Are you bored? I mean, are you just flat tired of what life has been offering you? Have you ever noticed that our world is on an all-out, no-holes-barred pursuit of activities that numb our senses to keep us from experiencing boredom?
Now, how would you like to overcome boredom and find real fulfillment?
Sound good? It's possible. Stick around and we'll talk about what it takes. Tired of the endless pursuit of new things that promise fulfillment but deliver emptiness? Today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram exposes our culture's desperate attempt to avoid boredom through constant entertainment and distraction.
But here's what most people don't realize, boredom isn't your enemy. It's actually God's gift, a divine tap on the shoulder, reminding you that you're an eternal being trying to satisfy yourself with temporary things. Here's Chip Ingram with How to Overcome Boredom and the Blues. Webster says boredom is the condition of becoming weary by dull, uninteresting, or monotonous activity or focus. It's trying to get satisfied with something, and then after you try it for a while, it doesn't satisfy, so you try something else, and then things just get dull.
If you don't think we're a culture that struggles with boredom, Consider the word amusement. And the multi-billion dollar industry. You know what the word muse means? It means to think. You know what amusement means?
Not to think. We have amusement parks, video, TV, vacations, bungee jumping, thrill-seeking, adrenaline writing. We have people that the highlight, the highlight of their week is when one of their favorite authors writes a new fictional novel. We're a culture that lives vicariously. We are so bored.
We are so empty when it gets down to what matters. We vicariously live through rock stars and sports figures and romance novels and the latest movie. We have to line up and we have to get there first because in the office, or we want to talk about what? Fictitious people in made-up stories. Who live in Southern California, whose lives don't work, who they paint up after surgery to put on pretend lies that we pay seven bucks a ticket to watch.
You tell me we're not bored? We're bored. Why are we bored? I'd like to suggest something. I'd like to suggest that boredom is the inevitable result.
of seeking an infinite reference point in a finite object. It's a matter of trying to find significance in things and in people that can only offer. Success. Boredom is what happens when the new wears off. You're in a new relationship with me.
This is so exciting. And then what? You get a new cart. Wow. And then...
What? Get a new house, it's your dream, and then... What? Then it's repairs and Fixing it up. working through dysfunctional backgrounds.
And what I've observed is that the boredom and the blues go hand in hand. The blues, kind of that low feeling of life doesn't really matter. is the emotional baggage of boredom. The blues comes when that inner voice in your heart and mind says, This is the next hill to take. This is what you're going to do with your life.
And this inner voice says, Been there. done that. And then you awaken to the reality. that the next venture will only yield more of the same. You see, there's a vicious cycle.
It's new venture, excitement, challenge, growth, plateau, boredom. Then the blues. And so you say, well, that must not be it. New venture, excitement, growth, challenge, plateau, boredom, and the blues.
Well, that must not be the right person. I'll try someone else. Excitement, growth, challenge, venture. It's a vicious cycle. It's a vicious, vicious cycle.
You know, some people spend 70, 80 years and never figure this out? Like little hamsters in big cages. running faster and faster. Changing colors, never going anywhere. Could boredom in fact.
Be a gift in disguise? I'd like to suggest that boredom, this sense of not being able to get satisfied in this life, is God's general reminder that we are spiritual beings made. for not only time, but eternity. That's why I report. Boredom is the natural result of seeking to scratch an eternal itch.
with temporal things. I just can't do it. In fact, boredom tells us that the object of our worship. Isn't big enough or great enough to be worshipped. You can worship success, and once you get it, it gets small.
You can worship a person, you get it. It's not what you expected. You can think if you raise this family this way, then it happens. If you can get this job... They can drive this car.
If you can score on this test, if you can get into this college, And then, once you get it, if you happen to. See, I think Those of you that happen to be successful. are really fortunate. See, if you're successful, then you actually learn it doesn't come through.
Some of us that fail a lot in a lot of those areas are still believing. that we can. Yeah. God's answer to boredom. Interesting is authentic worship.
The great theologian Augustine wrote, This was after he sought meaning in a wild, wild life, seeking pleasure in everything imaginable. Augustine wrote, God has placed a God-shaped vacuum in every heart. And we will not be satisfied. Until we find Him. He went on to say And our hearts will never be at rest until.
They find their rest. in Christ.
So what's authentic worship? One writer says, worship is pulling our affections off our idols. and putting them on God. Definition of worship is: worship is our response to God for who He is and what He's done. That's a good working definition.
It's the key, it is the key to overcoming a life of meaninglessness or boredom. followed by the blues. Real worship is our response to God for who He is and what He's done.
So the $64 question is, what does he want? Right? What should your response be? What does God want? Can you imagine if Jesus would come in the flesh and stand before us, and we could get microphones and line up and say, Excuse me, sir.
Uh what would you like from my life? I mean, since I'm gonna, I'm made for eternity and I only live here for a little while, I'd like to use it well and I don't want to be bored, and then I don't want to get the blues.
So, excuse me, Lord Jesus, what do you want from me? I'm going to tell you exactly what he'd say. He wrote it through the Apostle Paul, Romans chapter 12, verse 1. He would say to you, Do I want a little song? No, songs are okay.
Okay. Do I want you to come to a worship service? Is that what worship is? They said no. But they're good.
Do I want you to have a special feeling inside? If you have the special close feeling, is that worship? She said, oh, that's important, but no, that's not it. He would say, I urge you. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, in light of God's mercy, in light of all that I have done for you.
To present your bodies, your life, as a living and holy sacrifice. Acceptable to God, the word means well-pleasing, it's what he wants. Which is your reasonable service of worship. And that last little phrase, reasonable service of worship, very interesting word in the New Testament. It's a technical term.
In fact, if you look at different translations, some will talk about reasonable service, and other translations will say spiritual service. It's because the translators don't know how to handle the word. What it is, is that it became a technical term for worship, but the word logitzemai means we get our word logic. In other words, it's the most logical thing to do. He's the creator, you're the creature.
What is logical? What's wisest? What's the emotionally most healthy, positive response for you and your life? It is to present your life on the altar. And by the word, that word present, it's in a tens of the verb that means in a point in time.
It's not some vague some way, somehow, yeah, I believe in God, or even I go to church. This is presenting yourself on a specific day. On a specific day of the week, at a specific time, where you say you may already be a believer even. And you say, I don't want to worship anything less than you. It's when you do a little gut check and you look at your boredom.
Account, and you say, in my heart of hearts, I think I'm worshiping my girlfriend. In my heart of hearts, I think I'm worshiping my boyfriend, or my job, or my mate, or my kids, or money, or success, because that's where all my energy, and my time, and my dreams gravitate to. And you call a timeout in life, and you say, you know, God, I'm going to make a willful decision, point in time, to present myself. on the altar. as a living and notice holy.
Holy means I'm going to do it your way. I'll be set apart. My speech, my life. My words, my sexuality will be holy. And that's what you want.
You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We'll return to our message in just a moment. But first, did you know that you can access this entire series anytime you want? Head on over to livingontheedge.org where you'll discover Chip's full teaching library, along with study guides and small group materials. Whether you want to replay today's message or explore other topics, everything you need to grow spiritually is available online at livingonthege.org.
Let's get back to Chip's message. Notice the summary. It says, worship is the complete and total giving of ourselves for that which we believe has ultimate purpose and will provide the greatest reward. I like that definition. See real worship.
is the complete and total giving of who you are. For what you honestly believe is the ultimate purpose in life, and this is important: what you believe will bring the greatest reward. And that's why, when you wanna know what you're gonna worship, If you really want to know what you worship, it has little to do with what your mouth says. Does it? What you worship has very little to you.
Oh, I worship God.
Well, maybe. If you want to know what you worship, I'll give you three litmus tests. Number one, go track your money. Number two, go track your time. And number three, Ask, where does your mind drift to when you're dreaming about what could be?
Where does your mind gravitate? If it gravitates to the things of God, if it gravitates toward intimacy with Christ, if it gravitates towards seeing people come to know Christ, if it gravitates towards your heart breaking for the things that God hearts break over. Then you worship Christ. If it just unconsciously gravitates to the next steel, The next novel someone's gonna bring out, which team won, whether you can get home in time to check the scores on ESPN. Whether so-and-so is going to go with you or go with someone else.
Whether you're going to get this job or get into that school, if your time and your money and your dreams revolve. Around anything other than Christ. That's what you worship.
Now, here's the deal. That can sound very threatening. Understand God's heart. Understand God's heart. We all do that at times.
I certainly do. But the heart of God is not, if you heard and if you felt emotionally a little bit of a shame on you. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. That's a bad boy, that's a bad girl. Then you missed the point.
This is a God who wants to give you authentic pearls, and you're holding on to these little plastic things that you think will deliver for you. And He's holding authentic pearls, and He's saying, You know, if you could let go of that junk. I can give you something real. That's what the lordship of Christ is. That's what worship is.
You can spend your life chasing that girl, chasing that guy, or the ideal marriage, or being successful, or getting rich, or building the big house, or remodeling this, or doing that, or driving that. You can do that. And when you get done. Your plastic beads will be plastic. And you will be bored.
and it won't deliver. And then you'll get blue. Or All those things have their place. You could allow Jesus to be the center focus of your life. And he would dictate your time.
Your energy, your dreams, and since he's all-knowing, and since he loves you, and since he died for you, maybe his plan's even better than yours for you. Just a thought. Yeah. Well, let's Ask the one question. Heart of hearts, don't raise your hand.
If someone asks you, Who are you worshiping? In your honest heart of hearts, who are you worshiping? Is it Christ? Or is it An idol. Person, job, success.
Can I suggest that As I keep talking, You start having a little wrestling match with God about what has your best interest in mind. and what would be the wisest thing for you to do. And I want to challenge you before you walk out of here at some point tonight. Decide whether you're going to offer your body as a living sacrifice. or keep worshiping something else.
It's important. In fact, Your whole future depends on it. We find in John chapter 4, verses 21 to 24, Jesus ends up talking with a lady, a Samaritan. She was a despised woman. Jews didn't talk to Samaritans, so it's an unusual conversation.
And the historical history is Samaritans are kind of like Jewish half breeds. They have about half Jewish blood and half Samaritan blood, and they had a real tussle between the Jews and the Samaritans. And so Jesus is tired. The fellows go in to grab lunch. Bring it back.
He's sitting by a well, and this lady, we find out later, has a pretty Checkered past. Jesus looks beyond all that. And they strike up a conversation. Jesus declared, believe me, woman, a time is coming. When you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
They got talking about worship, and she said, Well, you know, our fathers do it here, and you Jews do it over there. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming And has now come when true Worshipers, that's what we want to be, right? I do.
True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.
Now notice this line. For they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. You want to be close to God? You want to experience God. You want to see God do things in your life about.
People that you read about and in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, he is seeking. I mean, he's got the spiritual x-rays out probing, looking for men, looking for women, looking for students who would worship him in spirit and in truth. He's. He's the hound of heaven.
He longs to have a relationship with you. You are special. But he won't interfere. You know, it's like people dancing, you know. It's rude to rip someone else and say, I want to dance.
See, when you're polite, what do you do? You tap them on the shoulder. And then the other person steps back. And then you step in. This is what God does.
Day by day, moments like this, He comes to you. And he taps you on the shoulder. He says, Excuse me, can I cut in? And you say, well, I'm worshiping this house right now. He says, I know.
He said uh Not a good dance. And he taps you on the shoulder and he says, Can I cut in? Oh, I'm worshiping my career, and I have to go to school, and I got to go to grad school, and then I have to do this, and I have to do that. He says, I know. Can I cut in?
He seeks after people. Who worship him in spirit and in truth. Why? God is Spirit. And his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
Now, the question is: what, right? What in the world does it look like? If the Holy Spirit will illuminate our minds, do you realize that the Father will be seeking you? We find in John chapter 4, verses 21 to 24, Jesus ends up talking with a lady, a Samaritan. It's very interesting.
In verses 21 and 22, they're talking about geography and location. Authentic worship can happen anywhere.
Now, we're more open to that, but in that culture, that society, hey, God is going to show up at the synagogue. Jesus said, a time's coming when location means nothing. See, worship is not about form. It's about function. It's not about location.
It's about purpose. Worship can happen in a church building. Nature, quiet moments, a human heart. 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20 says, Know you not that your bodies are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? God, we are told in Scripture, doesn't take up residence in things made by human hands, but what in human hearts?
This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip has more to share in just a moment. If this message is helping you understand the restlessness in your soul, you can share it with others by directing them to livingonthege.org. As you consider what authentic worship looks like in your daily life, let me point you to a resource that can deepen your connection with God. Chip created a 10-day devotional series called Psalms of Hope, and you can access it today totally free.
For each devotional, Chip teaches for 10 minutes from one of three life-changing Psalms. Following his teaching, you spend 10 minutes in quiet reflection and prayer. Today, we studied Psalm 27, which reveals David's heart for worship and his bold trust in God. Psalms of Hope will take you deeper into that same transformative practice of meeting God through the Psalms. Begin your journey today at livingonthege.org.
Just search for Psalms of Hope. Yeah. This ministry reaches people like you because friends choose to financially support it. Your partnership enables us to continue delivering biblical truth that transforms lives. Would you consider giving today?
We've made it easy to give online. Just go to livingontheedge.org or write to us through the mail at LivingOnTheEdge, P.O. Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. You can also call us and give over the phone. Just dial 888-333-6003.
Also, check out our new feature on the Living on the Edge podcast. We call it the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast, presenting each of Chip's sermons unedited from beginning to end. You can find these episodes right alongside our regular broadcasts on your podcast app. Just search for Living on the Edge.
Well now here's Chip with today's talking point. I want to talk directly about worship. I think it's one of the most misunderstood concepts in all the Bible. We have said as we close today's program that worship is the complete and total giving of ourselves for that which we believe has ultimate purpose and will provide the greatest reward. And I ask you some questions.
I think they're penetrating, profound questions about what's going to happen in your life and mine. What do you worship? Let me ask you honestly, what do you worship? Wherever your time, wherever your energy, wherever your mind is dreaming, and wherever your money goes, that's what you're ascribing worth to. And I didn't grow up in the church, and hear my heart.
I am not down on you at all, but I want to bring you to the reality of the words of the Apostle Paul. I urge you, therefore, my brethren, in light of God's grace, in light of His mercy, that what He really wants is you. Present your body, a living and holy sacrifice. That's what's acceptable to Him. That's what spiritual worship is.
And I got to be honest with you, this is a journey. It's a point in time, but it's also a journey. God, through three significant injuries that took me out of most of the season, or at least a part of a season, showed me that although I'd received Christ, I was reading my Bible, I was praying, I worshiped basketball, I worshiped baseball. I mean, I was living for the day when they would interview me after the game and I could tell them I scored so many points and I did so great, and it was all because of Jesus. And God helped me see that no, that wasn't it at all, Chip.
It was really because you want the applause of people. Then, as I continued to grow, what I realized was my heart and my lips said one thing. But my finances reflected that I really was a lot more interested in hobbies, I was a lot more interested in my future, I was a lot more interested in my security. then I was really worshiping God because my money wasn't going there. And I remember a watershed moment in my life when I began to give the first ten percent to God, to my local church, and then gradually over and above that to missions, and then gradually over and above that to specific things.
And I saw God bless. And what I realized was That's real worship. It's not what my lips say, it's where my life and my energy are focused. That's what I'm ascribing worth to. And I think today, just hear my heart, the evangelical church in America, we think singing songs is worship.
I mean, that's part of it. But it's not singing songs, it's love that is in deed and truth.
So let me ask you, what are you really worshiping? Are you giving the first portion of your time, your energy, and your money to God? And the given is that you do that in a local body. But let me just share very candidly too, we get emails and letters and phone calls that are awesome. I mean, people's lives who say Living on the Edge is changing my life.
And yet Can I be very honest? It's a very small percentage of people who really ascribe worth to the ministry. And what I mean by that is people who say, you know, when I hear the music come on, I pray for you guys, or I've put you down in my prayer list. I tell my friends because I believe it matters. An even smaller percentage who say, by writing a check, you know what, I believe there is worth, there is value in the ministry.
Not just that I feel good, not that I'm just a consumer, but this is helping me to the point that I want to ascribe worth. And I want to give on a regular basis. And so I would ask you. What is your view of Living on the Edge? What is your view?
Not emotionally, but what is your view from the heart? If we are ministering to you, we're on this station because there's a core of people in this city that sacrificially give. would you be willing to partner and join with them? Uh we have uh some information that we'd like to give you, but I'd like to ask you to pray today. and make a decision.
To support Living on the Edge, so that we can continue to do what God has called us to do. but we can't do it alone. Will you partner with us and will you do it today? What does God really want from you? I'm Dave Druy.
Find out tomorrow on Living on the Edge. Uh Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
