Jesus Unfiltered - Love - Love... Serves!, Part 1

What if there was something that you could do, and every time you did it, good would come from it?

I mean, like clockwork. You do this, good comes from it. Would you like to know what that is? Today we'll get a glimpse into this powerful way of living and how you can start experiencing that goodness right now. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.

We are a discipleship-driven ministry on a mission to encourage Christians everywhere to live like Christians. Well, this program, Chip picks up where he left off in our series, Jesus Unfiltered, as we continue walking chapter by chapter through the Gospel of John. Today Chip will be in chapter 13, revealing an aspect of God's divine love that's so powerful it has the potential to change anyone's life who experiences it. So with that set up, let's join Chip for his talk, Love Serves. I wanna do a little exercise with you to help you love the people that are in your world, your friends, your family, and your co-workers.

And sometimes the best way to love others is if you can sort of get a picture or understanding of how they view you. So we're gonna do just a really quick little exercise. If you have a pen, you know, pull it out.

If not, just do it in your mind. And the question is this, I've got three lists, and what two words in each list below would others say best describe you? And then I'm gonna read three questions, and I'll read the list very quickly. And this is like, you know, one of those tests you take where don't think about it.

Well, I'm sort of that, but it could be more of that. Just the first things that come to your mind, you got it? This is sort of, okay, read it through and if I had to choose, boom, boom.

And I want you to circle two of them. Are you ready? Okay, good, good, good. Okay, here we go. How would your friends describe you?

Driven, easygoing, loving, fun, successful, intelligent, energetic, powerful, organized, creative, serious, religious. Your friends. You can choose two.

You can only choose two. People you hang with, people that know you, they would just circle this one and that one. What would they circle? Some of you are thinking too hard. Just circle what comes to your mind.

Question number two. How would your family describe you? I mean, these are the people you live with.

Driven, easygoing, loving, fun, successful, intelligent, energetic, powerful, organized, creative, serious, religious. Your family. What would they say?

Oh, here's what they would circle. Don't bail out. Think about this later.

No, choose two. Third, how would your co-workers describe you? Driven, easygoing, loving, fun, successful, intelligent, energetic, powerful, organized, creative, serious, religious. Just, you know, go to work. You're on the job site, on a construction site, the people in the cubicle next to you, the boardroom, wherever it is.

Just the first two things you think they would do. Now, what you might want to do later today is like get with someone and say, this is what I thought and I circled. Do you think this is pretty accurate or not? What do you think?

That might be an interesting experiment. But at the very bottom, there's this amazing passage, this sort of overarching picture of what's most important in every relationship. And in Galatians 5, 6, the apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, would say, the only thing that really matters is faith working itself out in love. When it's all said, it's all done, there's relationships, there's work, there's family, there's life, there's pressure.

You live, then you die. The only thing that really matters is faith working itself out in love. So here's the question I have for you.

There's no trick here, and I will not ask anybody to raise their hand. Of the list of your friends, family, and co-workers, how many of you have loving as circled? They see you as a loving person. When Jesus was asked, what's the most important commandment of all the Old Testament, he said, love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. When the apostle Paul would write, he said, if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and I have all knowledge and all faith, and I can do miracles. In other words, if I had this amazing impact and super spiritual, but if I don't have love, I'm like a noisy gong, clanging cymbal, I'm worth nothing. He said, now today in our world abide, right, faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love. So if love is the most important thing in terms of loving God and loving people, and by the way, all those things are good.

I mean, being organized is good, creative is good, powerful is good, intelligent is good, being fun is good, all those are good, but the most important is are you a loving person? And as you turn the page, the question that then needs to be answered, at least for me, and I think for you, is if loving is the most important thing you'll ever do in your life with your family, with your friends, with coworkers, then the question is how do you know if you're really a loving person? I don't mean just emotions or good feelings, I mean way beyond that, I mean love at God from heaven, looking down on your life and being able to see every heart and every attitude and every relationship and every behavior, would He say, you are a loving person?

And maybe more, would you know? And what I'm gonna suggest is the answer to whether I am a loving person or you are a loving person is in John chapter 13, because Jesus is going to model for His followers then and His followers now, this is what love looks like. Now context is really important, as you learn to read and study the Bible, you don't just go around picking verses and you know this says this, you have to read it in context, in the flow. And so I put the context in your notes here and what you see is that we're in the last week of Jesus' life, in fact it's the last night that He would be upon the earth. Earlier in the day He sent two of His disciples to prepare the Passover meal, that's where they're gonna celebrate the deliverance from Egypt.

And there's a lot that went into that. As just before this happens, we'll learn from another gospel chapter 22 in Luke, that the disciples, the 12 actually are walking together toward this secret location in an upper room where they're gonna share the Lord's Supper with Jesus. And they're having a discussion and the discussion goes something like this, I'm the greatest, no you're not, I'm the greatest, no I'm the greatest, John tell him I'm the greatest, no I'm not tell him I'm the greatest. So after three years of walking with the Son of Man, the very last night with Him, the big discussion is, who's top dog? If you're Jesus there's part of this has to be pretty discouraging.

He timed it in such a way where they were on ahead and He would arrive just a little bit later. If you were living in that day, you went to something very formal or a special invitation, people didn't have bathrooms, you would go to a public bath and you would then put on clean clothes and probably your nicest kind of togas or outer garments and then you have to walk through dusty streets and so when you would come there would be a large jar with a basin and the lowest servant in the household would take water and they would wipe off your feet because you're going to eat and when you would eat in the Middle East, the tables were about this high and it would be a U-shape, there would be a table this way and tables this way, contrary to the picture that we see by Da Vinci and there would be cushions on the left and you would lay on your left and eat with your right hand like this. Jesus would be in the center and then we'll learn the disciple whom He loved, John would be on his right and this will be very important, Judas will be on his left and these are the two seats of honor. So each guy is thinking he's the greatest and when you walk in, only the lowliest person does that job so one, two, three, eleven, twelve disciples walk in and no one's going to humble themselves to do the lowliest job and by the way, when you're leaning this way and your feet are this way, they're very close to someone's face. Now we pick up the story. Little did they know that even later that night, they would experience an arrest, a gang would come out with clubs and torches and every one of them would flee for their life and this is a story of Jesus preparing them for what will occur but in each time, He's going to give us three specific events in this evening that will let you know and me know, do you really love people or not?

You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Before we hear the rest of Chip's message, let me remind you that we are a listener-supported ministry. Your regular gifts help us create programs like this one, develop new resources and encourage pastors globally. Prayerfully consider becoming a monthly partner today. Then go to livingontheedge.org to give a gift.

Thanks so much for your support. We'll hear again as Chip. It was just before the Passover feast and Jesus, notice, knew the time where the hour had come for Him to leave this world and be with the Father. Having loved His own, notice His motive in all of this, He now showed them the full extent of His love.

The evening meal was being served and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Notice the repetition, Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, number one, that He had come from God, number two, and that He was returning to God. Purpose clause. In light of those three facts, so He got up from His meal, He took off His outer clothing. It was a seamless robe, a very expensive robe, probably given by one of the very wealthy women who supported the ministry. By the way, that's why they didn't divide it at the cross.

It was too expensive, it was too nice. He took that off and had His regular garments on. He wrapped a towel around His waist and after that He poured water into a basin and He began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was around His waist. He came to Simon Peter who said to Him, Lord, are You going to wash my feet?

And in the Greek it's emphatic, what? This is totally, no, I mean, no, no. I mean, He felt bad at this point. He's thinking, I wouldn't lower myself, but the one person in the room that should not be doing this is You. His shame and His pride is revealed. You do not realize now what I'm doing, Jesus said to Peter, but later you will. You understand it. No, Peter said. In fact, literally it's no, not, ever.

Double emphatic. You shall never wash my feet. Jesus said, unless I wash your feet, you have no part with me.

So Peter being the impulsive, okay, I mean, if that's it, I want the whole deal. Then not my feet and hands only, but all of me. Jesus said, a person who's had a bath already needs only his feet to be washed. His whole body is clean, and you're clean, though not every one of you, for he knew who was going to betray Him.

And that was why He said, not every one of you. When He'd finished washing their feet, He put on His outer robe, and He returned to His place in the center as the teacher and as the rabbi, and then He asked a provocative question to each of the disciples after their three years. Do you understand what I have done? You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for ego and me, that I am. Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you should wash one another's feet.

I set for you an example, a type, a picture. I want it blazing in your mind. They don't know I'm going to leave.

They don't get all the things. I want a picture in your mind. This is what greatness looks like.

This is what love looks like. It's not being on top. It's not how many people report to you.

It's not what other people think. This is greatness. I've set you an example that you should wash each other's feet. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor a messenger more than the one who sends him.

Now that you know these things, you're blessed, you're happy, you're joyful when you do them. As you look at your notes, Jesus washes their feet. Notice he clarifies his motive and his mission. His motive is he loves them.

And it's interesting. He says, I'm going to demonstrate after three years of teaching and conversations, I'm going to demonstrate to these 12 how much I love every one of them, even the one that betrays me. And then notice his mission is clarified. He knew God had placed all authority, had given him power.

He knew where he'd come from and he knew where he was going. Do you know why none of the other disciples and why for you and me it's so hard to humbly serve other people? It's because we're desperately insecure. Ever since the fall, down deep in your heart, my heart, and I don't care who, how famous, how smart, I don't care who you are, how famous you are, how much money you have, in the heart of every human being is this fear that if anyone really knew who you really were, that they would reject you. And so we put layer after layer after layer of, I look this way, I talk this way, I have these things, and we compete with one another to look good and be great. And some people hide their insecurities with very strong outward, I've got it all together, look who I am, look how I dress, look what I own, look how smart I am, look what I've done, look what my kids have done. And other people hide out of an overt deep shyness and they won't connect and they withdraw.

But the goal of both is to keep people far enough away so you don't get revealed. Jesus was perfectly, completely secure, not in being that He was God. Everything Jesus did, He did fully human. Yes, He was fully God, but all of His obedience was modeling for us, dependence on the Holy Spirit. Here's what He knew, God had set this for Him and given this to Him, like He's given it to you. He knew where He come from and He knew His mission, where He was going, and therefore it didn't matter what other people thought. And that's why He could serve and He didn't lose His credibility.

In fact, it was increased. And when you serve and when I serve, when we take the platform that God has given us, and ready, here's the application, you want to know whether you love people or not, love humbly serves those we lead, even when we're entitled for them to serve us. Even when your role in the family or your role with your friends or your role in the company or the manager or the supervisor, believers, followers of Jesus, the mark of our life is we're like Jesus when we serve those we lead.

Even when we're in entitled for, we should get that parking spot, we should be served first, we should have this, we should have that because of. In fact, you read more and more of the management books, what's a five-level leader? It's a servant leader, right?

Great businesses aren't super charismatic men or women leading them. Level five leaders are people who get, I'm here at the bottom of the pyramid, to serve other people. And this is an action, but it's a set of glasses that you start to wear, where you see yourself as a servant. You're here to help and to lift up other people. I put in your notes, Philippians 2, 3 and 4 is like classic passage that I've memorized to remind myself of this. It says, do nothing from selfish ambition. Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, are you ready for this? Consider others more important than yourself. Don't look only on your own interest, but also in the interest of others. And so if you're a dad in a family, you're a leader in your family, the goal isn't that everyone will mix your life work out, you serve them.

You don't have a recliner mentality. If you're a leader in your school, you serve other people. The guy that really helped disciple my life was a bricklayer, and I just, his life was one of servanthood. I watched him serve his wife and take her aunt on a date.

I watched him serve his kids. We'd be in that old van of his and he'd have all that equipment in the back and, you know, we were in a hurry. If someone was broken down, Dave pulled off. Dave had time for people. And I would be going like, Dave, like give me a break, man.

Let's get there. See, when you drive fast and cut in front of everyone, what you're saying is, you know what, where you're going is way more important than where anybody else is going. See, a servant goes to a restaurant and says, where's the best view? And then sits so someone else gets that.

It's a mindset. A servant walks into a bathroom and there's junk all over the floor and it's a public bathroom or the toilet, the place is trashed. I don't mean you clean up everything, but after you wash your hands, you say, someone else is coming after me.

What might I do to make this a better place? And I mean, I had a guy just serve and love me and demonstrate that, but just he challenged me on these areas. A servant tells people what they really need to hear, not what they want to hear. Peter heard what he needed to hear. Peter, you're arrogant, but I love you. That same brick layer would meet with me at McDonald's like once a week or so and we'd read the Bible together and review verses we're memorizing and he would observe me. I lived in a little garage apartment and I taught school and coached basketball and then we led, started out as a little ministry with college students and grew and so he would watch me relate to everyone and every so often he would read Proverbs 27 verses five and six and I knew what was coming.

Chip, better are the wounds of a friend than the kisses of an enemy. That meant you're going to hear some stuff about you that you don't really like, but I think serving and loving you and helping you be the man that God wants you to be is more important than you liking me. And I remember one day just looked me right in the eye and said, you're just really arrogant.

And he was really right. You know, you do lots of good stuff, but you do it to impress people. I watch you and you know, and he gave me some verses, you know, that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. That's your image management verse. How could I be a servant of God if I'm trying to please people? Galatians 1.10. And all I can tell you is men, God wants you to serve.

Women, God wants you to serve. Having eyes of how you drive, what you do, where you go, seeing yourself not as how do I climb over other people to get to this role, but how do I actually help other people be successful? What do they need to hear? What do they need to do?

What tools do they need? How do I help my kids be, not make me look good, but be successful in their relationship with God and how God's wired them? When you begin to think that way, it will transform things. Now, here's the thing. The promise is that when we live that way, what did Jesus say? Blessed are you. The word makarius, it means happy, joyful. Here's all I can tell you.

This is true in a family. You're either a consumer. What do I get? What do I get?

Who's coming through for me? What about this? And no matter how much you can consume, it's never enough. Or you're a servant. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and you've been listening to part one of Chip's message Love Serves, which is from the third volume of his Jesus Unfiltered series titled Love.

Chip will be back shortly to share some helpful application for us to think about. And in today's world, that word love means so many different things. It can describe how someone feels about a sports team or favorite food, or the emotional or physical connection with another person.

So what's right and what's wrong? Well, in this series, Chip cuts through the confusion by exploring how Christ defined it in John chapters 11-15. Learn five straightforward attributes of biblical love and how to apply these truths to your relationship with others and God. Don't miss a word of this meaningful series. Well, Chip's back with me in studio now with a quick word for all of you.

I'll be right back to talk about today's message. But before I do, I want to give you a picture that I got to witness as a young pastor. There was a man there who was a master craftsman. I mean, he was a cabinet maker par excellence. And I remember watching him literally painstakingly with a piece of wood, use a lathe, and little by little by little by little, he did all these things that I couldn't figure out what was happening. And then, you know, all those little moments led to this absolutely beautiful piece of cabinetry or furniture.

And, you know, sometimes we think little things don't matter, even calling them little things. And one of the, quote, little things that is the backbone of Living on the Edge are those people who support the ministry monthly. You know, I don't know if you are a current supporter or you've been praying about being a supporter, but let me tell you this. When you give monthly, it provides the bedrock and the consistency and the stability of all that we do here at Living on the Edge. So I want to thank you monthly partners for all that you do. And I would like you, if you're not a supporter, would you prayerfully today ask God, do you want me to support Living on the Edge? Do you want me to help Christians live like Christians?

And if so, would you like me to do it on a regular monthly basis? And by the way, thanks in advance for whatever God leads you to do. Thanks, Chip. Well, as you prayerfully consider your role with this ministry, I want to remind you that every gift is significant, no matter the amount. When you partner with Living on the Edge, you support and multiply the ministry work we're doing all over the globe. Set up your monthly gift today by going to livingontheedge.org or by calling 888-333-6003. Again, that's 888-333-6003.

Or visit livingontheedge.org. Have listeners tap donate. Well, with that, here again is Chip with a few final thoughts for us to think about. As we wrap up today's program, I believe that most of us can't fathom how counterintuitive and embarrassing it was for the leader, the Messiah, the rabbi, the teacher to walk into a room and have his followers after three years first be unwilling to wash each other's feet because they were arrogant. And then second, the feeling and the sense of, oh my, what have we done when he takes off his outer garment, wraps around him and begins to wash their feet.

I mean, it is so if you've ever been into Middle Eastern cultures or cultures where there's just a high, high view of authority. I mean, this is the most humiliating moment they realize. Oh, I mean, inside they're saying, I so wish I would have washed everybody's feet.

This is, he shouldn't be doing that. In fact, you know, you get Peter's response where Lord, not me. But Jesus says at the end of this that, blessed are you if you see what I have done being your Lord and master, do likewise. Whose feet am I going to wash today? In other words, do I have a servant's mindset? When I get up in the morning, am I a servant to my family or to my roommates?

When I'm driving in the car and, you know, I want to get there first and everyone's trying to, you know, don't let anybody in and that person cut me off. What I want you to see is that love means you serve other people. Love means considering others as more important than yourself. And the only way you can do that is those early verses. Jesus knew who he was, where he belonged, where he was going.

He was confident in his Father. And I just want to encourage you today that it's a very different pathway to experiencing amazing joy. But I would challenge you to get two acts of service in, in ways that just ask nothing in return and see what happens inside of you, let alone what happens inside of others. Thanks, Chip. As we close, our mission at Living on the Edge is to help Christians live like Christians. And one of the best ways we can continue to do that is through programs like this. So when you hear a message that helps you, pass it on.

You can easily do that through the Chip Ingram app or by forwarding them the free MP3s you'll find at LivingOnTheEdge.org. And don't forget to include a note about how it made a difference in your life. Well, be sure to join us next time as Chip continues the third volume in his Jesus Unfiltered series, Love. Until then, I'm Dave Druey, saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.