Welcome To Adulting - Who’s in Charge Here?

Opening of Lesson:

Prayers and Blessings

Recap Series we are in - welcome to adulting

Recap last weeks lesson - “the reason you’re here”

ASK: Does anyone remember what we talked about last week?

practically living out God’s purpose for your life

The creator gets to determine the purpose of a creation

Todays Lesson we are looking at Who’s in charge here (chapter 3)

We have moved out of the purpose section of the book and into the authority section.

ASK: How many of you went to college or moved out at some point?

ASK: What did you think life would be like, or what were you looking forward to in that new season? (common theme should be freedom)

ASK: Was that transition and freedom everything you hoped it would be?

oftentimes it is not.

There are countless stories of college students and young adults all across the country who looked to college or moving out as a way to have freedom. They party, have sex, stay out as late as they want, and any other things they think they are now free to do, but they are often never fulfilled.

Despite having all the freedom in the world, they don’t feel satisfied.

ASK: Why is it that as children, we all crave becoming an adult? (Being a kid is not a hard life, no bills, no responsibility)

We want freedom. When you become an adult, you are in charge of your life.

ASK: Is this freedom and control a good thing or bad thing?

the freedom and control that comes with adulthood can be both a good and bad thing.

It is a good thing because it teaches your responsibility, which is essential to being an adult. If you make a decision, you have to live with the consequences, good or bad.

This freedom can be a bad thing because it can cause some people to rebel all authority. This desire for freedom can become the ultimate thing in your life and cause you to submit to no authority.

ASK: What is the problem with this?

authority is part of life. Life was created by God with authority structures. Rebelling against God’s design of authority will never go well.

ASK: Is rebelling against authority a new problem or an old one?

although it is commonly associated with our generation, it is an old problem. In fact, it is the oldest problem.

Rebelling against authority is what happened in the garden of eden. Before that even, rebelling against authority is what caused satan and 1/3 of the angels to fall.

In both of those cases, they felt like they knew better than God and did not trust the authority.

ASK: Why do you think young adults struggle so much with authority?

for some it can be the lack of seniority in everything. In most cases, young adults are at the bottom of the totem pole in every aspect of their life. They usually aren’t in charge of a family yet, they are not high up financially, and they are in entry level jobs or careers. This lack of control in anything can sometimes cause resistance to authority.

Now it is even a big trend to rebel against the concept of right and wrong.

There are people that will confidently argue that right and wrong don’t exist, or at least they don’t exist objectively.

ASK: Why do you think this is? What is the benefit of no right and wrong?

there are no insinuated consequences. If nothing is right and wrong, nobody can tell them what to do or not todo.

Despite this trend of trying to abolish or ignore authority, it’s here to stay.

ASK: How does this situation sound to you?

You can live in a place where everyone around you has a problem with authority and has chosen not to submit to that authority in how they live their lives.

This at first sounds free right? There are no rules, or at least that’s how they are choosing to live.

This exists in a place called prison.

Rebelling against authority does not exempt you from the consequences.

The sad thing is that you don’t have to go to jail to be imprisoned. Plenty of people have wanted to freedom to drink, do drugs, watch porn, or whatever else their heart desired. They exercised their freedom so much that eventually they lost the freedom to say no to it.

Sin FEELS freeing until you try to stop.

Eventually you get in so deep you can’t stop pursuing the very thing you thought made you free.

Unfortunately we see similar trends with homelessness.

Let’s first establish that this is nowhere near the case for all people encountering homelessness, and most people didnt choose to be homeless.

The desire for freedom can in some situations keep people from accepting help when they experience homelessness.

Most of us would not look at being homeless as a desired set of circumstances, but it offers some of the highest levels of freedom available. You sleep wherever you want. You go wherever you want. And you pretty much do whatever you want to.

This freedom sometimes makes them deny help.

Most outreach places that help with homelessness have strict rules about curfews, classes, and substance abuse. Because of these rules, many homeless people will refuse the help.

If freedom is what we desire, but craving too much freedom can lead to trouble, what is the balance?

Scripture is very clear that as Christians we have a very high level of freedom. In fact, Christians should evidently be more free than anyone else.

John 8:32 “32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””

John 8:36 “36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.”

The difference between Christian freedom and worldly freedom is what you are free from.

Worldly freedom lets you escape rules and authority, allowing you to get caught up in some dangerous circumstances.

Christian freedom lets you escape the weight of your sin and ultimately escape death.

Salvation is a free gift that allows us the freedom to not have to earn God’s approval.

Romans 8:1-2 says we are free from the power of death.

Romans 8:1–2 CSB

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

The freedom found in Christianity does not however allow us to escape authority.

There are 3 main authorities you should be submitting to in your life.

Government

Employers

Church

ASK: How many of you would say that our culture naturally submits to the authority of the government?

a very small amount. Approval ratings are in the dump and the majority of americans don’t trust the government.

Yet, as Christians, we are called to submit to the government.

1 Peter 2:13–14 CSB

13 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority 14 or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good.

Peter is very clear that we are to submit to the authority of the government. Our federal government is the supreme authority in our context, whereas Peter had an emperor.

ASK: What does it mean or look like to submit to government?

obey the laws

dont steal

dont murder

use a turn signal

dont speed

pay your taxes

If you dont do these things, there can be harsh consequences.

A NATURAL OBJECTION:

What if the laws are not fair or parts of our government are corrupt?

Be the one that works to change that. Go out and vote, be involved in your government, and push to see that change.

Pray for our officials

The only time Scripture allows us to not follow the laws of the government are if they are in direct opposition to one of God’s commands (scripture). As of right now, there are no laws like that.

ASK: What other oppositions do you think people might have to scripture calling believers to submit to government?

the context is different or their government was not as bad as our government.

That is number one, not a valid excuse to ignore the commands of scripture, but is also wildly untrue.

Peter was under Emperor Nero who had his mother killed because she wasn’t a big fan of him. He then had his first wife, second wife, and stepbrother killed. Then he married a young boy, abused him, dressed him as a woman, and called him by his dead wife’s name.

Nero also majorly persecuted Christians, often burning them alive, and had Peter killed on an upside down cross.

If Peter was under that government and still wrote that we as Christians should submit to government, we also should.

The second authority is the employer.

Oftentimes when this relationship is discussed in Scripture, it is labeled as slave and master relationships, but don’t think of recent times slavery.

In the new testament, anyone could be a slave, and it wasn’t necessarily a lifetime thing.

Slavery was sometimes voluntary, being the person’s employment. Slavery provided food, clothing, and shelter, in exchange for work.

Most people were either self employed or worked for a family business, which means if you didn’t have either of those, there was a decent chance you were a slave.

1 Peter 2:18 CSB

18 Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel.

Peter calls employees to submit to their bosses, even if they are not good (cruel). Even if you don’t like your boss, you are still called to fulfill your job and submit to them as long as you are under their authority.

There is a reputation among young adults in the workplace that they show no respect in the workplace. New employees want to jump to the top and be in charge instead of working their way up the ladder.

Young adults are also known for switching jobs as soon as one gets hard. We can sell ourself really well in the interview and then don’t follow through in the job when it gets hard.

The final area of submission is the church.

ASK: Why do you think young adults do not commit to one church?

hopping around church services helps them be fed without the expectation to serve (consumeristic culture)

if you avoid getting committed to one church, people can’t know you well enough to call you out or speak into your life

The argument is often made that “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian”.

True, but there is almost nobody who lives that out and grows apart from the church.

Hebrews 10:24–25 CSB

24 And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

Hebrews 13:7 CSB

7 Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.

Hebrews 13:17 CSB

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

If you want “God to be your sole authority”, God in His authority has made it clear that you should submit to the leadership of a local church.

Colossians 1:18 CSB

18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

Following Christ means we BELONG to His body, which is the Church.

ASK: Why do people often not submit to the authority of the church?

lack of trust

Public downfalls and mistakes in ministry have led to the mistrust of the Church.

This doesn’t make all churches or pastors bad. You must simply compare what they are teaching to scripture.

JP ends with this story about a wild stallion who didn’t want to be captured because it wanted to roam around and eat where it wanted to. It had no shelter and no guaranteed food and water, but it wanted to be free. One day it got captured by this cowboy who brought it in. It put up a fight for a bit, but once it finally submitted to the authority of the cowboy, it realized it had a guaranteed shelter, water, and luscious pastures.

It wasn’t until it was fully submissive to its master that it truly found freedom.

Reflection Questions:

How has your desire for freedom stolen freedoms from you?

What authorities do you struggle to trust the most? Why?

How do you view your occupational authority?

Announcements:

Bridge Groups Tomorrow - show up even if you’re not registered (text keywords guygroup or girlgroup to get text updates.)

Lifegroup fellowship Wednesday at 5:30 @ pavilion. Bring clothes for waterslide and towel, food provided.

Missions movie night tonight