Enlargement

Offering

Bowling Outing Jan 17th

Youth Group Jan 20th

Dylan’s Bday

Introduction

Who in this room wants to make a difference? Who wants their life to matter?

Most everyone in this room wants their life to matter. We want to make a difference, for some of us we may want to make a difference in the lives of a select few…perhaps our children. For others, we want to make a difference the lives of a larger group. Either way, what we are saying is this…I want influence. I want to influence people in a positive way with my words, thoughts or actions.

As we continue our series today, called The DNA of a Disciple, I want to look at the second topic which is Enlargement. Enlargement could be defined as a growing in influence. Enlargement is a disciple’s journey from obscurity to influence.

So let me remind you of where we are in this series. Last week, we said this…

A Disciple Exhibits Faith That Is Expressed Through Sacrifice & Self-Denial

A Disciples Path Is From Obscurity To Influence

Obscurity is defined as unknown or unimportant. I believe that disciples move from a place of being unknown or unimportant to a place where God gives them influence in the lives of others.

But first, let’s discuss what psychologist and sociologists call “Liminal Space”. This is the “in between” space meaning it’s neither here nor there, it’s between here and there. We enter into liminal space all the time. Let me give you an example: Our foyer is liminal space. It’s not the destination for most of us. Most of us are coming from our cars to the sanctuary and the in-between place is the foyer.

There are multiple examples of this type of space - a car, an elevator, a hallway, a threshold of a door. The idea here is that it’s an in-between place that psychologically prepares you for the next place you will enter.

I think every disciple of Jesus will venture through a liminal space. In the Scriptures we see this most clearly in the account of the Exodus. Israel has been delivered from Egypt, they were baptized in Red Sea and then they enter the Wilderness. The wilderness is an example of liminal space. It’s the place in-between. The Israelites are headed to the Promised Land, but they must first go through the wilderness to get there.

As disciples of Jesus, I believe that in the DNA of a disciple is a process that takes that disciple through a liminal or wilderness journey. We move from Obscurity in the wilderness to a place of Influence or a promised land. This is extremely common and I want to show you this in Scripture today.

Main Text

1 Samuel 16:10–13 ESV

And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

Let me set a little context for our passage. Many of us know of King David. One of the greatest kings of Israel. He was Israel’s second king and this passage is where he is anointed as King. Now, it’s important to note, he doesn’t actually become king in this passage. It would be many years later before he becomes king.

David is a shepherd. He is the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem. His grandmother is Ruth the Moabite, so an unlikely candidate to become king. Yet, here he is being chosen as the king of Israel. He is relatively unknown up to this point in Scripture and now he is king. He went from obscurity to influence.

This happens throughout Scripture. This is not a one-off incident. This is a pattern. Let me give you some examples:

Joseph went from slave to prisoner to second in command of Egypt. (Genesis)

Moses encounters God and is called to be the Deliverer of Israel while caring for his father-in-law’s sheep in the middle of the wilderness. (Exodus 3)

Gideon is hiding from the Midianites in the winepress threshing wheat. (Judges 6)

Amos was a herdsman and fig-dresser when the Lord called him as a prophet (Amos 7:14-15)

Elisha was plowing the field with oxen when he was called to be the next prophet of Israel and assist his mentor Elijah (1 Kings 19:19-21)

Esther was a nobody who became queen and would later save her people from annihilation

Ruth herself was a moabite widow who would later marry into the prominent family of Boaz and become the grandmother to David.

Jesus himself spent 30 years in obscurity. He lived most of his life in a very ordinary manner, working what we might call a blue-collar job (carpenter) and became a prominent Rabbi whose preaching and healing ministry affected thousands in three short years.

Obviously not everyone in the Scriptures fits into this paradigm, but it’s so common that I think most people can relate to this. This shows us a consistent pattern of God taking people from obscure places and putting them into places of influence. I believe this is built into the DNA of a disciple of Jesus.

We see this in David’s life past our chapter and verses today. A bulk of the book of 1st Samuel is recounting David’s journey through the liminal space or his journey of going from obscurity to influence. David would conquer a giant, he would lead an army, he would hide in caves being chased by King Saul. His years in the in-between shaped him into who he would become. In fact, many of the Psalms were written during David’s enlargement journey between obscurity and influence.

I see this as a recurring pattern in a disciples life and even though overall I think the pattern points to enlargement, I also see that at the end of your life, you may experience a move back toward obscurity and that is normal as well.

Not only do I think this is true theoretically, I have seen this as true based upon my own life.

As most of you know, I grew up as a poor redneck from Caswell County. And if you think that Caswell County is at the beach, let me tell you, it’s not. It’s just past the middle of nowhere. There is no big city in the county. There was only one stoplight in the entire county when I grew up and it wasn’t even a stoplight, it was a caution light. There was only one high school in the county and the high school across the street here is about four times bigger than that one.

Even though I attended Elim Bible College, I did not graduate from there and yet God has continually put me into places of influence for his kingdom. It’s been quite incredible. But in between those places of obscurity and influence, God has taught me profound lessons in the wilderness about both obscurity and influence. Today I’m going to share some of those with you.

Lessons From Obscurity

God Forms Us In Obscurity

When we are in the wilderness of obscurity, God will use that season, just as he did for Israel to try to form us. Israel, who had largely forgotten their God, is reacquainted with Him at Mount Sinai. In fact, at Sinai God reveals himself to them and invites them into covenant relationship with Him. In this covenant, God gives the law to them as a gift. In fact its written on two stone tablets. This gift was intended to form them into a nation. The Israelites, as they kept his covenant, were set apart and formed into his image.

Reflecting on this, Charles Spurgeon says this…

If we would follow the Lord wholly, we must go right away into the wilderness of separation, and leave the Egypt of the carnal world behind us. - Charles Spurgeon

The wilderness is a place where God separates us from the world and draws us unto himself. Part of David’s formation in obscurity was being a shepherd. Think of some of the lessons he learned in that process. He learned how to protect the sheep. In fact, he would justify his ability to defeat Goliath because of what he learned fighting off lions and bears protecting the flock.

David also learned to pursue God’s heart in the wilderness. We see this clearly in the Psalms. He wrote songs of God’s character and love while he watched the sheep. He was formed in the wilderness.

You and I are formed in the same way. While we are hidden, while we are in the obscurity of life, God is using that time to form us, if we allow him. Obviously, you can waste your time in the wilderness and the first generation of Israelites did just that. They died in the wilderness because they refused to learn the lessons God was teaching them. But not all of them died. Joshua and Caleb both emerged from the wilderness and rose to places of influence thanks to the lessons they learned there.

God Forms Us In Obscurity

The Journey Creates A Humble Heart

When we are living in a place of obscurity God is trying to draw the pride out of us.

For me, I spent many years in obscurity and that was one of God’s main lessons to me. Over the years, I’ve learned of how selfish and self-centered I am. God uses the journey to work humility in your heart.

And as much as I’ve struggled with thinking too much of myself, the tendency of all of us is to go from one ditch into another and so over the past few years, one of the things the Lord has been teaching me is that I’ve been living in the ditch of self-abasement. I often think too low of myself.

Humility is to make a right estimate of oneself. It is no humility for a man to think less of himself than he ought. - Charles Spurgeon

We need to think rightly of ourselves. God wants us to not be prideful, but also he wants us to see ourselves as he sees us. I have struggled with this. This can sometimes be called a false humility. For a long time I felt pretty worthless.

This is the path you take in the wilderness. You vacillate between pride and false humility while God is forming a true humility in your heart. Sanctification is a process and that process happens as we are in this liminal space of life. God uses the wilderness of our experience to create humble hearts.

God Forms Us In Obscurity

The Journey Creates A Humble Heart

God Values Faithfulness In The Small Things

David was faithful in the small things of his life. He was anointed king and yet, he goes back to tending the sheep after Samuel leaves. He has duties, he has responsibilities.

We see this in Jesus as well. He spent years doing carpentry work, helping his mother around the house. He cleaned his room, took out the trash.

When we are faithful in the small things, God can promote us to stewarding bigger things. Jesus eludes this this principle when he talks about the parable of the talents. He says to those that managed money he gave them that they would be in charge of cities.

Luke 19:17 ESV

And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’

Being faithful in little is a primary lesson in obscurity. God will not put you in charge of big things unless you have been faithful in the little things.

Lessons From Influence

Just because we have been faithful in the wilderness doesn’t mean we’ve learned all that we need to know. Obscurity and influence offer us places to learn important character traits so we can more fully present God to this world.

We should learn different lessons when God puts us in a place of influence. All of us have influence. John Maxwell says leadership is influence and all of us lead in certain ways. We lead our families, our kids, other people at work, school and so on. When you are in places of influence or your influence grows, you should be looking to learn the lessons God wants you to know. Here’s a few I’ve picked up.

Authority Is Given, Not Taken

Authority or influence over others is not taken. We often think that if I had this position or that position. “If I was pastor, I’d do things differently…” Or, “when I’m a parent, I won’t make my kids do this…” We think authority is taken as in we get the position and then we take authority over others.

True authority is given to you willingly by others. For instance, I’m only pastor over those who have given me that authority or level of influence in their life. Some of you have done this, others have not. This isn’t to make you feel bad, its just a lesson you learn when you get into a place of influence.

Ultimately, if you find yourself in a position of influence, it was given to you by God anyway!

1 Samuel 2:7–8 ESV

The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor…

Too many times in life I’ve tried to take authority. Even in my relationships with my wife and kids. It’s partly because how I was raised, adults demanded respect. And we ended up having to respect adults that were not respectable people.

The real problem in that is some adults are actually evil people who will do you harm. That’s where these abuse cases come from. Not every person is worthy of your respect. So instead of trying to take authority, be willing to rise to a place of respect by your character and people will notice and start giving you influence in their lives.

Authority Is Given, Not Taken

Lasting Influence Requires Patience

One of the frustrations of those in a place of influence is this…investing in other’s growth takes time. It’s like planting a garden. You are putting seeds into someone else and they do not grow overnight. It takes years to see things through to fruition.

Romans 8:25 ESV

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Earlier in life I would get so frustrated with people when they weren’t doing what I felt they needed to do. In ministry, I have gotten impatient at times when the church hasn’t grown as quickly as I wanted or if people themselves were struggling to live godly lives even though I preached a sermon on it last week ;)

I was sharing with Shannon and Erin Burns a stat about youth leaders a while back. The average youth pastor lasts in a church about 18 months before they move on. One of the reasons for that, I think, is because they are longing to see fruit, but they are in a seed-planting ministry.

If you want to see fruit in your life or your kids lives or elsewhere, you will need to be patient.

People don’t change overnight.

If you want lasting influence, not just a quick shot of it, you are going to have to learn patience. You are going to have to plant yourself somewhere and give it time. Influence spreads, but it’s slow, kind of like watching grass grow.

Patience In The Suffering - The truth is, if you have influence of any kind, you will suffer in some way. People will betray you, they will talk bad about you, they will stab you in the back, but if you are learning the lessons God wants to teach you in influence, you will be patient in the midst of the suffering. After all, a synonym for patience is long-suffering.

Authority Is Given, Not Taken

Lasting Influence Requires Patience

True Influence Comes From Real Relationships

Most of us do not know how influence really works. Influence is built on relationships. You cannot have true influence without real relationships. This isn’t something you can bypass with a title. Many people try to do that, but it never works.

If you want true influence, invest in your relationships. This is true for every area of life. Spouse, children, co-workers, wherever you are looking to grow in influence, it starts by investing in the relationship.

We do not live by rules but by relationships, a loving relationship to God that enables us to have a loving relationship with others. - Warren W. Wiersbe

All true relationships are built on love. In other words, don’t invest in people if you don’t really love them. They will eventually see through that. Your true colors will shine through. Instead, love people well and as you do, they will give you influence.

Decision

So what do we do with this? What am I supposed to do about this idea that God moves people from Obscurity to Influence?

If you are not a Christian, it doesn’t matter if you are in obscurity or influence, you are lost. You need to repent and put your trust in Jesus.

If you are a Christian and you find yourself in a place of Obscurity. Remember the lessons and be faithful. God wants you to know today that you are not alone. You are not forsaken. You are not forgotten.

If you are a Christian and you find ourself in a place of Influence. It’s pretty much the same thing. Remain faithful in your influence. And remember, that you are not alone. Whatever problems you are dealing with, whatever forces are coming against you. God has not forgotten you. God wants you to know today that He has given you that influence, therefore honor Him.