Pastor Edmund Chan, 28/07/2012
Introduction
1. Re-defining success: Anton Chekov’s the Bet.
Anton Chekov (1860 to 1904) was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is regarded as one of the greatest short story writers in history. He was the opinion that the role of an artist is to ask questions and not to answer them.
(Source: wikipedia.)
The young lawyer has changed from inside-out after reading the Gospel.
As the story closes, the readers are confounded with the question who is the prisoner, the young lawyer or the old banker.
Who is a leader? We are called to lead our family, CG, etc. The greatest leadership challenge it to lead oneself.
We must have wisdom so we do not become a prisoner of life.
2. A three-fold wisdom as seen in Proverbs 3:5-6.
Pro 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
A. God wants us to live life from the Inside Out
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart … in all your ways.”
This is God’s design. That the heart comes before ways is a divine order. This speaks about the conduct of our life. What comes first is the inside. The in must proceeds what we do (with is out).
We must first lead from the inside out, from our heart. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. The heart is where it all begins. In the Bible, the within always precedes the without. And we must get our wisdom upside-down, where the God from the above speaks to us.
With all your heart, pursue / be directed to God. Something or someone will direct our lives – the question is what / who? We are called to live a God-directed life where the inside proceeds the outside.
Differences between outside-in and inside-out:
1. Accomplishment vs Authenticity
2. Competence vs Character
3. Ritual vs Reality
4. Looking good vs Being good.
5. Doing vs Being
All these centres on the condition of our hearts. What satisfies the heart determines the condition of the heart. We need to guard our heart and ensure it hungers for spiritual things, the right things and things approved by God. What is the appetite of our hearts?
B. God wants us to live life wholeheartedly
“all your heart” and “all your ways”
If Jesus Christ is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all. Jesus is not looking for 99% but all. It is not possible on our own, it is possible with God. The Christian life is a supernatural life. Christianity is only possible in Christ. Jesus doesn’t want prominence in our lives, he wants pre-eminence.
The secret of a Christian life is “we cannot.” Jesus Christ can. We need to rely on him.
Pastor Edmund shared a story of Jimmy Carter.
His interviews were legendary. Rickover always wanted to cut through glib, rehearsed answers to get a look at the person underneath. He especially wanted to know how candidates would act under stress. On occasion he had them sit in a chair with the front legs sawed off an inch or two shorter than the back, to keep them off-balance.
In his autobiography Why Not the Best?, President Jimmy Carter tells about his Rickover interview. The admiral asked how he had stood in his class at the Naval Academy. “I swelled my chest with pride and answered, ‘Sir, I stood 59th in a class of 820!’ I sat back to wait for the congratulations. “Instead came the question: ‘Did you do your best?’ I started to say, ‘Yes, sir,’ but I remembered who this was. I gulped and admitted, ‘No, sir, I didn’t always do my best.’ He looked at me for a long time, and then asked one final question, which I have never been able to forget—or to answer. He said, ‘Why not?’”
Reader’s Digest, October, 1993, page 104
“Jesus us the greatest, I want to give him my best,” Felicia, Pastor Edmund’s daughter.
We may like half-boiled egg and we want half-price when we buy something. But when it comes to discipleship, half-heartedness doesn’t cut it.
C. God wants us to live life with Him at the very centre
“Trust in the Lord … acknowledge Him”
It’s God’s delight for us to make God the very centre of our life. How do we do that? Trust and acknowledge.
“Trust me” is fascinating.
Why is is so hard to trust people:
1. The person is not trustworthy. He / she is a conman.
2. The person trustworthy but is not able to.
3. The person is trustworthy and able but unwilling to help.
4. The person is trustworthy, has the resources, willing but has an agenda.
Why is it so hard to trust God?
He is trustworthy, he is able, he is willing to help and he has no agenda. He just want to bless his children.
People find it hard to trust God because they are unwilling to surrender / lose control. We are unwilling to let go of control it is like driving with the brake.
Trusting of the Lord is a daily thing – we need to trust him every day and all the time. We may not be able to see the big picture sometimes, we need to trust him and not “lean unto our own understanding.” We have to learn to let go.
Conclusion: You can trust Him who died for you.
A missionary reflected on the night of his calling. There was a speaker but no specific message. But when he knelt to pray about trusting Jesus who died for them. The missionary felt that the prayer spoke to him. If he could not trust Jesus, whom could he trust? He received the call and became a dynamic missionary.
If we cannot trust Jesus who died for us, who can we trust? When our life is uncertain about the future, when we are worried about making ends meet, when we face a big problem at work, when we are concerned about our health, when we feel like we have no control of our lives, we can trust in the one who died for us.
God called us to a life in relationship with him.
We cannot commit to God when we fail to see how much God has committed to us. Everyone is called to the mission field. God has one Son and he sent him to us. Jesus said even as the Father sent him, “so send I you.” All of us are called to missions, the only question is where.
Why not the best? Because the church is asleep / blind / seduced. We substituted revival with respectability. God is calling us to put aside all our respectability.
“Is your direction in life the direction God intends for your life?”
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