So What?: How Others See You Is How They'll See Christ

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It's not just the leaders who influence those around them. Pastor Greg Laurie says we need to consider who's following our example. You see, every one of us plays a role in the church. Christians, by definition, are the representatives of Jesus Christ. We're the Lord's ambassadors. But what are people learning about Christ by watching how we conduct ourselves? Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how we have certain resources, time, talent, treasures, that are on loan from God. But he wants us to use those resources for the kingdom. Today Pastor Greg has some good help for us.

It's practical insight from his series called Essentials. News flash. Jesus Christ is coming back again. So what? Okay, Christ is coming back again. So what am I supposed to do? Well, for starters, I'm supposed to be an active, functioning part of the church. Here's what Hebrews 10 22 says, let's hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.

So how are you doing in that regard? Here's a question. What if everybody attended church the way you attend? What if every Christian was just like you? You know, would services be attended faithfully?

Would pews be empty or full? What if everyone prayed like you prayed? Would we be a praying church? What if everyone worshiped like you? Would we be a worshiping church or would we be a silent church? What if everybody evangelized as often as you evangelized? Would we be a church reaching a lost culture? What if everybody gave as faithfully of their finances as you give? Would we have a church that had the needs met or would they be neglected?

You see, the church is made up of all of us together, and we either contribute to its strength and growth or to its weakness and decline, but every one of us plays a role in the church. The story is told from history of the king of Sparta. He was boasting to a visitor about the walls of Sparta.

The visitor looked around and couldn't see any walls at all. And the Spartan king told his guests, you see, in Sparta, every man is a brick. And pointing to the army, he said, these are the walls of Sparta. And that's true of the church. Every believer is a brick, or as the Bible says, we're living stones. As the great theologians, Pink Floyd reminded us, all in all, you're just another brick in the wall. Yeah, so we are. We're a brick.

We're a stone. We play a part in the church. So we should not be spectators. We should be participants. And this is what can make the difference between church being life-altering for you or just another thing that you do. You just come when you have time and when you can work it in and you just kind of check in and check out early and you're in a passive spectator mode, then church is one thing.

I mean, it will do you some good still. But then you come and say, no, I want to be in the game. I want to be involved. I want to serve. I want to glorify God. I want to play a role in this church.

Man, it will make all the difference in the world. President Theodore Roosevelt said years ago, quote, it's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or the doer of deeds could have done better. No, says Roosevelt, the credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who wears and comes up short again and again because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, end quote. So in the same way, the credit goes to the believer that's in the arena that doesn't just talk about it, but the believer who's doing it. You know, some Christians are setting the world on fire while others are still looking for a match. You need the church and the church needs you because we're part of a family. This is one of the problems with church hopping.

A lot of people like to do that. I like to go to lots of churches. I go to this church Sunday morning and this church Sunday night. And then sometimes I go to a different church the next Sunday morning and then a different one the next Sunday morning. And then sometimes I'll just watch something on TV and you know, and they think that's a great thing. Like they're so mature they go to all these churches. Actually, that's a bad thing.

I think you'd be surprised. I know that most pastors would agree with me on this. I mean, if someone's coming to our church and we're just one of the churches they visit, you know what I say to them? I say, hey, you're welcome. Glad you came. But you need to lock into a single church and be a part of that church.

Why? Because first of all, you need a consistent theology. Number two, you need a pastor. Number three, you need a body of believers where you're accountable, who will help you and build you up and call you out if you're crossing the line. You know, some people I think they don't want to walk as they ought to walk as a believer. So they figure if they keep moving, no one will know.

And that's a way for them to avoid that. You need to be in a place where you can contribute with your gifts that God has given you. You need a place to serve.

You need a place to give. We all need to be a part of the church. Okay, now with that in mind, let's look now at the words of Jesus in Matthew 25. This is a parable that He told them. You know what a parable is, right? A parable is a story.

It's an illustration. It's been defined as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. So to make His point, Jesus would tell a story. We all love a good story, don't we?

We remember stories. Jesus illustrated His messages a lot and told stories to bring the point home. So Matthew 25 is one of those stories showing us how we are to live as we wait for the Lord's return.

Matthew 25, starting in verse 14, and I'm going to read from the New Living Translation. Jesus says, again, the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a trip. He called together his servants and gave them money to invest for him while he was gone. He gave five bags of gold to one, two bags of gold to another, one bag of gold to the last, dividing it in proportion to their abilities that he left on his trip. The servant who received the five bags of gold began immediately to invest the money and he soon doubled it. The servant with two bags of gold went right to work and doubled the money, but the servant who received the one bag of gold dug a hole in the ground and hit the master's money for safekeeping. After a long time, their master returned from his trip and he called them to give an account on how they used their money. And the servant to whom he entrusted the five bags of gold said, sir?

He gave me five bags of gold to invest and I doubled the amount. The master was full of praise. Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithfully in handling the small amount. Now I'll give you many more responsibilities.

Let's celebrate together. Next comes the servant who received two bags of gold with a report. Sir? He gave me two bags of gold to invest and I doubled the amount. The master said, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithfully in handling the small amount. Now I'll give you more responsibilities.

Let's celebrate together. And then the servant with one bag of gold came and said, sir, I know you're a hard man. Harvesting crops you didn't plant and gathering crops you didn't cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money so I hid it in the earth and here it is.

Pulls it out of the ground, worms coming out of it. That's my commentary, by the way. That's not in the text. But the master replied, you wicked and lazy servant, you think I'm a hard man to you?

Harvesting crops I didn't plant and gathering crops I didn't cultivate. Well, at least you should have put my money in the bank so I could have gained some interest. Take the money from that servant.

Give it to the one who has 10 bags of gold. Now here's the conclusion. Jesus always comes to a conclusion. To those who use well what they're given, even more will be given and they'll have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away.

We'll stop there. All right, so in this parable, each person is given a different amount to invest. Verse 15, he gave five bags of gold to one, two bags of gold to another, one bag of gold to the lost, dividing it in proportion to their abilities and then he left on his trip. So this master did not give them his money to keep but to invest. He didn't say, here, this is yours now. It was still his.

He said, invest my money. Not everyone was given equal amounts and in the same way we don't have equal abilities. You know, it's not how much you have that matters to God.

It's what you do with what you have that matters to God. Some of us are what we might describe as a five bag person. You know, we have a lot of advantages in life. Some may be a, you know, one bag person.

That doesn't matter. What matters is what you do with the opportunities that are given to you. We're not all dealt the same hand, if you will, at birth. You know, some are born into wealth, some are not. Some are born perfectly healthy, others are not. Some are born into intact homes, others are born into broken homes. So again, we're not dealt the same hand but each of us has a God-given opportunity to play the cards we've been dealt for the glory of God and the good of others.

Let me say that again. Every one of us has a God-given opportunity to play the cards you've been dealt for the glory of God and the good of others. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Emails, letters and phone calls let us know that you're gaining benefit from Pastor Greg's teaching.

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1-866-871-1144. Well, we're looking at the parable of the talents today as Pastor Greg leads our study in Matthew chapter 25. It's the final message in his series called Essentials.

And you can get an instant replay of today's study at harvest.org. Let's look at this first guy. He could hardly wait to show the master what he had done. Verse 20 of Matthew 25, the one that he gave five bags of gold to, I doubled what you gave me. So the master's very pleased with that.

Well done. Now, the second guy did well as also he took what the master gave him and doubled it. But this third guy, man, he's just pathetic. He didn't really do anything with what the master gave him. The first two servants brought forth effort. The servant brought forth an excuse in the third category. He says, well, I know you're a hard man. Harvesting crops you didn't plant, gathering crops you didn't cultivate, I was afraid I would lose your money.

So I hid it in the earth, and here it is. Instead of loving his master like the other two, it sounds like this guy resented his master. He actually blames his boss for his own shortcomings. And sometimes people live that way with God. Well, so we know God is just not fair the way my life turned out. It's not fair the hand you dealt me. And I'm mad at you.

I'm angry at you. Because you were always out to get me. What a faulty view of God. Maybe it's true God's always been out to get you, but he's been out to get you in the same way that the father was out to get the prodigal son.

He wanted to get to him and throw his arms around him and show him his love. But maybe you have a concept of God as someone who's out to ruin your life, to spoil your fun, et cetera. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here's the problem with this third guy. He was just lazy. My friend James Merritt summed it up this way. He said this, quote, instead of doing the possible, he's attempting the impossible. He's trying to defend the indefensible. That's because there's no excuse, and there's no defense for refusing to seize an opportunity to take responsibility to use any ability for the glory of God, end quote. It was Benjamin Franklin who said, and I quote now, I found the people who are best at making excuses are not much good at doing anything else. And there's some people that are just great excuse makers. Well, this is why it didn't happen, and they always have their excuses, and then there are those people that just go out there and get it done.

You see, this guy was offering an excuse, or to be blunt, it really was a lie. Now, here's an interesting thing. The ancient Roman Empire had a banking system not unlike what we have today. The interest earned on deposits back then was around 6%, which isn't bad. And so this guy could have just put it in the bank and earned 6%, but instead he buries it in the ground. What kind of person takes money and buries it in the ground? Well, actually, I read a little news article the other day about a Sierra Nevada couple who dug up $10 million worth of 19th century gold coins stuffed into rusty cans. It turns out that the original owner of them took all of this money and put it in cans and buried it in their yard.

They felt that was the best place to keep it. Well, that was a bad decision, and we can do the same thing. We can take a gift that God gives to us, and we can just bury it. I'm not going to use that gift. I'm not going to develop that gift.

I'm not going to cultivate that gift. But think about this. There is three things that God has given to every believer to use in life. Three things. They are time, talent, and treasure.

We all have it. We have time, we have talent, and we have treasure. And we're to take those things and use them for the glory of God.

So how are you using them? So look at how the master deals with this one irresponsible servant. He says, take the money away from this servant.

Give it to the one with the 10 bags of gold. To those who use well what they're given, even more will be given, and they'll have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away.

Interesting. In God's kingdom, the redistribution of wealth has a different meaning, doesn't it? So it's not take it from the guy who has a lot and give it to the guy who doesn't have anything in this story. It's take it from the guy who didn't do anything with what he was given and give it to the man who is faithful with what the Lord gave him. So maybe we need to be thinking about what God has given to us. Because as I said, he's given to us gifts. When you become a Christian and you ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, the Bible promises that he gives gifts of the Spirit to Christians.

In fact, Romans 12 says we have different gifts according to the grace that's given to us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy according to your proportion of faith. If your gift is serving, then serve. If your gift is teaching, then teach. If your gift is encouraging, then encourage. If it's contributing to the needs of others, then give generously. If it's leadership, then govern diligently.

If it's showing mercy, do it cheerfully. We have different gifts. Not according to our merit. The Bible says we being many, our one body in Christ, having then gifts differing from each other according to the grace that is given to us. So God gives you these gifts, but the gifts don't come fully developed. You have to take that gift and develop it through the passing of time. I've shared this story before, but I only have four stories, so I'll recycle it.

I always wanted to be a graphic artist, a cartoonist, and I loved the Disney films when I was a kid growing up, and so I really wanted to be an animator. And so one day my mom, who had a lot of husbands and boyfriends in between, brought a home guy up, brought a home guy, brought a guy home. I don't know what a home guy is.

Kind of like a homeboy, but he's a home guy. So she brought a guy home who was an actual living, breathing animator for Disney. I didn't believe it.

I said, prove it. He pulls out a pencil, draws a flawless Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck. I can't recall. And then he said to me, Greg, if you will take this pencil and go away and go to bed now and put the pencil under your pillow, when you wake up in the morning you'll be able to draw like me. Well, I believed it. Sadly I was 30.

No, I was very young. So I grabbed the little pencil, in my mind the magical pencil, and went to bed so excited I could hardly see. When I wake up I'm going to be able to be a Disney animator, and I woke up the next morning, pulled the pencil out, and sure enough I drew the same way I drew the day before because there's no such thing as a magic pencil.

Now, looking back in retrospect, I think that guy just wanted to be with my mom. But sometimes that's how we want a gift to come to us, fully developed. No, God will give you a gift. Now, you take that gift and you develop it through you. Even a talent can be compared to it, though gifts and talents are different in many ways. But maybe you have a musical ability, but you get good at what you do through practice. I'll tell you, these musicians, they practice.

They work hard at what they do. But if you have a gift in another area, you work at that. Well, in the same way, God gives you these gifts of the Spirit, so you develop them. Some good insight today on putting our gifts of the Spirit into practice from Pastor Greg Laurie's message called, So What. And there's a lot more to come as this study continues here on A New Beginning. And our thanks to our Harvest partners and others who support us faithfully for making today's program possible. Today's study is the kind you ought to preserve for the future.

You can do that by going to harvest.org. Well, Pastor Greg, we're excited about making available a couple of wonderful resources from our good friend, author Sally Lloyd-Jones. Sally's a good friend of yours and Kathy's. And I know as you've thumbed your way through these new resources, they really touched your heart as well.

Absolutely, Dave. You know, they're just, what is the right word? They're just charming.

They're adorable. They're biblical. And yet they're done so beautifully, well, so a child can understand them.

You know, it's been said that the objective of a preacher is to get the cookies on the lower shelf so the children can get to them. And I think that Sally Lloyd-Jones does an amazing job with the project she works on from the Jesus Storybook Bible to this special resource we're offering right now that is simply called NEAR. And she always brings it home in a way a child can understand. So she works with this very talented artist named Jago. And this is beautifully illustrated. And as a graphic artist, I really appreciate his design sensibilities and his attention to detail.

And this is based on Sum 139. So this is something I want to put in the hands of the folks out there, especially you that have young children or you that have grandchildren. You give them this little book, and they're going to want to open it and look at the pictures and read it, or you can read it to them. But I promise you they're going to want to open this and check it out because this is so well done. Otherwise, why would we offer it to you?

We're very intentional on what we choose to bring to your attention here at Harvest because we want to provide you with the finest spiritual resources so you can reach your family, both young and old. Well, you've got a copy of it right there in front of you. Maybe you could read just a little bit of the book for us. Sure.

So, Dave, if I was going to read this to my grandkids, I would read it along these lines. I could fly to the highest star. I could dive into the deepest sea. However far I go, he's always near me.

I could climb the highest mountain. And I could zoom as fast as I... Well, I can see why your grandkids love hearing you read to them. Pastor Greg is reading from the book called Near from Sally Lloyd-Jones, and we want to make that book available to you along with Sally's resource called Babies Carry Along Bible, an adorable little board book with ten Bible stories told in rhyme. We will send both resources, Near and Babies Carry Along Bible, to thank you for your donation right now. It's your partnership and support that allows us to bring Pastor Greg's studies each day.

So thank you for your generosity. And you can write us today at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to Harvest.org. And while you're online with us, why not begin receiving Pastor Greg's daily devotions via email every day? They're free of charge. We'll send them to the email address you provide for us. And when they arrive, you can read them, or with one click, listen to the audio version. Sign up today free of charge at Harvest.org. Well, next time, the final installment of this message from Pastor Greg's Essentials Series. Be sure to tune in here on A New Beginning. .