Lame Man Walking (Special Message From Kingdom Men Rising Movie)

You can get so used to being a failure that you think it is out of the realm of possibility that your life could ever be better. Dr. Tony Evans says it can, but only when we start refusing to be crippled by our culture.

It's hard to man up if you can't even stand up. Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is the alternative with Dr. Tony Evans. Speaker, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Urban Alternative.

When we hear a person described as lame, a number of different meanings or images may come to mind. But today Dr. Evans will give us a perspective on that word you probably never thought of before. It's part of a special presentation we put together today drawing from the powerful feature film, Kingdom Men Rising.

A partnership effort created by Lifeway Films and Tony Evans Films. You'll want to turn to Acts chapter 3 as we join you. It can be rough trying to change folk that don't want to be changed. And a lot of men we have to enter into wrestling matches with. For them to come around to understand what it means to be a man under God. To be the kind of men that God wants us to be like trying to convert a man.

It becomes a challenge to get men to rise up to their biblical responsibility and biblical manhood as God intended it to be. We're told about a lame man. We're told a number of things about this man.

First of all, we're told that he is lame. He's a cripple. But we're told he was a cripple from his mother's womb. So ever since he was born, he's been crippled. That means he was not able to stand on his own two feet.

And it's hard to man up if you can't even stand up. There are a lot of memories that come with driving in my hometown, in this section of my hometown. There was a great sense of community early on. My father would always remind me that God is in control.

He would do that all the time about anything. And I had to make sure that I was planting my feet firmly in my faith in the midst of the frustration and confusion. As we entered into the mid-60s, there was a lot of racial tension in our nation and in Baltimore, Maryland. I remember when Martin Luther King was assassinated. And I was at a friend's house and saw it coming over the news and saw the pain on the nation's face.

And then, of course, major riots broke out here in Baltimore, and the National Guard was up in front of our home and all along our street and in the neighborhood to keep order during a very tense time in our nation. But I also remember how my father's faith caused us not to become bitter, hurt, disappointed, and even angry, but not bitter, because my father would always remind me that even though it was unjust and even evil, I was never to lose sight that God was in control. My father always was reminding me in one form or another that I was the son of a king, and I was a king's kid, and that I was to define myself not by how other people thought about me and sometimes not even how I thought about me, but what God said about me and how God related to me. Because of the spiritual influence that I had, I was never allowed to limit myself to the reality that I saw. I couldn't deny it.

It was all up in my face. But I couldn't limit myself to it because God was so much bigger. That was instilled in me, and so that helped me rise above it because He rose above it. God's process of building Tony's future and purpose included bringing some very strategic people into his life. His father laid the foundation of faith, and God used others to create opportunity and help Tony see further than he could himself. He reflected on the importance of opportunity in young men's lives as he chatted with his dad and one of his early mentors, Martin Resnick. What my father gave me was a great foundation, a foundation of responsibility because of his work ethic. You know, he's on the waterfront doing hard labor back then.

They didn't have all this fancy equipment they had there. But he was always consistent and faithful, and no matter how tough times got, he would do whatever it took to take care of our family. So that showed me commitment to family, commitment to responsibility, even doing tough times so that I learned a lesson not to quit, not to give up, not to throw in the towel when times were tough because I had that model.

But the world I was in was pretty narrow, and from what I saw around me was pretty narrow. What the opportunity even washing dishes gave me with you was seeing a bigger world that I could begin to take advantage of in a positive way, even as a dishwasher. And then, of course, when you gave me the opportunity that you gave me with your family, then that opened up another world, and I remember you talking to me about college. Well, that was 1966 or 67, 67.

Tony's early mentor, entrepreneur Martin Resnick. You approached me about getting a full-time job with my company. I said, but you don't want to do that, really. What you really want to do is go to college. You need four years of college. When you graduate college, then you'll come work for our company as a manager.

Get that education. You said that's very well and good, but where do I get the money to go to college? I said, well, let me think about it. We came back, and I said, here's what I'll do for you, Tony.

I will pay one half of your college for four years, and you have to go find the other half. I came back here the first year, and you said, thanks, Marty. You didn't call me Marty these days. No, Mr. Resnick.

That's all well and good, Mr. Resnick. He said, but I've got three more years of scholarships, and I don't have to pay any more this year, but thank you for your offer. Well, you know, what you did, one, in challenging me to go to college and then offering me the help was you gave me a hand up, but you insisted on me taking responsibility.

Absolutely. And looking back, I mean, I see the value of that combination of reaching down and helping and at the same time saying, but you've got to own a part of this. I'm just not going to give something away. But you also gave hope because you said, if you do this, I'll have a job for you. But the fact that something was laid out for me to let me know that there was something in my future and there's so many young men today who don't see hope.

They don't see anything out there. And I see how important it is to have men who will offer hope that does not take away responsibility, but in fact encourages responsibility, but offers them something bigger than they could see on their own. Dr. Evans continues the conversation with his father, Arthur Evans, Sr. As you look at the family, as you look at the kids, as you look at your life, because my mom has gone on now, but as you look back at it, how does it make you feel? I feel wonderful because we've come a long ways. I had no idea you would come this far, but God brought you this far, you see. Well, the biggest role, of course, and the foundation role was you.

I did the best I could, you know, but I was under so much pressure, I wasn't making too much money. I was driving the cab, driving limousines, doing everything, you know, roof work and everything I could in order to try to keep the family going. I remember times walking to Glad Tidings from our house, which is quite a walk.

Right. And then I'd get somebody from the church to bring me back home because then it'd be dark, but I would walk. And that's how much impact you had in the home and making us go on Sunday to worship. I know that that was a big deal to insist, whether you went or not, that we went to church. Why was that important? It was important because the Bible taught me that, that the family should stick together.

That's what we were doing. One of the big lessons that I learned from you was the responsibility and commitment of a man to his family and to being the father of his children. Because when I look around a lot now, wherever I go, in Baltimore and outside, you got all these kids with no fathers at home.

Right. And what you did was you modeled, regardless of how tough it got, that you were not going to abandon your responsibility as a father. Because I asked you whether you got too tired that you wanted to throw in the towel, but you said no. You never wanted to quit.

No. My father's commitment not to give up when there were so many negatives facing him financially, personally, and culturally astounds me. And even in the face of racial segregation and even oppression, his faith overrode that. And that showed me the power of faith, even over racism, Jim Crow segregation, that Jesus Christ is so big and so powerful.

Even that will not have the last word. Perkins Square Baptist Church reminds me of the religious segregation that was during my time. I mean, people who believed the Bible loved the Lord still wouldn't let us come worship with them. And so there was a dichotomy.

Martin Luther King said 11 o'clock on Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour in America. And I don't know how we expect the culture to get better when the church can't get along. And when we are illegitimately segregated and making a sin problem, a skin problem, and not dealing with the problem.

We own this. We own the responsibility of calling a culture in decline back, calling men back. That's why God called all the men three times a year to tell them how to be a man. And then he said, I'm going to send you back to your culture, to your family.

And when I send you back there, then I'll preserve the culture because I got the men straight. You know you lame when everybody else has got to take care of you because you're not man enough to take care of yourself. When everybody else has got to bring you to where you need to go because you're not able to get there on your own. So every day, it says, it says every single day, somebody had to carry him to beg. So we know another thing about him. He's a beggar.

That means he's living on tips. He wants other people to put something in his can or something in his jar or something in his hat so he could survive another day because we know he only got enough to live one day at a time. We'll get back to this special presentation in a moment. And when we do, Dr. Evans will tell us why lameness can actually become an addiction. First though, I want to tell you about Tony's brand new book, which has the same title as the movie. We're hearing excerpts from today, Kingdom Men Rising. Due to be released in just a few days, it empowers men to be strong, courageous, loving leaders at home, at work, at church, and in the community. You learn how to reject society's warped image of manhood and replace it with the biblical blueprint God had in mind when he created you.

What becomes of the next generation of men depends on what happens with this one. That's why we want you to be one of the first to have a copy of the new Kingdom Men Rising book as our thank you gift when you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station. Along with it, we'll send you all 12 messages in Tony's Kingdom Men Rising series as a bonus.

You can get them on CD or digital download. But this limited time offer won't last long, so be sure to get in touch with us today to get the details and make the arrangements. You can do that online at tonyevans.org or reach out to our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night.

That's 1-800-800-3222. Well, we have more great content from the Kingdom Men Rising feature film ready to go. Let's join Dr. Evans. A man can find an excuse for not being what he was created to be. And he can use opportunities and skills and culture to be misled in the true definition of manhood. But like my friend John Kitna, who was going in one direction, met Jesus Christ, and wound up going in a whole other direction will attest, you can be transformed as a man, and you can be used to transform other boys into men.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback coach in 2019, John Kitna. In October of 1993, my girlfriend at the time walked into my apartment room and caught me in bed with another girl. I was just like, what am I doing? I'm messing up the best thing that's ever happened to me. And it was just like a wake up moment. And I remember her and I were talking through it. And I just I said, you know, I don't know what this means for you and I, but I need to go.

I need to go back to church, which was an interesting concept since I'd never really been to church. I did know one guy had seen some changes in his life. And so I called him. I said, you know, what happened in your life?

He was actually playing for the New York Jets at the time. And he tells me start sharing his story. And at the time I didn't realize it. But now I do. He's sharing the gospel with me.

He's using words like crucified and forgiven and redemption and grace and mercy and all these things I'd never even heard before. And I knew that's exactly what I wanted. I wanted those changes in my life. I needed I needed that. But I was naive, so I thought I had to go on some retreat in the summertime or something like that.

I'm asking all these questions. He's like, no, no, no, you can accept Jesus right where you are. When John Kintner entered the locker room and made his faith go public, it changed the atmosphere of the whole environment. John Kintner, when he came to Dallas, I saw someone who was a fireball. Dallas Cowboys chaplain Jonathan Evans. I remember John Kintner came into the locker room his first day.

He's 15, 16 year vet. He comes to the locker room and they're playing their music on one side of the locker room. And he puts in his music on the other side of the locker room and he just turns it all the way up. And it's just this is what it is. You like that music.

I like this music. And they were telling him, turn it down. He was like, I'm not turning it down because what you're listening to is not good for you. It's not good for you as a man. It's not good for your soul. And this is.

So I think you should actually do something that's good for you. Eventually, by the end of the season, guys were changing lockers, trying to figure out how they can get closer to him, be like him, because he's a fireball for Jesus Christ. He is not ashamed of the gospel.

And you think of that verse, you think of John Kintner. For the man out there that got kids at home, already been married a long time, and it's like, man, you know, I haven't had discipleship. I haven't been in discipleship.

This hasn't been a part of my life. And if that's a desire of yours, start praying about it. Those are godly things that God wants for every one of his followers is to be in discipleship. So we can be assured that if we pray for those things, God's going to answer that prayer. He's going to bring somebody along to start discipling you, start teaching you.

I think men need to learn how to learn what it means to be a man. A biblical godly man might just be what it means to be a godly husband might be what it means to be a godly father. It might be, you know, what it means to be a godly leader of other men or other people in your in your workplace. And I think there's that God answers those prayers and not being afraid to, you know, you got grown kids or you got teenagers at home. And this is new to you and saying, I'm going to pursue God more seriously as the leader of this home.

And I hope that you guys can show me some grace and some mercy along the way. I have a friend who played in the NFL and now works in the NFL, and he has personally experienced the pressures of of conforming in that environment. But he rose above it and kept his faith strong. So I went up to the NFL offices to talk to my friend Troy Vincent and get his perspective on manhood and discipleship. This is viewed by many as the epicenter of man to either play in the NFL or to piggyback off of folk who are playing in the NFL by buying a jersey. How do you see that being reflected just as you relate to people who think about football? So I would say when you think about what the perception, it defines what masculinity is, and I think that's totally untrue. NFL operations executive vice president Troy Vincent, who's defining what that is and is masculinity muscle? Is it physical being? No, that's not how Christ define masculinity.

But when you see people tackling that represents one of these jerseys, the big hits, the tackles, the catches, the throws. I mean, think about that. And, you know, conceptually, is that really what masculinity is? So are you implying that men are believing a lie?

I believe so. Or they're buying into what is a perception or potentially a lie. Tony Dungy represents a man who demonstrates that there need not be a dichotomy from being a great coach and a great man of God. NFL legend Tony Dungy. I think we have a cultural picture of a man of being the toughest guy in the room, of being the John Wayne type of man. And I don't think Christ was like that, but Christ was not a wimp. Christ was not a pushover.

Christ was the toughest guy in the room. He just showed it in a different way. And sometimes being tough means going against the grain.

It means not conforming to everyone else. You know, the culture has made sex an idol and it is sucking men in by the droves. When I first met Kirk Franklin, he was a broken man, a successful broken man. And one of the things that had broken him was his addiction to pornography. But he wanted to be discipled. And through time spent, man to man, we saw God raise him out of that addiction and then use him to help bring other men out of the addiction he himself was delivered from. We are living in a very hypersexual culture, a very hypersexual time.

Recording artist Kirk Franklin. It can be very difficult for a Christian man, single and married, because I think that the falsehood that marriage for a Christian man fixes every problem, that that man may have sexually, is another myth. And so if we don't have very safe places for men, because men have to have safe places to fall, that's why I tell my junk so much. I tell my stories of pornography and whatever.

I went through McLeod. I need men to know that they're not alone and it's not embarrassing because men will go into a cave and they will die silently. You can get so used to being a failure. You can be so used to be defeated that you think it is out of the realm of possibility that your life could ever be better. It's out of the realm of possibility that you could ever be the man you were birthed to be. Lameness can set in as an addiction.

So we got a lot of addiction out there, but you rarely hear of lameness, the addiction of lameness. And that is where you get used to not manning up, standing up and becoming what God wants you to be. Dr. Evans will come back with a closing comment for us in just a moment. Stay with us. The world says to man up. What does God say? To be a man and rise up in society, you can't leave God on the sidelines.

It requires showing up, being present, standing up, speaking truth. In his powerful and long awaited sequel to the instant bestseller Kingdom Man, Tony Evans' Kingdom Men Rising challenges men to rise up for what they believe in. Kingdom Men, we must rise. Find out more at TonyEvans.org. Available April 6th. Don't forget this powerful book is available for a short time as our gift. When you make a contribution toward the ministry of the Urban Alternative and we'll send it along with Tony's 12 lesson CD series also called Kingdom Men Rising. A separate Bible study guide is available too.

Get yours before time runs out by calling 1-800-800-3222. Or visit TonyEvans.org where you can check out our huge library of resources and sign up for Tony's free weekly email devotional. Again, that's TonyEvans.org. Tomorrow we'll hear more from the powerful Kingdom Men Rising movie, including some personal insights into Tony's background and practical advice on becoming a godly man of influence.

Right now though, he's back with his final comments for us. One of the things the Bible is clear on is that men are not saved by works. This is so confusing to so many people. Some people say, I'm trying to make heaven my home. Some people talk about how they are keeping the Ten Commandments.

Other people talk about they're better than their neighbors. None of that makes you acceptable to a god who demands perfection. Anything less than perfection is unacceptable to a holy god. So guess what God did?

He came up with a perfection program. He took his perfect son, he who knew no sin, let him die for the sins of the whole world, and he will make a credit exchange. He will exchange your sin for Jesus's perfection if you come to Jesus for the transfer. But he will only do it if you come to Jesus. He won't do it if you try to earn it. So would you come to Jesus right now and ask him to make a transfer? To transfer your sin to him and to say you want his righteousness applied to your account, that you receive that righteousness, you give him your sin in exchange for the gift of eternal life. If you will tell him that now, if you will believe on him to be your Savior, he will give you eternal life, salvation from sin, heaven as a final destiny, and the beginning of a new experience of God operating in your life. All that for free. Friend, it doesn't get any better than that. The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by the Urban Alternative, celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.