Jesus Offers Hope - When Being Good Isn't Good Enough, Part 1

Is it possible that trying very, very hard to be good, to be moral, to be a positive person could actually cause you to miss a relationship with God? Today we'll talk about the most famous story Jesus ever told and give you an insight that you may have never, ever understood. Don't miss today. My name is Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Drew. And Chip's our Bible teacher for this international discipleship ministry focused on helping Christians live like Christians. Now in this program, Chip continues in his series, Jesus Offers Hope, with a message he calls, When Being Good Isn't Good Enough.

If you're struggling under the weight of trying to do better or being more committed, this message is for you. Chip shares how to reframe our thinking so we can experience God's peace and his power when we need it the most. With that, here's Chip with his talk from Luke chapter 15. The wisest man in the world, his name was Solomon.

God gave him a gift. He said, I'm going to make you wiser than anyone who has ever lived, wiser than anyone who will ever live. And he said this, there is a way that seems right to a man, but the way ends in death. There is a way, there's a path, there's a worldview that people lock onto thinking this will deliver happiness and purpose and fulfillment. There is a way which seems right to a man, but the way thereof ends in death. There's two primary paths or ways, historically and actually to this day, that people have developed to say this is how we ought to live.

If you want to pull out your teaching handout on the front, I've added some notes for you. The first way is what I'll call the way of self-discovery. This is the people that say that I'm tired of tradition. I'm tired of people telling me what to do. I'm going to do my own thing. I'm going to discover my own way. I'm going to cast off the restraints. And no one's going to tell me what makes my life work.

I will figure it out. In fact, the problem with the whole world is all those super conservative people with their narrow bigoted ideas. The other way is called the moral conformist. And this way is where the person says, you know something, I want to be a good person. I want to obey the tradition of the fathers and usually there's some religious establishment and I want to do what's right and I don't want to sin. I don't want to hang around with people that do. And if I'm a good person, then life's going to work out well.

That's the path that I need to be on. Under the moral conformist, we have the development of people who think in conservative thoughts. And we call those people the right wing. And on the other side of self-discovery, they're the progressives.

And we call them the left wing. In his little book, the prodigal god Timothy Keller writes this, our Western society is so deeply divided between these two approaches that hardly anyone can conceive of any other way to live. If you criticize or distance yourself from one, everyone assumes you have chosen to follow the other. Because each of these approaches tend to divide the whole world into two basic groups.

The moral conformist says, here's what the moral conformist says, the immoral people, the people who do their own thing, they're the problem in the world and the moral people are the solution. The advocates of the self-discovery say, the bigoted people, the people who say we have the truth or the problem with the world and the progressive people are the solution. Now notice this phrase. Each side says, our way is the way.

Underline way in your notes, will you? Our way is the way. The world will be put right. And if you're not with us, you're against us.

Now here's what's very interesting. Jesus' parable in Luke chapter 15 will tell us that both camps are wrong. He's going to say there's a third paradigm. There is a way to be right with God that is a separate path and the path is not moral conformity and the path is not to be progressive. There's a third path, a Christ path, a different path and he's going to explain it when he's in the middle of these two groups. And Luke 15 grows out a situation where he's with the progressives and the tax collectors and the self-discovery and the immoral people and the prostitutes who say, I'm going to cast off restraint and find my way. And at the same time, the moral conformists, the Pharisees are there, the goody two shoes that have lots of rules about everything. And these two groups are together. And the religious group is rejecting him thinking he couldn't be from God because he's hanging out with these people.

And last time we learned that in order to address this issue, he's going to speak to both groups. He gives one parable and the one parable has three many stories. In story number one, he talks about their own world where the shepherd has 100 sheep. He loses one and he goes and he's on a search, gets the sheep, rescues it, puts it on his shoulders and brings it back to his house. The second story is about a woman that has one of her 10 silver coins that they would wear around as a headband to show that she's a married woman and she loses one and she sweeps the house and she finds it. And then she invites her friends.

There's a celebration. And then in climax, the story moves to the young son. And there's a father that has a young son who we learned represents the immoral people. And he has an older son that represents the Pharisees. And the younger son in absolute rejection of his father says, give me my part of the estate now. And so the father has to sell off some property and liquidate his assets and he takes a third of all that he has. He gives it to the young son and the young son goes way, way over here and he lives in wanton pleasure and wild living and he squanders it all. And one day he's feeding pigs and he's thinking, you know what, my self-discovery progressive do my own thing is really not working very well right now.

In fact, I don't have anything to eat. So I'm going to humble myself and I'm going to go back to my father and I'm going to tell my father, father, I've sinned against heaven, I've sinned against you. I can't be your son, but you're hired guys at least have a meal.

Will you please forgive me? And as he's on his way back, we learned that the father every day is going out and looking and filled with compassion. He embarrasses himself, lifts up his tunic, runs to his son, hugs his son, kisses his son.

The son starts in on the speech and he says, stop quick. Put the best robe in the house on him. He's a family member. Put a ring on his finger, security, authority. He's my son again. Put sandals on his feet because that's what sons wear.

Slaves go barefooted. Kill the fatted calf. Get out the Kobe beef. We're going to have a party.

Invite the whole community. And we learned that's the father's heart towards lost people. The father in this story is God. The Pharisees are the elder son. We learned that there's a celebration in heaven when one single person comes and turns from where they were. When one sinner, a sinner by their progressive actions or a sinner by their conservative actions, when one comes to the father, there's rejoicing.

This morning we're going to talk about people that are out of relationship because they zealously keep all the rules. And we pick up the story in verse 25 because while all this has happened, there's the older son. And the older son apparently was out in the field working because he always works, because he always does what is right. And he's always obeying what you're supposed to do.

He lives with ought's and should's and got to's all the time. And he hears the music and he hears the dancing. And we pick up the story in verse 25. Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard the music and the dancing, so he called one of the servants and he asked him, what's going on? Your brother has come, he replied, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he's back safe and sound.

The older brother noticed his response, became angry, and he refused to go in. He has an opportunity to thrill the father's heart. He has an opportunity to say, oh dad, you know, this is your flesh and blood, this is your son, you must be really happy. There's a big party celebrating, but what's he do?

He refuses to go in. Now the father is going to embarrass himself yet again in this culture because there's a big party and people were stunned that this young person has been restored back. But where's the older brother?

Oh, he's outside. And notice he wants to hurt the father and reject the father because he won't come in. And so the father goes out and he pleads with the son, but he answered his father, look, all these years I've been slaving.

Notice his view of the relationship. Not loving, not enjoying, not intimacy, I've been slaving for you and never, never, never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends, but when the son of yours who squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him. And then you hear the heart of God. Remember, Jesus is explaining how the father feels first about lost immoral people far from God who break rules, who've had multiple affairs, who've cheated people, who've had a couple of abortions. People that have done terrible things, people that are sex addicts and drug addicts and we constantly celebrate, isn't it amazing how God saves them? And in contrast now, Jesus is gonna say how does the heavenly father feel about people who are trapped in their own goodness, who think their acceptance is based on being a good person or a religious person or doing the right things or being morally superior. And notice what he says to him, my son, you are always with me and everything I have is yours.

It's always been available. But we had to celebrate because this brother of yours is dead and is alive again. He was lost and now he's found.

I wanna dive in together and I put some notes together to help us. Jesus offers hope when our goodness fails. This elder brother is good moral person. But his good morality is actually keeping him from God. Notice his response is anger.

I won't go in. He's mad that God has forgiven someone else. He's mad that God is compassionate. He's mad also because when you get down to it, a third of the estate was given to who? The younger son, it's gone now. Well, who owns the two-thirds that's left? He does.

Well, guess what? That fatted calf, that was a part of his estate. This younger brother coming in, he might edge in on what he's, see, the older brother is not concerned about his relationship with the father. He's concerned about what do I get or what I don't get and I've earned it and he squandered it. Notice the son's reason.

His reason is pride. I never disobeyed. Hey, I do the right thing all the time. I keep the rules. I cross the T's.

I dot the I's. I follow the law. I've never killed anybody. I've never done anything wrong, big, bad. But his pride, his arrogance is I won't go in because I'm not going to go in there and associate and notice what he says, this son of yours. He's not my brother. I'm better than. I'm superior. He's not my brother.

And he's arrogant. He doesn't see his own need. His message is you owe me.

I've been slaving for you. His relationship with the father in this story isn't any closer than the younger son. It's a transaction. I do certain things.

You're supposed to deliver certain things. In fact, Keller in his book has a great line. Page 36 he writes, the hearts of the two brothers were the same.

Isn't that interesting? Both resented their father's authority and sought some way to get out from under it. They each wanted to get in a position in which they could tell the father what to do. Each one, in other words, rebelled.

One did so by being very bad and the other did so by being extremely good. But both were alienated from their father's heart. Both sons were lost.

Do you realize that Jesus is teaching in this day that was stunning? Neither son loved the father for himself. They were both using the father for their own self-centered ends rather than lovingly enjoying and serving him for his own sake. And this is one of the greatest lines in this little book. This means you can rebel against God and be alienated from him either by breaking his rules or by keeping all of them diligently. It's a shocking message.

Careful obedience to God's law may serve as a strategy for rebelling against God. It's very subtle. The problem with being an elder son, you don't know you're lost. In fact, you're convinced not only you're not lost, but you know the score. You are right.

It's others and their problem that are lost. Now, let me summarize some observations about this passage and let me preface that with I know a lot about this son. I'm ashamed about how much I know about this son. I remember early on, I was probably 17 years old and doing a little work at the Ohio State's Fair and I had a friend whose dad sold hearing aids and he paid us a few bucks to get in a stand and it's this huge fair and thousands of people would walk by and we were supposed to just hand out these brochures and it was a ridiculous amount of money like $5 an hour.

I thought it was awesome back then. And across from us was some group of religious people, but they had this sign that said you must be born again and I had no idea what that meant or who they were and they watched us and after three or four days, they came over and I'll never forget a young guy that looked a little bit like me. I mean, he just seemed fairly normal and he said, are you saved? I said, from what?

I mean, I'm dead serious. He said, no, no, are you saved? I said, well, from what? He said, well, let me ask you this question. If you were to die today, do you know whether you'd go to heaven or not? I said, yes. He said, and it was sort of like, oh, you didn't answer the right question, so he went back over to his booth and I thought to myself, I mean, if God's, I have not killed anyone, I intellectually believe in God, you know what, I may cuss a little bit and have a few, but you know, I'm not sleeping with anyone, I don't drink, I don't smoke, I try to be a good person.

I mean, what's he want? If anybody gets in heaven, it ought to be people like me. My goodness was keeping me from and I grew up in a family system where perform, perform, perform, perform is how you get successful. Notice how this person's goodness kept him from the father. What do we learn from the elder brother? That very good moral religious people, even those who believe the Bible can be as lost as the most immoral sinner. Do you understand when the Pharisees heard this, it was, what? Second observation is that Jesus extends forgiveness to elder brothers.

The Pharisees then and the Pharisees like us now. What's he say? Come into my house. It's interesting, I was, every night after I teach on Saturday night, I get a little chance to review and, you know, I get feedback from different people and how long I spend on each one and then I pray it through and try and improve. And as I woke up early this morning, I was on time last night, things were okay and, but I had this little lack of sense of peace and it was like, God, something's missing from this message and I don't know what it is. And so I began to process it with Teresa over a cup of coffee early.

And as we talked, I said, honey, you know what it is? Down deep, I think the father's heart and deep love and compassion really got communicated to people that feel far away from God. And I said, last night, as I talked through this, I think the information was clear, I think the content was clear, but I don't think people heard and felt God's loving father's heart.

You know, we celebrate it when prostitutes come to Christ and we celebrate when people come out of, you know, trafficking or drug addictions. But when like good, moral, religious people, I mean, even some of those that are, you know, like pretty repulsive and arrogant and bigoted, well, I mean, the Pharisees are always the bad guys. And when they come to faith, it's almost like, well, we ought to let them in, but they're such jerks. And I remember she said something to me this morning, she said, well, Chip, maybe the reason it was hard for you to share God's gentleness and compassion is because you've had a hard time accepting that as a Pharisee like you are. Not condemning, I mean, she's seen my journey, not only before I became a Christian, but then after I trusted Christ, I mean, I had like a year of grace, no one said you got to read the Bible, I just got it in the morning and I read it and was like, whoa, man, you mean God would speak to me. And he started changing my life and I was singing out loud, I didn't even know why and I'd whistle as I was walking on the college campus and my attitudes changed and I felt like a burden was gone and I was free and I didn't know you were supposed to do a bunch of stuff. I just knew God loved me, I didn't have to perform, I didn't have to fake it, I didn't have to try and pretend I was someone else. And then I got connected to a group of very committed Christians with all the best intentions that it was like a recipe for disaster. Their style of Christian growth and my personality was just like TNT and nitroglycerin and someone threw a match on it. And what it was is that, you know, they started telling me, you need to spend so much time in the Bible, you need to pray so long, you need to memorize so many verses, you need to be in a Bible study, you need to have a Bible study, you need, you need, you need. And I mean, it took me a while, but then it was like, okay. And I mean, I can remember probably being a Christian for two years or two and a half years. And I mean, I read the Bible every morning, I prayed so long, I made a list, I went through the list every time, I learned to give 10% then 12% then 20%. I mean, it wasn't over but much money, but I mean, it was like whatever you're supposed to do, I shared my faith. And I remember it was the end of my junior year, the beginning of my senior year of college, I've been a Christian now about three years and I met a girl in the quadrangle.

We had a campus that had all these beautiful brick buildings with ivy and then all grass and sidewalks that went everywhere. And we met in the middle and I knew her as a freshman, in fact, I dated her for a little while. We had a quick conversation and she said, she asked me a question and I answered, quoted a verse, said something and she asked another question, I quoted a verse, said something. And I'll never forget, I mean, it was a defining moment, she said, Chip, can I tell you something?

I said, sure. She goes, you know, when I met you three years ago, you were a really neat guy. And she said, I'm not a Christian, I never claimed to be a Christian, but I thought to myself, if I was ever gonna be a Christian, I'd like to be one like you. There was a joy in your heart and you weren't down on people and you seem to have this reality of a relationship with God, but I gotta tell you, you really have changed. You know, people ask a question, all you do is spout little Bible verses and you know what, every time I'm around you, I feel less than. Every time I'm around you, I feel guilty.

Every time I'm around you, I feel like I don't measure up. And if you are what a committed, quote, disciple is, whatever a Christian is, what I know is, I would never want to be like you. And in my pompous arrogance, I remember turning around and thinking, well, obviously, because, you know, 1 Corinthians 2, 14 says that those who don't have the Spirit of God can't discern the things of the Spirit of God and she doesn't, so she doesn't understand that I'm just. And I got down to my dorm room and God went, bam!

And it was like, you know what, I just spoke through that young woman. You're far from my heart. What marks a follower of Christ is they love people and they love me and there's intimacy and joy and life and relationship. You've been listening to part one of Chip's message, When Being Good Isn't Good Enough. You'll be right back with his application for this teaching from his series, Jesus Offers Hope. It's been said that hope is the oxygen of the soul. The fact is we all put our faith in someone or something, but what happens when our dreams are dashed or someone lets us down or life just falls apart?

Where do we turn when our situations shake us to the core? In this series, Chip points us to the only true source of our hope by using familiar New Testament parables. Chip illustrates how we can experience and safeguard God's indescribable hope in our lives. If you're feeling hopeless, don't miss a part of this series. For more information about Jesus Offers Hope, go to LivingOnTheEdge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. That's 888-333-6003 or LivingOnTheEdge.org.

App listeners, tap Special Offers. Now before we go any further, here's a quick word from Chip. This current series is talking about Jesus offering hope. And I don't have to tell you, we are living in a season where people feel very, very hopeless. And we've been able to provide some hope. I wish you could sit with me personally over a cup of coffee and I could just take all these emails that I've printed out and that I've read over and the little cards of people who've told me and our team, you have been my lifeline. My husband lost his job or my wife is critically ill. You know, the stories go on and on and on and on.

And what we've found during this time is we've created broadcasts and then we've done daily discipleships where we've coached people through, you know, the last 18 months or more. And we're watching God give people hope because in their desperation they're turning to Him. And what I just want to tell you is that we can't do this without the help of people who faithfully pray and people who faithfully give.

You probably can't imagine the stability and the hope it gives to us when we know. And whether it's, you know, $10 or $50 or $25, the issue is not the amount. The issue is would you, where you're at, be willing to say, Living on the Edge has offered me hope and has really helped me. Maybe I've given now and then or maybe I haven't, but would you be willing to pray about? And I mean that sincerely. Just pray, Lord, do you want me to begin giving to Living on the Edge? And whatever amount that is just between you and God. And if He says yes, then do that.

And if He says no, then don't do that. So thanks. Thanks for praying about that. I appreciate it. And my request is do whatever God shows you.

Thanks, Chip. Well, as you prayerfully consider your role with us in this ministry, I want to remind you that when you partner with Living on the Edge, no gift is insignificant. To send a gift, call us at 888-333-6003.

Or if you prefer, just go to livingontheedge.org. Hap listeners, tap donate. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. Well, now with some final thoughts, here's Chip. So let me ask you, as we close today's program, what went through your mind as I described the elder brother in today's message? Did you see yourself there?

I know I certainly did. The question is, how do we keep from swinging from one extreme to the other? Well, the answer is the third option.

It's not conservative, it's not liberal, but a third option that we'll talk more about in our next broadcast. But for today, here's what I want you to do. If you struggle with being an elder brother, and I've got to tell you, I think there's a lot of us elder brothers in the church, I want you to take your watch and put it on your opposite hand. If you don't wear a watch and you're married, take your wedding band and put it on the opposite hand, same finger. And then every time that you look down at your wrist, you know, because we do that to tell time and it's just a habit, I just want you to stop. And what I want you to remember is that God loves you for who you are.

It's not your performance, it's not being good. You can't earn it, you don't have to earn it. Every time, all day, you look at your wrist, it's empty, God loves me. You look at your finger and the ring isn't there, God loves me.

He's for me. And then what I want you to do maybe about the second half of the day is turn it into a thank you. God, thank you that you love me apart from my works. God, thank you that you love me just the way I am. God, thank you that you understand and love me even with my struggles. God, thank you that when I'm hurting and I feel like I don't measure up and I feel guilty and I want to run away from you, thank you that you want to be close to me even then. God wants His love to break through our efforts of trying so hard to be good, and He wants the goodness to come from the inside out. Enjoy your relationship with your Heavenly Father today.

He wants you to come in the house and enjoy the feast. Hey, before we go, let me remind you of an easy way to listen to our extended teaching podcast. Hear Chip anytime on Amazon's Alexa Echo and Echo Dot. Just say, Alexa, open Living on the Edge, and you'll hear that day's extended teaching anytime you want. Well, for Chip and everyone here, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge. Music .