What do you worship?
Well, hello brothers and sisters!! Welcome to Mission: Zer0! My name is Shawn,
and this is Flashback Friday, the show where we take stories from the past and
apply them to the present to create a better future.
What I want to talk about today
is, sort of, the struggles that we go through, and how we can have a better connectivity to people
Let me give you the biblical verse, and then I'll give you the story.
So the biblical verse is Philippians 4:8 in which the Apostle Paul writes,
"Finally, brethren: whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise,
think on these things." The Apostle Paul was not one to use flowery language or to
mince words; every word he ever used had a purpose.
So what do these words mean, and why to those people?
OK, so the reason that this matters is that these people -- this church in Philippi -- was founded
in the midst of, like, all kinds of idol worship. So -- true, honest, just, pure, lovely,
and good report -- these are the dysfunctions that we go through and
the things that we need to watch out for. That's what Paul is telling the Philippians.
OK, so let's start off with the first two: what's true and what's honest.
Things that are true, right, this is Paul saying "concern yourself with what's actually true,
not what you believe to be true." And that's a subtle difference, right?
They believed that because Paul was in prison the gospel had stopped
and he's saying "No, no, don't get yourself all wrapped up in those ideas! That's not real.
You're believers, you know the truth of God: this gospel will spread."
What's honest? He's saying "be honest with yourselves" and this goes in a couple
of different directions, but what he's saying is "No, don't get into these vain
imaginings; don't puff yourself up to think that you are so awesome, that you
alone are the one who can carry the gospel. But he's also saying "Don't fall
so far down that you are constantly circling the barrel, sure that you're going to be wiped out.
What's just? He's saying "Man, don't concern yourself with obsessing about
the things that aren't right, right? The fact that I'm under house arrest."
What he's saying is "No, think about the things that are going right: you've been saved!
You've been justified by grace through faith!" What's pure? Man, there's ONE thing
that's pure, and it's the love of God towards His children, and so what he's saying is
"Don't get caught in the pit of hatred, and segregation, and tearing people apart."
What's lovely? Focus on the beauty! Don't look at the ugliness of the world,
don't look at the fact that Christians are being persecuted, look at the fact
that there is still sun, and there is still rain, and there is still beauty in
nature, and in the world, and in the Christ, and in Love, and in fellowship.
And so then "good report" and "if there's any virtue, if there's any praise" then what he--
if there's value in a thing, if there is positivity in a thing, then think about that.
Don't obsess about what goes wrong and what we fail in. And, man,
I -- for one -- am HORRIBLE at that, and I think a lot of us are. We get lost in
our failures, and we get lost in our struggles, and we don't see the brighter
side of things. And this is what Paul is telling this church, is, "Yeah, I know!
I'm in prison! I've gone through a lot of stuff! I've been poor, I've been rich.
I've been beaten, I've been free, and what I know through all of it is: the purity of Jesus,
the love of God, and the connectivity among people sustained me
through all of it." That is what we need to seize on that's what we really have
to focus on, and that's why, this week, I've really been trying to grab this
idea of life to talk about is: getting myself straight and back on the path of
worshiping life.
So there's my exhortation for us today, and for into this weekend: we've got to
be able to let go of the negative, right? Take the pieces that are important to
learn from, and that you can use to grow from, and build yourself up.
But just dispense with the rest! Focus on this life -- on the things that are good -- not who accused whom
of what, or -- you know -- who's been voted into what office, or -- you know -- what this
TV show did. We get all of this nonsense that we get SO riled up about, and so
angry and hateful over. Let that go! If it is a thing that can be helpful to you to
grow, or helpful to other people to grow, think on THOSE things, and let the rest go.
So, there we go. I Love you, and may God pour out the
blessings of Heaven upon you, and may you be the you-iest you you can possibly be,
and hang in there, because I'm with you, and I am FOR you, and I Love you!
Peace out!
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