Journey to Greatness, Part 2

Are you living for a moment, or are you living for true greatness? Jonathan Evans says the difference between godly reward and worldly recognition is forever.

Hall of fame or not, you're going to get a moment of silence because man can't offer anything else. Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is the alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of The Urban Alternative. These days, many of us try to get as many likes as we can. But Jonathan Evans says the only like we should really be concerned about is becoming like Jesus. He starts our lesson today in Genesis chapter 12.

Let's join him. That sounds like a great promise to me. And there's many people who have not achieved their promise or made it to their promise because they're so busy chasing their own expectations instead of sticking with the Father. And he says, Abraham, I need you to go from your country and from your relatives and from your Father's house to the land which I will show you.

And once you do these things, then we can talk about the benefits. The problem is Abraham was already settled in Haran. He was good where he was, and even though he was good where he was, the word of the Lord came to him to unsettle those who were settled.

And that tells me something. When God's word comes to you, he's not coming to you just to settle you in your own thoughts. He's coming to you to unsettle those who were settled. That his plan for you and your plan for you are in two different locations. And just because you're settled and you've met the expectations you have for your life, your career, your finances, your family doesn't mean that God is okay or he's finished. Abraham was settled in Haran and God said, get up, get uncomfortable and go to Canaan.

Go to the land which I will show you. Obviously that's a problem because I want to see it first, faith. Before he can use you and grant you what he has for you, he wants you to distribute some faith and trust in who he is in your life. It seems like the cliché thing.

We talk about faith all the time, but it's impossible to please God without it, so how can you not talk about it all the time? I sat down with my dad when I was in the 12th grade because I wanted to know how he made it from his point A to his point B. I had to figure it out because in my life, I had come to an age and a pseudo maturity level where I decided that in this one chance that I get, I don't want to miss it. Whatever it is, I know we're not going to get a second chance at this, so in my first chance, I need to figure out how you got this thing done. Raised by high school dropouts, raised in the inner city of Baltimore, Maryland.

You all know the story where the word statistic derives its meaning. We could barely go outside and play when we visited our grandparents and my two daddy was in there whispering to us about all the rope-a-dopes across the street and the drug deals that were going on. It was rough and somehow he goes to high school and becomes the first to graduate from high school and on and on and on. You know the story. And I had to figure out how in the world did you make it from your point A to your point B? Can you mentor your son for a second because I don't want to fail in this one chance?

If God has it for me, I want to take that journey to go get it. And he said, son, you really want to know? I said, yeah, I really want to know. I'm sitting right here looking at you, aren't I? He said, go read Hebrews chapter 11 and tell me what you see.

I said, what is this, an Easter egg hunt? You're sitting right here, just tell me. How you got from your point A to your point B?

That's what I was thinking when it came to seminary. I could have not done that. I should have just knocked on your door. That was a mess.

That was a lot. He said, no, son, you know how it worked. Go pick it up and read it.

You know it. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Verse 4, by faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain. Verse 5, by faith Enoch was caught up. Verse 7, by faith Noah built an ark. Verse 8, by faith Abraham obeyed even though he wouldn't know where he was going. Verse 11, by faith Sarah conceived even though she was barren. Verse 20, by faith Isaac blessed Jacob. Verse 22, by faith Joseph made mention of the Exodus before he fell asleep. Verse 24, by faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

Verse 31, by faith Rahab hid the spies. I said, dad, I know how you did it. You did it by faith. Bingo, boy. I said, yeah, that sounds great. What does that mean?

And then he gave me the age-old Tony Evans-ism. It's acting like it is so, even when it's not so, so that it might be so simply because God said so. Oh, great.

But practically, what does that mean? Does that mean I follow my heart? Son, I never said that. The heart is the most deceitful part of you and desperately sick.

Who can understand it? So what are you telling me to do? I'm telling you not to follow your heart. I'm telling you to make your heart follow the truth. Once you do that, you'll be just fine. That's the hardest thing to do, make your heart follow the truth.

I have all of these desires and the truth is pulling me in a different direction and I have to fight myself emotionally to do what's right. And we have to do it every single day, is have faith even though we don't see where he's going. Go and then I will show. You don't get to see it first. You get to trust first.

It's incredible. The places where God takes you in life, when he's unsettling you and he's putting you in the very spot you said you never would go. And I'm just walking by faith. I don't get to control this thing. Neither do you. You get to be obedient or you get to be obedient. He's granted you free will, but he also gets to decide who and when he unleashes his greatness on. He says it's faith. You don't get to see it.

It's a tough thing. A girl one day was at the top of a burning building and she was in an apartment complex four stories high. She was trying to find her way. The police got there, the ambulance got there, everybody was there. They couldn't go in because the building was already engulfed in flames and she found her way as she felt her way to the window and lifted up the window. They said jump.

There's nothing else we can do. You have to jump. And she thought about it. She wiggled for a second. She thought about it. Couldn't do it.

What they didn't know about that little girl is that she was blind. How hard is it to jump? You don't know where you're jumping. Just jump. And then she heard another voice. Baby, jump.

Landed right in the hands of her father because when she heard that voice, it gave her the courage to jump. God is calling us to the same thing, but I don't understand. I'm not asking you to see and I'm not asking you to understand. I'm asking you to jump. And only then will you get to experience your life in the hands of the father.

I mean, I read this for me and I was like, man, this is some tough stuff. To have faith like this, when God has called us and took a snapshot of it and predestined us based on his foreknowledge and justified us and glorified us, but then he says you still have to track through the wilderness and trust me. He's telling everyone to go. He's telling everyone to jump by faith. Follow me so that I can unleash what I unleashed on Abraham.

It wasn't just for him, it's for you too. This ain't prosperity. I'm not telling you you can sit around and God's just going to drop stuff on you. You got to work. I know you're settled, but I'm calling you to go. You got to leave everything you know.

I know you've been thinking about it and churning about it for a while, but I'm saying go. I've been saying it for years, and when you have faith in me and you take that journey, you go to the land which I will call you. I will show you exactly where I was taking you. You will discover that what I have in my pocket was greater than anything that you've been chasing, and then I will give you a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great. You shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you, and in you, Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed. We get to the great promise because we've done some good work.

You're saved for free, but sanctification takes work. That's the good stuff. The greatness, the promise.

It's the great stuff. But we got to keep things in order. He doesn't tell Abraham that you're going to have a great name prior to telling him he's going to have a great nation. He says you're going to have a great nation, and that will contribute to you having a great name.

This isn't about living your life to make the name on the back of your jersey as big as possible. This isn't about narcissistic Christianity. This is about the kingdom and the entire body of Christ working together to achieve what God has called us to achieve. He said, Abraham, you have a great nation first, then I'll give you a great name. Genesis 18, 19, he tells Abraham, if you would just lead your children in righteousness and justice and your entire household, then I can bring the promise back to you that I made in Genesis 12. But if you're thinking about yourself and you're chasing your own money with your own time and your own career choices and your own and my own and me, myself and I and all of those different things, you can't be great that way. He says, Abraham, your greatness is tied to your impact.

And when you have this great nation, then it will contribute to you having a great name. When God is calling you, He's calling you to a life of ministry. Wherever you are, you don't have to be working in the church for it. He's calling you to go to have faith in Him so that you can be a fruitful part of His kingdom so that He can work through you and be a blessing to a lot of people. How are you blessing?

Are you a conduit or are you a cul-de-sac? And we'll be back with more on the journey to greatness when we continue in just a moment. First though, I wanted to let you know that Dr. Evans will be returning to the broadcast next Tuesday after we conclude this powerful series from Jonathan Evans entitled, Forever Starts Now. It's a collection of lessons that complement the central teaching of his brand new book, Your Time Is Now. In it, Jonathan helps you explore your purpose so you can discover all God has in store for you.

If you feel like you've been relegated to the sidelines of life and are only watching others pursue their purpose, this book will help you get up off the bench so you can live out the full reason God has placed you here. Because this is such an important teaching, we want to give you both the book and all nine messages from the audio series as our gift when you make a financial contribution to keep the ministry of the alternative coming your way. To do that, just visit tonyevans.org, make a donation, and request your copy of Your Time Is Now and Forever Starts Now. This special offer ends on Monday, so contact us right away. Again, that's tonyevans.org or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222. Members of our resource team are there 24-7 to help you in person. That's 1-800-800-3222.

I'll have that contact information for you once again after part two of today's message and this. Listen intently to God. Engage in His plans. It takes both focus and faith to embody your true potential. And this isn't something that's out of reach. It's right there.

You can almost touch it. It's available to you if you'll rise and become the influencer God has designed you to be. Kingdom Men, it's time to position yourself to leave a lasting legacy. Find out more at tonyevans.org.

Also makes a great gift for brother, husband, son, uncle, pastor, and more. God has called us to something great. Go and then I will show. It's been turning in your minds for a long time. I'm calling you to it.

I've got it for you, but it's bigger than you. I was in chapel service talking to Dez Bryant. I said, Dez, who was 88 before you? He said, Michael Irvin. I said, his name still stitched on that jersey? Nope. Whose name is on there?

Bryant. When you retire, will your name still be on that jersey? Nope. And they're going to say, thank you for your contribution. Next. Thank you for what you've done. Goodbye. You mean to tell me that I'm chasing greatness and I will not achieve it here or there? You've got to be kidding me. I'm working this hard and everybody just forgets and then God has nothing to say?

I don't have greatness anywhere, but I'm working hard. One of the toughest challenges for me being the chaplain for the last five years for the Cowboys is when Jerry Brown Jr. passed away and was killed by his best friend, Josh Brinton, that car accident years ago. I walked up to the plane and I was getting on the plane and Jason Garrett was coming down the plane and as I was coming up the plane, he grabbed my arm and dragged me back off. And he said, we had a player death. What?

Who was that? Jerry Brown Jr. passed away last night. There's a lot of things going on. This is not what we do. This is what you do. Get on the plane and do something. I prayed for the guys and guys are crying and we're flying now to go play a football game.

It don't stop. We go to chapel service. I had prepared something from Ephesians three. That didn't matter anymore. Guys came to chapel who never come to chapel.

What do I do in this situation? Gospel. There's nowhere else to go. And so I shared the gospel. Guys were getting saved. I mean, it was great to the glory of God, but what hurt my feelings is when the game was time to be played. We stood on the sidelines and everybody was standing there doing the national anthem, all of those different things. And then they said, let's give Jerry Brown Jr. a moment of silence. All right.

Kick the ball off, fly the planes over, sing the national anthem because everybody came to see a football game. And I'm standing right next to Mo Claiborne and he's shaking his head like this. And I said, is this what we're living for? We're living for a moment of silence.

A, D, where? Is this what you're living for? Because you know that's what they're going to give you. Hall of fame or not, you're going to get a moment of silence because man can't offer anything else. Is that what we're living for? We're chasing greatness so you can get a moment?

Or do you want to stand in front of Christ and he gives you an eternity of blessing because you've been working? He told Abraham, I know you're settled, but where you've settled is not where I'm taking you. I need you to go and I need you to do it by faith to the land which I will give you and I will give you what I call true greatness. What does true greatness look like? I'll sing it to you. Father Abraham had many sons and many sons had father Abraham.

You don't know it. And I am one of them and so were you. So let's just praise the Lord. Okay, that's good.

I don't need all that. You mean to tell me after over 4,000 years we're still singing about Abraham? That's not a moment because he was willing to get unsettled from his settled place. Because he was willing to do it even though he couldn't see it to let God have the opportunity to show it.

He achieved greatness, true greatness in the kingdom of God. Are you living for a moment? Are you living for true greatness? I know you're chasing some stuff. I know you have some dreams. I know you have some desires.

I do too. And nothing's wrong with that unless they keep you from allowing yourself to be pulled by God into the candy store of your greatness. And this is challenging for me because all of it is uncomfortable. Can I get some parts of the journey to be a little better? This is for the birds. I don't like this.

This is tough. But then as I celebrate the 40th and we celebrate the 40th, 40 years of the faithfulness of God, my parents meeting in Guyana and then going to Atlanta and then taking all of these journeys and then coming to Dallas even though they were accepted to another seminary in Indiana. They went through seminary and he had already settled in his mind that he was going to be an evangelist and go back to the East Coast. He had settled in a place but God had other plans and everybody was settled in what they had learned. He did his doctorate. He did his T.H. He did all of these different things and he was ready to skedaddle out of there. And then Charles Ryrie sat him down at a dinner and he said with your talents, your giftedness, the things that you've learned, the way that you want to do church, I challenge you to start one right here in Dallas, Texas in Oak Cliff.

I challenge you to do something different than what you're thinking. And then as the story goes, he told me that him and my mom stayed up all night trying to shake that thought off. Could it be God that was talking? They stayed up all night tossing and turning trying to figure out what they were going to do.

They just heard, they probably heard from different people in other times of different ideas but somehow this idea stuck. And then even though they were uncomfortable, even though they had already settled, my dad decided to unsettle himself and continue on to stay in Dallas even though he had plans to go be an evangelist in the Northeast and then you and I get to sit here today celebrating 40 years of God's faithfulness. God told him to go and it didn't feel good and he couldn't see where it was going to be planted. He couldn't see where he's currently sitting.

He couldn't see all this acreage and shopping centers in 40 years. There's all those things that he couldn't see but even though there were things that him and my mom wanted to chase, they stayed with their father and then their father reached in his pocket and pulled out something greater than they could ever conceive of. And now as I think about being in the moment that God had for them and probably never thought, I don't know, they probably just had Crystal and Priscilla at the time never thought that their youngest son would be standing on the stage.

That if they could, they would have run away from and gone right back to the East Coast. As I think about this as a son, I think about, man, this journey and I'm standing on the stage of greatness. God truly has done great things and that's something that Dr. Evans, his family, and all of us here at the Urban Alternative are very thankful for. Tony recently reflected on the Lord's blessings and faithfulness. There are so many ways that God has demonstrated his faithfulness to me and to this ministry over these 40 years. You know, there were times when we just weren't sure we were going to make it.

We got down to our last paycheck for our staff. After that, there was no money to pay anyone and I remember us having a special prayer time and asking God to intervene. And then, out of nowhere, a donor's heart was touched and they wrote us a note and said, God placed it on my heart to send you this gift and it was able to sustain us a while longer until we were able to rebuild. I praise God for 40 years of His favor on us. You know, Dr. Evans has said that the more people who meet Jesus, the more lives will be transformed.

And that's been the driving purpose behind this ministry for 40 years. None of what we do here would be possible without the faithful contributions of people like you. And that's why we put together that special thank you package of resources I mentioned earlier. Jonathan Evans' brand new book, Your Time is Now, along with all nine messages from his current series on CD and digital download.

The name of the audio collection is Forever Starts Now and the book and series are yours as our thank you gift when you make a contribution to help keep this broadcast coming your way. This is a limited time offer, so don't put it off. Visit us at TonyEvans.org before time runs out Monday night. You can make your contribution and your request online at TonyEvans.org or call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members assist you.

That's 1-800-800-3222. It's easy for us to become discouraged when we find ourselves in a negative situation. But on Monday, in the final message from his Forever Starts Now series, Jonathan Evans will point out it only takes a moment for God to turn things around, even in the most unlikely of circumstances. Then on Tuesday, Dr. Evans will return with a series of messages on the kingdom life, so be sure to join us next week.

Right now, though, Jonathan's back to wrap up today's message. What is it for you? What does God have for you? I don't know. But what I do know is if you're willing to stop shaking them off. I do know if you're willing to listen. I do know if you're willing to stop making go a hard word to interpret. I do know if you're willing to walk by faith, that it may not be this stage, but there will be a stage for you to stand on and experience what God was holding in His pocket. God bless you. The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by The Urban Alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.