Francis Chan - Paul's Secret about Contentment

I'm willing to bet that in this room some of you are having a hard time with what Cory and Megan are doing and you think that's just not wise to young kids you can go out there and other people's 40 some of you will look at this fourteen-year-old kid that's writing for support and and his family leaving to the Philippines that's just not wise and why are you taking your teenage kid out there some of you would look at the 13 year old girl and going yeah you know she's just telling people about Jesus on okay that's just you know you're just preaching to people and if people don't like some of you look at a seven-year-old girl and go 450 bucks she doesn't understand yet and so her parents should make her keep the money and and I know but and I know this because and this is the part that I say sure but I believe God wants me to and I believe it's good for you some of you have disagreed with me for years about finances I've been pastoring here for 15 years 15 years okay and and I remember when I started the church and people disagreed with me they said you know you really should take a salary and I go no you know what God always works things out and it'll be okay and so we didn't take a salary for a little while and I said you know my wife can work and she's she she's excited to do it she's been working and she's okay with it and you know wants to support that way and then then we started you know taking a little money from the church and you took like a thousand dollars a month or something it's like people like oh you know that's just not fair you should take more stigma I know we just do things differently and I will be okay God's gonna provide all of our needs in fact I would give away most of the thousand bucks and you know and then I I start taking a full salary you know it's three grand a month and my my wife would just you know she didn't have to work anymore because we're having kids and stuff like that and and we're fine we're totally fine and we're giving everything was good and everyone just kept on I don't think that's wise I really think you should save and not not live off so little but I'm we're really fine we're okay I like Top Ramen I don't know I I seriously I grew up on it I like it you know and and we're happy I go on a happy family and I I think everything's gonna be taken care of in the future and we just keep giving and giving and giving and and we start making some money and people just keep disagreeing going on I don't think you should do that I think that's giving a little bit too much we've never given less than 10% you know and we just kept wanting that number to climb every year and we let's try giving 20% let's try giving 25 let's try 30 let's try 50% this year we're gonna be given about 90% of our income that that's out that's how much we're making now that's crazy I'm not even taking a salary from the church just through speaking through the book you realize this year I'm gonna make about half a million dollars this year okay and now now people hear that and they go yeah yeah I don't know if you should really give it away I don't know if you should really give that all away I mean I don't think it's prudent I need spirit and I guess my question to you will there ever come a point when you finally look at my life and go maybe he's on to something because I'm not making half a million this year like is there ever I'm just curious like what do you know what what do I need to make and give away before you finally go maybe there is something about this God he's talking about and maybe he really is content without money and maybe God really does take care of your future and maybe what the psalmist said of yeah I was young but now I'm old and I've noticed something God always takes care of those who just give freely you see I'm not that old I mean I'm - some of you I'm ancient I'm 41 and to others you call me a kid which is really weird but but I'm saying the same thing you know I know I was young and idealistic and so now I got I'll take care of a god I'll take care of it God will take care of it I feel like every year he does and and yet some of you I'll never be able to convince you that the way I'm living is not crazy the way that Corey and Megan are living is not crazy and in fact I believe the way that you are is for those who question me I really do because you're gonna die any second and we'll see who's crazy and when I stand before God I promise you you won't think I'm crazy and for all of eternity you won't think that it was crazy and same is gonna be true of Corey and Megan same is gonna be true of these kids if they continue to live this way you guys that's the biblical Christianity is you bet it all on this life and then you start seeing God be faithful in this life when he says look whatever you sacrifice I'll give you a hundred times that and this life in life to come and then you know guys like the Apostle Paul he just goes in and and all that stuff it doesn't really matter I'm happy like like I'm content with Christ what's it gonna take before you believe a guy like the Apostle Paul really is like Christ is enough and and he's okay you can be in a prison cell and be fine you have nothing and be fine and you can be rich and be fine you just don't need this stuff you just let it go when you live this way and it's the safest way to live because you don't know if you're going to be here tomorrow and I last thoughts I want to give to you before the summer starts is I really encourage you to read the Bible with an open mind Voltaire once said and I heard this quote when I was in high school I believe and and heard it again recently he says God created man in his own image and now man is returning the favor and what he meant by that is yeah God made us in His image then what we want to do is we want to recreate God the way we want him to be let me create God I want a God who is okay with me being filthy rich and spending it on myself and giving 10% to him I want that type of God so I'm gonna say that's the way Jesus is I I want a God that's actually okay with me sleeping with my girlfriend because we're in love and I think God I'm gonna I'm gonna say God's okay with that because I'm okay with that and God must be like me I want a God that says it's okay you know for me to make this choice after all it's my choice it's my body I want God to be okay with this and so I'm gonna make this type of Jesus now I've always heard that that phrase used in the context of people that are just way out there but this week I was speaking to this guy who this author and he was telling me he was just he was using it in the context of the American church and saying you know we in the American church have created this middle class Jesus we've created a middle class Jesus who says that it's okay to make your nuclear family your idol and and where it's actually a good thing for you to put your family up there in the pedestal and about you and your kids and and and then you know I got to take care of them first and and they're they're the most important thing and then God comes second everything else and because you'd never find that in the Bible but why is it that we say oh you know what if you love your wife and you love your kids and your great Christian because that's what we because we want to love our kids we want to idolize them so we created Jesus who idolized his kids and marriage and everything else rather than taking it in perspective of the way Christ really taught us when he told people look if you're gonna follow me you got to be willing to hate your father mother wife kids if you want to follow me he says you know who's my mother who are my brothers it's you who hear the word of God and obey it there's a new family here where's the nuclear family now absolutely the Bible says we are to provide for them if we don't provide for them we're worse than unbeliever that we love our we love our wives like like Christ loved the church I'm not saying that we don't do those things I'm just saying we've made that everything because that's what we want it to be that's why we want Jesus to be we want Jesus to be a Jesus that says you know what it's good to save you know and and stock away for the future and make sure you're fine years from now rather than the Jesus who was radical see when I read Jesus of Scripture wasn't a middle class Jesus it was a crazy man who said look I don't know where I'm gonna eat tomorrow I'm we're gonna sleep tonight you still want to follow me and I don't know how we beautify that and pretty that up but it was a Jesus who says you know quit storing things up for yourself here on earth where moth and rust can destroy put it up in heaven it's gonna be fine he goes in fact don't even worry about what you're gonna eat tomorrow I'll take care of that see the birds of the air there's flying around they're not saving their there if you really I mean if you want to just find you know Jesus that that lets you live a certain type of light you'll find it we can recreate Jesus every one but really just read this book sometime read through one of the Gospels and what's the natural conclusion of the type of life that that Christ wants to live and that's what I'm saying about the Apostle Paul here in Philippians 4:13 we can take a verse like Philippians 4:13 and just apply it to whatever - suddenly we're using that to say that God wants me to be rich and I'm going man it seems like he's saying the opposite there that Philippians 4:13 is to explain that I am rich in Christ I don't need anything like the money thing just doesn't matter but some you'll be good so defensive over this like no no it's okay to it's okay to have it it's okay to whatever you want I think you're crazy because I think this life is a lot shorter than you realize and I don't think that it's Corey and Megan that are crazy and I don't think it's these kids that are living this way that are crazy and I personally don't believe I'm crazy I don't believe I'm crazy enough I I think I I still am holding on to too much here on this earth and that we should be living these insane lives for Jesus Christ because we're so sure of the future I understand I'm not talking about making yourself out to be a martyr or whatever else I am saying that Jesus really is enough and in the future we're really going to see that anything we gave the Lord was so worth it and so I really encourage you this summer while I'm gone read this book for yourself don't let your own desires interpret because you could see here here's know this is really the last thing there are things about God that I don't like there are things about God there are things about Jesus that Francis Chan as a human being does not like I do not like some of his teachings I prefer he taught some other things but I'm not gonna change him and neglect those sayings and create my own Jesus that didn't say those things and didn't really live that way so that I can be happier and say Jesus must be like this no I'm gonna try to tweak me in conforming into this image of Jesus Christ even when it's painful even when it's not really what I want to do I want you to understand that there are so many verses in this book that I don't really want to obey and there are so many attributes of the way Christ live that are very difficult for me now as I followed I found that well it actually is more blessed to give than to receive and as you obey them you realize okay now it's time to make sense now I get why Jesus said that so in the spirit and in in the at the core of my being I know what he says is true and it's all good and when he and I disagree I assume he's right I think it's a smart way to go and a lot of you when you to disagree you just say oh he's got to change to be the way I am oh that's weird I think that's crazy I just go you know and even the things I disagree on I'm trying to conform myself to who Jesus Christ is and try to live that way and out what ring encourage you to consider have you made and created for yourself a middle or even upper class Jesus because it suits you better because in the end you're gonna find out that Jesus never existed he's the same Jesus as he was back here that says you know I'm not worried about tomorrow seeking the kingdom first I hope that you follow the Holy Spirit this summer wherever he leads you even if it doesn't make sense to other people it's like Cory said in that video we should be living lives that demand an explanation and I think I've tried too hard to try to convince you then I'm not crazy rather than just accepting the fact that most of the people on this earth are gonna think I'm crazy and that's okay and I think they all are and then at the end we'll find out who was right and I'm just saying so far so good God's worked out for me and I tell you we're gonna have a baptism you know if you want to get baptized if there's anyone that wants to get baptized but I want you understand being baptized doesn't mean you add Jesus to your life and fit him into your middle-class lifestyle getting baptized means I follow Jesus no matter where he leads me no matter what he asked me to do and where he asked me to live what he asked me to give he's that wonderful I'm gonna die to myself and follow him completely and if that's your desire because you believe in this God was sent his son to die on the cross for you and you believe he rose from the grave and you believe that even in the parts where you don't like you're willing to submit and you want his spirit to come into you to give you the self-control and the power to submit if that's your desire then I invite you to come up here and get baptized maybe you just need some prayer this morning because I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of people in this room who are not content you haven't learned what Paul was talking about you haven't found that Christ is enough and maybe you just need some pray over that and that's your desire there'll be people up here but the rest of us let's spend some time worship

Channel: k3nsta

Views: 39,599

Rating: 4.9143577 out of 5

Keywords: Francis Chan (Author), John Piper (Author), Gospel (Quotation Subject), Love, Jesus Christ (Deity), Popular Culture (Media Genre), Contentment (Quotation Subject)

Id: AUct1d5gRTY

Length: 15min 17sec (917 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 19 2015