Goals - Week 4

INTRO VIDEO

INTRODUCTION

6 MINUTES

We’re in the fourth week of a series based on a book in the Bible called Galatians. During this series, we’re talking about some of the goals we have for our faith. And before we jump in today, I want to start by taking a quick poll. How many of you love school? And how many of you love the weekend?

Honestly, if you don’t love the weekend, I don’t know what to tell you! After a long week, there’s nothing like making it to the weekend! You work hard for five straight days, but come Friday afternoon, you finally get a chance to kick back and relax. At least for a moment, the only question you have to answer is, “What will I do with my freedom?”

So what would you do?

INTERACTIVE: Weekend Goals

This is where you’ll show students four photographs and ask them to pick which one depicts their ideal way to spend a weekend. Check out the Communicator Guide for more information.

Playing Video Games

Playing football

Reading a book

Going to the beach

All of these ideal weekends sound so good to me that it’s hard to choose just one! But I have to say, out of all the weekends I’ve ever had, one sticks out in my mind as absolutely perfect.

TELL A PERSONAL STORY

· My parents are divorced and my dad used to come and get my brother and I every other Friday to spend the weekend with him. I remember one weekend where he came and picked us up and drove us to an old sports field not too far from his apartment.

· It was a chilly October day with a light layer of fog hovering over the field. When we drove up, I had no idea what we were going to do. He tossed me a football and said let’s go. We spent probably three hours kicking field goals, punting and passing the football. It was great.

· From there we went to have lunch with my grandma and then stopped by the library to get a book to read.

· That night, a friend from church called and asked if I wanted to hang out and play video games at his house. I had a choice to make. I knew that my dad would not mind if I went to my friend’s house, but we had just had this awesome day hanging out seeing that I did not get to see him all the time, I did not want that time to end. However, I also did not get to see my friend except when I went to church with my dad every other weekend. It was a tough choice that my dad gave me the freedom to make.

TENSION

4 MINUTES

In this series, we’ve been talking a lot about freedom and what that looks like in terms of our faith. We’ve said that because of Jesus, we have freedom to live our lives to the fullest. Freedom is the goal! And even if you don’t feel like it right now as a student, the truth is you actually do have a lot of freedom in your life. You have the freedom to decide what to do with your words, your actions, your thoughts, and your choices. Even if there are rules and boundaries in your life, you ultimately have the freedom to decide how you respond to them.

And just like a Friday night leaves us wondering what to do with the freedom found in our weekends, I think every single day we have the choice to decide what we do with the freedom in front of us. The question I think we’re all asking is this: What should we do with our freedom?

As followers of Jesus, this is an especially important choice! Why? Because how we use our freedom to impact others says something to them about Jesus. Think about it! If kids at your school know that you’re a Christian, or you go to church, or you have a relationship with God, they’re going to assume a few things about the way you live your life, right? They’re probably going to think that you won’t say mean things, or that you’re not going to that party, or that you won’t gossip, or that you don’t post certain kinds of pictures on social media. And while all of that may be true, the reality is we’re all human. We’re all going to make mistakes and misuse our freedom along the way.

But when we do, as followers of Jesus, sometimes it feels like the world is judging us for it. Even though we know there’s forgiveness from God, when we mess up, we feel that the rest of the world is watching and judging us for it. It almost feels like we’re in a courtroom where every action we’ve made is being picked apart by a judge. And honestly, that really stinks.

You see, no matter what we believe, we all have a choice when it comes to our freedom: We can use it to love others or use it to be unkind to others. And one of the ways a lot of us experience that unkindness is through judgment.

INTERACTIVE: Passing Judgment

This is where you’ll use a gavel and block to illustrate how it feels to constantly be judged throughout life. Check out the Communicator Guide for details.

Maybe you’ve been on the receiving end of some of that judgment. Maybe you went too far in a relationship with someone, and you felt judged. [Bang the gavel.] Or you got caught in a lie with a friend [bang the gavel], or you spread a rumor that really hurt someone [bang the gavel]. And even though God has forgiven you, you can’t seem to escape the judgment of everyone else around you.

Or maybe, you’re using your freedom to judge other people. Maybe you see students who come to church every Sunday who don’t live out what they believe the rest of the week. And instead of showing them kindness and grace, you judge. [Bang the gavel.] You make assumptions about who they really are based on what they post on Instagram [bang the gavel], or who they hang out with [bang the gavel], or what they wear [bang the gavel], or the language they use [bang the gavel], or who they date [bang the gavel]. No matter how many times they show up to church or Small Group, you’re keeping score of what they’re doing that doesn’t live up to what you think they should be doing. Even if you never say it out loud, you’re passing judgment every time you think about them.

Or maybe you’re not sure what you think about this whole faith thing. You’re not sure you believe in God, or you’re trying to figure out what faith looks like in your own life. But you see the way the people around you at church are judged for their choices or the way some of them judge other people, and it certainly doesn’t make this whole faith thing seem that appealing to you.

Remember that question we asked a few minutes ago: What should we do with our freedom? I think the problem is a lot of us are using our freedom to judge the way others are using their freedom. We’re banging the gavel [bang the gavel] every time we judge someone based on the choices they’ve made or who they are. And when we make judgment the goal of our freedom, I think we’re not actually using our freedom at all. I think we’re wasting it.

TRUTH

3 MINUTES

The good news is that we’ve got an answer for this big question about freedom in the Bible. Not only does the Bible tell us that we have freedom because of Jesus, but it also gives us direction on how to use that freedom well. A guy named Paul actually offered some advice on this very thing in a letter to people living in a place called Galatia. That letter is found in the New Testament of the Bible, and it’s called Galatians.

When he was writing his letter to the Galatians, Paul wanted to address one of the problems he had heard about in the church. Apparently, some of the people in the church of Galatia were struggling to get along with each other. In other words, they were using their freedom to fight with one another! So Paul wrote this to help them out:

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another (Galatians 5:13-15 NLT).

So right out of the gate, Paul affirmed their freedom. He reminded the Galatians that they were, in fact, free. And that’s great news, right? With that freedom, though, came a choice. They could either use it to love others or use it to be unkind to others. And instead of leaving the answer up to them, Paul reminded the Galatians that the goal of faith and freedom is simply to love one another. That’s it! That’s the simple answer to our question about what to do with our freedom: love!

So what does that mean for us? Well, one of the ways we struggle with being unkind to one another is through our judgments. So if we want to use our freedom the way Paul is suggesting we do, it means that instead of pointing fingers, and judging, and keeping score of everyone else’s sins and mistakes, we’re simply supposed to love. In other words, the goal is to love people, not judge people.

Instead of worrying about other people’s choices outside of Small Group, simply love them when they show up to Small Group. Instead of thinking about all the reasons they maybe shouldn’t be welcomed at church, simply love and welcome them. Instead of fighting, talking, or worrying about the behaviors, actions, and choices of other people, drop the judgment and simply love.

I mean, isn’t that the way we all want to be treated? If you’re feeling a lot of judgment from others, wouldn’t you say you could benefit from a little more love? Imagine what our schools, our churches, our Small Groups might be like if we all made the choice to follow the command God gave us to love others the way we want to be loved. Imagine the way we’d reflect Jesus to others if we remembered that the goal is to love people, not judge people.

Because look back at what Paul said will happen when we use our freedom for something other than love.

But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another (Galatians 5:15 NLT).

Now I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sound great to me! Devouring, biting, destroying? Not what I want for my school, my friends, my church, my Small Group, or my life! But that’s what can happen when we use our freedom the wrong way—when we choose to use it to be unkind to others instead of love them.

Judgment really has the potential to destroy love. Think about it! A rumor has the potential to destroy a reputation. A harsh word has the potential to destroy the confidence of someone else. A rude welcome at church has the potential to make someone never want to come back.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. We have a choice. And since we have the freedom to choose, we need to choose love. The goal is to love people, not judge people.

APPLICATION

1 MINUTE

So let’s start by asking a question: How are you using your freedom to judge?

I can imagine that you have a few people at school, or in your neighborhood, or in your Small Group who you have some strong opinions about—opinions that aren’t all positive! What are you doing with those opinions? Do you join in and talk about these people in a negative way? Do you make it your responsibility to point out their flaws? Are you using your freedom to be unkind… or to love?

The opposite of destroying others is building them up. So if there’s a person in your life who you find yourself judging instead of loving, ask yourself, “What can I do to start encouraging them instead?” Maybe that’s simply getting to know them a little better, or praying for them when you think about them, or offering a kind word every time you see them. I think you’ll be surprised at how quickly your opinion of that person will change when you start making an effort to lead with love.

Because remember, the goal is to love people, not judge people.

LANDING

1 MINUTE

So as I close, I want you to think about this question: What is one reason judging others is sometimes easier than loving them?

Let’s pray.