Consumer Christianity

What’s in it for me

This week we’re in the 4th and final week of a series called Follow. Basically we’ve been looking at this invitation we’ve all gotten from Jesus to follow Him and we’re bringing a little bit of clarity to what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Because as you know, there are a lot of different ideas and opinions on what it means to be a Jesus follower so we’re going straight to the source. We’ve been looking at the different things that Jesus taught and said to figure out what the life of someone who follows Jesus should look like.

Today I want to talk about this phrase that we’ve all heard before. It’s something that drives and steers our life without us even thinking about it. It’s just natural.

What’s in it for me

We get into things based on what we get out of things.

This is the basis for what we decide to do or not do.

The places you go - That’s why i avoid Walmart. The only thing in it for me is crazy amounts of frustration.

The people in and around our life. Some of you purge your FB friends list once a month, right?

It’s our foundation of how we vote. Based on the things that are important to you. A lot of which, are the things that benefit us somehow

There’s been a lot of decisions on leaving a job. “I just don’t get anything out of it”

This isn’t something you’re taught either. At some point it’s just something you gravitate towards. It’s just a question you start asking yourself to gauge your involvement with something.

This is something we have to talk about because it’s a powerful motivator. If we’re not careful we start to move towards a consumer lifestyle. We can become people who see and navigate through the world based on how it is able to serve us. People become tools to help me achieve something or obstacles keeping me from something.

This is something Jesus quickly shifts his disciples focus out of. I believe most, if not all of Jesus’ disciples began following Jesus because of what they could get out of it, but you don’t have to turn through very many pages in NT writings to see Jesus begin moving His disciples out of the consumer mindset. Because as a consumer you will struggle to follow Jesus.

There’s two problems we’ll run into though if that’s our sole reason for following Jesus.

What happens when you don’t see the benefit.

When I was a teenager, I completely walked away from the church and wanted nothing to do with it because it didn’t serve me. I didn’t see a benefit in following Jesus.

Sometimes the benefit isn’t immediately seen. You’ve experienced this. Remember when you were a kid and your parents were totally lame and just trying to keep you from having fun in life? The 30 years later you became your parents. Now you look back and appreciate what they did because you see how it was for your good.

We talked about that in week 1. Following Jesus will take you to this place where you deny yourself. You give up what you want now for what you want most.

2. We completely miss the primary reason we’re here.

You and I are created to impact and influence the world around us. We were created to be a catalyst for the change the world needs.

We will only create positive change in the world around us with a contributor mindset.

You don’t have to turn very far into the pages of the New Testament writings too see Jesus begin to correct this mindset.

Jesus quickly shifts the focus of His followers from personal gain at the expense of others to personal sacrifice for the benefit of others.

He was constantly pointing His followers to focus on the needs of other people.

Here’s the thing, following the teachings of Jesus will serve you in life.

Better spouse

Better with money

Better friend

Better parent

Better coworker

But here’s the bottom line for the day.

Following Jesus will serve you because

Following Jesus will lead you to serve others

Jesus makes this very clear in one of His conversations with His disciples. They come to him and are asking about authority. They are wanting a position of greatness. And he points to the world around them. He says the rulers of the Gentiles have this authority that they Lord over the people underneath them and they have people who are over them and they lord their authority over them. The measure of authority is tied to the people who serve you. They’re considered great when they have people who obey their commands. But Jesus says, but not so with you.

If you want to be great you must serve. If you want to be first, you must be a slave to all. You’re going to have to move out of the mindset that the world exists to serve you and your needs and you have to adopt the heart of one who serves.

When I think about the idea of serving and moving passed the consumer mindset, there are some hurdles that we have to get by in order to do this effectively. I can’t think of a better illustration than one that Jesus told. If you’ve been around the church very much you’ve heard Jesus’ story about The Good Samaritan. And you probably know how the story ends, we’ll go over that if you’re not familiar with the story but I want to focus especially on how the story starts. What prompted Jesus to tell this story.

It started with ‘an expert in the law’. A scribe. Someone who was well versed in the Old Testament law and would even aid in creating new laws to make navigating the old laws a little easier. This guy came ‘to test’ Jesus and asked how do I inherit eternal life and Jesus’ response was what’s written in the law, how do you read it?

I think the scribes tone changed here. I’ve heard it preached before he was proving his arrogance, and that’s possible. But a part of me wonders if he was wanting Jesus to justify the rules he’s already put in place that would keep him from doing what he already knew he should have been. Then Jesus speaks directly to this and points out the same hurdles to this guy that we have to cross ourselves.

It makes me wonder if we’ve convinced ourselves who we should and who we should and should not serve based on our own reasoning and rationale.

Jesus launches into His story and points out these challenges we face as well as the expert in the law.

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 10

30 Jesus took up the question and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

Tamara to the rescue

What made the difference in my wife wasn’t just her noticing I needed help. It was her actually

Paying attention to what grabbed her attention

They had good reasons not to stop

The priest and the Levite are often painted as the buy guys in the story, but their not bad guys. They probably had legitimate reasons for not stopping.

Laws of unclean

Heading into work

Fears of safety in case the thieves came back

It was a matter of priority. Their focus was on them and it caused them to miss or walk passed a need that was in their path. They walked right by him. This is the difference in walking through the world as a consumer and this guy is an interruption or inconvenience or walking through life as a contributor and this guy is an opportunity.

We won’t have to look very far to find people that need our help. When it comes to who we should serve, it’s the people in our path that are easily looked over.

Isn’t it so easy to choose the out? It’s easier right.

It’s not my responsibility — It’s none of my business — I really shouldn’t get involved — I don’t have time right now — Man, someone should really do something

I have to believe, just like with the priest and levite,

it’s our responsibility when it’s in our path.

When we see hurt in the world, it’s our responsibility to act. I’m not saying you have to put on a cape and never get anything done because you’ve got a superman complex. But you know what I’m talking about. It’s the thought or the burden you can’t seem to shake. It’s the thing that keeps coming to your mind out of nowhere. It’s the thing that makes you keep saying, “I really hope someone does something”.

It means noticing the thing we force ourself to look away from. God is burdening your heart with those things for a reason.

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 10

33 But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion.

There was one difference Jesus pointed out as to why this guy stopped. It’s this word compassion.

When the crowd first heard ‘But a Samaritan’ I don’t think they gasped, like I’ve heard it talked about before. I think there was a bit of confusion because it sounded like a plot twist that wouldn’t have made any sense.

It wasn’t just Jews in the crowd, there were Samaritans there as well and I don’t think they gasped either. I think everyone assumed. Everyone assumed the Samaritan would just walk by because he had reason too.

There were hundreds of years of hatred between these two groups. It was a hatred based off of race, religion, ideology, politics. And year after year the hatred grew because they were given more and more reason to hate each other. Because it wouldn’t have been historical hate, now it’s based off personal experience.

But this guy had compassion. This is the word we talked about a couple of weeks ago.

It’s this deep hurt for what someone is battling so much so that it moves you to action.

The Samaritan did what sometimes seems like the impossible.

He didn’t let their differences to cause separation

He let their similarities to bring empathy

He knows what it’s like to be hated and ignored. He’s been the outcast and person people avoided. He knows what it’s like to not be cared for. And his empathy moved him closer to this guy when it would have been so easy to let their differences keep them apart.

The state of our world is so divided right now.

Politically — racially — to wear a mask or not wear a mask — economics — socially

And what you see is escalating arguments over who’s right and who’s wrong.

My wife and I get into our most heated arguments when we’re trying to talk over one another and stop listening.

This is why James, the brother of Jesus tells us the antidote for anger is speaking less and listening more. Because when we listen, when we ask questions, when we seek first to understand then be understood it changes our tone from defensiveness to compassion.

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 10

34 He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’

36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

37 “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said.

Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

This wasn’t an easy trip.

17 mile hike

over 3500 ft. climb or decent

rough terrain

You know what would have made this trip easier. Bandages, olive oil, a donkey to ride, and probably a little bit of wine! But He wasn’t just going to give this guy some good advice on how to make it. He wasn’t going to just tell him how to avoid robbers the next time. The follow through was incredible.

Our responsibility as Christians is not just meeting spiritual needs. We have to be willing to meet physical needs before we can speak into their spiritual ones.

If only it was always this easy to know what to do

And the only way to know what we can do is to first ask the question, “How can I help”?

Leading the conversation with How can I help is a game changer. It set’s the tone of how do I loan who I am to where you are

The only way Tamara knew what the problem was when she came to help was she asked. I truly believe a big reason we do not get involved when we want to is because we don’t know what to do.

It’s ok to say, how can I help? I want to do something but I’m not sure what I can do.

The follow through with this guy was incredible. He stayed with him through the night then gave the inn keeper 2 days wages and said, watch him. Then He came back!

I would have loved to hear the conversation that would have taken place on his return.

When he walks into the room — What are you doing here?!

I’m coming back to check on you.

Wait, you’re the guy. You’re the guy who did all this? You’re the guy who stopped.

Just imagine the walls that were shattered with this one guy who

Paid attention to what grabbed his attention and asked how can I help

I don’t think it’s hard to imagine how both of these guys worlds were changed. So imagine with me for a second how our world would look if every Jesus follower did this.

This how different our world would look if we could wrap our minds and lifestyle around this concept. Think about how different your marriage would look if we approached it with a mindset to serve my marriage instead of expecting it to serve me first.

Image how different your office, friendships, and relationships with people would look if we adopted the mindset of

I don’t need something from you before I do something for you.

Can you imagine what the world would look like if the qualification for who recieved our help was based solely on who needed our help and not who earned it?

So, let me ask.

Is there something that’s grabbed your attention that needs your attention

How can you loan who you are to that situation

Following Jesus will serve you because following Jesus will lead you to serve others. As a Jesus follower, you are equipped, wired and created to be a catalyst for change. And it happens when you serve others.