Dharius Daniels - Do It Anyway

Well, listen, we’re in part two of a series called «Respectfully.» There is a brief scripture I want to read from the Gospel according to Matthew. Remember, all year long, we’re preaching in the Gospels and I want to look at Matthew chapter 15, verse 21. It says this: «Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, 'Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.' Jesus did not answer a word, so his disciples came to him and urged him, 'Send her away, for she keeps crying after us.' He answered, 'I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel.' The woman came and knelt before him. 'Lord, help me! ' she said. He replied, 'It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.' 'Yes, it is, Lord, ' she said. 'Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.' Then Jesus said to her, 'Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.' And her daughter was healed at that moment.» I want to use this scripture to speak from this subject. I want you to drop this subject in the chat. Here it is: «Do it anyway.» Somebody just put in the chat, «Do it anyway. Do it, do it anyway.» You know, I’ve often articulated that it is my conviction that there are three ways a person can live their life: culture’s way, the church’s way, or the king’s way. Culture’s way refers to the dominant social norms and behavior patterns of the cultural context and period in history in which someone lives. The Bible calls this way of living «worldly.» The church’s way refers to the dominant expression of our faith that is at times a combination of biblical truth and biblical-era religious tradition mixed with some cultural infiltration. It is at times an attempt to spiritually sanitize worldliness. The same issues that the world faces, we just give it different labels. It’s still competitive; we just call it passion. It’s still prideful, but we just call it elevation. Culture’s way, the church’s way, and then there’s the king’s way, which is actually living according to the virtues, values, and vantage point of Jesus. Now, someone may ask, «Isn’t the church’s way and the king’s way the same way?» The answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. Sometimes those who claim to know him the best misrepresent him the most. These are the three lanes we can live our lives in, and each of these lanes—look at me—leads to a level. The culture lane leads to a life of sinking, the church’s lane leads to a life of survival, and the king’s lane leads to a life of thriving: sinking, surviving, thriving. Come on, talk to me! I know that middle name bothers us a little bit because a lot of our theology is survival theology. It’s «barely getting by» theology; it’s «coming up the rough side of the mountain» theology. It celebrates a mediocre existence; it’s anointing average, not realizing and recognizing that it is God’s preference that we live on level three. He created us for level three, sent Jesus to die for level three, distributed the Holy Spirit for level three, created the church for level three, and sent the Holy Scriptures to provide us with the information we need to live on level three. He is obsessed with you living on level three and committed to you living on level three. So when you settle for an inferior level, he starts intervening and agitating you because he wants you to know, «I didn’t die for that. I didn’t die for that.» Yes, I didn’t die for that! So it says that whatever he has to do, he’ll do. He’ll correct, he’ll prune, he’ll chastise, he’ll comfort, he’ll counsel, and he’ll coach. He’ll do whatever he has to do to get you to level three. However, because he reveals himself as a shepherd and not a slave owner, he will lead you there but not force you there. He will let you live on whatever level you settle for, but I believe that the effectiveness of God’s word—just tied to what he says—is tied to when he says it. Did you hear what I said? He knows when to say it, and I believe his kindness is seen in his timing. The fact that he’s talking to us about this right now must mean I’m addressing some people who are sick of settling. I’m talking to some people who will not meander through a maze of mediocrity and live on level one when God says level three is available, nor live on level two when God says level three is available. We should be sick of settling because settling is an insult to God’s intervention in our lives. When you look at the degree of investment that God has made into your past, it is a prophetic picture of what he wants to do in your future. The lengths he went to for us are a revelation that it doesn’t make sense for us to settle. However, living on level three requires more than this revelation I’m giving you. Living on level three requires level three communication. Did you hear what I just said? I said living on level three requires more than this revelation. Living on level three also requires level three communication. This is why we’re spending the next several Sundays in this series subject called «Respectfully,» because we want to help equip you with kingdom keys to unlock your future by unlocking your tongue. Don’t you mess with me! We cannot ignore all that the Scriptures have to say about.