Sermon Series: Jesus: Everything We Need

 People Can Be Distractions 

Philippians 1:15-18 

CBC Bishop, 3/2/03

In a nutshell: People can be the number one distraction that will keep us from "seeking first God's Kingdom" (the main thing). We can take four steps to keep this from happening. 1. recognize that people will disappoint you, 2. refuse to be petty, 3. remember what really matters, and 4. rejoice in what God is doing.

I. Introduction

A. Mark's Priorities

Illustration: My cousin, Kathy's son, Mark was a junior at Michigan State when he was drafted by the Oakland A's professional baseball team to be one of their starting pitchers. In 1998, he was the second choice overall in the baseball draft. Oakland gave him a $3.2 million dollar bonus. Here was a 20 year old young man, from a small town near Chicago, who grew up in a modest middle class family…who now had more money than his father or mother had ever made in their entire lives. What do you think were the first things he did with that money?

Well, let me tell you…the first thing he did was to hire his father as his business manager. Then he paid off his mom and dad's mortgage; then paid off his grandma and grandpa's mortgage; then set up college scholarship funds for his two younger brothers. He also gave a portion of that bonus to his church. And after all that, he purchased a brand new Cadillac Escalade for himself.

Mark showed what his priorities were.

B. What Matters to You?

Now, I want you to imagine yourself where one day you're living at the level in which you currently live, then the next day you have $3.2 million dollars in the bank. What would be some of the first things you'd do with that money?

Now, the fact is, that every single person in this room would come up with a different list of what he or she would buy or do with that money. But everyone of those lists would be developed the same way. Every list would be developed based on our own individual and personal set of priorities and values.

Have you ever thought about that…? What are your priorities? What are the things you value? I can tell you what they are. They're the things you think about, pray for, spend your time in doing, and spend your money on. And if our priorities and values are good and worthy, our lives will have meaningful purpose. But if those priorities are less than worthy, our lives will lack the meaning and fulfillment God ultimately intended for us to have.

C. Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

So, with that in mind, let's explore this a little deeper. Rather than thinking of all the things you value, let's just think right now of the one thing you value most in your life. We would call that the top priority in your life. What is that one thing?

Maybe a better question would be, "As followers of Jesus Christ, what should be the top priority-the number one value-in your life and mine?"

Well, if we're honest and completely truthful, there is little doubt what our answer should be. According to Jesus, our top priority should be the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 6:33 33 But seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Friends, I'm going to warn you, what I'm going to say next may seem harsh, but it's harsh from the Word of God, not the Word of Tom. Listen to this…if you say you are a follower of Jesus Christ, and your top priority is something other than the Kingdom of God, you need to seriously re-evaluate your spiritual life. Because a Christian without God's Kingdom as his or her top priority is a contradiction in terms.

I'm telling you friends, this is the most vital matter you could ever think about if you claim to be a Christian! Because if we don't keep focused on God's top priority for our lives, then we will never be able to enjoy our lives as God created us to enjoy them, and we will never fulfill the reason God has left us here on earth. -Without God's priority as our priority, we will become distracted by lesser things. -Without God's priority as our priority, we will find ourselves spending an inordinate amount of time on things that really don't matter. -And without God's priority as our priority, the end result of our lives will be regret because our potential was never realized.

Like Ray Stedman told us once in a seminary class, (front of worship folder) "The challenge is always to keep the main thing the main thing. If we can do that we will not be sidetracked by the multitude of small things that can drag us down."

D. Transition

If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn to the first chapter of Philippians, where we're going to start reading at verse 15.

In the verses that we're going to be looking at today, as we continue our study in Philippians, we're going to see that Paul is discussing a situation in his life that could have been a major distraction from "the main thing".

Philippians 1:15-18 15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

Obviously, as we can see from these verses, that Paul resisted the temptation to become distracted from the "main thing". But what I find so interesting here is not the fact that he was tempted to become distracted, but what the potential distraction was.

Do you see it in verses 15-18? It might surprise you, but it's there. The major thing that had the potential to distract the apostle Paul from keeping God's main thing the main thing in his life, was people. I find this amazing! The very thing that matters most to God, can also become the greatest distraction that keeps us from doing God's main thing!

Think about it…so many things in our lives revolve around people. Because of that, so many of the problems we face are people problems. And since people occupy so much of our lives, people can be one of the greatest, if not thee greatest distraction in keeping God's main thing from being our main thing.

So, with that in mind, I want to show you four things that Paul did when people potentially became distractions from the "main thing."

II. Four Things That Will Help Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing

A. Recognize that people will disappoint you

The first thing is this…recognize that people will disappoint you.

Now, I think most of us realize that. Nevertheless, we always seem a little shocked when it happens. I guess that's because we hope that this time it will be different. But Paul's example tells us that we have to constantly be on our guard.

Look at this situation that Paul describes for us in our verses for this morning… …He is in a rented house in Rome, …chained to a guard 24 hours, 7 days a week. …virtually cut off from the work he most loves doing, and was called to do by God. …and unable to defend himself to his critics. All because he was faithful to preach the good news about Jesus Christ.

So, with Paul out of the way, look at what he says some church leaders are doing…he says that they were preaching Christ out of envy and rivalry… supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.

This must have been incredibly disheartening for Paul. In fact, he probably was pretty "ticked off". I can relate to that, can't you? I've been in pastoral for more than half my life. And during that time, I have had occasion to find the behavior of people, especially the people who call themselves Christians, to be very distressing at times. That's why this first point is so important. We must always recognize that people can and will disappoint us.

Now, don't get me wrong. There are a lot of people who are very trustworthy. But ultimately, even the best people are not perfect. And the sooner we accept this fact, the better.

Now, this isn't a new phenomenon. It's always been this way-- even in the early church. I've heard some Bible students talk about life in the early church as if it were perfect. But folks, it was far from that. All you have to do is read about the first century Corinthian church to see what I mean. They were filled with people who stirred up feelings of envy and disharmony, and competition in their church, just about every time they met for Sunday services. At one point Paul writes to them…

1 Corinthians 3:3 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?

I don't care what church you go to, or which denomination you belong to, you are going to find Christians who worldly. And if you put your faith in people, you will be disappointed.

B. Refuse To Be Petty

But there's a second thing we need to know when we are tempted to get distracted from God's main thing by people. And that's to refuse to be petty.

In other words, you can't allow yourself to get sucked down into the same worldly ways of thinking and acting that some people choose to follow.

I don't know if you realize it, but this is one of the main strategies that Satan uses to distract us from God's main thing. Satan would prefer to have us focus on things that don't matter, rather than on what really does matter. Satan would rather have us focus on the colors of our walls, or the kind of music we play, or the way a building gets used, rather than on God's main task for the church-which is building God's Kingdom. Or the way we state it here at our church…loving all people to Jesus Christ.

Illustration: While Rusty and I were at the Promise Keeper Pastor's Conference two weeks ago in Phoenix, we heard about some recent research that was done on people in the mountain climbing community. What this research found was that on cloudy days, when groups of mountain climbers would be climbing a tall mountain together, almost invariably, there would be arguing and bickering between individuals in the group. In other words, a lot of pettiness came into the camp on cloudy days.

But on days when the sky was clear, the groups of climbers would work very well together as a team. On sunny days, the arguing, complaining and pettiness was virtually eliminated. What was the difference? The research said that when the mountain climbers' goal-the top of the mountain-was obscured by the clouds, pettiness took over. But when the goal remained in sight, the mountain climbers worked well together as a team.

This is what we see Paul doing here in our verses this morning. He was treating these other preachers as teammates.

He could have denounced them for preaching out of impure motives. But he didn't. These guys weren't preaching false theology. They weren't heretics. They weren't perverting the gospel of Jesus Christ. No, these were genuine Christian leaders who were just acting immaturely. So Paul cut them some slack. He kept the goal in sight.

Our goal, friends, is to work together for the Kingdom of God. At Calvary Baptist Church we are called to Love all people to Jesus Christ and help them on their journey with God and with each other-not to get hung up on petty issues that only serve to advance our own agendas, and don't advance the Kingdom of God. Our job is to love all people, not judge all people.

C. Remember What Really Matters

Let's move to the third thing Paul illustrates.

Illustration: When I first took up golf, I can remember trying to swing at that little white ball with all my might, so I would have the longest drive of anyone in my foursome. But what usually happened is that I failed miserably, every time. In fact, seldom did I connect with the ball very well during those first few times I played golf. I practiced my swing. I kept my feet in the right location. I even wore matching and color coordinated clothes. And I still couldn't hit it off the tee very far. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. It wasn't until I took a lesson from a golf pro that I discovered that I was neglecting a fundamental principle of playing golf. I wasn't keeping my eye on the ball. I wasn't paying attention to what really mattered.

And friends, that's the third thing we need to keep in mind when it comes to dealing with people issues in the church. Remember what really matters.

Connecting the club to the ball is what matters in golf…not how good your swing looks to other people; not how good your clothes look; not the brand of club you use. You've got to hit the ball in order to play golf. And when you don't keep your eye on the ball, you will miss it or miss hit it just about every time. The same is true in dealing with people. Remember what really matters. Keep the main thing the main thing. If you don't, you will be a very unhappy camper.

Paul understood this. Look at how he handled this situation of the competitive preachers who were trying to show they were better than he was. Better yet, look at what he didn't do. Because what he didn't do speaks volumes about his priorities and values.

What Paul didn't do was lose his focus. He didn't allow himself to become preoccupied with troublemakers. He could have! -He could have allowed them to become his priority. -He could have allowed a desire to get even to consume him. -He could have given in to a desire to correct them or defend himself… …But he didn't. He kept his eye on the ball. He kept the main thing the main thing.

Now, in all honesty, Paul had some practice at this. When he was visiting the Corinthian church he had to work hard to keep his focus. After he was with them, he wrote…

1 Corinthians 2:2 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Paul put his relationship with Jesus and the goals that accompany that relationship as his top priority. He did not let non-essential distractions sidetrack him. And neither should we.

Listen to what Coach Bill McCartney, the former head football coach at the University of Colorado, and the founder of Promise Keepers wrote…

Illustration: When I took the job as head football coach at the University of Colorado in 1982, I made a solemn promise: I told everybody that with me, God was first, family second, and football third.

But I didn't keep that promise for long. The thrill and the challenge of resurrecting a football program in disarray simply took too much time and attention. As my teams kept winning year after year, I kept losing focus of my priorities.

When we won the national championship in 1990, many people said I had reached the pinnacle of my profession. But for me, there was an emptiness about it. I had everything a man could want, and yet something was missing. I was so busy pursuing my career goals that I was missing out on the Spirit-filled life that God wanted me to have.

All because I had broken my promise to put God first and foremost in my life. (Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1).

Paul put his relationship with Jesus Christ, first and foremost in his life. And we must too!

Jesus said that it's the Kingdom of God that really matters. The Kingdom of God must be the Christian's top priority in life. Christ, the King, should be the focus of every single person who calls himself or herself a Christian. Christians bear His name. Our very name declares the one to whom our allegiance must belong. Our priorities must reflect the relationship we say we have. Otherwise, we're no better than liars!

The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us…

Hebrews 12:2 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,

Friends, if we're going to play this game of life well, then we have to keep our eye on the ball. We have to remember what matters. -The goal is Jesus. -The focus is Jesus. -The purpose is Jesus. -The reason is Jesus. Do you get the idea? -It's all Jesus…it's not any of me. -It's all Jesus…it's not anyone else. -It's all Jesus, no matter how He's made known. It's not about me. It's all about Him. That's what really matters!!!!!

You can't let what people do or don't do throw you off track. You can be sure that Satan wants you to become preoccupied with everything other than your relationship with Jesus. Friends, refuse to let him do that. Remember what really matters.

D. Rejoice In What God Is Doing

Now, here's the fourth thing you must understand to keep people problems from getting you off of God's main thing. And that is to rejoice in what God is doing.

Keep in mind the perspective that the apostle Paul had. -It was God who was in control. -It was God who was at work. -It was God who was doing something even when things didn't seem to make sense.

All Paul did was rejoice in what God was ultimately doing.

One of the great themes of this book of Philippians that we're studying is joy and rejoicing. It recurs over and over again. We read in

Philippians 4:4 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

When we can learn to rejoice in what God is doing around us, that will make a huge difference in our attitudes. -The level of our happiness will increase. -The level of our frustration will decrease. -The way we look at people will change. -The way we look at situations will change. And we'll always be able to find something in which we can rejoice.

Illustration: In the Christian Reader magazine a few years ago, a pastor wrote a story about a time that he was passing by a table in a local restaurant. At the table he noticed a gentleman who was going to be celebrating his 100th birthday the following week. The man was eating dinner with some of his family. So, the pastor stopped and said to the elderly man, "you're out celebrating a little early, aren't you?" And the old man looked at him and said, "At my age, son, every day is a celebration!"

Friends, that's the kind of attitude we should have as followers of Jesus Christ. Every day is a day for celebration!

What is God doing in your life? What are the circumstances, the situations and the people He has placed in your life right now? -Do you believe that He is at work in every situation you face? -Do you believe that He is working in every one of those situations to mold your character? -Do you believe that through it all He is making you more into the image of your Savior, Jesus Christ? …If you believe those things, then you should rejoice. God is at work in your life. God is changing you for the good.

III. Conclusion

Friends, you and I must understand this… …People are at the heart of what matters to God. Every person you make eye contact with needs a relationship with Jesus Christ, where He is the forgiver of their sins and the leader of their life. Otherwise that person is going to spend eternity apart from God, suffering the eternal consequences of Hell.

But the good news of the Kingdom of God is that a relationship with Jesus Christ is possible, it is free, and it is waiting for anyone who wants it. That's the main thing of our faith.

But these verses we've looked at this morning tell us that sometimes people-and it's usually other Christian people… who are well meaning, but misguided-will try to take our focus off of the main thing, and place it on something that in the light of eternity, is just a very minor thing.

When that happens, remember the advice from the example of Paul… 1. recognize that people will disappoint you, 2. refuse to be petty, 3. remember what really matters, and 4. rejoice in what God is doing.

If you remember those four things, you won't get sidetracked from what is most important to God.

Amen.