True Spirituality - How to Overcome the Evil Aimed at You, Part 2

The true test of our genuine maturity in Jesus Christ.

Are you ready? It's how we treat our enemies. Let me ask you, how are you doing with that person or persons? Maybe it's an ex-mate, maybe it's a child, maybe it's a boss, maybe it's a supervisor. I mean the person who betrayed you.

How do you deal with that person in a way that honors God and brings about change? That's the truth. That's today. Don't miss it. Let me ask you to share some additional thoughts about this message. And considering the relevance of this topic, you'll want to stick around to hear what Chip has to say.

Well, if you have a Bible, open it now to Romans chapter 12 and let's listen to part two of Chip's message, How to Overcome the Evil Aimed at You. Some of you are going to get out of prison today. Some of you have been pushing this down and that's why you're depressed. Some of you eat when you're not hungry because you've been pushing this stuff down. Some of you have ulcers and migraines and there's lots of physical causes. But a big part of why our bodies don't work very well and why we do stuff that doesn't make sense and you know we have sanctified quote addictions and not so sanctified addictions. And a lot of it is rooted in this lack of forgiveness and be willing to release these people.

And you can start that today. The final thing he says, not only do you forgive them, but he talks about identification. And so it's not just where you mentally are doing this.

I mean this gets like from hard to crazy hard. He says rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Christians we usually quote that and we think it's how we're supposed to treat one another. You don't need any commands to rejoice with people that you love. And you don't need any commands to weep with people that you love that have cancer.

The context here is this is how we bless or treat our enemies. And so your boss who ripped you off, who did terrible things to you, who actually stole a couple of your patents, took credit for it, launched another company, went public, got mega wealthy rich. And you lost out and you've been brewing over this forever. Or your mate that walked out on you and married some little hottie, male or female, and now is on the beach while you don't have any money.

Is this real stuff or not? Right? And then they get cancer or they're in an auto accident. You know what this says? You rejoice with those who rejoice, you weep with those who weep. What would happen if you walked in that hospital room, said you know I know it's been five years. You can't believe how much I've prayed for you. You don't have to tell them why. And I want you to know that I have forgiven you for what you've done, but when I heard about this cancer I felt compelled by God to come tell you that Jesus really loves you and I would love, would you allow me to pray for you right now?

Can you imagine them scratching their head? Or when something good happens to them, rejoicing with them. Maybe they remarry and they burnt you but they have a kid and they have a baby and something happens and you've completely forgiven them and you're praying for blessing. What if you jotted a note and said I really, I praise God I've been praying for your family for two years and you know it's exciting to see this blessing in your life. And for some, because here's the disclaimer, if you were sexually abused or this person hurt you or did something, there's some people you can't get involved with.

But you could send them an anonymous gift. Because here's what it does, it changes you. And before you keep looking at me like this is the craziest stuff you've ever heard, isn't this what Jesus did? Didn't Jesus come to a planet and those who were his own did not receive him but rejected him. And so we are his enemies. Paul would call us while we were still his enemies, Christ died for us, Romans 5-8. And so why we're his enemies, what did he do? He went to weddings and rejoiced with us, he raised little kids from the dead.

If you're hungry, why don't we just feed everybody right here? Or with Lazarus, what did he do? He wept. Jesus wasn't playing, okay, when you clean up your act and when everything gets okay, then I will love you. He rejoiced with those who were rejoicing and he wept because it is the kindness of God that leads to repentance.

People will probably, this is so counterintuitive, this is so bizarre. When you, by his power and his grace, choose to do this, something happens. And the grace of God works through you in ways where, you know what, people start to believe, maybe this Jesus is real. And so it begins with forgiveness and then there's identification. And then notice the very last part, verse 16. He says there's an association that you need to be very careful. He says, live in harmony with one another, do not be proud but willing, circle that word associate with people of low position. And then as though, you know, do not be conceited. In a fallen world with evil people, and especially those that don't know Christ and are very antagonistic, the apostle Paul's saying we need to be people that don't just cling to our rights in the fray of life. I mean, it's a selfish, dog eat dog manipulative world.

I mean, welcome to the NFL. So how does a Christian live that out? If possible, he says, live in harmony with one another.

And then here's the deal. When you're blessing your enemies, see this, if you're not careful, it can be like, you know what, I'm going to do this. I'm going to jot a card. I'm going to visit them in the hospital.

I'm going to pray for them every day. You know what, I'm sort of this wonderful, spiritual, amazing person loving this scumbag of the world who walked out on me. That's kind of the opposite of do not be conceited. See, this is hard for some of us.

On a given day, the very thing that that person did to you in a moment of weakness and under pressure, you could do that to someone else. So we come not as the superiors. We come associating with, connecting with our humanity, people of low position, and we're not conceited, but it's with humility that we bless them with a sense of, but for the grace of God, I would be doing those things to others. Doesn't this really just sound like Jesus?

Isn't there like a trail being blazed that we're to follow? And so that's the positive side. Bless those, and notice, who persecute you.

They're after you. The second command is a negative one. Don't take your own revenge, verses 17 through 20. Don't take your own revenge.

I mean, it's just a command. Do not repay evil for evil. And then he's kind of like in a fallen world, he says, be careful, circle that word above it. Literally, it's take thought. New American Standard says, respect what is right in the sight of all men.

If possible, as far as it depends on you, live with peace with everyone. And then he goes on to say, just wait a second, don't take your own revenge, but leave room for God's wrath. He's the one who's going to be the judge.

He's going to mete out justice. Here's the point, personal retaliation is a prohibited response for God's people. Personal retaliation, in other words, they did evil to you, you get them back. They did evil to you, you get them back.

They did this to you, you say bad things about them. And if you're a Christian and you have some experience, you can do it in such passive aggressive ways. And you add a verse to it.

Throw in, it's a prayer request. It works, believe me. And you just go left handed like this and you whack them. Because your real goal is revenge. It's payback. You use your power, you use your intellect, you use your relationships, you use nuances. And you go like this, one more drink of poison please.

It's going to kill him sooner or later. But it doesn't. Never pay back evil for evil. Instead, take thought and consider how people think. Respect and realize that they don't have your values. They're not going to act the same way. The field is not level. They're really focused on them.

Sometimes I hear Christians get all upset about non-Christians living like non-Christians. That guy's really greedy. She's so sexually immoral.

I can't believe that, I mean he just drained the whole company and all the employees. Oh my. So what were we like before Jesus was controlling the interior of our life? Take thought for how people think. It will help you live in harmony with them. Personal retaliation is prohibited for two very important reasons. One, it usurps God's role as judge. Vengeance is mine. God says, look, I'm just.

Yes, I'm holy, I'm compassionate, I'm slow to anger, but I'm just. And the word justice is rooted in a concept. You know, the scales of justice. Justice is rooted in a very clear concept of retribution. Retribution is simply this. When you do evil stuff, evil consequences. When you do good stuff, reward. Every man will get what they deserve. So you just need to say, I need to take the ball of judgment, hand it to God, and say, I'm tired of trying to figure out all the ways in my anger fantasies and different ways to get back at my boss or my ex or one of my kids or the person who abused me, and I'm going to put that ball in your hands from now throughout eternity, and I'm going to trust that since you are just, that you will do what's right.

I will never get a raw deal. I'm stepping out, you own it, God. I release it to you. You're fair, you're just.

And either on this side of heaven or on this side of after death, the scales will be absolutely and perfectly balanced. You can release that wound and that hurt and your desire for payback because he knows all things. He knows all the whys. He knows all the circumstances, and you don't.

And you can give that to him. But there's a lot of us, if you demand to be the judge, then God doesn't get to be the judge. And when you judge people and you decide you're going to pay them back, you reap what you sow.

The second reason that personal retaliation is prohibited is because it's an ineffective means of bringing about peace. I mean, look at this passage and how many times it was about oneness and one another and live in harmony. God wants us to live in a very fallen evil world where we're the kind of people that bring peace and we don't cling to our rights and we're the kind of employees that people say, wow, we'd like a hundred of them because, you know, everyone's, you know, gossiping and doing this and that and wanting that and wanting this, and they're a real hassle, but man, a lot of these Christians, man, they make the company smooth. They're loving, they're selfless, they're caring. They're not doormats.

This isn't peace at any price. They take a stand on principle. They take a stand on values. You don't ever run over them, but man, they're people of integrity. They bring about peace. You want these on your softball team. You want them in the city league. You want them helping, you know, running the rec center stuff. They're just good people, and when they get a little offended, they're not so insecure that, you know, they're always causing problems.

They kind of look at people and realize, you know, take thought for where that guy's coming from. That's not even worth the time. Probably ought to pray for him. He's going to go home and scream at that nine-year-old for probably five hours because he missed one ground ball. We're not going to mess with that stuff.

We're going to make this a great environment. Do you get it? See, when you tit for tat, evil for evil, evil for evil, you know what it's like? It's like there's a little fire brewing.

It's like ticking, you know, one of those big fireman hoses, and instead of water coming out of it, you fill it with gasoline. And that's what people do. They do it in their families. They do it in their marriages. They do it with their in-laws.

They do it at work. They did this. I did this.

We did this. Sit in some coffee shop. Just sit in a coffee shop sometime this week.

This is sort of raw to say, but... And listen to other people. I mean, you can't help it because they're so close because usually you try and concentrate. And see how many conversations. I bet it's in the 80 percentile of when people are talking that they're talking about someone that's not at the table about, your mom did that, and she did that. I can't believe your sister, and she did that. And, you know, Bob, who's the supervisor, can you believe they're doing that at work? Right? And then they carry this attitude, and they poison their own soul.

And I would say it's really true of a lot of us. And Paul says, don't do that. It's ineffective. In fact, he goes to the other extremes, and he says, in fact, if your enemy's hungry, I mean, the person who's wounded you, help them. Give them some food. If they're thirsty, give them a drink. In so doing, you heat burning coals on their head. This picture of burning coals is not, as I said, it blows out their brains. It was an Egyptian ritual in the time, ancient Near East.

If a person in Egypt, in this culture, realized that they had offended someone, there was an argument, and they were wrong, then they would build a fire, and they'd take the coals out of the fire and put it in a pan, and then they would take a towel and put it underneath the pan, and they would put on their head, and they would walk through the village, symbolizing, I'm burning the bad thoughts out of my mind. I was wrong. We would use the word, I repent.

I have a metanoia. I've had a change of mind. And see, this is what you see happen in Scripture. This is when you do good for people, and they know deep in their heart and their psyche that they don't deserve it.

It brings about a shame, even in evil people. This is a picture of David, and David's running for his life, and all he's done is won battles and cared for Saul and cared for the king of Israel who was Saul, and Saul really went off the deep end, and he was chasing David, and he's trying to kill him. You know the story? And so, you know, he's running, running, dodging, dodging. Well, finally, he gets surrounded, and he finds himself, and there's this cave. So he and his men are all the way in the back of this cave, and Saul's got them surrounded, and it's like, man, guys, this is kind of it.

We're done if they find us. And lo and behold, Saul comes into the cave, and the Bible's pretty graphic. He relieves himself. And I don't know, maybe he took a nap afterwards. I don't know exactly how it all happens.

The text doesn't say. But David's buddies, they go, hey, God's delivered him. This is it. Nail him. And David says, see, David gets this. I'm not the judge. I will not touch the Lord's anointed. His buddies were saying, God's put him right here.

I mean, this is an answer to prayer. Knock him out. David says, no, no. But he gets close to Saul, gets out his knife, and he cuts a little section off the bottom of his robe. Saul leaves the cave, goes down, peace. There's a ravine. Gets on the other side of the ravine.

David steps out from the mouth of the cave. Saul! Saul!

Why? What have I done? God brought you in this cave, and he holds up, look at your robe.

I could have killed you. And then he makes this very interesting statement. He says, let God be the judge between us. If you are more righteous than I, then I accept full responsibility. May God take me out.

But what have I ever done? See, he gave good for evil. And then very interestingly, Saul begins to weep. It's like in this flash, in this moment, he realizes the truth. See, when people do evil things, they repress it. They go into denial. And there's demonic stuff that happens with people that do progressively evil things, to where they don't think they're doing anything evil.

And it's addictive. And in this moment of grace, Saul, he weeps, and he says, David, you are more righteous than I. Unfortunately, it's a very short repentance and a temporary repentance. But can you imagine if we said, you know what, God? I'm going to forgive so and so.

And then you started on the journey of praying for him. And then maybe even anonymously doing something good for them, to bless them. And even, you know, we tend to demonize people when they've hurt us. Have you realized that? They've really hurt us, so everything they do is terrible and everything we do is good. And we kind of reframe the whole story.

Most stories aren't quite that clear. Doesn't mean they didn't do something terrible. But what would happen? What would happen just where we live if we loved our enemies, if we blessed them? If we said, God, you be the judge.

If we were free. Well, here's the supernatural result. Is good will overcome evil. Now, I realize that what I've said so far for some of you is there's still a little bit of a you don't really understand. You can't possibly grasp what I've been through.

And you know what, I don't. But some lessons you learn later in life and some early. And this lesson I learned as a very young Christian in a powerful way that shaped my future. I came to Christ in the summer right after high school. I went away to play basketball on a basketball scholarship. I was a freshman and if you could do pretty well you could make the traveling team and a guy came in.

It was supposed to be the big hero. Came from inner city, New York. He grew up in the projects. He'd been to Vietnam. He'd been in prison some.

He was supposed to be this rehabilitated drug addict and drug dealer. And the reason he came, I played at a smaller school. The reason he came to our school was because his nervous system was kind of damaged. His reflexes were just, I mean, they weren't terrible but they just weren't all that good. He had a 40 inch vertical leap and it was about six, seven, six, eight.

I mean, there's times where I thought, man, that guy's gonna just knock his head on the rim. And so something happened in his life. I don't know if it was Vietnam. I don't know if it was upbringing. But he hated Christians.

I don't mean he disliked or had a, he hated Christians. And I'm like six months old in the Lord, okay. I mean, we're in basketball season now. I'm just brand new. I'm just reading my Bible in the morning. I haven't even made it all the way through the New Testament.

But I've decided I'm gonna, you know, this is, he's my savior, I'm gonna walk with him. And so this guy finds out I'm a Christian and he starts, he knew a little bit of the Bible and he would quiz me on that and then it got to just humiliation. If you've ever been in a locker room, you know what guys talk about and all that and he liked to say my name in a way that sounded like a cuss word. Chip.

Chip, come here. That's the way he talked to me. And then it was, I became, when you're a freshman you have to do whatever, the older guys. So I kind of became a slave.

So it was like, put my bag on the bus and then I'd come back. You know what, I want my one shoe out of that. I'd go back, get the shoe.

I don't really want that shoe. And he would just mess with me. And at the training table, go get me a Coke. Get me a second helping him eat. And then he would just ridicule. Like the coach would walk out the door like before he goes, hey, we got a big game. I wonder if this skinny little white virgin's gonna be helpful.

You know how them Christians are. And guys, multiply 10x what I just said and you'll get to where we really lived. And I hated his guts. And so my answer was, my hero was Pete Maravich and so I did all those drills for years and years and years and could handle the ball. And so in warmups and things, behind the back as hard as I could because I knew his reflexes weren't very good. Bam, right through his hands and through his face. You know, and then I'd be on the break and I'd slam on through my legs and I'd watch it come right up and the coach would yell at him. And you know, no look pass.

You know, it's really fun. Because you know. And he was humongous. I mean, I hated him so much that, I mean honestly, I would have done this like, hey Jerry, come on.

You want some of this? But it was like, it would be like a three second moment. And I'm smarter than that.

I mean, he, so let me finish the story because there's a major point where I learned about this passage. Because it gets real serious. I'm coming in from the gym and here is a room and across the hall from mine and I just crossed to get to mine and the door's a little bit open and there's all this smoke.

You know, greenish blue smoke coming out of it. Everyone's smoking dope. And he's in there. Well, if he gets caught even smoking grass, he's on probation.

He'll go back to prison. And I didn't think of that, but I just walked by and I was unlocking my door and I felt this on the back of me and he turned me around and he grabbed me underneath the neck and he lifted me up against the wall so I could be up where he is. And he got about this close to me. He said, if you tell anyone what you just saw, I will kill you. And I've killed a lot of people and it's not that big a deal.

Do you understand? And you know, I'm 18 years old. I just came to play basketball in college. And I'm scared to death because there was no bluff in this guy. And I started getting like ulcers in my stomach and I couldn't sleep at night and I had anger fantasies. You know, I mean anger, like really bad. You know, like doing something that you would regret the rest of your life.

And it dominated my life and I went to my, there was a guy that was making disciples and I was in a Bible study and I just shared the whole story. He said, do you want help? I said, are you kidding?

Yeah. He says, well, what I'm gonna tell you is really hard but I guarantee it'll work. I said, man, I'll take anything. He grabbed a Bible. He opened to Romans 12. He read verses 14 to 21 and he explained what I just explained to you. And I looked at him like, are you on drugs?

Bless this guy, I wanna shoot him. I said, you said you're willing. And he said, it's not a feeling, it's choice. So at this table right now, you need to forgive him. Because God wants to forgive him. I said, I don't think God, okay, yeah, okay, I'm sure God really does wanna forgive him.

I just don't. And I willfully chose to forgive him. And he says, now you need to bless him. So I prayed for him every day and then Jerry, for the next four months of our season, never had to ask for anything because I got his back. Jerry, you want this on the bus? Jerry, you need anything else? Jerry, you need another Coke? Hey, what can I do for you, Jerry?

I mean, I'm here for you. When he would go in the shower, his all his dirty clothes, you had to put them in this mesh bag and I took all the sweaty stuff, gave them to the trainer, took his clothes, folded them, put his shoes next to it. Didn't say a word. I just blessed him and blessed him and blessed him and blessed him and when he said stuff to me, I just, by the grace of God, I didn't say anything back.

No more behind the back passes, no more no look passes. Jerry, good shot. And after, you know, like after a month or so, he's going, you trying some Christian trick on me?

I said, no, I'm just, you know, Jesus said that I'm to love everybody and I'm just doing my best. Chip. Disgust. Well, I'd like to say, you know, this is one of those stories where two and a half months in, he walked into the locker room, knelt down, oh, Jesus, please forgive me. That story ain't gone there.

Okay, because that's not this story. Two months, three months, nothing changed. He just ridiculed me all the time, except one thing.

About a month into it, I changed. My hate was gone. My fear was gone.

I got out of prison. I actually saw, I wonder, I mean, this guy was brilliant. He used to wear this skull cap. He was an amazing artist. And I actually got to where I could say, I wonder what happened to this young man, where he came from and where he's been.

He'd take his shirt off. He had a scar that went from here all the way around to here. I had no idea what he'd been through. And I had no idea how other Christians treated him. All I knew is I got to the point where I actually cared about him.

Why? I blessed him. I prayed for him. I did good.

And when you do that, God does something in you. We closed the season, and we always closed with a big tournament in a major city and had a big coliseum, and all the teams in our conference would come, and you'd play a bunch of games. We were eliminated. I mean, you've got to remember, this is like mid-70s. So it's, Jerry and I, I'm only six foot tall, so I've got my platforms and my blue leather jacket and my apple hat, and I'm sort of strutting. And Jerry, he's like 6'7", 6'8", so he's got his platforms and his fro and his hat, so he's like 7'2", you know? So this was just the world we lived in. It was real windy, and I remember him.

You know those images in your mind sometimes? I remember him taking his leather coat, because it was windy, and put it up here. He turned to me and he goes, Chip. I said, yeah. He said, you know, there's only two people I respect on this whole team. I've been messing with these guys' minds.

They are so punks. He said, me, because I am evil and I know it, and if there's a hell, I'm going there. And you, because I disagree with everything you stand for, but you actually live it.

And I would never, ever want to be a Christian, but if I ever even thought about it, I'd be one like you. And he said, you know what, I'm done with you. It's no fun to diss you anymore. So you're done, kid. Get out of here.

See you. And here's what I want to tell you. God wants you to love your enemies for your good and for his glory. Chip will be right back with his application for this message, How to Overcome the Evil Aimed at You, from his series, True Spirituality, Becoming a Romans 12 Christian. This six-part series sheds light on how to move your relationship with God from a performance-oriented existence to a loving, grace-filled life. In these messages, Chip describes the profile of an authentic follower of Jesus and provides practical steps for how we can get there. Now, for those who don't know, true spirituality is the core discipleship teaching here at Living on the Edge.

And because of that, we have a ton of great resources to help you get plugged in with this series, whether that's the study guides, the DVDs or CDs of Chip's teaching, the book, or our free MP3s. For a limited time, all of these helpful resources are discounted. So order your true spirituality resources today by going to LivingOnTheEdge.org. That's LivingOnTheEdge.org.

App listeners, tap Special Offers. Chip, this series, True Spirituality, is one of the core series of Living on the Edge. Now, you originally taught it years ago, so it's possible that people have already heard it or read the book or done the small group study. And now you've just used this material to create your newest daily discipleship. Now, what would you say to someone who's familiar with true spirituality and thinks they've already gotten all they're going to get out of it?

Well, Dave, that's a really good question because this is very, very different. You know, I've listened to great messages and I've actually read a handful of books, but I've never sat down with the author and said, hey, do you think we could spend, you know, two and a half, almost three weeks together and would you walk with me individually and apply this to my life? And could we sort of walk through this in a way where I learn not just what it says, but how to put this into practice in my life with my issues? And that's what daily discipleship is. And it's not a Bible study. It's not me teaching at people. It's me meeting one-on-one individually and mentoring people. I speak never more than 10 minutes. And then I give them 10 minutes with a very clear outline to do some digging on their own.

And it's just for 17 days. At the end of it, what I see is people develop a habit. People walk with God on their own. And what I have seen is people learn to go from in to all in because their view of God gets bigger.

They can trust him more. Life changed. Things that were barriers for years, whether addictions or struggles or relationship issues, over and over and over, I watch God melt those away.

Dave, maybe you could take a minute and why don't you tell them how they can get connected? Thanks, Chip. Well, we're so excited to share with you this new Daily Discipleship with Chip, True Spirituality, based in Romans chapter 12. Our heart behind this video series is to really help you dive into God's Word and discover how to more intentionally live out your faith. For 17 days, you and Chip will walk through what true spirituality looks like and how you can put these truths into practice. If you're looking for the next step along your faith journey, let me encourage you to be a part of Daily Discipleship with Chip, True Spirituality. You can sign up for this study right now, and when you do, we'll send you our friend Lance Witt's devotional based on Romans 12 called Leave Ordinary Behind at No Cost. Sign up now while this offer lasts by going to livingontheedge.org or by calling 888-333-6003.

That's 888-333-6003 or go to livingontheedge.org. App listeners just tap Discipleship. Chip, as we wrap up this timeless series, the application for this message Overcoming Evil with Good might be more relevant today than ever before. Share with us what giving good for evil looks like in this increasingly hostile society.

Well, Dave, yes, it's one thing to say, I was in college and, you know, I had a really rough time when I learned the principle, but the pinnacle of maturity. I mean, that moment of when it is the supernatural power of the Spirit, it is when we are facing evil, and instead of retaliating, we're an agent of healing instead of hostility. And I think if there's anything, the way the world has changed in the last just few years, we as the Church need to be, not doormats, but we have to give good for evil. We have to follow what Jesus commanded us, what Paul tells us here. And by giving people what they don't deserve and the power of the Holy Spirit to bless them, to pray for them, to actually do good for those that persecute who hurt us, that's how injustice gets solved. My prayer is that literally tens of thousands of the Living on the Edge family will dig into this series.

If not for the first time again, share it with others. Do it as a small group and say, we are going to be the kind of people that are just like Jesus. Father, forgive them.

They know not what they do. And we will do good in His power because good is more powerful than evil. Amen.

Let's do it together. As we wrap up, I want to say thanks to those who make this program possible through your generous financial support. Your gifts help us create programs, purchase airtime, and develop additional resources to help Christians live like Christians. Now, if you've been blessed by the Ministry of Living on the Edge, would you consider sending a gift today? You can call us at 888-333-6003, tap the donate button, or donate online at livingontheedge.org. Your support is greatly appreciated. Well, until next time, for everyone here, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.