2022-11-22 Driving with Jesus Sermon

The speaker discusses the idea of consistently reflecting God's character to others. They emphasize that God always sees us and that our behavior should align with our beliefs. They also explain that unbelievers judge God based on how well his followers represent him. The speaker encourages transparency and honesty about our mistakes and emphasizes the importance of being a good example to others. They remind listeners that each person has a unique opportunity to share God with others and to let their actions speak of God's goodness. The speaker concludes with a prayer for God to open our eyes to opportunities to reflect Him and to be honest with others about our shortcomings. Well, tonight my message that I'm going to be speaking to you about is titled Driving With Jesus, and this is not a rewrite of a Carrie Underwood song about Jesus take the wheel. Anybody here get kind of road ragey, a little bit like angry with other drivers on the road? Yeah? Anyone? Yeah? Okay, I see. I see Michelle trying to get Chris to hold his hand up. Okay. Yeah, you get, you know, sometimes we get driven crazy by the way we see other people drive on the road. The other day I was frustrated, I'll be honest, I was frustrated with someone on the road and the way that they're driving. Hannah's probably just thinking like the other day, probably most days, and I was getting frustrated. But I really believe this particular time that God was challenging me that who I am behind the wheel is who I am for real. And if you'll pardon the corny rhyme, I think there is some truth to that, right? Because I can't come in here and be like Mr. Nice Preacher Guy and then go out there and be a total jerk to everyone that I'm around, right? There's an inconsistency there. Which brings us to our big idea for tonight, which is because God sees us, we must consistently reflect God to those who don't see God. So in other words, God sees us all the time. We're not hiding anything from him. We're also not hiding anything from the people who know that we say we believe in God and yet act differently than one would expect from someone who says that. We have to be consistent in our character so that we show a glimpse of God's goodness to those who haven't experienced it. Which brings me to my first point, which is that God always sees us. We see in Luke 12, starting in verse 2, it says, the time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light and whatever you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear. God sees us always. Proverbs 15.3 also says, the Lord is watching everywhere, keeping his eye both on the evil and the good. So how should you and I act differently knowing that God is always watching? Right? We're not, we're getting into the Christmas season here, we're not talking about Santa Claus is coming to town, he knows when you're whatever, however that song goes, right? I don't know, I've never listened to those songs. But you and I have to be consistent to the character of Christ as he's watching us. What do I mean by that? Back when Hannah and I were first dating, she said one of the things that she liked about me was that I was a very consistent person. Whether we were in person, whether we were talking on the phone, whether we were texting, you know, in this context, in this setting, that setting, I was very, very consistent. It's one of the things that can make me a very uninteresting person at times. Instead, I'm pretty consistent in a lot of circumstances. She knows what to expect with me. But there's a kind of consistency that all of us need to have as followers of Jesus, and that's the key phrase right there. Followers of Jesus. What does a follower do? Anyone? Follower, what does a follower do? You got it. Gold star. Now, if you and I are playing the children's game, follow the leader, we lose the game if we do what? We stop following. If we stop following the leader, right? We lose when we're inconsistent with our following of the leader. So, on social media, they often say that you're following somebody, right? You're following somebody. Now, I've had times where, you know, I watch a lot of comedy videos on, like, Instagram, right? And I'll follow somebody because they made a funny video, but then I didn't keep up with the content that they made. So, technically, I'm a follower, but in reality, that label's meaningless because I don't interact with them. I don't actually follow them. I'm no longer a consistent follower. Are we consistent followers of God? Or did he do something cool we liked one time, and then we moved on? Did we lose sight of him? The thing, though, is sometimes we lose sight of him, but he never loses sight of us. When you were a kid, I bet that you were on, on average, better behavior when you knew your mom and dad was in the room than when you didn't know they were in the room or they weren't in the room, right? Or maybe you're on your, you know, you're working extra hard when the boss is in the office compared to when he's out on calls, right? Well, our Father is always in the room. Our Father in heaven. And that's not something to be afraid of. That's something to give us a sense of comfort and safety, but it's also, there's also a seriousness to be aware of there. God is consistently watching, so we need to consistently follow his character. Which brings me to my second point for you guys tonight, which is that unbelievers don't see God directly. I mean, they neither see God physically nor are they aware of his effects in their life. And maybe he is blessing them or reaching out to them, but they don't see it, right? Let's go back to the driving analogy. When you're on the road and someone observes your driving patterns, they don't know if you're being guided by Google Maps to make some of the turns and decisions that you're making, right? All they can do is observe your driving. Those who don't believe in God don't see him directly either, but they can see the people who claim to be guided by him. And they often judge God's ability to guide based on how well his followers follow him. I want to repeat that because I really want you guys to get that. Those who don't believe in God don't see him directly, but they can see the people who claim to be guided by him, and they often judge God's ability to guide based on how well his followers follow him, right? Good or bad, that's what they have to see. Second Corinthians 4, 3 and 4 says, if the good news we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, small g, we're not talking about a literal god here, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the good news. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. We shouldn't be surprised when people don't understand, right? It can be frustrating maybe if you've ever tried to tell someone about Jesus, you try to share something, and maybe they either were hostile towards you, or maybe they weren't hostile towards you, they're just like, that's good for you, it's not good for me, and you're just like, how can they, it's so obvious to me, how is it not obvious to them? And maybe you're sharing all the things that were pivotal moments for you, but they're not pivotal moments for them. There's a reason. There is a veil over people's eyes, is what scripture is saying, right? So we shouldn't be surprised when they don't react according to God's ways. We have to love them and show them the example of God's love anyway. A phrase I heard a lot growing up, maybe you've heard it before as well, is you might be the only Bible that someone reads, meaning that you might be the only expression of God that somebody sees, you know what I mean? Like, if I told you that I had a new friend, and we were hanging out, and they're a really nice person, but I was a really mean, grouchy person to you all the time, you'd be like, that other person can't be that great, because they're certainly not rubbing off on Chris. That brings me to my last point for you guys tonight, and that is that unbelievers see us, so we must reflect God to those who don't see God, right? People don't see our Google Maps. They don't hear series prompts as we drive. They just see the way that we drive and judge on that. Similarly, people who don't see the Holy Spirit prompting us or guiding us, they just see our behavior, and then they judge us on that. There's an infamous story about a woman who'd been driving really sort of erratically, and you know, giving people rude gestures, cutting them off, all kinds of stuff, and a police officer pulls her over, and as she's rolling down the window, she's expecting to get maybe a speeding ticket or something like that, but he tells her to step out of the car, and he means business, right? And so she gets out of the car. She's like, what's going on? And he's like questioning her about, you know, the ownership of the car and all this kind of stuff, and finally, he tells her, you have a Jesus fish sticker on the back of your car, and I assumed your car was stolen, because there was no way that a Christian was driving the way that you were driving. Not only is God watching us, people are watching us, and they're watching to see if what we say we believe and what we do match up. We're called to be a light and example to those who've not yet met God. I heard a preacher, Sanu Aip, say the other day that what we do is often a stronger indicator of what we believe than what we say. So if you want to know what someone believes, don't just ask them. Watch them, because what you do says more about what you believe than what you say does. Matthew 5, 14 to 16 says, you are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden, neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. Our goal is not to get recognition for the good things we do, but it's instead to let our actions speak of the goodness of God. Jesus said in Mark 10, 18 that God alone is good. So that means that any good you or I do should be to God's credit, not ours, right? If you got anything out of this sermon, it's not because I wrote a good sermon or anything like that. I'm not trying to knock myself or something, but it's it's in here, right? And so if you're getting anything out of it, it's because God is bringing something through, right? It's to his credit. And that's what we want people to see. When I was in college, I remember I was in a computer lab class at one time, and I was sitting there, and then the student next to me, she was getting really, really frustrated with her computer. If you thought you were frustrated with your computer, she was more. She was very frustrated. She stood up. She brought her arm back. She was not jokingly, physically, she was about to punch out the computer screen, right? And then she stopped, and she looked at me, and just defensively out of nowhere, she was like, I'm upset, okay? I'm allowed to swear. And I was like, I didn't say anything. And then she was just, her whole body just sort of slumped, and she was just like, you didn't have to. And she sat down quietly and kept working on her computer. And it was so strange to me because, you know, I had never said anything to her or anyone else that was around me in college about like, hey, you shouldn't swear or whatever. Like, I personally tried to avoid that in my own life, but I didn't go out of my way to tell anybody else how they should or shouldn't speak, right? But in an environment where everybody so quickly and freely, you know, swearing, and it's college, you know, in that sort of environment, and I wasn't, that stood out by the absence of it. And she knew that I was a Christian. So she put A and B together of what that means, and that was convicting her in the moment. People are watching, and they'll notice how you live. There's a great quote. It's been attributed to a few different people, so if I didn't mention who it was, that's why. But there's this great old quote that says, preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. It means live it with your life, right? It should come through. It should be obvious, right? They're noticing how we live, good and bad, and they're taking cues on what that means about God. Has anyone here ever, you know, if you've grown up in the same town that your parents did or something like that, have you ever had the experience of someone that you don't recognize being like, oh, you must be so-and-so's kid. And if you've experienced that, that's because they see something in you. Sometimes it's a family resemblance, but sometimes it's the way you behave, too. They know, ah, you're of, you're from them, right? That's what we want to see. We want people to be able to see a reflection of our Father in heaven when they look at us. So, in conclusion, we need to be consistent. On top of this, we should ask for forgiveness when we mess up, both from God and from the people that we have wronged. Remember that wherever you go, you represent God. You know, here at Salvation Army, some of us have these Salvation Army shirts, some of us have these Salvation Army shirts, or right now you have, like, Michelle has a Salvation Army shirt right now, or you have the kettle people going out right now, and they're ringing the bell, and they've got the hat. It's very recognizable. If there's two things people know about Salvation Army, it's the kettles and the thrift stores, right? There's a recognizable thing. But if I take my Salvation Army shirt, and I go to a fast food place, and I yell at the person behind the cashier because they brought my food too slowly, or they got the order wrong, do you think that that person, when they need help, is going to go to the Salvation Army for help? No, they're just going to remember that jerk who is wearing that symbol, and they're going to associate those things together. Wearing that symbol then comes with a responsibility, right? Because you are representing something much bigger than you, right? But the thing is, that doesn't just apply to Michelle, or myself, or Les, or other people who happen to have those symbols. It applies to each one of us. Each one of us is an ambassador, is a representative for Jesus, to the people that know that we say that we believe in Him, and then what our actions then translate to them. The beauty is, though, we don't have to get all of that perfect, right? Because that might sound really stressful, like, oh my goodness, God is always watching, everybody else is always watching, I've got to get every single thing right, or I'm doomed, right? No, we need to ask the Holy Spirit for His patience, for His guidance, so that we can be a good representative of Him to others. And then we need to be honest with people. There's a reason, you know, people out there have an idea that Christians, some of them have this idea that Christians have to be perfect. Who gave them that idea? We did, by not being honest about ourselves. And I don't necessarily mean you people in this specific room, or me in a specific room, but just as a whole, that idea has gone out there because people weren't being transparent. So we need to be transparent, we need to be honest about our mistakes. I'd like to take a moment to pray for all of us with this great responsibility. Yeah, as I come up here, and I want to share the Word of God with you guys, there's a responsibility not to just come up here and say a couple funny stories that somehow vaguely relate to what's going on, but to use whatever God has given me to try and explain this the best that I can, right? And each of us has that responsibility in our own lives. It's not just people here, right? You know, part of the reason that I'm standing where I am, I mean physically here, as opposed to physically here, is because I'm not up above you guys, right? I'm not better, I mean, this floor is laid out, I'm actually lower than you guys right now anyways, right? Because we're here together in this, right? Each of us has an opportunity, and I've said it before, and I'll say it again, each person here has somebody that they can speak to that I will never be able to speak to. You know, you might see some big preacher somewhere who's got a really articulate gift, and you might think, oh, they're going to save all these people, they're going to help all these people. First of all, it's the Holy Spirit that saves, none of us really does that, right? But second of all, he uses you to reach those people, and he's going to use you in a way that he can't use me, you know? Because you might think, well, Chris has this gift, he can talk for days, and that's exactly why I can't reach everyone, because there's going to be people like, I can't listen for days, I need you to stop talking, right? They're going to need someone, you know, I used to know a guy in a church when I was growing up, and he was a bit more like me, he was a talker, right? And he was a great man of God, I'm not knocking him, but his wife is, in my memory, they were in their, like, late 70s, and she always stuck out to me. She barely ever said anything, she was just this, you know, when the Bible says, like, blessed are the meek, she comes to my mind. This is who I imagine when I hear those words, because she was always just such a warm person, just being there for people. They fostered a lot of kids, literally hundreds of kids throughout their life that they fostered, but that meekness, that kindness, that love, it just stands out. People will see something in you, uniquely in you, that God has put in you, that you have an opportunity to do, and that's a blessing. It's not a pressure, it's a blessing. God is not asking you to be something you're not, he's asking to be you with him living in you. That's it, that's all you got to do, be you with him in you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the great responsibility and opportunity that we have to share you to others, to share you in a unique way that you've created us to share you. We thank you for the opportunity, so we pray that you'd open up our minds and our hearts to the opportunities that you've put before us that maybe we haven't observed yet, maybe that person at work or wherever that is a source of frustration to us, Lord, that maybe you've put us there because you want us to reach that person, Lord. Maybe it's a family member, Lord, maybe it's a neighbor, Lord, whoever it may be, Lord, we just pray that you would bring opportunities across our path and open up our eyes to the opportunities that you've already given us and I pray that we would reflect you, Lord, as best as we can and that we would be honest with others where we slip up, where we make mistakes, where we're not as good a reflection of you as we know that we are supposed to be so that people can see not only the goodness of God but the grace of God at work in our lives. We thank you for all of this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, thanks so much for joining us, everyone. I just want to say if we could all say a great big thank you to Samantha who helped me out with the slides tonight, that would be really great. Dave, she did a great job. Have yourselves a great week and we'll see you guys next week. God bless.