Matt Chandler - I Am

Well, how are we doing? Well, excellent and amped up this morning! I like that. If you have your Bibles, go ahead and grab them. John chapter four is where we’re going to camp out. If you’re with us today and don’t have a Bible, there should be a hardback black one somewhere around you. If you don’t own one, that’s our gift to you. I woke up early this morning and went to Roots to grab a cup of coffee before I came up here to pray with the staff. The barista, who is a member of our church, said, «Hey, the first half of your message was awesome last night.» What kind of compliment is that? The first half was really good, but it was a little weak near the end? So I asked—I mean, I’ve got the personality type where I’m going to ask what that means. She said, «No, no, I just had to leave early.» So I was like, «Oh, okay.» So all we know at this point is the first half of this is really good, but the back end could be terrible—no promises.

Now, while you’re turning to John chapter four, I want to talk to you about James Smith. James Smith graduated from Waltrip High School in 1967. From there, he went to Sam Houston State University—Go Bearcats! —to get his degree. He then had a long, wildly successful career and has been married to his wife, Sheri, for over 30 years. They have two grown children who are also married: a son named Jeremy and a daughter named Tiffany. He is a bit of a social conservative, so if you want to think about politics, he’s going to be on the conservative side of things. He is staunchly pro-life and is not a fan of the current administration. He has a John Deere tractor and is proud that, for a man his age, he still knows how to mow his own lawn. He’s got a great sense of humor, but the real crown jewel of his life is his seven grandchildren. The Bible says that children are an inheritance from the Lord, but I’m telling you as a parent, it seems that grandchildren are an inheritance of the Lord because they certainly have an easier gig than the one I’m walking right now. And you really have to earn that to get to that inheritance, right? He loves those grandbabies. If they’re playing a sport, he and Sheri are there. He often does this: he took his oldest granddaughter up to New York, and they had high tea together. So when you hear me say high tea, don’t think of what you do with your Keurig. This is a real swanky kind of high tea experience with his granddaughter. He is all in on those grandbabies. He has a dog named Oliver, a golden doodle. That golden doodle weighs thirty-six pounds and has recently been neutered because he was a little crazy, so they thought if they neutered Oliver, maybe he’ll calm down a bit.

Now, a quick confession: I had no idea who James Smith was. On Wednesday night, I was with my wife—and this will give you insight into our relationship—and I said, «What do you think the most common name for a man in the United States is?» She said to me, «Siri, what’s the most common name for a man in the United States?» Siri came back very quickly—thank you very much, Apple—and said «James Smith.» So on Thursday morning, I woke up and had breakfast with a young man named Otis. He’s doing stunning ministry down in South Dallas. After that, I came to my office to study. I got on my computer and went to my wife’s Facebook page—with her permission; don’t give me that look; I don’t have one—and I searched for James Smith. Then I scrolled through the large list of James Smiths. It was an incredible list until I found a James Smith who had no mutual friends with my wife, and then I picked him. For ten minutes, I perused his Facebook page, and that’s who I just introduced you to.

Now, how weird would it be if he’s a podcaster, right? How awesome would that be? This week, he’s going for his run, and he puts in his headphones, and he’s like, «Wait a minute! My name is James! I have a dog named Oliver! Wait, he’s talking about me!» So, Jim, if you’re listening to this, I love you! I think… I’m not sure; I just spent ten minutes on your Facebook page. Social psychologists are going to say that I don’t know Jim; I know about Jim. They’re going to tease out this idea of knowing versus knowing about and use the terms impersonal knowledge and personal knowledge. But my Bible’s over here; maybe it’s better if I just come over here and say it doesn’t matter if you’re a believer, a Christian, or not. Social psychology says there is a difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone. Social psychologists would say, «I know about James Smith, Jim, but I don’t know him.» They would argue that impersonal knowledge could mean that you’re an acquaintance, that you’re able to smoothly enter into conversation with them, and that you would recognize them. All of that would be categorized psychologically as impersonal knowledge. It means this: I could see Jim, I would recognize him, and I know enough about his life to begin engaging him in a rather smooth conversation. I mean, literally, if I saw him, I would say, «Jim, how are you, man? You, Sheri?»