Which one is the greatest commandment?
One of the experts in the law tested Jesus with a question in Mark 12:28 (NIV). "Of all the commandments, which one is the most important?" His question is refreshingly simple. Of all the things commanded, what’s the one thing, the best, the absolute greatest thing that God commands me to do? We don’t completely know why the man asked this question. We don’t know what he was thinking, what was in his heart, or even what his intentions were. Was this question being asked from a humble, teachable spirit? Did he have a genuine desire to yield his life to God in the greatest way possible? Or was he trying to outwit Jesus? Was he trying to set a trap? Was he trying to stir up a theological controversy in order to delay his own commitment to Jesus Christ?
We just don’t know what the man's intentions were, but what a great question he asked. Have you ever asked it before? "God, simplify my spiritual life. Give me moral and spiritual clarity. Name the hill. Show me what life is to be about. Help me discern what’s good from what’s great. Point me to the absolute best things you have for my life. Help me get the biggest, most important blocks in place first."
Over Father’s day weekend Lara and I were in Michigan for a NASCAR race. As the race started we noticed that Tony Stewart was sent to the back of the field for the start of the race, even though he had qualified in twenty-seventh place. Evidently, during a pre-race meeting NASCAR's president was answering questions about restarts. He was detailing all the rules and regulations regarding restarts, and there are many. As the meeting wore on, Tony Stewart grew increasingly frustrated. All of a sudden he stood up and walked out of the meeting. He said, "Can’t we just go race?"
A lot of people don’t like Tony Stewart, but you have to admire his candor and singleness of thought. There is great freedom when we know the one thing we were born to do, the one thing that God wants us to be and become. For Tony Stewart it’s racing. There is nothing else. But what is it for the Christian? What is the greatest and best thing God wants us to do? What a release it would be for us to get that one thing fixed in our consciences!
The Great Commandment
In Matthew 22:37 (NIV) Jesus gives the expert in the law the blessing of a lifetime. He tells him what that one thing should be. "Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Okay, sorry to disappointment you. There are two great things. But really there aren't. If we can get our hands on the first, the second thing should fall into place. If we can be about loving God, loving people becomes a whole lot easier. But what a gift of insight Jesus has given us. Here is everything boiled down to a sound byte. Here is our bumper sticker, our mission statement, our clarion call, our marching orders, and a picture of what a living, breathing disciple is to do. Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor.
Yet, isn’t it interesting how these are often the first two things that get lost in today's world? So many of us have forgotten that we are here to race. We are to love God and love people. Sadly, Christianity can become about everything except loving God and loving people. It can be about church attendance, meetings, rules, regulations, and symbolic activities. But look at Jesus’ response to the expert in the law. Which of these two things are you known for? Which of these two things, or both, characterize your life? Would the people who know you best, if asked, say "This is what _____ is all about?" At home we have this pillow that says, "My goal in life is to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am." What kind of person do those closest to you think you are?
The Call to Love Self?
Unfortunately, we’ve gotten caught up in loving ourselves more than God and people. Our lives are about us, our needs, our desires, our preferences, our goals, our purposes, our wants, our jobs, our schedule, our to-do list, our families, or our possessions. The world says, "But, of course! Who else is there to live for, if not yourself?" But is loving oneself the greatest aspiration we can set our hearts on? Is loving self the most noble, fulfilling thing imaginable? Is loving self what’s truly best? Is loving self what any of us would want to be known for?
Of course not. The greatest thing is loving God. And the second greatest thing is loving people. These things eclipse any other purpose we might choose for ourselves. The work of God in our lives is that in the power of God’s Spirit, we might move beyond self and begin living for God, thereby fulfilling his purpose in our lives. So with these twin purposes fixed in our minds, I want this morning to be one of those times during the course of the year when we do some honest spiritual assessment. I have a series of four questions I want each of us to ask ourselves. The first two questions relate to loving God. The second two questions relate to loving people.
First, Am I Trusting Jesus Christ?
In John 14:1 (NIV) Jesus says, "Trust in God; trust also in me." These words pretty much sum up what is supposed to happen in our relationship with God’s Son. A lot of people misunderstand biblical faith. They think that trusting Jesus Christ means being gullible, or naïve. They believe faith is for the weak-minded and insecure. "Faith is closing your eyes, holding your breath, taking a blind leap and hoping against hope that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, our Lord and Savior." That’s what trusting Jesus Christ meant to me most of my life. Trust had very little to do with such things as faith, belief, hope, conviction, confidence, expectation, reliance, and dependence. Trust was a gamble. It was a throw of the dice. It was a calculated risk.
But then I heard someone explain "trust" in terms of relationship. How do you build trust in any relationship? You build trust through communication. When you first meet someone, you try to get to know him. Who is he? What’s his name? Where did he come from? What are some facts about his life? You essentially talk with someone and begin with collecting knowledge about him. But then how does that relationship grow? Well, you dig deeper. What makes him tick? What does he love? What does he believe? What does he value? What pleases or displeases him? What’s his character like? Who is he beneath the surface? And next, how does a person reach that spot when he's willing to stand firm for Christ? How does a person remain strong in Christ even in the face of suffering or death? Well, such trust really all comes down to communication. It comes down to spending time with Jesus Christ. Time that is spent knowing him, growing deeper in relationship with him, taking him at his word, standing on his promises, and remaining in him.
Who are the people who have the absolute hardest time trusting God? Who are the people who get angry with God? Who cynically curse his name? Well, it's people who for one reason or another have divorced themselves from God. They’ve cut off all communication. They don’t pray. They don’t worship. They don’t read their Bibles. They don’t listen to God’s word. They don’t stomach Christian music. They avoid Christian people, places, and things.
What happens when the lines of communication with Christ get shut down? What happens in any relationship when the lines get shut down? Tension builds. Trust is replaced with distrust. We presume to know the heart and mind of the other party. We judge the other party's intentions and paint their motives in the worst possible light. We begin believing that they are entirely different than who they really are.
Part of loving God, or loving anyone else for that matter, is spending time with them. It’s easier to trust in someone you’ve really come to know personally. And is this something you are doing? Are you building your trust in Jesus Christ by deepening your walk with him?
Second, Am I Bearing Fruit in My Character?
These words pretty much sum up what is to happen in our relationship with God’s Holy Spirit. One reason I went to Bible college years ago is that I didn’t like who I was becoming. Christ wasn’t transforming my life as I thought he should. Up to that point in my life I’d hung around with only marginal Christians and mostly non-Christians. I found myself becoming more like the non-Christians than like Jesus Christ.
Yet when I went to Bible college I met my wife, Lara. We immediately hit it off and we spent endless hours together talking, communicating, and deepening our relationship. I immediately noticed that when I was with her, she didn’t just make me want to be a better man, she made me want to choose righteousness. I began to change! But with that change came another realization. If the influence of a Christian friend could have such a profound impact, what impact on my life would spending time with Jesus Christ have?
One of the byproducts of spending time with Jesus Christ is that God’s Holy Spirit begins transforming us dramatically. This change becomes visible and tangible in our lives. It becomes so visible in fact, that the Christians in the early Church could look at an individual and confidently declare, "You’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit."
The changes in our lives become visible to others. Galatians 5:22 (NIV) tells us about the changes God’s Holy Spirit makes in our lives. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." I was listening to a nationally respected church leader talk about his job in one of the largest and fastest growing churches in America. He was on the leading edge of that church’s ministry when suddenly, he just resigned. He didn’t have peace. He’d been studying Galatians 5:22 and began asking some tough questions. His questions included, "Of the nine fruit, how do I stack up? What would be different about my life if I weren’t Christian?"
Through much prayer and searching, he realized that God was just as concerned with the type of person he was becoming as with the number of disciples his church was making. He was missing the mark big time! By faith, he made a drastic course correction and found a ministry where he could grow and begin bearing fruit as evidenced by his Christian character. This begsa question. What kind of change is God’s Holy Spirit making in your life? How do you measure up to the standard of the fruit of the Spirit?
Third, Am I Building Anything Worthwhile?
There is a passage in 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV) that reads, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms." This verse sums up what is to happen in our relationship with God’s family, the Church. We are to be conduits of God’s grace. God has called each and every one of us to make a contribution. We are to faithfully use what he has given us in order to serve others. This is part of our obedience in loving God, but also in loving people.
When I look out on our church, I have two parallel tracks of thought. On the one hand, I am humbled by the profound contributions many of you are making. I count it a privilege to be serving alongside people who have raised the bar so high. I so want to embarrass some of you, but it's obvious to you who you are. You have chosen to serve over receiving. You have obeyed God’s call and are faithfully using your gifts and talents to build up the body of Christ. You are on the front lines.
But there is this other parallel track. Some of you are choosing not to obey the call of God for your life. You’re choosing to be a consumer and a critic instead of faithfully making a contribution to God’s kingdom. You have so much potential and so much to offer. But you are sitting on the sidelines. You are squandering your gifts. You are tinkering around instead of fully vesting yourself in the ministry of this church.
Do you not realize that you are to be a conduit of God’s grace? There is a part of our ministry that is less than it could be because you're holding back the grace God has given you to share with others. Where is the love in that? What worthwhile things are you building? Or more pointedly, in whom are you investing?
Fourth, Am I Making Jesus Christ famous?
Since I mentioned 1 Peter 4:10 I may as well mention 1 Peter 4:11. This verse sums up our relationship to God’s world. 1 Peter 4:10-11 (NIV) says, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."
John the Baptist said of Jesus in John 3:30 (NIV), "He must become greater; I must become less." The ultimate test of your ministry and this church is, "Who is becoming famous?" I heard about an extremely wealthy couple who wanted to start a charitable foundation. But they approached it in a most unusual way. The man approached a Christian leader who was telling me this story and said, "We want to put the generosity of God on display. Most people think God is stingy." But there was more. They didn’t want the foundation in their names. They didn’t want their names on the checks. They didn’t want a website or press release. They didn’t want there to be a way for people to trace their generosity to anyone but God. They wanted Christ to become famous.
And is this something that is on your radar? Is God being praised in all the things you do? Is he getting the glory and honor? The most loving thing we can do for people in our world is to attract them to Jesus Christ.
Take a Personal Assessment!
So let’s pull back and get that bird’s-eye view again. Are you loving the Lord your God? Are you trusting Jesus Christ? Are you bearing fruit in Christian character as God’s Holy Spirit transforms you? Are you loving your neighbor? Are you being a faithful conduit of God’s grace? Are you making Jesus Christ famous?
It's not enough this morning to nod and say "Amen." My job as a leader is to tell you what our church can do to help you trust Jesus Christ, bear Christian fruit, be faithful in ministry, and make Christ famous. I wish it were as simple as attending a worship service. Our Life groups and Adult Bible Fellowships are the vehicles for turning good intentions into reality. They’re where we spend time with God. They’re where God’s Spirit transforms our characters. They’re where we serve people. They’re where we make Christ famous. This morning I am putting Life Groups and Adult Bible Fellowships on your radar. But in the coming weeks we're going to talk about what they’re really about.