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[music]

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Alrighty, Mars Hill.

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Hey, what book of the Bible
do you think we're in?

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If you're new,
we're in Luke.

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And we've been in
Luke for a few years.

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We knew the Rapture wasn't
gonna happen, so we picked--

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[applauding]

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We still got people to reach,
churches to plant, stuff to do,

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babies to make.

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We got things
we're working on.

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And so we picked a long book of
the Bible, knowing for a fact

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we'd have plenty of time
to work through it.

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And today we're in Luke 18:18-30,
where Jesus talks on idolatry,

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money, and comedy.

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And the big idea is this:

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that everyone has something
to teach us,

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that everyone has something to
teach us if we have the humility

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to learn and the discernment to
figure out what the lesson is.

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And some people come into
our life and they serve

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as a positive example where,
because of God's grace

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and the wisdom that they enjoy,

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they've got some
great lessons to teach us.

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Other people, it is not
positive, it's negative.

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They operated out of folly,
not out of wisdom.

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And as a result, we can learn
vicariously through some of

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their tragic decisions
and experiences.

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And so Luke teaches us this way
vicariously letting us

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eavesdrop in, look at
Jesus having conversations

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and relations
with various people.

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And today we're gonna see Jesus
have a conversation

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with a rich ruler,
and we're gonna learn

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vicariously through his own sin:

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idolatry, foolishness,
and sadness.

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And we'll just read it all and
then unpack three big ideas.

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Luke 18:18-30,

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"And the ruler
asked him, 'Good Teacher,

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"'what must I do to
inherit eternal life?'

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"And Jesus said to him,
'Why do you call me good?

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"'No one is good
except God alone.

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"'You know the commandments:

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"'Do no commit adultery,
Do not murder,

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"'Do not steal,
Do not bear false witness,

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"'Honor your father and mother.'

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"And he said, 'All these I
have kept from my youth.'

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"When Jesus heard
this, he said to him,

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"'One thing you still lack.

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"'Sell all you have
and distribute it to the poor,

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"'and you will have treasure
in heaven; and come, follow me.'

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"But when he heard these things,
he became very sad,

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"for he was extremely rich.

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"Jesus, seeing that he
had become sad, said,

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"'How difficult is it for those
who have wealth to enter

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"'the kingdom of God!

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"'For it is easier
for a camel to go through

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"'the eye of a needle than
for a rich person to enter

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"the kingdom of God.'

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"Those who heard it said,
'Then who can be saved?'

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"But he said, 'What is
impossible with men

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"is possible with God.'

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"Peter said, 'See, we have left
our homes and followed you.'

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"And he said to them,
'Truly, I say to you,

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"'there is no one who has left
house or wife or brothers

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"'or parents or children, for
the sake of the kingdom of God,

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"'who will not receive many
times more in this time,

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and in the age to come
eternal life.'"

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Here is a man, here's
what we know of him:

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he is rich and he is a ruler.

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So he is wealthy and powerful,
two things that you and I

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probably all, to some
degree, aspire to.

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If someone came to you and said,

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"Would you like to be
powerful or powerless?"

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I vote powerful.

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Do you want to be poor or rich?
I vote rich.

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He has attained success.

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He's the kind of man in that
day and our day

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that is widely admired.

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What a successful person.

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What an achievement his life is.

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He's the kind of person
who becomes a celebrity,

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becomes famous, becomes looked
up to and admired and emulated.

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And he has this
conversation with Jesus.

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And in it, he reveals his
own estimation of himself.

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He comes to Jesus and he asks
a question that is not

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a bad question but it's
asked in a bad way.

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He doesn't ask, "Jesus,
what must I experience,

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receive to inherit
eternal life?"

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Instead he says, "Lord Jesus,
what must I do to inherit

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or receive eternal life?"

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His question is basically,
"How can I save myself?

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"How can I save myself?

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"What religious work,
what large check,

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"what sacred pilgrimage do
I need to commit myself to

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"so that, in addition to all the
other fantastic achievements

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"and accomplishments of my life,
I can add to my resume,

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"'He saved himself.

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"'He merited, earned
his salvation.

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He was pleasing in
the sight of God.'"

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And so he starts with arrogance,
not with humility and he starts

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not coming to Jesus empty-handed
to receive a gift of salvation.

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He comes with his hands
full of his achievements and

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accomplishments, asking Jesus
what else he could do to show

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how fantastic and worthy he was.

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And that's his view of himself.

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Because Jesus says,
"Well, let's start with

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the Ten Commandments."

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And there are 613 commandments
in the first 5 books of

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the Old Testament alone.

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They're summarized
in Exodus 20

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in the Ten Commandments.

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So Jesus runs
through some of them.

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Don't murder, don't
steal, don't lie,

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honor your mother and father.

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Jesus runs through some
of the commandments.

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And the guy says,
"Well, I know them.

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Thankfully, I've obeyed them
fully since I was a little boy."

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What he's basically saying
is, "I'm not perfect,

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"but I'm pretty close.

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"I'm not sinless, but
some might think I am.

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That's how close I have come."

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What's his view of Jesus?

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His view of Jesus
is a "good teacher,"

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that's the language he uses.

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Some of you would want to put
Jesus in that same category,

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good teacher.

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Many do, many other
religions, philosophies,

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and spiritualties put Jesus in
the category of good teacher.

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"He's like a Mahatma Gandhi

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"or he's like
a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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"or he's like an Abe Lincoln
or he's like a Mother Teresa

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"or he's like
a George Washington.

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"He's a good leader.

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"He's a good teacher.

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"He lived a good life.

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"He helped people.

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"He's a fantastic example.

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Not a Savior, but an example."

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And this man looks
at Jesus and says,

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"You're a very good teacher."

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And Jesus rebukes him as
Jesus would rebuke you.

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And friends, don't do
this, don't do as he did,

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try to reduce Jesus to
someone that he's not.

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Jesus is a good
teacher, the finest,

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most extraordinary teacher
in the history of the world.

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But he's far more than
just a good teacher.

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He's also God become a man.

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And Jesus says, "Don't call me
good unless you think I'm God

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because only God alone
is truly good."

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See, we tend to think on a scale
from really bad person

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to really good person.

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And that somewhere along that
continuum there are people that

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are really bad, pretty bad,
sort of bad, sometimes bad,

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not too bad, pretty
good, really good.

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And he looks at Jesus
and he says, "You're good."

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Jesus says, "Only God is good."

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'Cause see, God has
a different category.

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God doesn't have a sliding scale
from really bad to really good.

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God has two categories:
sinner, sinless.

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Two categories.

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Jesus says, "The only person
in the sinless category,

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"in the really truly
good category is God.

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So don't say I'm good
unless you think I'm God."

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Jesus Christ alone
is without sin

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and he is in a category
unto himself.

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Jesus is not--here's
the big idea--.

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Jesus is not the best among us.

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He's not
the supreme of our kind.

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He's not the most achieved and
accomplished in our category.

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He's in a category unto himself.

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He's not just a good man,
he's the God-man.

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He didn't just live a good
life, he lived a sinless life.

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He's not just better than
most, he's alone perfect.

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And so Jesus makes
this strong claim,

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and he makes it so that we
wouldn't fall in the same

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tragic error as the rich ruler.

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And some of you would.

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Just want Jesus to be in
the category of one of the best

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among us, a fantastic
teacher and moral example.

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And Jesus says, "I reject being
categorized, rather,

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"in that way.

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"I'm God or I'm not God, but
don't just disrespect me,

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"dishonor me, disregard me
and call me a good teacher.

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"It's not like I'm a philosophy
prophet at a university.

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"I'm here to atone for
the sin of the world,

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not just throughout good
moral truisms."

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So they're having
their conversation.

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And his question is, "What
must I do to save myself?"

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Had he come to any other
religious leader but Jesus,

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he would have gotten
a very different answer.

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He would have been told, "Do
this, don't do these things,

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"obey, make sure you give,
take a sacred pilgrimage to

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a holy place, do these things
and you could save yourself."

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Jesus doesn't have that kind
of conversation with him.

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Jesus instead moves into the
conversation about idolatry,

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which is the first of
our three big ideas.

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Idolatry.

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And so Jesus says, "Well,
you know the commandments.

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"Do not commit adultery, do
not murder, do not steal,

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"do not bear false witness,
honor your mother and father.

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What about the commandments?"

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And the man says, "All these
I have kept from my youth.

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All these I have
kept from my youth."

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And Jesus then proceeds.

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He says, "One thing
you still lack."

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And what Jesus is doing here
is he's getting to the heart

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of God's commandments.

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Some of you say,
"I haven't stolen."

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But have you coveted or become
jealous or petty or bitter

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when someone has something
you don't?

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Then you're guilty
in your heart.

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Some of you say, "I've never
committed adultery."

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Ah, but Jesus says
in Matthew 5,

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if you lust in your heart,

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you've committed
adultery by intent.

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God cares, yes,
about our actions,

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but also about our motivations.

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Here Jesus sees his heart
and his mind as Jesus sees

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your heart and your mind
and my heart and my mind.

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And Jesus says, "Outwardly
you've kept the commandments,

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"but you've not kept
the spirit of the commandments.

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You've not kept the essence
of the commandments."

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It's like a guy, he would say,
"I take my wife on date night

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every week."

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Yeah, but you don't love her.
And she knows that.

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And you check the dutiful box,

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but you don't have
the emotional commitment.

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And here's the key about
the Ten Commandments.

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Martin Luther, one of the
greatest thinkers in the history

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of the world, he has
phenomenally helpful insights

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on the Ten Commandments.

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He speaks of them in places
like his "Heidelberg Catechism."

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And he says, "Really, there
are two commandments and then

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implications and applications
of those two commandments."

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And the first two
commandments are these,

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Martin Luther rightly
says, and again,

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we're speaking from Jesus who
here mentions roughly half of

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the Ten Commandments.

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The first commandment is
there's one God alone.

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The second commandment is you
are to only worship

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that God alone.

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Martin Luther
rightly ascertains,

242
00:12:02,375 --> 00:12:04,375
if we obey the first
two commandments,

243
00:12:04,375 --> 00:12:06,875
we will not disobey the rest.

244
00:12:06,875 --> 00:12:10,250
This is very important for how
we do counseling at Mars Hill.

245
00:12:10,250 --> 00:12:14,167
We want to do counseling
the way Jesus does it.

246
00:12:14,167 --> 00:12:17,042
Because were Jesus to walk
into the office today

247
00:12:17,042 --> 00:12:21,000
of a behaviorally based
moral psychologist,

248
00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,792
the counselor would ask him,
"So tell me about your life."

249
00:12:23,792 --> 00:12:26,500
"Well, my business
is going very well.

250
00:12:26,500 --> 00:12:28,167
"I don't have any addictions.

251
00:12:28,167 --> 00:12:30,000
"I don't have any sexual sin.

252
00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,292
"I don't have any
gambling problems.

253
00:12:32,292 --> 00:12:34,292
"My health is good.

254
00:12:34,292 --> 00:12:36,375
I'm very rich
and very powerful."

255
00:12:36,375 --> 00:12:39,833
The counselor would say,
"I don't think we need

256
00:12:39,833 --> 00:12:42,250
"a follow-up appointment.

257
00:12:42,250 --> 00:12:44,958
"You have a fantastic life.

258
00:12:44,958 --> 00:12:47,875
"You have no addictions.

259
00:12:47,875 --> 00:12:50,375
"You have no sinful, wicked,

260
00:12:50,375 --> 00:12:53,833
"destructive proclivities,
compulsions.

261
00:12:53,833 --> 00:12:56,958
"You're not harming anyone.

262
00:12:56,958 --> 00:13:00,375
In fact, you should
be the counselor."

263
00:13:00,375 --> 00:13:04,792
Because today, all we evaluate
people based upon is

264
00:13:04,792 --> 00:13:08,958
their outward moral behavior.

265
00:13:08,958 --> 00:13:10,583
And if they're not
behaving rightly,

266
00:13:10,583 --> 00:13:14,292
we want to change
their behavior.

267
00:13:14,292 --> 00:13:16,750
And the issue here is Jesus
isn't trying to change

268
00:13:16,750 --> 00:13:23,167
the man's behavior, he's trying
to change the man's God.

269
00:13:23,167 --> 00:13:25,667
So it's far deeper.

270
00:13:25,667 --> 00:13:30,500
Yeah, the man doesn't have
addictions and proclivities,

271
00:13:30,500 --> 00:13:36,375
but he worships the wrong God,
which is a bigger problem.

272
00:13:36,375 --> 00:13:39,375
Here's how it plays in
the Ten Commandments.

273
00:13:39,375 --> 00:13:46,667
If you commit adultery,
your problem is not sexual,

274
00:13:46,667 --> 00:13:50,667
your problem is that you're
worshiping the wrong God.

275
00:13:50,667 --> 00:13:54,542
You're worshiping sex or
pleasure or convenience.

276
00:13:54,542 --> 00:13:56,875
And as a result of
worshiping the wrong god,

277
00:13:56,875 --> 00:14:00,500
you committed the worship
act, idolatrous worship act,

278
00:14:00,500 --> 00:14:02,667
of adultery.

279
00:14:02,667 --> 00:14:06,667
If you're someone who overeats
and you're a glutton,

280
00:14:06,667 --> 00:14:09,250
your problem is not
food and gluttony,

281
00:14:09,250 --> 00:14:13,083
your problem is
worship and idolatry.

282
00:14:13,083 --> 00:14:14,875
You worship food.

283
00:14:14,875 --> 00:14:17,292
When you're sad, you
go to food for comfort.

284
00:14:17,292 --> 00:14:19,875
When you're happy, you
go to food to rejoice.

285
00:14:19,875 --> 00:14:23,667
When you've done something good,
you reward yourself with food.

286
00:14:23,667 --> 00:14:26,167
It's all worship act.

287
00:14:26,167 --> 00:14:29,000
And so food is idolatry.

288
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,792
Your god is your stomach, Paul
says in the New Testament.

289
00:14:31,792 --> 00:14:33,667
So you don't have
a food problem,

290
00:14:33,667 --> 00:14:35,292
you don't have
a refrigerator problem,

291
00:14:35,292 --> 00:14:38,833
you have a worship problem,
you have an idol problem.

292
00:14:38,833 --> 00:14:41,375
See, if you worship God,
you won't worship food.

293
00:14:41,375 --> 00:14:44,833
If you worship God,
you won't worship sex.

294
00:14:44,833 --> 00:14:49,500
Again, if you lose your temper,
you get violent, you're angry,

295
00:14:49,500 --> 00:14:52,500
mean-spirited, perhaps it
even escalates into murder,

296
00:14:52,500 --> 00:14:54,792
you don't have an anger problem.

297
00:14:54,792 --> 00:14:56,375
You have a worship problem.

298
00:14:56,375 --> 00:14:58,167
The issue may be control.

299
00:14:58,167 --> 00:15:00,292
Your issue may be selfishness.

300
00:15:00,292 --> 00:15:03,500
Your issue may be that
you worship your anger.

301
00:15:03,500 --> 00:15:06,042
You feed it and stew on
it and through bitterness

302
00:15:06,042 --> 00:15:09,167
you empower it.

303
00:15:09,167 --> 00:15:11,167
And you could look
at someone and say,

304
00:15:11,167 --> 00:15:12,792
"We want to modify
your behavior.

305
00:15:12,792 --> 00:15:15,292
"So we're going to give you
principles of anger management,

306
00:15:15,292 --> 00:15:17,167
"which could be helpful.

307
00:15:17,167 --> 00:15:20,875
"But then all we might do
for you is change your idol.

308
00:15:20,875 --> 00:15:22,875
"So, oh good, you don't
worship anger anymore,

309
00:15:22,875 --> 00:15:25,042
"now you worship control.

310
00:15:25,042 --> 00:15:26,667
"And because you now
worship control,

311
00:15:26,667 --> 00:15:28,292
"you don't lose your anger.

312
00:15:28,292 --> 00:15:29,750
"Oh, this is so good.

313
00:15:29,750 --> 00:15:32,500
"We've exchanged idols, but at
least now we found an idol

314
00:15:32,500 --> 00:15:35,875
that the rest of us prefer."

315
00:15:35,875 --> 00:15:38,167
And this is where John Calvin
says rightly that

316
00:15:38,167 --> 00:15:41,500
the human heart
is an idol factory.

317
00:15:41,500 --> 00:15:44,500
We'll give up one idol to get
another idol or we'll pick

318
00:15:44,500 --> 00:15:46,750
one idol to control
our other idol.

319
00:15:46,750 --> 00:15:50,875
But at the end of the day, it's
not about behavior modification.

320
00:15:50,875 --> 00:15:55,875
It's about worship alteration,
that's what it's about.

321
00:15:55,875 --> 00:16:00,083
So Jesus is saying,
"Let's find your idol.

322
00:16:00,083 --> 00:16:02,083
Let's not look at
your behavior."

323
00:16:02,083 --> 00:16:04,292
Some of you would
walk in here and say,

324
00:16:04,292 --> 00:16:06,292
"I feel like I'm
a pretty good person.

325
00:16:06,292 --> 00:16:08,167
"I don't have any massive
behavior problems

326
00:16:08,167 --> 00:16:10,292
that are out of control."

327
00:16:10,292 --> 00:16:13,292
And I would say, "Well, let's
lift up the rock of pride.

328
00:16:13,292 --> 00:16:16,083
There may be something there."

329
00:16:16,083 --> 00:16:20,083
But furthermore, is there one
God and do you worship him alone

330
00:16:20,083 --> 00:16:24,375
because for this man,
he was his own god,

331
00:16:24,375 --> 00:16:27,542
and that is the god
that most of us worship.

332
00:16:27,542 --> 00:16:29,542
"Look at my success.
Look at my achievements.

333
00:16:29,542 --> 00:16:32,500
"Look at my accomplishments.
Look at my possessions.

334
00:16:32,500 --> 00:16:37,500
"Look at all that I have done.
Look at who I truly am.

335
00:16:37,500 --> 00:16:39,667
It's pretty fantastic."

336
00:16:39,667 --> 00:16:42,375
And it was all for his
glory, not God's glory.

337
00:16:42,375 --> 00:16:45,042
His whole life was
to glorify himself,

338
00:16:45,042 --> 00:16:49,583
not to honor
the God who made him.

339
00:16:49,583 --> 00:16:51,000
He's an idolater.

340
00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:56,583
And he also idolizes his
status and his success,

341
00:16:56,583 --> 00:16:59,583
his status and his success.

342
00:16:59,583 --> 00:17:03,167
So let's talk a little
bit about idolatry.

343
00:17:03,167 --> 00:17:08,375
Idolatry is often a good thing
that becomes a god thing.

344
00:17:08,375 --> 00:17:12,958
Idolatry is usually
a good thing in a bad place.

345
00:17:12,958 --> 00:17:15,583
It goes from something that
the Lord gives to functioning

346
00:17:15,583 --> 00:17:17,667
as a substitute lord.

347
00:17:17,667 --> 00:17:21,292
It becomes the most person,
thing, experience, possession,

348
00:17:21,292 --> 00:17:24,875
achievement, accomplishment
that we have in our whole life.

349
00:17:24,875 --> 00:17:27,083
It becomes central,
preeminent, paramount.

350
00:17:27,083 --> 00:17:30,292
And here's how we worship
idols, we--and here's the truth--

351
00:17:30,292 --> 00:17:31,958
we all worship, all the time.

352
00:17:31,958 --> 00:17:33,667
Everyone is made
as a worshipper.

353
00:17:33,667 --> 00:17:37,083
We all worship
unceasingly continually.

354
00:17:37,083 --> 00:17:41,167
We're pouring ourselves out to
someone or something that is

355
00:17:41,167 --> 00:17:46,667
essential, central,
preeminent, prominent to us.

356
00:17:46,667 --> 00:17:49,542
Usually a good thing.

357
00:17:49,542 --> 00:17:53,167
And worship acts are sacrifices.

358
00:17:53,167 --> 00:17:55,292
We sacrifice our time,
we sacrifice our health,

359
00:17:55,292 --> 00:17:57,167
we sacrifice our money.

360
00:17:57,167 --> 00:18:02,833
We say no to some things
because we idolize one thing.

361
00:18:02,833 --> 00:18:05,542
And here's the truth
about idols: they lie.

362
00:18:05,542 --> 00:18:09,083
They promise something that
only the kingdom of God

363
00:18:09,083 --> 00:18:10,750
can ultimately provide.

364
00:18:10,750 --> 00:18:12,875
That's where Jesus transitions
the discussion here

365
00:18:12,875 --> 00:18:14,333
to the kingdom of God.

366
00:18:14,333 --> 00:18:16,333
He's saying, "If you
give up your idols,

367
00:18:16,333 --> 00:18:18,667
"I promise you what you're
seeking will only ultimately

368
00:18:18,667 --> 00:18:21,667
be satisfied in the kingdom."

369
00:18:21,667 --> 00:18:23,958
See, this man is
worshiping his possessions.

370
00:18:23,958 --> 00:18:25,333
Why?

371
00:18:25,333 --> 00:18:27,167
Because it gives him status.

372
00:18:27,167 --> 00:18:29,000
Jesus says, "Let
go of your idol,

373
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,542
let me give you status
that lasts forever."

374
00:18:31,542 --> 00:18:34,042
He worships his success.

375
00:18:34,042 --> 00:18:37,583
And Jesus says,
"It's not about success.

376
00:18:37,583 --> 00:18:39,792
"It's about God who loves you

377
00:18:39,792 --> 00:18:41,583
"and adopts you
and cares for you,

378
00:18:41,583 --> 00:18:46,583
so let go of your idol and
receive the love of God."

379
00:18:46,583 --> 00:18:48,083
See, idols lie to us.

380
00:18:48,083 --> 00:18:49,875
They give us an identity.

381
00:18:49,875 --> 00:18:51,292
"I'm pretty.
I'm smart.

382
00:18:51,292 --> 00:18:52,792
"I'm funny.
I'm successful.

383
00:18:52,792 --> 00:18:54,792
I just don't care."

384
00:18:54,792 --> 00:18:58,458
Those are all identities.

385
00:18:58,458 --> 00:19:02,375
See, idols want to give us
comfort, peace, security,

386
00:19:02,375 --> 00:19:08,333
meaning, value, purpose,
fun, identity, community.

387
00:19:08,333 --> 00:19:14,167
And they lie because they
over promise and under deliver.

388
00:19:15,792 --> 00:19:21,375
And this man, he worships
himself and he cares about

389
00:19:21,375 --> 00:19:27,750
his status, his comfort,
his convenience.

390
00:19:27,750 --> 00:19:29,750
And when Jesus looks
at him and says,

391
00:19:29,750 --> 00:19:32,375
"You don't think you've broken
any of the Ten Commandments?"

392
00:19:32,375 --> 00:19:33,958
"No, I don't think I have."

393
00:19:33,958 --> 00:19:36,958
"Okay, then sell all your
stuff and give it to the poor.

394
00:19:36,958 --> 00:19:38,958
"You can have me
as your greatest treasure

395
00:19:38,958 --> 00:19:40,792
"or you can have
all your stuff

396
00:19:40,792 --> 00:19:43,750
"and your
standard of living.

397
00:19:43,750 --> 00:19:47,083
"You willing to go down to
a smaller place to live,

398
00:19:47,083 --> 00:19:52,375
simpler lifestyle, downsize to
follow me, your homeless God?"

399
00:19:54,375 --> 00:19:56,583
And it says,
"The man left very sad

400
00:19:56,583 --> 00:19:59,167
because he was extremely rich."

401
00:19:59,167 --> 00:20:02,792
Jesus found his idol.

402
00:20:02,792 --> 00:20:06,167
What would you be unwilling
to give up to follow Jesus?

403
00:20:08,792 --> 00:20:14,542
What would you cling to and walk
away from Jesus grieved about

404
00:20:14,542 --> 00:20:17,583
because ultimately your
idol had been exposed?

405
00:20:17,583 --> 00:20:19,250
Let me tell you this, friends.

406
00:20:19,250 --> 00:20:22,250
We oftentimes do not know what
our idol is until we face

407
00:20:22,250 --> 00:20:24,958
the prospect of losing it.

408
00:20:24,958 --> 00:20:27,167
Some of you say,
"I don't have an idol."

409
00:20:27,167 --> 00:20:29,167
You may.

410
00:20:29,167 --> 00:20:32,500
In fact, I would say, you do.

411
00:20:32,500 --> 00:20:36,167
And because your idol
is safe and secure,

412
00:20:36,167 --> 00:20:37,667
you're unaware
that it's an idol.

413
00:20:37,667 --> 00:20:41,000
But as soon as there is
the prospect of losing it,

414
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:42,875
that's when everything changes.

415
00:20:42,875 --> 00:20:45,250
And that was the situation
in this man's life.

416
00:20:45,250 --> 00:20:48,750
He comes to Jesus, "I don't have
any sin and I don't have

417
00:20:48,750 --> 00:20:51,792
any idolatry that is
motivating my sin."

418
00:20:51,792 --> 00:20:53,958
Jesus says, "Well, then
give me your stuff.

419
00:20:53,958 --> 00:20:56,958
Or rather, sell it and give
all the money to the poor."

420
00:20:56,958 --> 00:20:58,958
Today the equivalent
would be, "Take your car,

421
00:20:58,958 --> 00:21:01,292
"take your clothes, take your
technology, take your furniture,

422
00:21:01,292 --> 00:21:03,542
"put it all on eBay,
throw it on craigslist,

423
00:21:03,542 --> 00:21:05,875
"and give all the money
to someone who's poor.

424
00:21:05,875 --> 00:21:08,583
"Hand it all to some single
moms to help them out.

425
00:21:08,583 --> 00:21:10,875
"Downsize your
standard of living.

426
00:21:10,875 --> 00:21:14,292
"Upgrade your standard
of giving.

427
00:21:14,292 --> 00:21:15,958
"Take the bus.
Sell your car.

428
00:21:15,958 --> 00:21:17,667
Follow me."

429
00:21:17,667 --> 00:21:22,833
How many of you say,
"Yeah, that would be hard."

430
00:21:22,833 --> 00:21:26,792
Some of you say, "No, I
could give up most of my stuff.

431
00:21:26,792 --> 00:21:29,375
"But there's a couple
things that, you know,

432
00:21:29,375 --> 00:21:33,167
"if the house was on
fire, I would grab them.

433
00:21:33,167 --> 00:21:35,583
The rest I could live without."

434
00:21:35,583 --> 00:21:39,667
And that is probably
where your idol lies.

435
00:21:39,667 --> 00:21:43,167
Let me tell you a few
things about your idols.

436
00:21:44,958 --> 00:21:49,792
Idols consume our life
as we pursue them.

437
00:21:49,792 --> 00:21:52,875
They become all-consuming
because idols need to be

438
00:21:52,875 --> 00:21:57,167
worshiped like God
and they replace God.

439
00:21:57,167 --> 00:22:00,792
This is why some people can't
stop working, can't stop eating,

440
00:22:00,792 --> 00:22:03,292
can't stop drinking,
can't stop gambling,

441
00:22:03,292 --> 00:22:08,583
and/or can never be single, have
to always be in a relationship.

442
00:22:08,583 --> 00:22:14,000
It's all-consuming,
all-consuming.

443
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,792
Number two:

444
00:22:16,792 --> 00:22:23,000
Many of us seek to manipulate
God to give us our idol.

445
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,542
There are even theologies
that'll teach this.

446
00:22:25,542 --> 00:22:28,042
You're broke, you want to
be rich, you worship money?

447
00:22:28,042 --> 00:22:30,375
Come to our church,
come to Jesus.

448
00:22:30,375 --> 00:22:32,042
Jesus is an idol giver.

449
00:22:32,042 --> 00:22:34,500
He makes people rich.

450
00:22:34,500 --> 00:22:37,958
Right? Or you want to be
healthy and you're sick?

451
00:22:37,958 --> 00:22:41,667
Well, come to Jesus,
he'll make you healthy.

452
00:22:41,667 --> 00:22:44,375
He's an idol giver.

453
00:22:44,375 --> 00:22:46,333
You're single, you
want to be married?

454
00:22:46,333 --> 00:22:50,333
Walk with Jesus, he's obligated
to give you not just a spouse,

455
00:22:50,333 --> 00:22:53,083
but a fantastic one.

456
00:22:53,083 --> 00:22:54,792
You're struggling
with infertility?

457
00:22:54,792 --> 00:22:56,667
You really want
to have a child?

458
00:22:56,667 --> 00:22:58,083
Well, you know what?

459
00:22:58,083 --> 00:23:01,250
Jesus promises if you walk with
him faithfully and you pray to

460
00:23:01,250 --> 00:23:06,250
him earnestly and you believe
in him whole-heartedly,

461
00:23:06,250 --> 00:23:10,667
he will give you a child.

462
00:23:10,667 --> 00:23:14,792
Usually an idol is a good
thing that becomes a god thing,

463
00:23:14,792 --> 00:23:17,792
and we seek to manipulate
the real God and he cannot be

464
00:23:17,792 --> 00:23:21,458
manipulated to give us our idol.

465
00:23:21,458 --> 00:23:24,042
Number three:

466
00:23:24,042 --> 00:23:26,875
If we get our idol, we become
consumed in keeping

467
00:23:26,875 --> 00:23:29,000
and preserving it.

468
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,750
You're the student who worships
your grade point average,

469
00:23:31,750 --> 00:23:33,750
you have to get a 4.0.

470
00:23:33,750 --> 00:23:35,167
You're consumed by it.

471
00:23:35,167 --> 00:23:37,542
You don't have friends.
You don't have a job.

472
00:23:37,542 --> 00:23:39,292
You don't have time for church.
Why?

473
00:23:39,292 --> 00:23:41,750
"I'm going to get a 4.0.

474
00:23:41,750 --> 00:23:45,750
I worship success,
accomplishment, achievement."

475
00:23:45,750 --> 00:23:47,333
You're consumed by it.

476
00:23:47,333 --> 00:23:50,000
"God, please help me.
God, please let me.

477
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,667
"God, please assist me.

478
00:23:51,667 --> 00:23:55,583
I got it.
I got my report card, 4.0, yes."

479
00:23:55,583 --> 00:23:58,083
But now you're
obsessed in keeping it.

480
00:23:58,083 --> 00:24:01,500
Now you got to get a 4.0
the next quarter 'cause your

481
00:24:01,500 --> 00:24:04,583
identity and your righteousness
is tied to your

482
00:24:04,583 --> 00:24:06,875
grade point average.

483
00:24:06,875 --> 00:24:08,292
Same with a mother.

484
00:24:08,292 --> 00:24:11,500
Is it a good thing or
a bad thing to have a child?

485
00:24:11,500 --> 00:24:12,875
Covered it last week.

486
00:24:12,875 --> 00:24:14,875
It's a good thing.
Children are a blessing.

487
00:24:14,875 --> 00:24:18,375
Can a child become an idol?
Absolutely.

488
00:24:18,375 --> 00:24:22,500
You have to have a child.
You have to get pregnant.

489
00:24:22,500 --> 00:24:25,500
Children are a blessing.

490
00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:32,458
But infertility, miscarriage,
it's not just grievous,

491
00:24:32,458 --> 00:24:35,667
it's devastating.

492
00:24:35,667 --> 00:24:38,750
And all of a sudden
you're very angry at God.

493
00:24:38,750 --> 00:24:40,458
"God, how could you?

494
00:24:40,458 --> 00:24:43,583
"How dare you?

495
00:24:43,583 --> 00:24:49,500
You took my idol,"
called spouse or child.

496
00:24:50,667 --> 00:24:52,542
And those who are
present, including Peter,

497
00:24:52,542 --> 00:24:56,500
they move from the idol of
money to the idol of family.

498
00:24:56,500 --> 00:24:59,292
Let me tell you, these are
the two most popular idols

499
00:24:59,292 --> 00:25:03,083
and they're often at war.

500
00:25:03,083 --> 00:25:06,667
So dad can't come home from work
because he's worshiping money

501
00:25:06,667 --> 00:25:09,833
and he's got to keep the family
on the alter and sacrifice them

502
00:25:09,833 --> 00:25:15,083
to the god of forward
progress at the job.

503
00:25:15,083 --> 00:25:17,833
Peter comes along and
says, "We sold our houses,

504
00:25:17,833 --> 00:25:22,000
"we downsized our
standard of living.

505
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,583
Some of our family members
think we're crazy."

506
00:25:28,458 --> 00:25:31,792
He's exposing his idol.

507
00:25:31,792 --> 00:25:33,292
"Jesus, we really,
really, really, really,

508
00:25:33,292 --> 00:25:35,875
"really love our family.

509
00:25:35,875 --> 00:25:42,500
Please tell us that it's not in
vain that we are following you."

510
00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:47,458
You get your idol, now
you're obsessed to keep it.

511
00:25:47,458 --> 00:25:49,167
You finally get married.

512
00:25:49,167 --> 00:25:52,792
You become so obsessed
with a relationship

513
00:25:52,792 --> 00:25:55,000
that you choke it out.

514
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,083
You get a child, you
become so controlling,

515
00:25:58,083 --> 00:26:04,250
so fearful that ultimately
you destroy the child

516
00:26:04,250 --> 00:26:09,833
and/or the child grows up,
the child leaves home,

517
00:26:09,833 --> 00:26:11,833
and the marriage collapses.

518
00:26:11,833 --> 00:26:13,292
Why?

519
00:26:13,292 --> 00:26:16,042
Because the idol left.

520
00:26:16,042 --> 00:26:20,292
And the husband and the wife
were worshippers of the child.

521
00:26:20,292 --> 00:26:22,000
They lived for the child.

522
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:23,583
They worked for the child.

523
00:26:23,583 --> 00:26:25,375
They went to church
for the child.

524
00:26:25,375 --> 00:26:27,375
They stayed married
for the child.

525
00:26:27,375 --> 00:26:29,875
And once the child is
gone, the marriage is over.

526
00:26:29,875 --> 00:26:32,583
This is why marriages have
crises and meltdowns

527
00:26:32,583 --> 00:26:34,000
and breakdowns.

528
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,000
Some of you are older,
you're feeling it.

529
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,500
Some of you are younger and your
parents are experiencing it.

530
00:26:40,500 --> 00:26:42,042
Say, "What happened?

531
00:26:42,042 --> 00:26:43,458
"Everything was fine.

532
00:26:43,458 --> 00:26:47,958
Oh, the idol left."

533
00:26:47,958 --> 00:26:50,958
Because number one,
idols consume our life

534
00:26:50,958 --> 00:26:52,333
as we pursue them.

535
00:26:52,333 --> 00:26:55,542
Number two, we even seek to
use God to be our idol giver.

536
00:26:55,542 --> 00:26:57,667
Number three, if we
receive our idol,

537
00:26:57,667 --> 00:26:59,542
we become consumed
with keeping it.

538
00:26:59,542 --> 00:27:01,792
And number four,
if we lose our idol,

539
00:27:01,792 --> 00:27:04,667
we become devastated
and destroyed.

540
00:27:04,667 --> 00:27:08,167
Not just grieved,
devastated and destroyed,

541
00:27:08,167 --> 00:27:10,500
possibly even with God.

542
00:27:10,500 --> 00:27:13,333
"How dare you?

543
00:27:13,333 --> 00:27:16,875
You took my treasure."

544
00:27:16,875 --> 00:27:21,583
And Jesus here is saying to this
man, "Give away your treasure."

545
00:27:21,583 --> 00:27:25,000
And the man says,
"I am grieved."

546
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:29,292
And Jesus says essentially,
"I am grieved as well

547
00:27:29,292 --> 00:27:33,083
because I'm supposed to be
your treasure."

548
00:27:34,875 --> 00:27:37,667
See, we should have a treasure.

549
00:27:37,667 --> 00:27:40,375
Our treasure should be Jesus.

550
00:27:40,375 --> 00:27:42,875
We should worship our treasure.

551
00:27:42,875 --> 00:27:45,167
And that treasure
should be Jesus.

552
00:27:45,167 --> 00:27:47,042
And here's the truth.

553
00:27:47,042 --> 00:27:49,542
Jonathan Edwards says
this in his book called,

554
00:27:49,542 --> 00:27:51,083
"The Nature of True Virtue"

555
00:27:51,083 --> 00:27:52,875
--he's one of the greatest
theologians America's

556
00:27:52,875 --> 00:27:54,583
ever produced,
arguably the greatest--

557
00:27:54,583 --> 00:27:57,667
he says, what happens is
this, if you idolize one thing,

558
00:27:57,667 --> 00:28:00,667
you demonize the other.

559
00:28:00,667 --> 00:28:03,792
So if you idolize your spouse,
it's only a matter of time

560
00:28:03,792 --> 00:28:06,000
before they disappoint you
because your spouse

561
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,583
is not a good god.

562
00:28:08,583 --> 00:28:11,500
If you idolize children, if you
idolize a dating relationship,

563
00:28:11,500 --> 00:28:14,375
if you idolize a job,
if you idolize a home,

564
00:28:14,375 --> 00:28:18,667
if you idolize a car, if you
idolize a standard of living,

565
00:28:18,667 --> 00:28:21,292
if you idolize peace,
comfort, security,

566
00:28:21,292 --> 00:28:24,083
if you idolize fun and pleasure,

567
00:28:24,083 --> 00:28:27,167
eventually it's going to fail
you because idols what?

568
00:28:27,167 --> 00:28:28,833
Idols lie.

569
00:28:28,833 --> 00:28:31,250
And you'll end up
demonizing them.

570
00:28:31,250 --> 00:28:33,083
You'll hate your spouse.

571
00:28:33,083 --> 00:28:35,667
You'll hate your kids.
You'll hate your job.

572
00:28:35,667 --> 00:28:38,542
You'll hate everything
that has disappointed you.

573
00:28:38,542 --> 00:28:40,667
And the problem is
not in the things,

574
00:28:40,667 --> 00:28:44,167
the problem is in our heart, that
we worship someone or something

575
00:28:44,167 --> 00:28:47,333
that is not God, and then we
want to destroy it when it

576
00:28:47,333 --> 00:28:51,500
fails us rather than repenting
of turning a good thing

577
00:28:51,500 --> 00:28:54,167
into a god thing.

578
00:28:54,167 --> 00:28:56,500
And this is the hard
conversation that Jesus is

579
00:28:56,500 --> 00:28:58,250
having with this man.

580
00:28:58,250 --> 00:28:59,750
The man walks up
smiling,

581
00:28:59,750 --> 00:29:02,667
"Jesus, I am so glad
to meet you.

582
00:29:02,667 --> 00:29:06,250
I've heard you're
a good teacher."

583
00:29:06,250 --> 00:29:08,458
Jesus says, "Well, how are
you doing at keeping

584
00:29:08,458 --> 00:29:09,833
the Ten Commandments?"

585
00:29:09,833 --> 00:29:13,000
"Well, since I want to save
myself and I want God to be

586
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,667
"pleased and I want to have a
moral, compliant, obedient life,

587
00:29:15,667 --> 00:29:18,167
"I am happy to report I
have kept the commandments

588
00:29:18,167 --> 00:29:19,667
"since I was a little boy.

589
00:29:19,667 --> 00:29:21,167
"My life is fantastic.

590
00:29:21,167 --> 00:29:22,667
"You want to see my car?

591
00:29:22,667 --> 00:29:24,167
"You want to see my house?

592
00:29:24,167 --> 00:29:25,750
"You want to see my friends?

593
00:29:25,750 --> 00:29:30,083
I really appreciate
the life God has given me."

594
00:29:30,083 --> 00:29:32,792
"Then sell your stuff."

595
00:29:32,792 --> 00:29:42,583
"Oh, well now I'm very sad,
because you're talking about me

596
00:29:42,583 --> 00:29:45,958
"driving up in
a beater car or a bus.

597
00:29:45,958 --> 00:29:49,083
"And people aren't gonna
look at me the same.

598
00:29:49,083 --> 00:29:53,875
"And if I can't live in that
house, I gotta downsize.

599
00:29:53,875 --> 00:29:56,750
"I'm gonna be with
a different class of people.

600
00:29:56,750 --> 00:29:58,958
"And I really like
the food that I eat

601
00:29:58,958 --> 00:30:01,292
"and I really like the drink
that I drink

602
00:30:01,292 --> 00:30:05,542
"and it just seems like
you're asking a lot.

603
00:30:05,542 --> 00:30:07,750
"After all, I've worked hard
and I've accomplished it

604
00:30:07,750 --> 00:30:10,500
and I've achieved it and I feel
like I deserve it."

605
00:30:10,500 --> 00:30:12,958
Jesus says,
"Me or your stuff.

606
00:30:12,958 --> 00:30:15,500
You can't have both.
Pick one or the other."

607
00:30:15,500 --> 00:30:18,000
And the guy says, "Yeah,
good luck with that.

608
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:19,375
"That's funny.

609
00:30:19,375 --> 00:30:22,875
You're a homeless guy,
you don't understand."

610
00:30:22,875 --> 00:30:27,958
Is Jesus your treasure?

611
00:30:27,958 --> 00:30:31,583
Now, we move on to money.

612
00:30:31,583 --> 00:30:34,500
One of the surest ways
to find your idol

613
00:30:34,500 --> 00:30:39,167
is to follow your money, right?

614
00:30:39,167 --> 00:30:43,667
'Cause where you put your
money, Jesus says elsewhere,

615
00:30:43,667 --> 00:30:45,667
that's where your heart is.

616
00:30:45,667 --> 00:30:49,167
So you can't say, "I love the
Lord, I just don't give to him.

617
00:30:49,167 --> 00:30:52,667
I love my family, but I
don't feed them," right?

618
00:30:55,583 --> 00:30:59,875
"I love single mothers
and I really feel for them.

619
00:30:59,875 --> 00:31:03,000
"But you know, I mean,
I got to have a bass boat

620
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,000
"and I got to have a golf game

621
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,500
"and I got to have tools in
my garage and I got to have

622
00:31:08,500 --> 00:31:11,000
"a flat screen TV, so
I mean, I love them.

623
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,000
"I just, you know, I
don't have any extra.

624
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:14,750
"I just can't,
you know, show it.

625
00:31:14,750 --> 00:31:16,167
"But don't judge me.

626
00:31:16,167 --> 00:31:17,542
You don't know my heart."

627
00:31:17,542 --> 00:31:20,167
No, I do know your heart
'cause I followed your wallet.

628
00:31:20,167 --> 00:31:22,875
Your wallet is
an indicator of your heart.

629
00:31:22,875 --> 00:31:25,167
So a couple things.

630
00:31:25,167 --> 00:31:27,958
If you want to follow your
idol--find your idol rather,

631
00:31:27,958 --> 00:31:30,083
follow your money,
number two,

632
00:31:30,083 --> 00:31:33,500
everyone thinks that
someone else is rich.

633
00:31:33,500 --> 00:31:35,000
I've met a lot of people.

634
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,292
Every person I've met pretty
much thinks when the Bible

635
00:31:38,292 --> 00:31:42,667
says rich, it's somebody
just above them.

636
00:31:42,667 --> 00:31:45,583
And when it says
poor, it's them.

637
00:31:45,583 --> 00:31:48,167
Okay, so you're like,
"Oh, yeah, the rich, yeah.

638
00:31:48,167 --> 00:31:49,875
"Pfft, totally the rich.

639
00:31:49,875 --> 00:31:52,792
"Yeah, I watch "Robin Hood,"
I vote Democrat,

640
00:31:52,792 --> 00:31:55,875
"I agree with Jesus,
stick it to the rich.

641
00:31:55,875 --> 00:31:58,500
"Yes, I hate the rich.

642
00:31:58,500 --> 00:32:01,667
Stick it to the rich."

643
00:32:01,667 --> 00:32:03,792
Everyone thinks
someone else is rich.

644
00:32:03,792 --> 00:32:05,167
And you know what?

645
00:32:05,167 --> 00:32:07,667
Somebody thinks you're rich.

646
00:32:07,667 --> 00:32:11,042
Like had we met this guy,
he would think you're rich.

647
00:32:11,042 --> 00:32:13,292
"What is that?"
It's a toilet.

648
00:32:13,292 --> 00:32:15,333
"What is that?"
It's connected to plumbing.

649
00:32:15,333 --> 00:32:17,333
"Unbelievable.
Where does it all go?"

650
00:32:17,333 --> 00:32:18,750
It goes somewhere else.

651
00:32:18,750 --> 00:32:20,500
"You don't have
to live with it?"

652
00:32:20,500 --> 00:32:21,875
No.

653
00:32:21,875 --> 00:32:23,292
"That's amazing right there."

654
00:32:23,292 --> 00:32:24,833
Would you like something to eat?

655
00:32:24,833 --> 00:32:27,042
"Sure, what's the really cold
box filled with food?"

656
00:32:27,042 --> 00:32:28,458
We call it a fridge.

657
00:32:28,458 --> 00:32:30,000
"Wow."

658
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,000
Would you like to sit in
the chair and watch the TV?

659
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:35,292
"Your paintings talk.

660
00:32:35,292 --> 00:32:37,292
"That's amazing.

661
00:32:37,292 --> 00:32:39,250
"And you can change them.

662
00:32:39,250 --> 00:32:41,458
"And you don't even
need to get up.

663
00:32:41,458 --> 00:32:45,292
You could just do this or this
or you could--it's amazing."

664
00:32:45,292 --> 00:32:46,667
Would you like a pizza?

665
00:32:46,667 --> 00:32:48,167
"What's a pizza?"

666
00:32:48,167 --> 00:32:50,375
A high school kid'll
drive it to the house.

667
00:32:50,375 --> 00:32:52,292
We don't even need to get up.

668
00:32:52,292 --> 00:32:56,000
"Really?

669
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,333
"I thought I was extremely rich.

670
00:32:59,333 --> 00:33:01,750
It's getting dark out,
we should go to bed."

671
00:33:01,750 --> 00:33:06,792
We don't have to.
We have electricity and lights.

672
00:33:06,792 --> 00:33:09,000
"Wow.

673
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:11,583
"It's magic.

674
00:33:11,583 --> 00:33:13,583
It's amazing."

675
00:33:13,583 --> 00:33:16,583
If you don't like it here,
we can get in a car

676
00:33:16,583 --> 00:33:18,792
and go somewhere else or
jump on an airplane.

677
00:33:18,792 --> 00:33:21,292
It's a seat in the sky.

678
00:33:21,292 --> 00:33:23,792
"That's amazing."

679
00:33:23,792 --> 00:33:25,292
You know what, friends?

680
00:33:25,292 --> 00:33:30,667
He lived a rich life in his day
but it's nothing compared to

681
00:33:30,667 --> 00:33:32,583
what we enjoy.

682
00:33:32,583 --> 00:33:35,500
In the history of the world,
we're the rich.

683
00:33:35,500 --> 00:33:37,667
On the earth right
now, we're the rich.

684
00:33:37,667 --> 00:33:42,500
The biggest medical problem
in our country is obesity.

685
00:33:42,500 --> 00:33:46,000
That's really never been
a huge issue, right?

686
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,000
There's never been
a group of people like,

687
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,292
"We have so much food and so
little space for it

688
00:33:51,292 --> 00:33:59,083
that we're dying of malted
Milk Duds and Chiclets."

689
00:33:59,083 --> 00:34:03,500
Like we just--we--you know,
we are a people who are going to

690
00:34:03,500 --> 00:34:09,083
eat until we blow up just like
the Monty Python skit, right?

691
00:34:09,083 --> 00:34:11,792
Like, we're the rich.

692
00:34:11,792 --> 00:34:13,667
Right, go to
a Third World country.

693
00:34:13,667 --> 00:34:15,542
We're the rich.
We're the rich.

694
00:34:15,542 --> 00:34:18,167
So as we read this story,
don't say, "Yes, yes,

695
00:34:18,167 --> 00:34:20,750
I love it when Jesus
sticks it to the rich."

696
00:34:20,750 --> 00:34:24,250
We got to say, "Okay, Jesus,
I raise my hand, I'm rich."

697
00:34:24,250 --> 00:34:26,875
And somebody somewhere
thinks I'm rich."

698
00:34:26,875 --> 00:34:32,167
And this is an underlying
problem for us.

699
00:34:32,167 --> 00:34:34,667
Alexis de Tocqueville,
he was a sociologist,

700
00:34:34,667 --> 00:34:37,667
cultural observer who visited
the United States of America

701
00:34:37,667 --> 00:34:39,167
a long time ago.

702
00:34:39,167 --> 00:34:41,375
But he had some brilliant
observations that have stood

703
00:34:41,375 --> 00:34:42,792
the test of time.

704
00:34:42,792 --> 00:34:45,792
And he said, "The love of
wealth is therefore to be traced

705
00:34:45,792 --> 00:34:48,792
"as either a principle
or an accessory motive

706
00:34:48,792 --> 00:34:51,833
at the bottom of all that
Americans do."

707
00:34:51,833 --> 00:34:54,667
He came to America and he
said, "I understand Americans.

708
00:34:54,667 --> 00:34:56,333
"It's all about the money.

709
00:34:56,333 --> 00:34:58,958
Everything they do,
it's about the money."

710
00:34:58,958 --> 00:35:01,542
It's not just the money, it's
the comfort, security, identity,

711
00:35:01,542 --> 00:35:04,375
community that it affords.

712
00:35:04,375 --> 00:35:06,000
It's all about the money.

713
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:09,667
Which is why Jesus' words
are timeless and, for us,

714
00:35:09,667 --> 00:35:13,333
they are simultaneously timely.

715
00:35:13,333 --> 00:35:16,875
Roughly 25% of Jesus' teaching
is about money, finances,

716
00:35:16,875 --> 00:35:19,250
wealth, and possessions.

717
00:35:19,250 --> 00:35:22,458
He keeps talking about it
because we keep failing

718
00:35:22,458 --> 00:35:24,875
to understand it.

719
00:35:24,875 --> 00:35:27,542
And so here he does it again.

720
00:35:27,542 --> 00:35:31,292
Let me tell you a few
things about money.

721
00:35:31,292 --> 00:35:35,792
Number one, you don't need to be
rich to have money as your idol.

722
00:35:35,792 --> 00:35:38,500
You could be poor and obsessed
with money, consumed with money,

723
00:35:38,500 --> 00:35:41,792
playing the Lotto, gambling,
making foolish investments,

724
00:35:41,792 --> 00:35:44,667
trying to get rich quick,
doing things that are illegal

725
00:35:44,667 --> 00:35:46,667
to get more money.

726
00:35:46,667 --> 00:35:50,000
Always thinking about
money, stewing over money,

727
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,292
not being generous with money,
coveting money of others.

728
00:35:53,292 --> 00:35:57,292
You don't have to be rich
to have money as an idol.

729
00:35:57,292 --> 00:36:00,667
You just don't have to be
rich to have money as an idol.

730
00:36:00,667 --> 00:36:03,375
And Jesus is not here saying,
"Everyone should sell everything

731
00:36:03,375 --> 00:36:07,875
because the less you have,
the closer you are to God."

732
00:36:07,875 --> 00:36:09,333
This is not asceticism.

733
00:36:09,333 --> 00:36:11,375
Asceticism is if it's
physical, it's bad.

734
00:36:11,375 --> 00:36:12,792
If it's spiritual, it's good.

735
00:36:12,792 --> 00:36:14,667
So get rid of everything
that's physical.

736
00:36:14,667 --> 00:36:18,500
That comes from Platonic dualism
in ancient Greek philosophy.

737
00:36:18,500 --> 00:36:20,875
It doesn't come from
the teaching of the Bible.

738
00:36:20,875 --> 00:36:25,250
"God gives good
gifts," James says.

739
00:36:25,250 --> 00:36:27,250
What would have happened
had this man said,

740
00:36:27,250 --> 00:36:28,833
"Okay, Jesus, that's it.

741
00:36:28,833 --> 00:36:31,333
I'll sell everything and
give my money to the poor."

742
00:36:31,333 --> 00:36:34,333
I don't know, maybe Jesus would
have allowed him to because it

743
00:36:34,333 --> 00:36:36,667
was his idol, it was
between him and God.

744
00:36:36,667 --> 00:36:39,167
Here's the big idea: whatever
is between you and God,

745
00:36:39,167 --> 00:36:40,958
you need to get rid of it.

746
00:36:40,958 --> 00:36:42,958
I don't know what
it is for you,

747
00:36:42,958 --> 00:36:44,458
the Holy Spirit
can highlight that.

748
00:36:44,458 --> 00:36:46,458
I know what it is
for me, right?

749
00:36:46,458 --> 00:36:48,167
For each of us, it's
something different.

750
00:36:48,167 --> 00:36:49,750
For some of us it's money.

751
00:36:49,750 --> 00:36:52,375
For some it's, "I always got
to be in a relationship."

752
00:36:52,375 --> 00:36:55,250
For some it's, you know,
"I have to have that job.

753
00:36:55,250 --> 00:36:58,750
"I have to drive that car 'cause
when I drive up in that car,

754
00:36:58,750 --> 00:37:01,000
"everybody thinks that I'm
a certain kind of person.

755
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:04,333
"So I work overtime and neglect
my family and my health to drive

756
00:37:04,333 --> 00:37:07,333
my car so that everybody thinks
that I'm somebody that I'm not."

757
00:37:07,333 --> 00:37:09,833
Whatever your thing is, if
it's between you and Jesus

758
00:37:09,833 --> 00:37:12,500
and following him, which is
the whole point of the story,

759
00:37:12,500 --> 00:37:14,292
you got to get rid of it.

760
00:37:14,292 --> 00:37:16,792
So maybe Jesus would
look to the guy and say,

761
00:37:16,792 --> 00:37:19,792
"I need you to get all your
stuff, put it on craigslist,

762
00:37:19,792 --> 00:37:22,292
eBay, give all the money away,
downsize, simplify, follow me."

763
00:37:22,292 --> 00:37:24,583
Maybe he would have
allowed him to do that.

764
00:37:24,583 --> 00:37:27,958
Or maybe he would have looked at
him like Abraham looked at Isaac

765
00:37:27,958 --> 00:37:30,667
when he was gonna sacrifice
him and said, "You know what?

766
00:37:30,667 --> 00:37:33,833
"Now that we see what's in your
heart, no need to do that.

767
00:37:33,833 --> 00:37:35,833
"It's not about the stuff,
it's about me

768
00:37:35,833 --> 00:37:37,333
and I am your treasure."

769
00:37:37,333 --> 00:37:39,083
I don't know.
But how about you?

770
00:37:39,083 --> 00:37:40,500
How about you?

771
00:37:40,500 --> 00:37:42,500
What is between you and
following Jesus faithfully,

772
00:37:42,500 --> 00:37:45,875
whole-heartedly, consistently?

773
00:37:45,875 --> 00:37:47,583
What is it?

774
00:37:47,583 --> 00:37:49,500
It needs to go.

775
00:37:49,500 --> 00:37:53,292
And if you say, "I can't
let go of it," it's an idol.

776
00:37:53,292 --> 00:37:56,958
So you say, "Well, I can't let
go because I'm married to him

777
00:37:56,958 --> 00:38:00,292
or I birthed him," okay.

778
00:38:00,292 --> 00:38:03,667
Then they need to be
in the right place.

779
00:38:03,667 --> 00:38:09,375
Jesus needs to be your treasure,
and they need to be a gift

780
00:38:09,375 --> 00:38:12,833
that he gives but not
a god that you worship.

781
00:38:15,583 --> 00:38:18,667
Here's what the Bible says
about money, wealth,

782
00:38:18,667 --> 00:38:20,292
finances, possessions.

783
00:38:20,292 --> 00:38:22,958
It says a lot.
I can't get into all of it.

784
00:38:22,958 --> 00:38:25,583
If you want, probably the
easiest thing to do is read

785
00:38:25,583 --> 00:38:28,167
the book of Proverbs which is
all about practical wisdom.

786
00:38:28,167 --> 00:38:30,667
And as you read Proverbs,
you see things about saving,

787
00:38:30,667 --> 00:38:32,250
spending, investing,
money, stewardship.

788
00:38:32,250 --> 00:38:34,250
Just literally with
a pen, keep it simple,

789
00:38:34,250 --> 00:38:37,083
just make a dollar sign
next to those verses.

790
00:38:37,083 --> 00:38:39,667
Read Proverbs through and
you'll just, "Oh, here they are.

791
00:38:39,667 --> 00:38:41,667
They're right there."

792
00:38:41,667 --> 00:38:44,667
Well, the Bible says to work
hard and honest for our money,

793
00:38:44,667 --> 00:38:46,542
not to be thieves or crooks.

794
00:38:46,542 --> 00:38:51,667
The Bible says, as well, that
we should first of all tithe.

795
00:38:51,667 --> 00:38:54,667
It's not necessarily a percent.

796
00:38:54,667 --> 00:38:58,750
2 Corinthians 8 and 9 says,
cheerful, regular, sacrificial.

797
00:38:58,750 --> 00:39:00,375
It's firstfruits.

798
00:39:00,375 --> 00:39:03,667
That means it's off your gross,
not your net, to the Lord.

799
00:39:03,667 --> 00:39:06,375
So you give to the Lord,
give back to the Lord

800
00:39:06,375 --> 00:39:08,083
and the cause of the gospel.

801
00:39:08,083 --> 00:39:10,292
The Bible says, as well, spend.

802
00:39:10,292 --> 00:39:13,000
Right, pay for your place to
live and something to eat

803
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:15,000
and, you know, pay your bills.

804
00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:16,458
You got to live.

805
00:39:16,458 --> 00:39:19,292
That's okay, don't
feel guilty about that.

806
00:39:19,292 --> 00:39:22,167
The Bible says as
well to save some.

807
00:39:22,167 --> 00:39:23,792
'Cause you know what?

808
00:39:23,792 --> 00:39:26,667
Times are gonna get hard or
your car's gonna blow up

809
00:39:26,667 --> 00:39:29,500
or you're gonna get sick or
you're gonna get laid off.

810
00:39:29,500 --> 00:39:30,875
So save some.

811
00:39:30,875 --> 00:39:34,542
The Bible also says to invest,
to think long-term because

812
00:39:34,542 --> 00:39:37,083
a wise man leaves an inheritance
to his children's children,

813
00:39:37,083 --> 00:39:38,542
Proverbs says.

814
00:39:38,542 --> 00:39:42,000
So you're thinking, "Okay,
how can I invest my money

815
00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,375
"so that there's something
for my kids, my grandkids,

816
00:39:44,375 --> 00:39:46,042
"my great grandkids?

817
00:39:46,042 --> 00:39:48,583
How can I be a blessing
generations into the future?"

818
00:39:48,583 --> 00:39:50,292
Invest.

819
00:39:50,292 --> 00:39:53,000
The Bible also says
to give generously.

820
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:57,375
That can be like Jesus' request
of this man here to the poor.

821
00:39:57,375 --> 00:39:59,542
Oh, this person needs
help, this person's sick,

822
00:39:59,542 --> 00:40:02,167
that single mom's having
a hard time making ends meet.

823
00:40:02,167 --> 00:40:04,958
Being generous to the poor.

824
00:40:04,958 --> 00:40:08,083
The Bible says, as well, to not
do certain things with money.

825
00:40:08,083 --> 00:40:09,583
Number one, the Bible says,

826
00:40:09,583 --> 00:40:12,458
"Don't love money
'cause that's a worship act.

827
00:40:12,458 --> 00:40:14,458
That's an idolatry issue."

828
00:40:14,458 --> 00:40:17,833
The Bible says not that money is
the root of all kinds of evil,

829
00:40:17,833 --> 00:40:21,292
but the love of money is
the root of all kinds of evil.

830
00:40:21,292 --> 00:40:24,500
The Bible says not to put your
hope in money 'cause sometimes

831
00:40:24,500 --> 00:40:25,875
it goes away, right?

832
00:40:25,875 --> 00:40:30,250
Real estate market crashes,
your 401(k) blows up.

833
00:40:32,833 --> 00:40:36,958
The Bible says, as well, not
to be enslaved to money.

834
00:40:36,958 --> 00:40:40,667
The Bible says the borrower
is slave to the lender,

835
00:40:40,667 --> 00:40:44,833
meaning, if you spend more than
you have and you go into debt

836
00:40:44,833 --> 00:40:50,667
and you try to play the credit
card game, you're gonna lose.

837
00:40:50,667 --> 00:40:53,667
And some of you say, "No,
I'm not a slave, I'm free.

838
00:40:53,667 --> 00:40:55,500
And I live in a free country."

839
00:40:55,500 --> 00:40:57,167
There are two kinds of slavery.

840
00:40:57,167 --> 00:40:59,792
One is imposed,
the other is selected.

841
00:40:59,792 --> 00:41:03,833
Imposed slavery is where someone
overtakes you against your will.

842
00:41:03,833 --> 00:41:07,958
Selected slavery is where you
choose someone or something else

843
00:41:07,958 --> 00:41:11,292
to master you, to rule
you, to control you.

844
00:41:11,292 --> 00:41:14,958
As soon as you sign up for a
credit card and as soon as you

845
00:41:14,958 --> 00:41:19,042
spend more than you have, all
of a sudden, you're in slavery.

846
00:41:19,042 --> 00:41:22,542
Where you work, how much
you work, what you tithe,

847
00:41:22,542 --> 00:41:25,750
how you spend, where you live,
how much time you give with your

848
00:41:25,750 --> 00:41:28,583
family, all of a sudden
all of that is dictated by

849
00:41:28,583 --> 00:41:31,667
interest rates and debtors.

850
00:41:31,667 --> 00:41:34,750
And you're not free,
you're in slavery.

851
00:41:34,750 --> 00:41:36,792
You're in slavery.

852
00:41:36,792 --> 00:41:41,583
And we don't see it as
slavery because we choose it.

853
00:41:41,583 --> 00:41:45,167
This man is a slave.

854
00:41:45,167 --> 00:41:50,167
He doesn't own his stuff,
his stuff owns him.

855
00:41:50,167 --> 00:41:53,167
When it comes down to whether he
would rather have his stuff

856
00:41:53,167 --> 00:41:57,875
or his Savior, he chooses
his stuff as his savior.

857
00:41:57,875 --> 00:42:02,542
That's the problem.
That's the problem.

858
00:42:02,542 --> 00:42:05,167
How's it going for you?

859
00:42:05,167 --> 00:42:06,667
Don't you love this sermon?

860
00:42:06,667 --> 00:42:08,583
Aren't you so glad you're here?

861
00:42:08,583 --> 00:42:10,792
Aren't you all filled with joy?

862
00:42:10,792 --> 00:42:12,167
It's gonna get worse.

863
00:42:12,167 --> 00:42:16,000
I'll share with you
some statistics.

864
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:18,458
Here's the U.S. median
household income.

865
00:42:18,458 --> 00:42:22,667
In the Seattle area, it's
about $59,000 a year.

866
00:42:22,667 --> 00:42:24,458
In Bellevue, where we have
a campus,

867
00:42:24,458 --> 00:42:27,042
it's about $80,000 a year.

868
00:42:27,042 --> 00:42:29,250
And down in Albuquerque
where we have a campus,

869
00:42:29,250 --> 00:42:32,667
it's about $45,000 a year.

870
00:42:32,667 --> 00:42:34,875
Right, the closer you
get to the urban center,

871
00:42:34,875 --> 00:42:37,583
it tends to be more
single, less children.

872
00:42:37,583 --> 00:42:40,542
The further you get away from
an urban center, more families,

873
00:42:40,542 --> 00:42:43,292
children, dual incomes.

874
00:42:43,292 --> 00:42:47,292
That's the average
median household income.

875
00:42:47,292 --> 00:42:49,167
Charitable giving in the U.S.

876
00:42:49,167 --> 00:42:51,500
The U.S.--the average
U.S. household,

877
00:42:51,500 --> 00:42:54,333
Christian and non,
gives $1,620 a year,

878
00:42:54,333 --> 00:42:56,958
that's $3 a day.

879
00:42:56,958 --> 00:43:00,167
The average American gives
3.1% of their income,

880
00:43:00,167 --> 00:43:04,375
usually off the net,
not off the gross.

881
00:43:04,375 --> 00:43:06,083
Here's the curious stat.

882
00:43:06,083 --> 00:43:08,875
Households earning
under $10,000 a year

883
00:43:08,875 --> 00:43:11,333
give 5.2% of their income.

884
00:43:11,333 --> 00:43:14,667
That's the largest percentage
of any other income group.

885
00:43:14,667 --> 00:43:16,583
Isn't that interesting?

886
00:43:16,583 --> 00:43:21,667
Percentage-wise, the people who
make the least give the most.

887
00:43:21,667 --> 00:43:23,292
That's interesting.

888
00:43:23,292 --> 00:43:25,292
We see that, right?

889
00:43:25,292 --> 00:43:27,292
In Luke's Gospel,
there's a widow.

890
00:43:27,292 --> 00:43:34,375
She gives percentage-wise
far more than anyone.

891
00:43:34,375 --> 00:43:36,875
And some of you live
under this myth.

892
00:43:36,875 --> 00:43:38,875
"When I make more,
I'll give more."

893
00:43:38,875 --> 00:43:41,042
No, you won't.

894
00:43:41,042 --> 00:43:44,167
Because it's a heart
issue, not a money issue.

895
00:43:44,167 --> 00:43:46,875
Again, if you don't give, you
don't have a generosity problem,

896
00:43:46,875 --> 00:43:50,167
you have a worship
and idolatry problem.

897
00:43:50,167 --> 00:43:53,667
Everyone I've ever met thinks
that their life would be fine

898
00:43:53,667 --> 00:43:56,458
if they made 10% more.

899
00:43:56,458 --> 00:43:59,375
And many do and they're
in the same place

900
00:43:59,375 --> 00:44:03,250
because they have
the same heart.

901
00:44:03,250 --> 00:44:08,375
Those who are poorest
tend to be most generous.

902
00:44:08,375 --> 00:44:12,667
Statistically, the more you
make, the less you will give.

903
00:44:12,667 --> 00:44:15,875
And this is an important and
timely word for us at Mars Hill

904
00:44:15,875 --> 00:44:18,667
because many of you are
young, many of us are young,

905
00:44:18,667 --> 00:44:21,500
and you've not hit your
peak earning years just yet.

906
00:44:21,500 --> 00:44:24,500
And some of you think, "Yeah,
but when I make more money,

907
00:44:24,500 --> 00:44:25,875
I'll give more money."

908
00:44:25,875 --> 00:44:29,833
Not if you don't have one
God and worship him alone.

909
00:44:32,083 --> 00:44:34,250
Little more
encouragement and joy.

910
00:44:34,250 --> 00:44:35,667
You're welcome.

911
00:44:35,667 --> 00:44:37,833
Charitable giving
by U.S. Christians.

912
00:44:37,833 --> 00:44:39,542
Twenty percent of U.S. Christians

913
00:44:39,542 --> 00:44:42,542
give nothing every year.

914
00:44:42,542 --> 00:44:47,167
The vast majority of U.S.
Christians give about 3%.

915
00:44:47,167 --> 00:44:51,250
And 12% of U.S. Protestants
give 10% or more,

916
00:44:51,250 --> 00:44:53,875
that's non-Catholics.

917
00:44:53,875 --> 00:44:56,875
So when we read this story,
we can't say, "Yes, the rich,

918
00:44:56,875 --> 00:44:59,500
young ruler loved his
stuff more than the Lord."

919
00:44:59,500 --> 00:45:05,292
We have to say,
"And his followers are many.

920
00:45:05,292 --> 00:45:08,875
And perhaps I am among them."

921
00:45:08,875 --> 00:45:10,875
How about Mars Hill?

922
00:45:10,875 --> 00:45:16,875
We talked about Americans,
Christians, certainly Mars Hill.

923
00:45:16,875 --> 00:45:19,667
It is estimated that
our collective income, for those

924
00:45:19,667 --> 00:45:21,875
who call Mars Hill Church
home this year,

925
00:45:21,875 --> 00:45:29,583
will be $300 million,
$300 million.

926
00:45:29,583 --> 00:45:31,583
And I'll tell you
this, Mars Hill.

927
00:45:31,583 --> 00:45:34,792
In the coming years, it
is only going to increase.

928
00:45:34,792 --> 00:45:36,292
Many of you are young.

929
00:45:36,292 --> 00:45:37,667
Many are getting married.

930
00:45:37,667 --> 00:45:39,167
Many are starting
their families.

931
00:45:39,167 --> 00:45:41,000
Many are starting
their companies.

932
00:45:41,000 --> 00:45:44,333
Many are still finishing their
education and internships.

933
00:45:44,333 --> 00:45:51,000
Our income escalator
is only going up.

934
00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:53,958
And roughly half of adults who
attend Mars Hill give anything.

935
00:45:53,958 --> 00:45:56,583
That means, the other
half don't give anything.

936
00:45:56,583 --> 00:45:58,083
Last year, zero.

937
00:45:58,083 --> 00:45:59,500
This year, zero.

938
00:45:59,500 --> 00:46:01,375
And I tell exactly
what's gonna happen.

939
00:46:01,375 --> 00:46:03,875
Some of you guys are
going like, "I knew it.

940
00:46:03,875 --> 00:46:05,458
"The megachurch pastor
talking about money.

941
00:46:05,458 --> 00:46:08,083
"I'm never coming back.
I'm not giving anything.

942
00:46:08,083 --> 00:46:10,750
Me and my idols, we're
gonna leave very sad."

943
00:46:10,750 --> 00:46:16,167
And I would say, "Kind of the
big idea of the story is that

944
00:46:16,167 --> 00:46:19,542
"you don't know that you have
idols until you face

945
00:46:19,542 --> 00:46:21,792
the prospect of losing them."

946
00:46:21,792 --> 00:46:24,458
And people tend to
defend their idols.

947
00:46:24,458 --> 00:46:26,000
"Well, I have a good reason.

948
00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:29,500
"I have a lot of excuses and I
have a lot of motivations and

949
00:46:29,500 --> 00:46:32,792
"you don't know my heart and you
can't judge me and you can't

950
00:46:32,792 --> 00:46:35,667
spend my money and I don't
believe in organized religion."

951
00:46:35,667 --> 00:46:38,000
And all of that is,
theologically speaking, hooey.

952
00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:40,250
It's a Greek word.

953
00:46:42,083 --> 00:46:44,792
All we've done is
found your idol.

954
00:46:46,167 --> 00:46:50,083
All we've done is
found your idol.

955
00:46:50,083 --> 00:46:55,958
Now my third point is--we've
talked idolatry, money, comedy.

956
00:46:56,583 --> 00:46:59,875
This may be unexpected.

957
00:47:01,792 --> 00:47:04,292
Comedy?

958
00:47:04,292 --> 00:47:08,167
Okay, I want you to
hang in there with me.

959
00:47:08,167 --> 00:47:11,667
There was a Canadian
researcher, Marshall McLuhan,

960
00:47:11,667 --> 00:47:16,292
some years ago he said, quote,
"The medium is the message."

961
00:47:16,292 --> 00:47:21,083
Meaning, how you say something
is really what people remember.

962
00:47:21,083 --> 00:47:24,500
The question is,
how did Jesus say this?

963
00:47:24,500 --> 00:47:27,792
Right, do you think he
said it furrowed brow?

964
00:47:27,792 --> 00:47:31,875
"Idolatry, money,
sell all your stuff!

965
00:47:31,875 --> 00:47:34,250
I know your heart."

966
00:47:34,250 --> 00:47:35,750
You think he--was he angry?

967
00:47:35,750 --> 00:47:37,958
You know, furrowed
brow, pointed finger,

968
00:47:37,958 --> 00:47:40,583
Mr. Burns-kind-of-looking guy.

969
00:47:40,583 --> 00:47:43,583
Was he like that?

970
00:47:43,583 --> 00:47:46,667
Was this like an IRS audit
and he showed up with his,

971
00:47:46,667 --> 00:47:50,000
you know, shirt
and tie and, "Hello,

972
00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:53,000
"I'm from the kingdom of God.

973
00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:56,750
"I know you tried to hide
some of your assets.

974
00:47:56,750 --> 00:47:58,500
"I happen to see and know all.

975
00:47:58,500 --> 00:48:03,667
And I'm here to collect," right?

976
00:48:03,667 --> 00:48:05,875
How do you think
Jesus said this?

977
00:48:05,875 --> 00:48:09,375
Do you think he did it shaking
his head, "I can't believe you."

978
00:48:09,375 --> 00:48:11,583
You think it was shame
and guilt and condemnation?

979
00:48:11,583 --> 00:48:13,958
"Look at all you have,
you don't help anyone.

980
00:48:13,958 --> 00:48:15,833
"And when I give
you an opportunity,

981
00:48:15,833 --> 00:48:17,250
"you don't do anything.

982
00:48:17,250 --> 00:48:18,667
"You don't care.

983
00:48:18,667 --> 00:48:20,042
"What good are you?

984
00:48:20,042 --> 00:48:22,500
"All that the Father has
given you, you've totally,

985
00:48:22,500 --> 00:48:24,042
"recklessly squandered.

986
00:48:24,042 --> 00:48:25,667
"You've spent it on yourself.

987
00:48:25,667 --> 00:48:27,083
How dare you?"

988
00:48:27,083 --> 00:48:29,042
Do you think he yelled at him?

989
00:48:29,042 --> 00:48:30,958
How did Jesus say it?

990
00:48:30,958 --> 00:48:32,458
What did his face look like?

991
00:48:32,458 --> 00:48:33,958
What was his disposition?

992
00:48:33,958 --> 00:48:37,375
What was his presentation?

993
00:48:37,375 --> 00:48:39,375
He was witty.

994
00:48:39,375 --> 00:48:41,375
He was funny.

995
00:48:41,375 --> 00:48:43,875
He was clever.

996
00:48:43,875 --> 00:48:46,167
He says it this way.

997
00:48:46,167 --> 00:48:49,167
"You want to go to heaven?

998
00:48:49,167 --> 00:48:52,000
"Well, I got my
work cut out today.

999
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:55,167
"It would be easier for me to
slam a camel through the eye

1000
00:48:55,167 --> 00:48:58,042
"of a needle than get you
into the kingdom.

1001
00:48:58,042 --> 00:49:01,542
"Look at my to-do list.

1002
00:49:01,542 --> 00:49:04,250
"Save you, slam a camel
through the eye of a needle,

1003
00:49:04,250 --> 00:49:05,833
"and then have lunch.

1004
00:49:05,833 --> 00:49:10,875
Look at that, that's
a very tough morning for me."

1005
00:49:10,875 --> 00:49:13,167
And see what happens
when Jesus says,

1006
00:49:13,167 --> 00:49:16,500
"Oh, it's gonna be easier to get
a camel through the eye of

1007
00:49:16,500 --> 00:49:19,250
the needle than to get you
into the kingdom of heaven,"

1008
00:49:19,250 --> 00:49:21,875
religious commentators don't
think Jesus had any sense of wit

1009
00:49:21,875 --> 00:49:23,583
or humor or irony or sarcasm.

1010
00:49:23,583 --> 00:49:25,583
So they all sat
around in committees,

1011
00:49:25,583 --> 00:49:28,083
and I see 'em with suits on.

1012
00:49:28,083 --> 00:49:31,083
Just sort of, "Hmm, okay,
what could this mean?"

1013
00:49:31,083 --> 00:49:33,583
There's somewhere a guy with
a hat and he's ultimately

1014
00:49:33,583 --> 00:49:35,292
gonna render the final verdict.

1015
00:49:35,292 --> 00:49:37,875
I kind of see it like that.

1016
00:49:37,875 --> 00:49:40,167
And so what they say--
so then commentators

1017
00:49:40,167 --> 00:49:41,583
come up with things.

1018
00:49:41,583 --> 00:49:47,083
They say, "Oh, well, perhaps
there was a needle with a hole

1019
00:49:47,083 --> 00:49:50,167
"and a certain particular kind
of unusual thread

1020
00:49:50,167 --> 00:49:51,875
"called camel thread.

1021
00:49:51,875 --> 00:49:53,875
And perhaps," I'm not
even making this up,

1022
00:49:53,875 --> 00:49:56,167
"perhaps camel thread was
thicker than normal thread

1023
00:49:56,167 --> 00:49:59,375
"and mm-mm-mmm, it wouldn't
fit through the hole.

1024
00:49:59,375 --> 00:50:03,750
Perhaps that's what the Lord was
speaking of, was camel thread."

1025
00:50:03,750 --> 00:50:06,458
There's no evidence of
camel thread, right?

1026
00:50:06,458 --> 00:50:09,292
It's like flying unicorns
and honest politicians, right?

1027
00:50:09,292 --> 00:50:13,292
It doesn't exist,
it just doesn't exist.

1028
00:50:13,292 --> 00:50:15,375
So then others come along
and they say,

1029
00:50:15,375 --> 00:50:18,083
"Well, there was this wall
around the city of Jerusalem

1030
00:50:18,083 --> 00:50:21,792
"and then there must have been
a little doorway called

1031
00:50:21,792 --> 00:50:25,750
"the eye of the needle and then
perhaps the camel

1032
00:50:25,750 --> 00:50:29,000
"would shimmy through,
little hole in the wall,

1033
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:31,083
"shimmy, shimmy,
shimmy, shimmy, shake,

1034
00:50:31,083 --> 00:50:33,792
"and that's how you got your
camel through the wall

1035
00:50:33,792 --> 00:50:35,292
"into the city.

1036
00:50:35,292 --> 00:50:37,083
It was the eye of the needle."

1037
00:50:37,083 --> 00:50:39,000
There's no evidence
of that at all.

1038
00:50:39,000 --> 00:50:40,667
Not at all.

1039
00:50:40,667 --> 00:50:43,250
They just made--how many
of you have heard that?

1040
00:50:43,250 --> 00:50:45,667
It doesn't exist.

1041
00:50:45,667 --> 00:50:49,000
Jesus here is telling a joke.

1042
00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:51,083
He's telling a joke, right?

1043
00:50:51,083 --> 00:50:53,667
He just is.

1044
00:50:53,667 --> 00:50:55,167
He's making a funny.

1045
00:50:55,167 --> 00:50:57,292
In that day, they would
have understood it.

1046
00:50:57,292 --> 00:50:59,375
We've got our own
cultural colloquialisms,

1047
00:50:59,375 --> 00:51:02,250
and humor tends to be very
culturally contingent.

1048
00:51:02,250 --> 00:51:04,667
So sometimes because of the
difference between our culture

1049
00:51:04,667 --> 00:51:08,000
and that culture we don't
get the irony, the sarcasm,

1050
00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:09,500
the wittiness, the cleverness.

1051
00:51:09,500 --> 00:51:11,500
And Jesus wasn't
making fun of the guy,

1052
00:51:11,500 --> 00:51:14,167
but he was inviting the guy to
take himself less seriously.

1053
00:51:14,167 --> 00:51:16,542
Right, 'cause I see
them like some of you.

1054
00:51:16,542 --> 00:51:18,292
You're like, "You're
talking about my money."

1055
00:51:18,292 --> 00:51:19,792
I could see it.
You're...

1056
00:51:19,792 --> 00:51:23,292
You look like someone shot your
dog and all of a sudden you got

1057
00:51:23,292 --> 00:51:26,292
both your hands on your wallet
'cause you know we're gonna take

1058
00:51:26,292 --> 00:51:27,667
an offering in a moment.

1059
00:51:27,667 --> 00:51:29,167
You're like, "There is no way.

1060
00:51:29,167 --> 00:51:31,000
"There is no way--it's
not gonna happen.

1061
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:34,000
"I'm not even standing up for
worship in case they take it

1062
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:35,375
"out of my pocket.

1063
00:51:35,375 --> 00:51:37,375
I'm gonna sit down
for all the singing."

1064
00:51:37,375 --> 00:51:39,875
Right, you're--and so Jesus
here, he's making a little joke,

1065
00:51:39,875 --> 00:51:41,375
he's having--he's
like, "Come on, man.

1066
00:51:41,375 --> 00:51:43,167
"Laugh a little.
It's just your junk.

1067
00:51:43,167 --> 00:51:45,875
"It's all gonna burn, you know?
I'm just checking your heart.

1068
00:51:45,875 --> 00:51:47,375
"You got a serious idol problem.

1069
00:51:47,375 --> 00:51:49,167
"I love you.
Let's deal with this.

1070
00:51:49,167 --> 00:51:51,042
"Let's have a little fun.
Lighten up.

1071
00:51:51,042 --> 00:51:52,458
Laugh a little."

1072
00:51:52,458 --> 00:51:55,583
How many of you have a hard
time seeing Jesus in that light?

1073
00:51:55,583 --> 00:51:58,292
And part of it is, you
think of the movies, right?

1074
00:51:58,292 --> 00:52:01,458
The first pictures of Jesus.

1075
00:52:01,458 --> 00:52:04,083
I'll give you a couple examples,
or even religious leaders

1076
00:52:04,083 --> 00:52:05,583
that are in the Bible.

1077
00:52:05,583 --> 00:52:08,583
Like, you can't watch any
old movie about Moses

1078
00:52:08,583 --> 00:52:11,792
where he ever smiles.

1079
00:52:11,792 --> 00:52:17,250
I mean, he's always looking like
somebody just slapped my mother.

1080
00:52:17,250 --> 00:52:20,667
He always looks like that...

1081
00:52:20,667 --> 00:52:23,667
He's never smiling, man.

1082
00:52:23,667 --> 00:52:26,292
And then we get to
the movies of Jesus,

1083
00:52:26,292 --> 00:52:28,500
originally made by
guys like Cecil B. DeMille

1084
00:52:28,500 --> 00:52:31,667
and it kind of set the whole
trajectory for how we view

1085
00:52:31,667 --> 00:52:33,583
Jesus culturally.

1086
00:52:33,583 --> 00:52:35,500
And Cecil B. DeMille,

1087
00:52:35,500 --> 00:52:38,292
I think he loved Jesus,
he claimed to be a Christian.

1088
00:52:38,292 --> 00:52:40,292
But first of all, Jesus
always looks weird.

1089
00:52:40,292 --> 00:52:42,667
Kids are watching it.
"Hey, mom, which one's Jesus?

1090
00:52:42,667 --> 00:52:44,500
Is he the nuclear
one who's glowing?"

1091
00:52:44,500 --> 00:52:46,000
"That would be him, yes.

1092
00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:48,000
"That's how we know
it's the Lord Jesus.

1093
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:50,792
He's nuclear, you know."

1094
00:52:50,792 --> 00:52:53,250
"Oh, with the halo?"
"Yeah, that's him."

1095
00:52:53,250 --> 00:52:56,792
And in the movies, Jesus,
he always has two looks.

1096
00:52:56,792 --> 00:53:00,875
One sort of very sad like,
"Mm, oh, someone has died.

1097
00:53:00,875 --> 00:53:02,333
This is anguish."

1098
00:53:02,333 --> 00:53:09,000
And other times, more
just like longing...

1099
00:53:14,333 --> 00:53:16,792
And he's never
laughing, he's never fun,

1100
00:53:16,792 --> 00:53:18,958
he's never telling
a joke, right?

1101
00:53:18,958 --> 00:53:21,833
He's never having a good time.

1102
00:53:21,833 --> 00:53:25,333
And so we tend to think, "Oh,
well, Jesus is very serious.

1103
00:53:25,333 --> 00:53:28,333
"Certainly this can't be a joke.

1104
00:53:28,333 --> 00:53:30,958
Certainly this can't be a joke."

1105
00:53:30,958 --> 00:53:32,958
And there are even
books that teach this.

1106
00:53:32,958 --> 00:53:35,167
There's a great
author named G.K. Chesterton

1107
00:53:35,167 --> 00:53:37,583
and he wrote a fantastic
little book called, "Orthodoxy."

1108
00:53:37,583 --> 00:53:40,167
But here's how he ends the book.

1109
00:53:40,167 --> 00:53:43,792
"There was some one thing that
was too great for God to show us

1110
00:53:43,792 --> 00:53:45,792
"when he walked upon the earth.

1111
00:53:45,792 --> 00:53:48,792
And I have sometimes fancied
that it was his mirth."

1112
00:53:48,792 --> 00:53:51,458
Chesterton said, "When we look
at the whole life of Jesus,

1113
00:53:51,458 --> 00:53:53,958
the only thing missing
is a sense of humor."

1114
00:53:53,958 --> 00:53:55,583
No.

1115
00:53:55,583 --> 00:53:57,083
No.

1116
00:53:57,083 --> 00:53:59,958
There's 17,000 books written
roughly on Jesus that are in

1117
00:53:59,958 --> 00:54:03,000
the Library of Congress catalog.

1118
00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:06,083
There's one that I found
on biblical humor called

1119
00:54:06,083 --> 00:54:07,792
"A Serrated Edge,"
by Doug Wilson.

1120
00:54:07,792 --> 00:54:10,667
I've only found one book
on the humor of Jesus

1121
00:54:10,667 --> 00:54:12,333
out of the 17,000.

1122
00:54:12,333 --> 00:54:14,375
It's by an older guy
named Elton Trueblood

1123
00:54:14,375 --> 00:54:17,375
and he says there are at least
30 passages in the Gospels

1124
00:54:17,375 --> 00:54:18,875
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,

1125
00:54:18,875 --> 00:54:21,167
where Jesus is
telling a joke, making a funny,

1126
00:54:21,167 --> 00:54:23,083
being witty, interesting
in a way that

1127
00:54:23,083 --> 00:54:24,583
religious people don't get.

1128
00:54:24,583 --> 00:54:26,750
Here's what
Elton Trueblood says,

1129
00:54:26,750 --> 00:54:29,000
"There are numerous passages
which are practically

1130
00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:31,875
"incomprehensible when
regarded as sober prose,

1131
00:54:31,875 --> 00:54:34,500
"but which are luminous once
we become liberated from

1132
00:54:34,500 --> 00:54:38,292
"the gratuitous assumption
that Christ never joked.

1133
00:54:38,292 --> 00:54:40,583
"Once we realize that Christ
was not always engaged

1134
00:54:40,583 --> 00:54:44,292
"in pious talk, we have made
an enormous step on the road

1135
00:54:44,292 --> 00:54:46,375
of understanding."

1136
00:54:46,375 --> 00:54:50,667
Jesus didn't joke all
the time, but sometimes he did.

1137
00:54:50,667 --> 00:54:53,333
The "Dictionary of
Biblical Imagery" says,

1138
00:54:53,333 --> 00:54:56,292
"If there is a single person
within the pages of the Bible

1139
00:54:56,292 --> 00:54:58,250
"that we can consider
to be a humorist,

1140
00:54:58,250 --> 00:55:00,583
"it is without a doubt Jesus.

1141
00:55:00,583 --> 00:55:05,292
"Jesus was a master of word
play, irony, and satire,

1142
00:55:05,292 --> 00:55:09,375
often with an element
of humor intermixed."

1143
00:55:09,375 --> 00:55:11,583
Here's two ways to
find your idols:

1144
00:55:11,583 --> 00:55:15,583
follow the money and figure
out what's not funny to you.

1145
00:55:18,167 --> 00:55:22,000
Follow the money and figure
out what's not funny to you.

1146
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:26,875
So I want you to see Jesus--now
I got to be careful with this,

1147
00:55:26,875 --> 00:55:29,000
very careful.

1148
00:55:29,000 --> 00:55:32,792
I need to get my camel
through my needle.

1149
00:55:32,792 --> 00:55:37,500
He's kind of like
Stephen Colbert or Jon Stewart.

1150
00:55:37,500 --> 00:55:40,667
Do they tell
the news, yes or no?

1151
00:55:40,667 --> 00:55:42,167
Yes.

1152
00:55:42,167 --> 00:55:45,000
Do they tell us about what's
going on in the world?

1153
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:46,667
Yes.

1154
00:55:46,667 --> 00:55:48,792
Do they have
a very serious point?

1155
00:55:48,792 --> 00:55:50,292
Yes.

1156
00:55:50,292 --> 00:55:51,875
Is it hilarious?

1157
00:55:51,875 --> 00:55:53,667
Pretty much.

1158
00:55:53,667 --> 00:55:56,250
Are they witty?
Totally.

1159
00:55:56,250 --> 00:55:59,083
When really serious guys in
suits show up and sit down,

1160
00:55:59,083 --> 00:56:01,167
is it gonna be fantastic?

1161
00:56:01,167 --> 00:56:03,375
Yes.

1162
00:56:03,375 --> 00:56:05,292
And some of you have
struggled, thinking,

1163
00:56:05,292 --> 00:56:09,083
"Why do I want to go to heaven
and spend forever with Jesus?"

1164
00:56:09,083 --> 00:56:13,167
Imagine if Colbert called.

1165
00:56:13,167 --> 00:56:15,542
"So you know, I'm
passing through Seattle.

1166
00:56:15,542 --> 00:56:18,375
"And I happen to have a lunch
meeting with a Kennedy

1167
00:56:18,375 --> 00:56:19,875
at a Taco Bell."

1168
00:56:19,875 --> 00:56:23,542
All right, just think of
the most awesome thing ever.

1169
00:56:23,542 --> 00:56:25,167
"And I'd like you to come."

1170
00:56:25,167 --> 00:56:26,667
Would you go?

1171
00:56:26,667 --> 00:56:28,083
Yeah, you'd be there early.

1172
00:56:28,083 --> 00:56:30,292
You'd eat your chalupa in
advance just to ensure

1173
00:56:30,292 --> 00:56:33,667
you didn't miss any of
the banter and dialog.

1174
00:56:33,667 --> 00:56:35,667
"This is gonna be so fun.

1175
00:56:35,667 --> 00:56:37,042
"This is--he's gonna
say something,

1176
00:56:37,042 --> 00:56:41,083
do something very funny,
hilarious, crazy."

1177
00:56:41,083 --> 00:56:43,542
Jon Stewart, same thing.

1178
00:56:43,542 --> 00:56:45,875
Right, if Jon Stewart
called and said, "You know,

1179
00:56:45,875 --> 00:56:48,750
Rush Limbaugh and I, we--"
'cause I'm trying to think of

1180
00:56:48,750 --> 00:56:50,167
something ridiculous, right?

1181
00:56:50,167 --> 00:56:54,292
"Rush Limbaugh and I, we're
gonna be talking about Jesus

1182
00:56:54,292 --> 00:56:56,750
"and the poor and politics.

1183
00:56:56,750 --> 00:57:00,375
"And we're gonna be doing it at
a McDonald's and we can

1184
00:57:00,375 --> 00:57:02,542
"only have a certain number
of people.

1185
00:57:02,542 --> 00:57:05,167
"And we were wondering if you
would like to join us

1186
00:57:05,167 --> 00:57:06,750
and be part of the cast?"

1187
00:57:06,750 --> 00:57:09,833
You would say, "Oh, I'm McHappy.

1188
00:57:09,833 --> 00:57:12,167
Yes, I would love to." Why?

1189
00:57:12,167 --> 00:57:15,167
Because those men, they're
witty, they're smart,

1190
00:57:15,167 --> 00:57:16,542
they're engaging.

1191
00:57:16,542 --> 00:57:18,375
I think Colbert says
he loves Jesus,

1192
00:57:18,375 --> 00:57:20,833
Jon Stewart, pray for him.

1193
00:57:20,833 --> 00:57:24,042
But at the end of the day,
the way they tell the news

1194
00:57:24,042 --> 00:57:25,792
and the way they interact
with people

1195
00:57:25,792 --> 00:57:27,667
and the way they interview
their guests

1196
00:57:27,667 --> 00:57:30,167
and the way they're
compelling and witty and funny

1197
00:57:30,167 --> 00:57:32,792
and insightful and clever
and--you're never sure exactly

1198
00:57:32,792 --> 00:57:35,375
how they're gonna say it
or where it's gonna go.

1199
00:57:35,375 --> 00:57:38,375
Jesus was and is like that.

1200
00:57:38,375 --> 00:57:41,583
Perfectly, sinlessly,
but like that.

1201
00:57:41,583 --> 00:57:44,292
That's why crowds come around.

1202
00:57:44,292 --> 00:57:46,958
That's why he's sort of--you
sort of get the picture.

1203
00:57:46,958 --> 00:57:49,458
Like he sits down and then
he sits the Pharisees

1204
00:57:49,458 --> 00:57:52,083
and lawyers down, "Why don't
you guys sit on my couch?

1205
00:57:52,083 --> 00:57:53,500
Ha, ha."

1206
00:57:53,500 --> 00:57:55,500
You're like, "Oh, this
is gonna be fantastic.

1207
00:57:55,500 --> 00:57:57,000
This is gonna be hilarious."

1208
00:57:57,000 --> 00:57:59,500
And they walk away going,
"That was not funny.

1209
00:57:59,500 --> 00:58:02,000
That was not funny."

1210
00:58:03,875 --> 00:58:05,667
Friends, there's
only two choices.

1211
00:58:05,667 --> 00:58:09,167
We laugh at ourselves
or God laughs at us.

1212
00:58:09,167 --> 00:58:12,500
God laughs at us if we take
ourselves too seriously.

1213
00:58:12,500 --> 00:58:17,000
If we laugh at ourselves,
we get to laugh with God.

1214
00:58:17,000 --> 00:58:22,500
Idolaters should laugh.

1215
00:58:22,500 --> 00:58:26,167
"Right, yeah, what
am I thinking?"

1216
00:58:26,167 --> 00:58:29,167
So then the question
is asked,

1217
00:58:29,167 --> 00:58:33,292
"Well, who could possibly be
saved if we're all idolaters

1218
00:58:33,292 --> 00:58:35,583
who take ourselves too
seriously?"

1219
00:58:35,583 --> 00:58:40,167
And Jesus says, quote, "What is
impossible with men

1220
00:58:40,167 --> 00:58:42,833
is possible with God."

1221
00:58:42,833 --> 00:58:46,583
Jesus says, "Have a good, deep,
hearty laugh at your silly idols

1222
00:58:46,583 --> 00:58:49,750
"because I do the impossible.

1223
00:58:49,750 --> 00:58:53,167
"I get camels through
eyes of needles.

1224
00:58:53,167 --> 00:58:59,000
I get people like us,
you and me, into heaven."

1225
00:58:59,000 --> 00:59:01,167
Jesus does that.

1226
00:59:01,167 --> 00:59:04,167
He goes to the cross
to pay for sin.

1227
00:59:04,167 --> 00:59:06,667
He rises to give new life.

1228
00:59:06,667 --> 00:59:10,875
The one thing the rich,
young ruler could not obtain,

1229
00:59:10,875 --> 00:59:14,500
eternal life, forgiveness
of sins, Jesus gives,

1230
00:59:14,500 --> 00:59:17,167
Jesus gives as a generous gift.

1231
00:59:17,167 --> 00:59:19,667
And he invites us to
get rid of our idols

1232
00:59:19,667 --> 00:59:22,667
and have a good laugh, amen?

1233
00:59:22,667 --> 00:59:24,167
Good news.

1234
00:59:24,167 --> 00:59:26,833
2 Corinthians 9:7 says
as a result we could be

1235
00:59:26,833 --> 00:59:28,250
what kind of giver?

1236
00:59:28,250 --> 00:59:30,083
Cheerful.

1237
00:59:30,083 --> 00:59:31,583
Jesus makes that possible.

1238
00:59:31,583 --> 00:59:34,375
Father God, thank you
so much for the Bible.

1239
00:59:34,375 --> 00:59:37,792
We love your Word, Lord God.

1240
00:59:37,792 --> 00:59:41,083
Not that we worship a book,
but we worship the Son of God

1241
00:59:41,083 --> 00:59:43,292
who's revealed in the book.

1242
00:59:43,292 --> 00:59:46,083
And so we thank
you for the book.

1243
00:59:46,083 --> 00:59:49,292
And Jesus, we thank you
that you'd stopped

1244
00:59:49,292 --> 00:59:53,583
and had a conversation
with a rich ruler

1245
00:59:53,583 --> 00:59:55,792
and that we get to eavesdrop
in on it.

1246
00:59:55,792 --> 01:00:01,083
We're like guests sitting
at the set of your show.

1247
01:00:01,083 --> 01:00:03,667
And Jesus, we thank you that
through the power of

1248
01:00:03,667 --> 01:00:07,958
the Holy Spirit, we even get to
sit on the couch next to you,

1249
01:00:07,958 --> 01:00:11,000
that you ask us some questions,
that you reveal our idols,

1250
01:00:11,000 --> 01:00:15,167
and that we see that we're
a lot like the rich ruler.

1251
01:00:15,167 --> 01:00:18,375
In fact, just like
the rich ruler.

1252
01:00:18,375 --> 01:00:20,083
We've got our idols.

1253
01:00:20,083 --> 01:00:21,500
We waste our money.

1254
01:00:21,500 --> 01:00:25,292
We take ourselves
way too seriously.

1255
01:00:25,292 --> 01:00:28,875
And so God, we come to you
acknowledging our idolatry

1256
01:00:28,875 --> 01:00:32,875
which undergirds
and motivates our sin.

1257
01:00:32,875 --> 01:00:36,167
And we repent of it, we thank
you Lord Jesus that you died

1258
01:00:36,167 --> 01:00:37,583
and rose for it.

1259
01:00:37,583 --> 01:00:40,667
And we ask that we
wouldn't laugh at you,

1260
01:00:40,667 --> 01:00:44,250
but that by your grace, we'd
laugh with you as we see

1261
01:00:44,250 --> 01:00:49,875
ourselves as silly sinners
who need a sinless Savior.

1262
01:00:49,875 --> 01:00:53,167
And God, I think you that
there's some comedy and humor

1263
01:00:53,167 --> 01:00:55,167
in the Scriptures.

1264
01:00:55,167 --> 01:00:58,792
Not only are you true
and just and kind and good,

1265
01:00:58,792 --> 01:01:01,500
you're fun, enjoyable.

1266
01:01:01,500 --> 01:01:03,958
And we look forward
to your kingdom,

1267
01:01:03,958 --> 01:01:07,167
when Lord Jesus I'm sure you're
gonna give us something to laugh

1268
01:01:07,167 --> 01:01:11,167
about every day as we
have some fun with you.

1269
01:01:11,167 --> 01:01:16,458
Until then, reveal our idols,
help us steward our money,

1270
01:01:16,458 --> 01:01:20,375
and enjoy our life in
your good name, amen.