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February 11, 2016

Understanding Greatness Through the Eyes of God

By Anthony Wade

Time to address the self importance Gospel being preached throughout the church today.

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For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29: 11 (NIV)

Sometimes you see the same abuse over and over again and you become desensitized to it. You just start to accept it. The danger of this in a discernment ministry is you never speak the truth about something so basic that new believers and people seeking the Lord are more susceptible to it. More fall prey to the schemes of the devil if we stop doing our Biblical duty to mark that which causes division in the body of Christ through contrary doctrine. So for today I want to speak about the not so subtle destruction of the notion of greatness by the modern church teachings today.

It seems you cannot go five minutes today without seeing a new sermon series designed to sell you the notion of personal greatness. Best selling Christian authors have penned such titles as "Destined to Reign" and "Your Best Life Now." Just today I saw local sermon series promotions about how we were made for so much more and achieving some level of greatness. I understand why these pastors preach what they do. It sells great. It is easy to leverage biblical stories of greatness and pretend that it somehow portends greatness for us all. But beloved we must understand that this is exactly what the Bible warned us about in these end times:

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. - 2Timothy 4: 3-4 (NIV)

To preach about the greatness of man is the definition of scratching itching ears. The problem of course is the Bible is a story about the greatness of God. But that flies in the face of purpose driven theology which says that God has pre-ordained a fantastic purpose for your life at the foundations of the world. But preacher? Are you saying God does not have a great purpose for my life? Well that all depends on how you view greatness now doesn't it? The way it is sold by pastors today is a carnal definition. It is based upon some form of personal accomplishment, even if allegedly in the service of God. It is to become a leader. It is to run a ministry. Or in many cases it is more obvious because it is rooted in wealth acquisition or worldly fame. It is the way the world views greatness, not God. To the Lord, godliness with contentment is great gain. Do you think the disciples were rock stars? Do you think they were famous? Rich? No beloved. They were despised. They were hunted. They were martyred. That is greatness to God.

So is the average Christian life that honors and glorifies God. The housewife who raises her children under the admonition of the Lord. The factory worker that shows Christ everyday to his unsaved co-workers by refusing to compromise. With language, crudeness, or flirting. So does the pastor who has a congregation that never seems to get past a couple hundred souls but he continues to labor in the Word. He continues to be faithful with what God has given him. He has no dreams of anything beyond what God gives him because the rest is of the flesh. When Timothy was pastor in Ephesus does anyone really believe he was secretly eyeing Corinth and the chance to take over that flock too? The college student who refuses to party with the crowd and sleep around is greatness in his or her glorification of God. The neighbor who actually acts like a neighbor. Beloved greatness can never be about us but must always be about Him:

"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet."You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 5: 13-16 (ESV)

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. - Colossians 4: 5-6 (NKJV)

The lost in this world do not need to see worldly greatness from us beloved. They need to see Christ. The same Savior who went willingly like a lamb to the slaughter for our salvation. The same Savior who taught us that the last will be first and the first last. That humility is what we ought to strive for. There is a great picture of this in the Book of Acts. There was a certain man in Samaria who had plenty of fame and notoriety:

But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called Great." And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. - Acts 8: 9-11 (ESV)

So Simon was well known and the people actually considered him great. They even went as far as to correlate his greatness to God. They paid attention to him for a long time. He was destined to reign. He was living his best life now. Then along came Phillip preaching the Good News and Simon's life was turned upside down:

But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. - Acts 8: 12-13 (ESV)

The Word expressly says here that Simon believed! He even made a public declaration of his faith through baptism. Now instead of being the great one, he saw miracles performed for the glory of God! Then he watched as Peter came to town and laid his hands on people that they might receive the Holy Spirit and old habits died hard for Simon:

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity."- Acts 8: 18-23 (ESV)

What changed when Simon made his request is that he wanted it to be about him again. He wanted the power. He wanted the fame. He wanted the credit. He was someone living for his own purpose and briefly exchanged it for God's purpose. He briefly gave up his own fame for God's. Peter cuts us all to the core here though. Your heart is not right before the Lord! Beloved do not fall for the purpose merchants occupying the pulpits today. There is nothing wrong with a life that honors and glorifies God which the world may look upon as average or not noteworthy. Anyone can be Simon the Sorcerer today beloved. The world invites it. But not everyone can give that up to truly pursue God and represent Christ as salt and light to a dying world. Look at how the Colossians verse state it - redeeming the time! Time is running out for the lost beloved and we are playing church games about our own potential for greatness?

That is the first damage done by this push towards false divine purpose. It does not redeem the time at all. It abuses the time. It squanders the time. It wastes our time in the pursuit of temporal greatness while the world continues to go to hell. The devil is masterful at getting Christians to not redeem the time. He has us chasing politics and revival. He has us chasing false signs and lying wonders. He has us chasing the riches and trinkets of this world. All of this we chase through the false doctrines in His very church. At the heart of many of them however is this purpose driven mindset that takes our focus off of Christ and places it onto ourselves.

The second great harm is it cheapens the ordinary but godly. With all of the millions of Christians in this country does anyone truly believe that we are all destined to reign? That greatness is ordained for everyone? I used to teach college planning for high school students years ago and I remember this true example from the University of Michigan. They asked applicants if they were a leader or a follower and why. One applicant who answered follower received an acceptance letter that read in part, "of all the thousands of applicants this year you were the only one who said they would follow. We only thought it prudent if we were to have so many potential leaders that we give them someone to follow them." That is how the world views itself. Narcissistically great amidst a sea of self importance. Very few actually rise to the level the world would assign the greatness tag to. That is one of the benefits of being in Christ. We no longer need to aspire to the world's definition of greatness. Our greatness is now found in the God we serve. If He chooses to elevate us to bigger things because we show ourselves worthy in the smaller things then glory be to God. However, if He chooses in His sovereignty to not elevate us regardless of whether we are worthy in the smaller things then He still is worthy Himself of praise and glory. Do we understand this today? It is not about us! That pastor who labors over the small flock faithfully and God maintains but does not promote will still get "well done my good and faithful servant." Who knows how many lives his faithfulness touched on his way to heaven! Who knows how many lives in turn they touched! The same goes for the faithful mom and the faithful landscaper. Greatness is not found in what we do but who we serve. We should never allow something as trivial and fleeting as earthly purpose distract us from that.

Lastly, the damage done by this nonsense is it hurts the people. It raises false and hopelessly unachievable expectations. The average time someone spends in a seeker-friendly, purpose driven mega church is just under three years. Most never return to church. Most think they are saved when they are not and those that are become virtually useless to God or so warped in their theology they may as well be. Beloved imagine this will you. People come to church, hopefully seeking God. Instead they hear about their own greatness. They hear about their own potential. If it is prosperity heresy they hear how much God wants them to be rich. If it is word faith they hear about how they are in fact themselves "little gods." If it is false signs and lying wonders they hear about how their experiences trump biblical truth. Throughout all of these lies and heresies however is the purpose driven foundation. They are told that God has so much more for them. That He has so much greatness in store for them. In many cases they are taught that God actually needs them to accomplish His purposes here on earth. They hear this for a year but nothing gets better. They hear this for two years and then lose their job. Two and a half years and their wife files for divorce. Instead of drawing close to God at their most desperate hour they turn and blame Him because they were sold a false bill of goods. They are lost and their darkness will only grow colder and darker. Do not tell me there is little to no damage from selling people this purpose driven pabulum. I know people who were caught up in this and remain apart from the body of Christ to this day.

Which brings us to the key verse for today. By far the favorite verse abused by the Seeker Friendly Industrial Complex. Only poor Malachi sees his words twisted more. Let me start by saying something that many have probably not heard. Jeremiah 29:11 is not written to you. It is not written to me. It is not written to the church. It was written to the exiles in Babylon. Read the entire context and that becomes quite clear. So does that mean God is not saying to us that He has a great plan for us? Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Now, if you want to use the entire canon of Scripture you can make the case that God most definitely has a plan for us. He knows this plan because He is sovereign over all and sees all time from beginning to end. The problem is once again, how we are defining greatness. For Peter his hope and future were to be crucified upside down. That was the plan of greatness he faced. What about the Apostle Paul:

But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." - Acts 9: 15-16 (ESV)

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. - 2Corinthians 11: 24-28 (ESV)

The verse from Acts is God telling us the great plans He had for Paul - how much he must suffer for His name. The verses from Paul's second letter to the Church at Corinth is the summary of that promise delivered. If that was not enough beloved, Paul would be beheaded eventually. These could very well be the plans the Lord has for us. The Bible says we are to leave our life and carry our cross if we are to truly follow Jesus. Not pursue these fanciful notions of carnal purpose. The only time we were meant for so much more is if we are not living every moment for Christ, in humility, redeeming the time.

Reverend Anthony Wade - February 11, 2016



Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

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