289. Raise Your Activity Level, Don't Lower Your Standards

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Transcript for "Raise your activity level, don’t lower your goals"

I was looking forward to the final message of the evangelism conference.  Christians from all over the world were gathered for a conference meant to inspire and unify our family of churches.  The final speaker was someone I’ve always respected and is one of my favorite preachers.  I was waiting for a massive call to action.  A dream casting lesson that set our vision on winning this lost world.  In past seminars and conferences, the final lesson is usually one of the best and is typically preached by one of the most gifted leaders.  That slot summarizes the primary points from all the classes and channels them into a call for massive action on the part of the participants.  As the speaker began, I was waiting for that call.  Instead, I heard a lot of stories about family and parenting.  It was a long, meandering lesson and what I heard from it was that we are not going to win the world in one generation, therefore let’s pass the torch on to our kids and let them do it.  I left deflated.  Instead of getting pumped up to return to my home church ready to change my city, I had seen a hero of my faith pull out the white flag of surrender and slowly wave it in front of the gathering of over ten thousand followers of Jesus.  Looking back, I understand what he meant.  We do need to pass on what we’ve learned, our convictions and passion for God and the lost people of this world.  I recognize that there will be millions of lost people long after I’m past.  I know that the work will continue on until Jesus returns.  However, the tone of the lesson was, “It’s never gonna happen so let’s not stress about it and let’s just focus on the next generation.”  It felt very much like a call to lower expectations and to get satisfied with maintaining what we had rather than multiply what God had given us.  As people filed out on their way home, I sat there thinking to myself, “I’m not ready to surrender, settle or be satisfied yet.  I’m not dead yet.  Yes, I want to pass my faith on to my children, but as long as I have breath, I want to advance the Kingdom as far as I can.”

Every generation has to decide how they will face the challenges God has placed before them.  During the Exodus, Moses called the Israelites to explore the land they would enter and see what they were facing, both good and bad.  In Numbers 13:17 it is written,  17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)  Twelve tribal leaders led the scouting expedition.  Their evaluation is found in Numbers 13:26, “26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”  Ten leaders saw the land and said, “We can’t.”  Two leaders, Joshua and Caleb, said “We can.”  Those two men were some of the few who made it into the promised land.  The other ten were put to death by God for their lack of faith.  The Israelites were condemned to wander for forty years for their lack of trust in God.  All the leaders saw the same thing.  The same land, the same fruit, the same enemies and the same challenges.  The facts were identical, but the faith couldn’t have been more different. 

Every generation has the same command to obey, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19).  We face open fields, difficult fields, persecution and blessings.  This lost world has both opportunities and challenges for us individually and as a Christian family.  However, we have to decide how we will respond.  Will we say with Caleb, “We can!” or with the forgotten and doomed ten leaders, “We can’t.” 

If you want to be a multiplying Christian, you have to consciously decide that you will be a “We can!” Christian.  It may be difficult, and there will be giants and fortresses to face down, but with God, we can. 

One of the biggest traps many Christians fall into is lowering their expectations to when faced with spiritual challenges.  Instead of increasing activity, faith, intensity, focus, they begin to spout the language of those who say, “we can’t.”  You can recognize it by:

·         Being satisfied with only a few people becoming Christians

·         Shifting focus from saving the lost to satisfying the saved

·         A critical spirit toward those bent on conquest

·         Jealousy and envy toward those who are making spiritual progress

·         Negative talk, gossip and slander toward those whose passion for the lost is still strong

·         A change of emphasis from building God’s kingdom to padding our retirement

·         Faithless language like:

o   “People aren’t open”

o   “Times have changed”

o   “I’ve tried but…”

o   “We don’t have the right song service, enough money, the right people, etc.”

I was reading a book by Grant Cardone called “The 10x Rule.”  He points out that so often when we don’t hit our goals, we lower our expectations and our efforts.  We don’t want to experience the emotional pain of failing.  Instead, he counsels people to increase your efforts ten times, or “10x.”  This principle is applicable to the world of finance, business, relationships, family or spirituality.  We all have a choice when faced with not achieving our ambitions, we can settle or we can set our minds on God and accept that our current level of faith, activity and love will need to grow to meet the challenge before us. 

The difference between the man who returned with 10 minas versus the one who simply returned the mina given him by his master (Luke 19:11-27) is that the multiplying servant raised his expectations and efforts to meet the challenge and multiply what God had given him.  The wicked servant settled and became critical of the master and his expectations.  “21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.” (Luke 11:21)  He justified his inactivity by blaming his master for being hard and having too-high expectations.

The apostle Paul faced difficulties in his ministry in Ephesus.  Take a look at Acts 19:8-10, “8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.”  When he faced opposition and a lack of openness, he didn’t lower expectations, he changed locations and raised his level of activity.  He held daily discussions in a public location.  The result was that he was able to multiply disciples, leaders and churches in western Asia Minor.  I was reading this passage recently and challenged myself to increase my level of effort this fall.  My goal is to hold 90 “discussions in 90 days.  Anytime I am using a Bible with a non-Christian present I’m counting it as a “discussion.”  Sermons, group discussions or personal Bible studies all count.  If I’m going to reach the metropolitan area I live in, it has to start with greater activity on my part.  Yesterday, I went sharing on campus and we shared with over 100 people. Then I led three Bible studies in the afternoon and evening.  The last person I had a discussion with said he wants to get baptized right away.  I was energized and fired up at the end of the day even though it was a packed day.  I’d rather raise my intensity than lower my standards.

I appreciate people like Kevin Miller, church leader from Boston.  He has a passion to reach the lost in the Boston metro area.  He could sit there and say that the church is too old, it’s been this size for too long or the membership is too old or set in their ways.  Instead, he has a can-do attitude that won’t settle for survival. He wants to see the church grow, multiply and do better than it ever has. 

I love what Shawn Wooten is doing in Eastern Europe.  He could call it a day and retire on all the inspiring experiences and stories he’s accumulated over the years.  Instead, he’s driving on toward expansion of the gospel.

Dr. John Oakes lifts my spirits.  Like Caleb, he is an older man.  He’s retired from teaching.  However, he’s determined to advance the kingdom in central California.  He planted a church in Merced, California in his late sixties.  Instead of lowering expectations, he raised his levels of effort.  He goes out on campus twice weekly to reach out and has grown his church of three Christians to over 25 in a little over a year.  He is a “We can!” disciple.

Take a look at yourself.  Are you listening to the excuses and rationalizations that Satan and even well-meaning Christians are placing in your head?  Satan’s lie is that when faced with difficult challenges, just lower your expectations, back off and don’t try so that you won’t experience disappointment, failure or defeat. 

For example, if you haven’t saved a soul in a while, you might be tempted to think, “I’m too old, too unrelatable, too isolated or too something…”  Take captive that thought and instead raise your activity level.  Start sharing your faith actively.  Keep a prayer list of people you can pray for, serve, show hospitality to and invite to church.  Increase your efforts ten times.  If you raise your energy, efforts and faith, you will see things begin to change.  Jesus said in Matthew 9:29, “According to your faith will it be done to you.”

Just like with the exploration of the land, for every two faithful followers there will probably be ten cynical and faithless people.  Don’t allow other people’s negativity or spiritual issues drag you down.  If you want to do great things for God, you will get heat and reasons why it can’t be or shouldn’t be done.  People will say your too “old school.”  This often happens because the person is simply trying to justify their lives and low expectations.  Ignore it and do God’s will.  Become a multiplying disciple.     

Application:

·         In what areas have you surrendered or lowered your expectations?

o   Relationships

o   Evangelism

o   Finances

o   Purity

·         What could you do starting today to raise your level of faith and activity to see God work in that area?