Dharius Daniels - Thinking of a Master Plan

I want to discuss this subject and our time together by thinking of a master plan. Everyone under 40 was quiet during the Nova, which made some noise. When I think of a master plan, if you push me into a corner and ask me from my pastoral perspective to use one word that would describe the attitudinal disposition as well as the mental, physical, and emotional state of Christians that I encounter in various contexts, the word I would use without hesitation is «exhausted.» Tired. And when I use this word, I don’t use it randomly; I use it strategically and intentionally. Because when I use the word «tired,» I’m not referring to simple fatigue that is a consequence of activity. When I say «tired,» I’m speaking of a tiredness that has theological roots—a tiredness that God told Adam in the Garden of Eden would be the consequence of living in a broken world. You remember that after Adam and Eve’s insubordination in the Garden of Eden, the Scriptures record that God predicts what the future will be like for them; He says in Genesis 3:19, «By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you will return.» God prophetically proclaimed to Adam in this passage that the consequence of his disobedience would be a life of toil, where what would have come easy now comes hard. He specifically speaks to Adam about eating, but the statement has larger implications for our appetites. In other words, to satisfy our physical and emotional appetites is going to take toil, and toil makes people tired. All over sacred spaces around the world, people are tired. They’re praising, but they’re tired. They’re worshiping, but they’re tired. They’re serving, but they’re tired. They’re singing, but they’re tired. And they are not just tired physically; they are tired emotionally. Their souls are tired. They are tired from toiling, and they are tired of toiling. A group of therapists recently came together to form a focus group to come up with one word that would describe the emotional state of many people in our current American context, and the word they came up with was similar to what I’m talking about here from the Scriptures: «languishing.» What’s that? A failure to thrive. This is interesting; it seems to be inconsistent with the intention of our Heavenly Father. My Bible tells me Jesus says these words: «The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you may have life.» Note that He didn’t say, «I have come that you might have church.» He said, «I have come that you might have life,» that the purpose of church is to help usher you into the kind of life you are called, created, and commissioned to live. Tired of toiling—toiling to raise the kids, toiling to manage the marriage, toiling to create resources, toiling to keep your head above water, toiling to maintain a steady and stable emotional state, toiling to find fulfillment, and toiling to be faithful. And I would argue, family, watch this, that the toiling we see and that many of us are experiencing is a result of some teaching. I’m going to say that again—some of the toiling we’ve experienced is a result of some teaching, because not all teaching takes place in church. Am I making sense here? Let me frame it this way: when I say our toiling is connected to some teaching, I’m simply suggesting, ladies and gentlemen, that we are all impacted and affected by what transpires in culture. Church isn’t the only place that’s discipling us; culture often disciples us. A cultural and social norm is a culture of grinding. We celebrate grinding; we congratulate grinding; we treat sleep deprivation as a badge of honor. Somehow we see a lack of self-care as an indication of spiritual stamina and emotional fortitude. We view self-destructive behavior as the only reasonable route to success. Grinding. When Jesus seems to be suggesting here in Matthew 7 that there’s another way. Jesus offers us something that I think is extremely important and often overlooked: He offers us an alternative path to productivity. He’s not saying you have to compromise your productivity; you have been created and wired by your Creator to be productive. One of the first commands He gave the human species was to be fruitful and multiply. There’s some stuff in you that has to come out. He gave you gifts and talents that must be used. I said this last week; some of the dreams in your heart aren’t your dreams—they’re God’s dreams. If they’re your dreams, they’re optional activities, but if they’re God’s dreams, they’re divine responsibilities—you’ve got to do it. So, I’m not arguing against fruitfulness, but Jesus seems to be pointing to a different pathway to productivity. He’s saying you can achieve the same result in a different way. He’s saying you don’t have to build that way because in our current culture, which is a culture of grinding, in the culture of the Kingdom, it’s a culture of grace. The unforced rhythms of grace—no straining, just stepping. In our current culture, we use willpower, but in the Kingdom, we use wisdom. As we consider building what God has called, created, and commissioned us to build, I am telling you that you can build the empire without destroying your castle.