Holy Ambition - Exercise Personal Commitment, Part 1

Do you find yourself wanting to do what's right, making commitments, and then in honesty, not being able to keep them? I mean big commitments, commitments to marriage, family, God, friends. If you long to learn how to make personal commitments and keep them, today's the day for you.

Stay with us. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip's our Bible teacher for this daily discipleship program, Motivating Christians to Live Like Christians. I'm Dave Drewy and have you noticed that the word commitment doesn't mean as much as it used to? Whether it's in our relationships, business contracts, or just making weekend plans with friends, we've become too flippant with our promises.

So how can we fix that? Well in this program Chip continues his series, Holy Ambition, by addressing the importance of commitment in God's eyes and why it's foundational to turn our God-shaped dreams into a reality. Well with that here's Chip with his talk from Nehemiah chapter three. We're going to talk about a personal commitment as the fifth step to turning God-shaped dreams into reality. And I want to talk about the awesome power of commitment, just the idea. Think about just right now who's the most committed person in any area that you know.

I mean it could be the most committed Christian, most committed parent, most committed athlete, most committed business person, most committed student who is the absolutely over-the-top, most committed person you know in any area. Have you got it? Got it in your mind?

Here's what I want you to know. On your notes, commitment inspires us to greatness. Second, commitment protects us from short-sightedness and moments of weakness. And third, commitment provides stability and focus and results in blessing.

Commitment inspires us to greatness. The reason I brought this ball up is in seventh grade I was I think four foot eight or nine. In eighth grade I made it to 4'11 or about five foot. And then ninth grade I just shot up to five feet four.

And that's when my basketball coach said, Chip, you weighed just about 105 pounds, and I think you'd be a great wrestler. And I wanted to be a basketball player. And so I remember going to a dinner. It was between my eighth grade and ninth grade year. And back then where I was from, ninth grade was a part of junior high. And it was a large junior high, pretty large school system. And I grew up as a little boy going to the Friday night high school games.

And the entire town would come out, and it would be packed. And the greatest thing in my mind ever would be to be a part of the blue and gold Gehenna Lincoln Lions. And someday when I grew up, you know, be up and playing on the high school basketball team. And then my dream after that was to get a scholarship and play somewhere in college.

I didn't care where, just anywhere. And so you're five foot probably about two between my eighth and ninth grade year. And they basically told me that I should try another sport. And I went to this sports banquet, and this coach from a little university that had a good basketball program called Capital University was the speaker.

And if you've ever heard a really good coach, they're awesome motivational speakers. And he was talking about going to a team in their conference, Kenyon College, during the pre-season. And his school was playing their school in football. And the basketball season would open in about a month. And when he was there, he saw a young man named John Rinca.

This would be about the mid-60s. And John Rinca was five foot nine and led the nation in scoring in small college. And there wasn't a three-point line.

He averaged 41 points a game, and he was only five feet nine. And he told this story, and he tells the story, and he said that when he came in the gym, you know, if that's the basket there, John Rinca would be on this side, and he'd shoot, and then he would run, and he'd grab it. He'd go to the other end line, stop, shoot, run, go to the other end line. And then he'd put a chair right here, and then he would fake, stop, plant, go. And he said he was drenched in sweat. He wasn't like shooting around. There were drills that he was doing. He said they came in from the halftime of the football game, and he was still doing it. He said the game was over, the whole football game. And John Rinca is still in the gym. And he made the point, greatness is not always, or is it rarely, a matter of ability.

It's a matter of commitment. And one little boy who's a big boy now who's out of breath doing that, I remember a picture came into my mind, and I decided that I was going to be a basketball player. And without exaggeration, I practiced six to ten hours a day. I would dribble in my room. I'd lay on the floor. I'd spin the ball on my finger.

I saw an article about Pete Marovitch that came out in Sports Illustrated right about that time, and he had all these drills he did behind his back, and I just did them. I tried to find guys three, four, five years older and get in the game, and I just played, and played, and played, and played until I got to be one of those high school guys, blue and gold for the Gahanna Lincoln Lions. And then a very small school offered me a scholarship to play basketball at it. Commitment. Now, because of that, I didn't go to a junior-senior prom. Because of that, I never put alcohol or drugs in my body, not at all because I was religious. I was not a Christian.

I'd never opened the Bible. But commitment gives you focus. It gives you stability.

It inspires to greatness. And the other thing it does is when I got tired, when I got weak, when I wanted to quit, when bigger guys were beating me up, it sustained me, because I thought to myself, I had that picture of what I wanted to be, and I was committed to it. I wasn't just emotionally committed to it. I wasn't intellectually committed to it.

I was volitionally and willfully saying, whatever it takes, whatever price, that's what I'm going to do. Now, that's a silly little illustration to tell you the truth, because it's just a sport. But that sport paid my way through college. It later opened the door for me to play basketball throughout all South America a couple summers. We played every Olympic team, and I shared Christ at halftime. And that's where God called me into ministry.

On a much more serious note, the awesome power of commitment protects you from short-sighted moments of weakness. I got to be a committed believer, and the people who helped me, I began to read the Bible in the morning. I wanted to follow Christ. And pretty soon, we realized that God wanted Theresa and myself in full-time ministry. So, we got married in December, and then probably fairly unwisely, six months later, put everything we owned in a truck. And we drove to Dallas to go to seminary.

And then I worked full-time, went to school full-time, had two kids. And about 18 months later, we realized we didn't know how to communicate. We didn't know how to resolve anger.

And my wife was making me nuts, and I was making her more nuts. And apart from an irrevocable, willful, we made a vow to each other. And before God, I would have just said, this is too hard. It was really hard. I couldn't fathom that you could love someone so much and feel so angry, and so hurt, and so rejected.

But you know what? Once you make a commitment, see what a commitment does? It keeps you from short-sighted dropouts or giving ends in moments of weakness. And so, we went to marriage counseling with one of my professors. And we learned how to communicate, and we learned how to resolve anger. But here's what I will tell you.

The thought that we would ever quit was never an option. Commitment inspires to greatness. Commitment protects you from short-sighted moments of weakness. And commitment provides focus, and stability, and great blessing from God. Let me ask you, how personally are you committed to the people and the things that matter most?

That's what we're going to talk about. We've learned that a holy ambition, these God-shaped dreams, they start with a dislocated heart, a broken spirit, a radical step of faith. You develop a strategic plan, and then you make a personal commitment about first and foremost to God, and then the role on the wall of the Kingdom of God where He wants you to serve, where He's going to birth that holy ambition. Notice in your notes I gave you a definition of commitment. It's a pledge or a promise to do something. It's dedication to a long-term course of action, relationship, project, or course. And I just want to remind you that when I'm talking about personal commitment, I don't mean that you intellectually or emotionally feel like I really ought to do that, or I'll try to do it when it's convenient, or I really want to do that as long as. I'm talking about the kind of commitment that says, I will choose to do this regardless of circumstances, regardless of how I feel, regardless of what comes up against me.

This is what I'll do. It's that kind of commitment that transforms you and the people around you. The dynamics or the dilemma of commitment is this, is that I admire it when I see it, right? You know the Olympics?

Don't you just love the little Olympics when they do the little vignettes, and there's little five-foot-two gymnasts, or they tell the story of someone that's gotten up since 4.30 in the morning, and they are standing on the stage? And you just see the product of commitment. I admire commitment. I want commitment in my life, but the fact of the matter is it's very hard to keep. For all of us, we're living in a day where people have a hard time.

Forget keeping them. We're living in a day where people have a hard time making them. We're afraid to make commitments. We're so afraid that we'll fail, or we see so many of the people who fail.

And so, if we admire it, we long for it, and we know the value, how do you make and sustain personal commitments? That's what we want to talk about. And the answer's going to be in Nehemiah chapter three. We're going to see that he modeled it convincingly. He stepped out. He left his comfort zone. He left the palace. He went to Jerusalem. We're going to say he asked for it specifically. He said, I need you to help me build this wall. It's God's will.

It's worth it. And then finally, we're going to see he created an environment that sustained it. So, open your notes, if you will. And this is one of those times where I actually put the entire text in your notes, and then on the bottom of your notes, I put a picture.

This is out of the Zondevan Pictorial Bible Dictionary. It's a number of things, and it's just a picture of the actual shape of the wall. And since it came from a little bit different area, you'll notice in the text here, there's about 12 different gates.

And then in this picture, there's about 14. So, over the years, they added a few more gates, or the authors from different periods. Now, when you just look at this, okay, this is just a chapter out of the Bible in front of you.

I don't know about you, but it just—it doesn't just ooze excitement to me. Eliashib, the high priest, and his fellow priests went to work. They rebuilt the sheep gate, and they dedicated it, and they set its doors in place, and building as far as the Tower of Hundred. And then they dedicated it as far as the Tower of Hanel. And the men of Jericho, they built adjoining. And Zechar, the son of Imri, they built next to them. And then the fish gate, verse five, and verse six, and then the Joshanna gate, and then skip down. Then you have the valley gate, and then look down. Verse 14, the dungate and the fountain gate.

And what you see is this is a very unusual chapter of the Bible that has a bunch of names that's geared around a bunch of gates that talk about where people come from, that talks about lots of different groups of people, and basically summarizes who joined this rebuilding the wall project. And then we learn later that in 52 days they get it done. And I hope that some of you are thinking, now you just said we're going to learn how to make and sustain personal commitments. How are you going to get that out of this? Right? I mean, do you just have to make up sermons when you come to chapters like this?

No, not at all. Let me walk through with you a couple observations. The Scripture says that all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness. And I just want to, you know, I've put some circles and some boxes. I put boxes around the geographical areas. I put circles around the different people that were involved. Let me just walk through some observations, and all I did is do some Bible study. And when I do Bible study, it's real simple. I just make observations.

What do I see? And then you do interpretation. What does it mean?

And then application. What's it mean to me? So, let's just walk through quickly some observations. You know, when I look at this and just hold the notes open, couldn't we all agree the gates are the central focus of this chapter? I mean, the paragraphs break, and there's a line under them.

They're real bold. Whatever this chapter is about, the central focus is the gates. Second, there's a variety of people involved in this work. I mean, there's personal names.

Sometimes it's their father, their grandfather, or where they come from. But I just listed some. There's merchants, there's priests, perfumers, goldsmiths, rulers, servants, temple servants, daughters, nobles, and officials. So, I mean, just we're making observations. A lot of different people here. Notice the project drew people and men from a variety of surrounding areas and towns.

And by the way, when you do a little historical background, you realize they were in the midst of the summer harvest. Now think about this, the implication. This guy comes from Susa, and he says, let's rebuild this wall. This is the will of God.

And people are going, but wait a second. I live in Jericho. That's 17 miles from Jerusalem. Or I live in Mitzvah. That's 10 miles.

Or I live in Tekoa. That's 10 miles. Or Gibeon is 6 miles.

Or Beth Sur is 26 miles. And so, they're leaving the summer harvest, their livelihood, to join this man who has a word from God, who God has put His hand upon him. And this is the clear, defined will of God, but notice the commitment it is. It's a commitment of time. It's a commitment of travel.

It's a commitment of their money and economics. Fourth observation is the work began on the gates. It was the most vulnerable place defensively. It was usually the place where you would get water in a city.

2 Samuel 23, 15 and 16 talks about, and they went to the city gates to draw water. It was the public meeting place. It would be sort of like our marketplace. It's where business was done. It's where the elders would meet, you know, the big decisions.

It's where the law was read. And so, it's the center of entry and exit. So, when we think about making and keeping commitments, they started on the place that was the most strategic, the most vulnerable, and the most important. And by the way, some of the application for your commitments is what we tend to do is do the stuff that's easy first. They tackled the most difficult job first that was the most important.

Next observation is notice that the approach was very systematic and organized. They began on the sheep gate, and go ahead and let your mind scan all the way to the end, and they went counterclockwise. They end on the sheep gate. Each group had a specific responsibility. As you scan and read this a bit on your own, this group built according to this wall. This group built in front of their house. This group did this over here.

So, each group had a very specific role and responsibility. And then I love this one. They always worked with someone either next to them or after them.

If you have time later, or you can even do it right now, just scan quickly. And every time the word next to him is there, put some sort of squiggly line under it, or after him, next to him, after him, next to him, after him. It occurs over 25 times in this one chapter. No one works alone. Part of what we've learned about motivation and sustaining commitments is that when you get isolated and feel like you've got to lose weight on your own, break an addiction on your own, keep a commitment to God on your own, take a new step of faith on your own, usually it will last two days to two weeks.

But if there's people, if there's accountability, if there's encouragement, if you know you're not alone, then you hang in there. Next observation is each group worked near their homes, or at least was whenever possible. In verse 10, verse 22, verse 26, 28, 29, and 30, and so they didn't have to travel.

And the other is there was sort of a godly vested interest. Can you imagine saying, okay, we're going to rebuild this part of the wall right here, and the walls were—I mean, don't think of a little wall. These were huge walls. You could drive a chariot on top of these walls. And then inside the walls, the housing would be built, so my living room might be here, and then the external wall be here. I'm thinking I'm going to do a pretty good job on this part of the wall if, you know, the catapults and the stones start coming and the arrows and the spears.

I think I'm going to make it pretty thick and pretty good. I'm not going to do one of those, well, this is good enough for government work. Right? And so he motivates them not only by the great intrinsic we're doing this for God, but he puts them in a place that highly motivates them to work in a way that has their best interest in mind. Notice the context. It's preceded by the apex of motivation, and then it's followed by a big section of opposition.

You need to remember that. At the end of chapter two, it's let us arise and build. Nehemiah's here. We're going to do it. Come on, gang. Let's make a difference. You'd have been in those moments, right? You know, people stand on top of chairs, and this is what we're going to do.

Let's go for it. Well, now this is how you sustain it. You can get fired up, but he has them with people. They have clear roles. They make a very specific commitment. They're doing it someone before them, someone next to them. We're going to learn in just a second that some people are going to repair, and other people are going to build, because our giftedness are different.

Some people are really great at fixing stuff, and other people think I can't fix anything, but they're great with a clean sheet of paper, and they can build stuff. But then in the context, chapters four, five, and six will be about opposition. I mean, any time you take a step, whether you decide to start really reading your Bible or really praying or working on your marriage or saying as a family, we're going to do something radical. We're going to try and eat together like at a table with nothing blaring like two or three times a week. I'm going to actually tuck my kids in and read them a story.

I'm going to get with a group of single people, and we're going to make a covenant about making a difference in our workplaces, and we're going to be sexually pure. Every time you take any kind of step of faith like that, it'll usually get worse before it gets better. So chapter four, you get external opposition. Then chapter five, there's internal opposition.

And then chapter six, he gets personal attack. So people who make these kind of commitments, they change. They change people around them, and they change the world. But it usually starts with some very significant time of motivation, and it gets clear this is what we've got to do.

And then they start this process, and usually it's followed by things that are very difficult. Notice who started the work. It's the high priest. Different people have responsibility. The high priest was the highest representative of God, and notice the very first line. He models that. The ragtag group finished it in 52 days, and I have a friend who's an engineer who said, this is an absolute engineering miracle.

It's an impossibility. And then notice they worked in affinity groups. If you could study it a little bit longer, the priests worked together. The merchants, the goldsmiths worked together.

They worked in families, servants. And then they worked in geographical areas, so they knew each other. I mean, when you work, you're more motivated to work with people that you kind of have some kinship with.

I mean, it's true today. Like, some of you are like real techie, and you can talk in languages that I don't understand. And some of you are more artistic, and some of you are more athletic. And some of you come from different parts of the country, and some come from different countries. And there's just an affinity of culture and background that as we work together with people that we can understand, it helps us sustain motivation. Helps us keep our commitments.

We understand one another. And then the final thing here is that, notice there were two special commendations. In verse 5, if you can skip down there, you can see that he talks about the nobles. They didn't put their shoulder to the work. So now imagine, first imagine all these individual names. God doesn't accomplish His will by some big blanket thing. Think of all the individual names, and imagine maybe the very next generation.

These people are like your father or your grandfathers. God accomplishes things, not by groups and movements and programs. He does it one person, one life at a time.

And so that's how important individuals are, all these specific names. And He knows. He knows who's slacking off.

And then if you skip down to verse 20, notice this fellow, Baruch, it says he works zealously. God sees people's motives. He sees people's hearts. He knows where you're at.

He knows where I'm at. And in all this long list, it says, you know, this fellow really didn't carry his weight, and this person over here. And so all those are our observations, right?

Is that fair? I mean, it's in there, right? We'll turn to the back page, and let's turn those observations into some very specific principles about how you can help make and sustain your personal commitments. And as we do, can I ask you to lean back? I mean, when I study the Bible, that's just what I do, okay? When I studied this for the first time, I read it over a bunch of times. And then I started looking, and I put a line under all the gates. And then I started thinking, there's a lot of people, so I circled the different people.

But then I began to ask, why? Why is chapter three here? Why did this particular group at this particular time with this particular leader actually accomplish the task when others had failed? What is it that I can learn about these groups and the affinities and building and repairing and after Him and next to Him that would help me personally make commitments and sustain them?

I mean, because at the end of the day, God didn't put this in His Word just so that we could understand Nehemiah 3. He knew that we'd be sitting in this room in this day with the issues that you face and I face. Chip will join us here in studio with his application in just a minute. You've been listening to the first part of his message, Exercise Personal Commitment, from his series Holy Ambition, turning God-shaped dreams into reality. In this study of Nehemiah, Chip uncovers six crucial conditions everyday people need to grasp in order to accomplish incredible things for God.

And as we're learning, this process is not for the faint of heart. It requires determination, faith, courage, and an unwavering commitment. Discover how, with God's help, you can harness those qualities and make an eternal impact with your life. For complete details on all of our resources for Holy Ambition, go to livingontheedge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. That's 888-333-6003 or livingontheedge.org.

App listeners tap special offers. Our Bible teacher, Chip Ingram, is with me now, and Chip, this idea of turning our God-shaped dreams into a reality is really near and dear to your heart. Take a minute and share why this series is special to you, would you?

And maybe what you're hoping our listeners will learn from this teaching. Well, Dave, it's near and dear to my heart because out of this series was the very first book that I ever wrote. Holy Ambition was something I wrestled with a lot in my heart, Dave. You know, I had these dreams and a heart to reach a whole city.

And the first one was a little town of about 3,000 people. And then God moved me to Santa Cruz and it was like, how could we reach like 200,000 people? And I had this tension between, Lord, am I just arrogant or these dreams from you? And as I studied the book of Nehemiah, I saw that this very regular person was put in a place where he had this ambition for God. And Dave, I just can't tell you, like the lights came on and I realized that's for all of us, whether we're a pastor or missionary or even more business people with leadership skills. It's not wrong to be ambitious.

It's wrong to be selfishly ambitious, but it's very right to have a holy ambition for God. And when I realized that there's some people that feel like, you know, God could never use me and there's other people who have this idea, oh, I think God's speaking to me, but oh, that would take a lot of money and a lot of time and probably someone way smarter than me. And what came out of this series was a book that for the last 20 years has helped ordinary people dream God-inspired dreams and move them from a thought to a reality.

And we're going to share some of those stories. And I think it's going to be a series that regardless where people are at, we all have this deep desire to be used by God to make a difference, especially in the kind of world that we're living in today. So Dave, could you take just a minute and tell people how to get this book? Be glad to, Chip. To order the newest edition of Holy Ambition, go to livingontheedge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. Through this resource, Chip will walk through a step-by-step process to turn your dreams and good intentions into a God-infused reality. Now, during this series, we've discounted this latest edition of Chip's book, so order yours today.

Simply go to livingontheedge.org or give us a call at 888-333-6003. App listeners, tap special offers. With that, Chip, let's get to your application for this message. As you listen to today's message, I wish we could have been together with the Bible open, because when you look at Nehemiah chapter three and see this list, I mean a list of gates and people and details and hard names, you look at that and you think what could be here? And yet God cares so much about individuals that He records their names and what they did and where they're from.

Why? Because God doesn't just know in general, He knows specifically. He knows you. He knows your name. He knows where you go to work.

He knows what driveway you pull into. He knows the burdens on your heart and He wants you to be teamed up with other people to accomplish His purposes right where you're at. And here we have a picture of how God did it. He did an impossible thing.

We didn't do it by some miraculous waving of the hand. He did it by regular ordinary people finding their place, starting at the most strategic spot, being tied together with affinity and deep relationship, and then working together in cooperation, in coordination. Each person having their commitment sustained by the relationships and the projects that they were designed to do. So let me ask you, how are you doing with your commitments? What kind of help and support might you need to keep the commitment to be the kind of marriage partner you know God wants you to be? What ministry are you involved in that you need to have a cup of coffee with someone and talk about what's going on?

You see there was someone next to them and someone after them that tied them together. You need that. If you're struggling with keeping your commitments, it may not be that you're weak willed and that you're a terrible person and that you just can't stay with it.

It might be that you're not in the kind of environment that fosters and sustain commitments. You're important to God. Could I encourage you to get close to others that are committed to the Lord and get the kind of encouragement you need to fulfill that special place that only you can do? That's a great reminder, Chip.

Thanks. Well, just before we close, I want to thank those of you who regularly give to the ministry of Living on the Edge. You're making a big difference in helping Christians live like Christians. Now, if you're enjoying the benefits of Living on the Edge but aren't yet on the team, would you do that today? You can set up a recurring donation by calling us at 888-333-6003 or by visiting us online at livingonthedge.org. App listeners, tap donate. Thanks for doing whatever the Lord leads you to do. Well, for all of us here, this is Dave Drewy saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.