fulfilling his purposes in Jesus.
He regularly quoted the Old Testament law, and then got right to its core – the heart change that went beyond fearful obedience.
His words are consistent with the lives of his followers. He never promised we’d be millionaires, drive Cadillacs, or never experience pain or sorrow in this life…like some false teachers will claim to get your money or devotion.
He did promise that he’d bring about a kingdom far better, and invited us to follow him there, taking up a cross.
He was definitely not short lived. He is still worshipped today. Jesus rose from the dead, and still lives today, both reigning over the universe and living in the hearts of those who follow him. 2000 yrs on, the words of the Sermon on teh Mount are revered the world over…and have brought life to those who’ve not just revered them, but lived by them.
The Church exists because he and his teachings were not short lived, but of eternal value. By following him, our lives can be transformed
Motives. After all his teaching and healing, he died on the cross for us. There was no benefit for himself, except that he would close the separation between us and God. He had our best interests at heart.
If you have found teaching of false prophets lacking, urge you to test Jesus. Not just those who claim to represent him, for good or ill, but test Jesus himself. Read his words, if find him attractive not in a flashy superficial way, but rather find that he satisfies your deepest yearnings.
Invite him to be your teacher, become his disciple. Then experience his risen, eternal life and its transformative power in your life, consistent with all he taught.
If you've never experienced that, and you’ve been accepting less, then my hope is that you’ll try the real thing.
Contact Ryan to learn about what that could look like in your life!
Challenge: Who has been a positive spiritual influence in your life? You should spend more time together, set up coffee, phone call or lunch with them! Who can you influence in the same way? Set up time with them, too.
