Leadership – garyalbritton

A Modern Day Parable

March 24, 2016March 24, 2016 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

She grew up not far from the botanical garden. She would walk by almost everyday, peering through the wrought iron fence supported by beautiful brick columns. She would think to herself, one day I would love to work there.

29949_closeup_of_lily_flower

As she grew older she fell in love with art. She would spend hours sketching, drawing and painting in the botanical garden. Each season brought new beauty and new color. It was as if every changing of the seasons unveiled a new and glorious world never before seen. Still, she longed for the day she could work there.

Finally the day came. She put in her application and because she had spent so much time there, the director knew who she was. Just by listening to her talk he knew she loved this place. He knew she would be committed to keeping it beautiful. So he felt very confident, that even though she had never had a job, she would work very hard to keep the place she loved beautiful. Her face lit up when he peered over his desk and said, you begin tomorrow. I will see you at 6 am. The next morning she awoke to the alarm on her phone at 4:30. No way would she be late for her first day; Her first new day at the place she loved.

She got ready, ate breakfast and packed her lunch. She headed out the door to simply go and do what she loved. As she got out of her car a sense of satisfaction came over her. This was the very thing she was made for. She walked along the dark grey, crushed, gravel path leading to the maintenance shed to meet her coworkers, and get her instructions for the day. She was so glad to be a part of this team. To be a part of something bigger than herself. To be able to make a difference in the world. To bring beauty and enjoyment to people, especially little girls who like her had a deep sense of wonder for this place. The flowers, majestic. The grass, perfectly cut. The animals, at peace in nature. All she could see was the beauty of the place she loved.

Her supervisor said, I would like you to pick up trash. Keeping the park clean and litter free was one of the most important jobs she felt she could do. She hurried out with her thick, black, plastic trash bag and long spiked pole. So the day began picking up trash. The day was amazing. She got to work in the place she loved and keep the park beautiful and clean just as others had always done for her. Her favorite part of every day was dawn. The very moment, the sun would peek over the edge of the horizon and sunlight would glimmer over the fresh morning dew. So everyday she came to work surrounded by beauty and fully believing this was the reason she existed.

So years went by and the love never seemed to fade. Then one day, she got to work and stepped out of the car as she had done for years. But today was different. Oh, she didn’t know it was different, but it was. As she shut her car door, she saw a candy wrapper right at the edge of the dark grey, crushed, gravel path. The same path she had walked for years. Then she saw an empty bottle and an event flyer ushered in by the wind. What was so different about today? After all, picking up trash and keeping the park clean had been the most significant part of her job. Today was different though because today, for the first time, she failed to see the beauty she was surrounded by because trash had become her focus. The litter she had worked so hard to keep clean was now the only thing she could see.

Friends, today is a new day, a precious gift. A day of resurrection. A day new life is bursting forth all around you. Today, don’t become so focused on all that is wrong with world that you fail to see the beauty of this day. Life is a miracle, each and every breath you take. Each and every moment you have with the people you love. Don’t miss today, you don’t get it back.
HE IS RISEN!

Life Lived in Focus

December 29, 2014December 29, 2014 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

The new year is fast approaching. Somehow it seems like I blinked and it is 2015. In February Cami and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary. WOW! Just 2 months ago we welcomed our 4th child, Kaylee Albritton. Even more WOW! We are now a family of 6. Life is busy to say the least. I am sure the same is true of your life as well. Whether you are single, a single parent, newly weds, a growing family, or empty nesters, I am quite sure you find plenty of ways to keep yourself busy.

With so much going on, our brains primary goal is to simply, to take our everyday tasks and send them into auto pilot. This is why as you drive to work everyday or pick up the kids from school, there are times you cannot remember a certain stretch of the road. You know the feeling, when you are waiting to go through the light and turn in and think, I don’t remember passing ________. And it kind of scares you. You think, did I fall asleep? No, your brain was just on auto pilot simplifying our everyday processes.

In his book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg talks about an experiment where rats were placed in a maze and their brain activity was measured as they made their way through. The first time or two, their brains were running at near maximum capacity. All of their senses were clicking, but the more they ran the maze, the more their brains and senses disengaged from the process.

Our brains ability and capacity to transition tasks to routines, allows us to do more. So while routines are good, stay in a routine long enough and it becomes a rut. And ruts can be difficult to get out of. Especially in ministry. If you have gone to church any length of time you know exactly what I am talking about.

As a leader it is important to avoid getting stuck in ruts. People don’t want to follow some one who is stuck and going no where. One of the ways I try to avoid getting too bogged down in routine is by developing new focus areas as I move into the new year. These areas could use a little more attention both in my personal life and my leadership roles. So here is what I do. You don’t have to do it exactly like this but find a method that works for you.

Define FOCUS AREAS. I would recommend keeping this list pretty short. such as 2 to 3 areas at a time. They can be simple or complex. However, the more complex, the fewer you should tackle at once. In the past, I have focused on prayer, on developing a specific ministry program, church structure, spiritual disciplines, intentional time with family etc. If you struggle with finding them, ask the question, “what are the routines I have turned into ruts?”
Determine a SPECIFIC LENGTH OF TIME. This does not have to be a year long process. Maybe there are four things you want to focus on building and you need 3 months for each. Be specific and write it down. Maybe it is getting out of debt and you know it will be a 3 or 4 year process. You are not tied down to a calendar.
Clarify the WHY. Why are you doing this? Why this focus? Why now? Bring clarity to the process. Have a reason you are choosing to focus on this area of your life.
Define the WIN. Begin with the end in mind. At the end of this specific time period, what will it look like if you have accomplished your goal? This should be short, with one sentence defining what it will look like.
Determine your ACTION STEPS. You have to move. There has to be some muscle behind the mind. Ideas, thoughts and concepts need to be surrounded with action or they are going to ever happen. So what are 2 or 3 action steps you need to take to start moving? Write them down. As you get moving you will add more to the list but just get started. Make them simple. Something you can do right away. Just get started.

All of this is for the purpose of bringing clarity and purpose to our life and leadership. So often we have big ideas, dreams and goals that are never realized. Why? Many times this is simply because we never take the time to clarify what it is we want to do or how we are going to do it. So saturate this process in prayer. Evaluate, Define, Dream, Focus. May God bless your life, family and ministry as we move into 2015 and beyond!

This is a series of blogs for Shiloh Road Leaders (staff, shepherds, deacons, and ministry leaders) to help you prepare and plan your ministry as we move forward into the new year and beyond. If you lead a team, get together as a team to work through these exercises. If you are over several ministries, encourage those ministries you oversee to make this a priority.

The Ever So Popular Brain Vomit…

December 16, 2014 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

So here is how my typical week goes. Sunday I preach so Monday I am brain dead. On Mondays I typically stick to meetings and administration. Tasks I need to get done, but don’t require a lot of critical thinking. Tuesday, my brain turns back on, somewhat anyway. So I typically spend a large portion of Tuesday locked away in my office studying, praying, meditating and listening.

So when I go home on a Tuesday my head is so full of information, ideas and stories, and just like a good steak, the ideas need some time to marinate. On Wednesday, I usually start my day with prayer, a blank sheet of paper and a pen. Then I vomit…

Now, I do not actually vomit every Wednesday morning. It’s a metaphor. Okay, so I know its not the prettiest picture in the world, but I think it communicates a point. I call it a brain vomit (other people do too). My head is full of ideas, illustrations, thoughts, stories, commentaries and I need to get all the important stuff out there.

So how does a brain vomit work. Like I said, I sit down at my desk, with my door shut. I take a blank sheet of paper, I turn on the timer of my iPhone for 15 minutes and I go. I write down every single thought that comes to my mind, every story, phrase, verse, etc. that comes to my mind. There is NO filter, I just write it down, even if it doesn’t make sense.

So why is this so important? Far too often our ideas never make it out of the realm of imagination. We have a thought, it escapes us and we really aren’t sure if we can get it back. For me this exercise helps me get everything floating around in my head out on paper. Sometimes thoughts form little streams, other times they never develop, other times they don’t come out in the sermon but in other areas.

Not only do I do this basically on a weekly basis writing sermons, I also do it sporadically with my ministry. So after spending some time looking back at ministry in 2014 and defining your ministry as we move forward, now its time to dream.

Take out a sheet of paper. Set a timer for 15 minutes. Answer this question… Remember, no filter, don’t let money, resources, space stop you. Just write it all down. Think in terms of ministry structure, impact, reach, needs, etc. Write it all down! Ready, set, GO!

Question: As your ministry moves forward into the future, what would you like to see happen in your ministry in 2015 and beyond.

Defining the Direction

December 10, 2014 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

Earlier on in my marriage I had gotten a new phone. It was one of the first smart phones with GPS built in. My wife and I were going out to eat in Dallas for our anniversary, so I put in the name of the restaurant and headed for Dallas. Going from Cleburne, it is easiest to jump on HWY 67 which basically drops you off on the outskirts of downtown.

As we approached 35W, the GPS began telling me to head north on 35W. I am driving and thinking to myself, “this GPS has no clue what it is talking about.” So, I keep on going thinking it will realize the “correct” way to get there, but it does not. It begins says, Recalculating… make a U-Turn. After the second and third Recalculating, I begin talking to the GPS (as if it could hear me) “No, I will not make a U-Turn!” Finally, after realizing the errors of its ways and my superior intellect, it remaps our trip the way I want to go. We are flying and everything is going good I was right and the GSP was wrong.

About 10 miles from Dallas a warning appears in the middle of the screen, “Warning Construction Ahead, expect delays.” Now, my own phone was mocking me, as if the bright red stream of taillights illuminating the night sky was not enough, my phone needed to rub it in. So we wait, and wait, and wait. Eventually we made it to the restaurant, and yes, the GPS would have gotten me there much faster.

It knew a better way to get there and had a much more complete picture. The problem was it did’t show me the bigger picture. If it had taken the time to say, “Gary, if you go this way you will get there, but you are going to get stuck in Dallas Construction Traffic, so go this way, trust me,” I would have done exactly what it told me to the first time.

As a leader, you have to try to paint a clear picture for people of where you are going and how you plan on getting there. People want to follow someone who has a plan. People want to follow someone who knows where they are going. So if as a leader, you are not real sure of where you are going, or how you are going to get there, or what it is suppose to look like, then you will always have a hard time convincing people to follow you.

Many times the problem leaders in the church face stem from not really knowing where we are going. Leading when you don’t have clear direction as to where you are going is next to impossible. So, as leaders it is really important that we work to define three things. One, where we are heading. Two, how we plan to get there. Three, what will “there” actually look like.

As you are defining the ministry, begin with the end in mind. You are not just building with what you currently have, but what you hope to have. So, below are several questions to help you as you define the ministry that you are leading. It is also very important to revisit these questions on a regular basis, clarifying and redefining as you are growing and learning.

Where are you going?
Who is this ministry trying to impact?
What is the purpose of this ministry?
How does this ministry play into the over mission of Shiloh Road, to KNOW God and make Him KNOWN?

How do we get there?
What resources do we need for this ministry to be successful?
What are the challenges you anticipate along the way?
Draw an organizational chart for the teams and positions you need in place for this ministry to function at its fullest potential?

 What does “there” look like?
We will consider this ministry to be successful if…
What will be the first indication that this ministry is no longer effective in fulfilling its purpose?

A few reminders as you engage in this process. 1. Priority of prayer throughout the process. 2. Invite other people into the discussion who are passionate about this ministry. 3. Begin with the end in mind. 4. Think big. We serve a God who is more than enough, who exceeds our expectations. 5. If you want to go deeper into this process, here is a strategy-worksheet_srcc we have adapted for Shiloh Road. It will go much more in-depth into this process of defining ministry.

Looking Back Before Looking Forward

December 4, 2014 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

This will be a series of blogs for Shiloh Road Leaders (staff, shepherds, deacons, and ministry leaders) to help you prepare and plan your ministry as we move forward into the new year and beyond. If you lead a team, get together as a team to work through these exercises. If you are over several ministries, encourage those ministries you oversee to make this a priority.

When I was in Cleburne, my good friend and secretary Lisa Jo alerted me to a bad habit I had developed. I have a tendency to get frustrated with people when I had “throughly and adequately” explained something to someone. Once I realized they did not understand I would explain myself again. This time only slower and louder. The instructions would not change, just my tone and frustration level. I would keep saying the same thing, hoping it would finally get through.
So many times we do this in ministry… What is the plan for the coming year? Same thing as last year. What do we need to budget this year? Same as last year. Sound familiar? The scary thing is many churches and ministries operate like this.

Here is the problem. We serve a creative God. More than that, you were made in this God’s image. Yes, the God who created the heavens and the earth made you in His image. That means you are oozing with creativity. Most of the time when I tell people that, they respond with, “oh, not me.”

My guess is as a kid you had an amazing imagination, you were a doctor, athlete, policeman, fireman, nurse. You never left your home but could travel around the globe. You had the ability anytime, anywhere to let your imagination fly. My guess is somewhere along the way someone convinced you it was no longer necessary, or maybe even dangerous to have such an imagination.

So we find a routine, we get comfortable and we settle in. It’s life. However, I believe God called you to more than just a routine. He has invited you into his story to serve, lead, and impact the kingdom. His desire is for you to fully engage your mind and your creativity.

Most people think the creative ones just “shoot from the hip” and everything is just thrown together haphazardly, but I would disagree. The most creative people I have come across are planners. The carve out time to think and dream and plan.

There are so many things I am thankful for at Shiloh Road and I am so excited about what God is doing. So as we move forward into 2015 I want to invite you to sit down and evaluate and dream. Over the course of the next 3 weeks, there will be 4 blog posts (Evaluate, Define, Dream, Focus) to help you to effectively and creativity plan with 2015 and beyond. This is not for a grade, you do not have to turn it in, this is simply to help you plan for 2015. You will get an email link for each one, where they will be posted to my blog, garyalbritton.com.

PHASE 1: evaluate
1. What did you do this year? (not in terms of tasks, what did you do that made a difference as we strive to make God KNOWN.)

2. What aspects of your ministry did you enjoy most over the past year?

3. What aspects of your ministry did you enjoy least over the past year?

4. What are the things in your ministry that allow you to serve out of your giftedness? (ie. communicating, organizing, artwork, etc)

5. Are there areas in your ministry that are outside of your giftedness which you could pass on to someone else? You do not even need to have someone in mind. (ie. communicating, organizing, artwork, etc)

FINDING HOPE IN THE MIDST OF DESPAIR

May 8, 2013May 8, 2013 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

This has been a really difficult week. A CHS student made the decision to end his life. Knowing a young man chose to end his life is excruciating. Even worse, is that I knew him. So it has been a very difficult week. Talking with students who have so many questions and ministry opportunities that have opened. Tonight was one of those. In fact it was a first in my ten years of ministry.

I have never had a group of students, with no connection to our church and not invited by a friend, who just showed up. Four guys, just randomly picked our church, walked up and said, “is it okay if we start going to church here?” They had no background in any church. As I got to talk to the guys one of them was good friends with the student who ended his life. He was searching for something. For me that is cool but not the amazing part.

All week I have been debating over whether or not to scrap everything for tonight, message and all and focus on suicide. Monday, I was going to focus on it. On Tuesday, I decided to go ahead with the original plan and work suicide into the discussion. Wednesday, I was thinking the same thing. One of our parents asked how I was going to handle it tonight? I told her the plan, but as the day went on I felt I really needed to address it. So I texted her back and she agreed. I did not know why, I just felt God wanted me to talked about it. So at 3:00 I decided to make the change. I had nothing planned, nothing ready but really felt this is what I needed to do.

When the four guys showed up, I was overwhelmed. I got to spend some time with the guys but at the end of the night one came up to me and said he was so glad he was here. He felt like God was speaking to him tonight. He had to have been, because I could not tell you what I said.

It amazes me how God shows up and works through our life when we simply allow him to be present in our life. It amazes me how he can take something so unspeakable and use it focus peoples attention on him.

God is at work in our life and the lives of people we come in contact with everyday. The true question, are we going to have our eyes opened to see him at work?

IRONMAN 70.3 FOCUSING ALONG THE JOURNEY

April 25, 2013 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

Do you ever have a tendency to lose focus? I do. It started to become more and more evident during my Ironman training. One afternoon, I was running by myself, a seven my mile run, very hilly loop in the country. The first two and half miles include about 350 vertical feet of climbing. I started out great around an 8:30 pace. For me it is great and I managed to keep it sub 9-minute miles through the first half of the run.

The run flattens out nicely for the middle part and finishes off with more climbing. What was fascinating, was as I was running on the flatter portion of the run, I looked down at my watch and found my pace had gone to around 10:30 a mile for the middle part of the run. I was not breathing hard. My heart rate was in the mid 130’s. I was fine and so I picked my pace back to finish out my run.

So why does it matter? Do it too often and you aren’t getting better, your just going through the motions to do them.

Is it possible this happens to us from time to time in our walk with Jesus? We simply lose focus. Things get easier; we “get the hang of it.” We start doing things not push our self and grow but simply to do them because we are “suppose to.”

We have to learn to become nearsighted and farsighted at the same time. I know that makes no sense, but it is important whether you are an athlete, a leader or a follower of Jesus. I was far sighted. My mind was set on April 7^th. All I knew was I would step up, well actually swim up, to the starting line of a 70-mile race and if I were not prepared, I would not make it. A date had become my focus. The problem was I began just doing all the things needed to get ready for the date, rather than focusing on all of the steps in the journey and getting better along the way.

Toward the end of my training, about 3 weeks away from the race, another swimmer at the pool I train at name Chris put it in perspective for me. Chris is a great athlete; he is in his mid 50’s probably and has done some amazing endurance events including super marathons and full Ironman’s. I asked Chris one day what his next big event was going to be. He looked at me and said, “well I am going to swim the best I can to the other end of the pool and then I am going to swim back.” I was expecting to hear, I am doing a marathon or an Ironman but his entire focus was on swimming the next 50 yards in the pool.

It occurred to me maybe I had missed the point of my training. It was not to just do it; it was to get better. Maybe we do the same in our walk with Jesus. Focusing so much on the big picture and how the journey ends that we miss out on growing through all the little steps along the way. The reason we read scripture is not to know the Bible better but to know Christ better. To understand his will. To spend time with him simply because you are hungering and thirsting for Him.

God feared this would happen to the Israelites, he feared they would lose focus.

¹⁰When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.¹¹Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹²Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

It is amazing how easily we can lose focus as the terrain becomes easier. It is in the difficult times we cling to the Father, we focus on Him and thirst for Him. But when things are easier we tend to lose the nearsightedness required to walk with Christ. It is in the difficult times we focus more on one step at a time.

In the last few weeks we have seen the Boston Marathon bombings, a Fretilizer Plant explosion in West, TX, have good friends who lost a child and others trying to understand the magnitude of a young father suffering with cancer. It hurts me to see so many others in pain and I rush to say, “God where are you.” Maybe his response would be the same as it was for Israel. I am their leading you through this vast dessert. Notice, God did not take Israel out of the dessert He led them through it. And there is a huge difference. He provided for them in the midst of their struggles, but he did not take their struggles away.

This song from Laura Story is such a great reminder of a God who walks with us through the trials…

Blessings

Maybe it is not until God has led us through the pain and heartache of the dessert that we are able to look back and see his finger prints all over canvas of our life.

THE HOPE EASTER BRINGS

April 4, 2013 garyalbritton1 Comment

Easter, it comes around every year, where believers around the world celebrate an empty tomb. But his year I needed Easter. There are times in ministry where it seems like everything is flowing smoothly and ministry is going great. There are other times that tend to be more difficult. Times there are more questions than answers. Times of uncertainty.

For me, the last several months fall into the more difficult category. Not that ministry has been bad, it is just changing. New students stepping up and needing to step up into new leadership roles. More families struggling and going through difficult times. More kids struggling.

In these seasons it is easy to lose focus. It is easy to get discouraged. Questions begin to arise in your mind… Is my ministry making an impact? Am I making an impact in peoples lives? Are student’s lives really being transformed?

Can you think about what it would have been like for these early disciples. They had literally given up everything to follow Jesus and now He is gone. Worse of all, he did not even put up a fight. The one disciple who really tried to fight for him in the garden, Peter, is reprimanded for doing so. He invited them to join him on this mission to reclaim a lost humanity. Now the leader is gone and they are left wondering what to do next. I am sure questions flooded their minds. What now? Was He really who He claimed to be? Were the last three years a waste? All hope seems to be lost.

But can you imagine the hope that might have begun to slowly seep into their minds as they heard news of an empty tomb? I am sure the over whelming thoughts were, no way. It’s a hoax. But I have to imagine, in the back of their minds were the questions, “what if.” But then, to see him, to touch him, to hear him. Hope was not lost because He lives!

While the resurrection is something we remember throughout the year, this year I needed the reminder more than in the pass. I needed the reminder because in the midst of families falling apart, students struggling with decisions, in spite of what seems like hopelessness there is hope because the tomb is empty. Because He lives!

I love the words to this hymn,

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know, I know He holds tomorrow.
And life is worth the living, just because He lives.

Such powerful and true words. Words of hope in the midst of despair. We find hope in an empty tomb and a risen savior.

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:
Luke 24:6

LANCE, TE’O & THE REST OF US – REFLECTIONS FROM THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

January 28, 2013 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

Over the past couple of weeks we have seen some truly, I would say… “interesting?” news. Last week cycling “great” Lance Armstrong confessed he did in fact use performance enhancing drugs and blood doping in his cancer come back to win an unprecedented 7 Tour De France titles.

The confession came after years of adamantly denying the allegations from many former competitors and teammates. Even going so far as to take his accusers to court and question their integrity.

Then we saw a most bizarre story surface. Manti Te’o, the stand out linebacker and Heisman Trophy finalist from Notre Dame came clean on the story of the death of his girlfriend. If you are somehow unaware of the story, Te’o a senior and team captain allegedly lost both his grandmother and girlfriend during the early part of this season.

The result, a possessed Te’o played the remainder of the season in honor of his grandmother and girlfriend. It turns out Te’o had never actually met his girlfriend because it was an online relationship. The problem, he could never meet her because evidently she did not exist, ever. Te’o apparently was on the losing end of a cruel hoax.

Fair enough, but he sure did not talk about her on national TV as if they had never had met. The perception I got was one of a long time girlfriend.

In both cases these men, Armstrong more than Te’o misrepresented themselves. They tried to portray themselves as something they were not.

Funny, we sit back in amazement wondering how they could live such a lie. Honestly, it is the world we live in. All of us in some way or another misrepresent ourselves from time to time. Maybe not to this extent or in the public spotlight, but we do.

It is the reason people live in houses they can’t afford, drive cars they can’t afford and wear clothes they can’t afford. It is the reason people act differently in different circles. We want people to look at us favorably. It is all about perception. We create the perception we want people to have of us because we want to be seen (it might be helpful to read my first blog on this, Motives Matter).

Jesus warns these disciples gathered around him on a mountainside, BE CAREFUL. Be careful not to do things to be seen by others. Specifically, in chapter 6:1-18 be careful not to give, pray and fast to be seen. When you do, you are portraying a relationship with God which does not exist. Why does it not exist? Because, you are more concerned about what others think of you than what God thinks. Be careful!

So why the warning? Maybe it is simple, if you misrepresent who you are, it will eventually catch up with you. Eventually, it will all come out, ask Manti, ask Lance. When you misrepresent yourself, you deceive people. However the bigger problem, when you misrepresent yourself spiritually, you ultimately deceive yourself. You fool yourself into thinking you have a right relationship with God and eventually it will catch up to you. Jesus, goes on in Matthew 7 to remind us of this several times.

In chapter 6 Jesus tells us the “hypocrites” love to do these righteous acts in the synagogue and on the street corners to be seen by people. Is it possible Social Media is the street corner we all stand on today? With Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other outlets we have complete control of how we want people to see us. It is easy to misrepresent our self and deceive others into thinking we are something we are not. Be careful Jesus would say, because you may just deceive yourself.

Think how much time and energy and money in our society is put into worrying about what others think. Jesus was confronting a Pharisaical system which was overly concerned with other perception. Maybe not much has changed. Maybe it is why we struggle so greatly with confession. We don’t want people to know who we really are because we are terrified of what they might think. What if they found out about our struggles with anger? With alcohol? With pornography? With cheating? With lying?

The righteousness Jesus describes in chapter 5 is not rooted in “look how good I am,” but in a humbled spirit “I know who I am,” and it is far from righteous. Maybe deep down, to hunger and thirsting for righteousness is a passionate plea to seek Him rather than others opinions. Simply put, love God, love others because you can control that, Don’t spend countless hours worried about what others think because you can’t control that, so stop trying to control it by convincing everyone you are something you are not.

MOTIVES MATTER – REFLECTIONS FROM THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

January 8, 2013 garyalbrittonLeave a comment

Growing up baseball was a huge part of my life. I began playing at the age of 4. I played in High School and even had the opportunity to play in college. In High School and College the biggest desire, other than winning, is to be seen. In high school you want to be seen by a college or pro scout. Once in college you want to be seen by a pro scout. Deep inside of most athletes is the desire to be able to perform at the next level. So when someone notices your ability it is amazing. Personally, for me, one of the most exciting days was when Coach Fullerton passed along a letter to me from a Chicago White Sox scout.

It was the first one I received and there was an incredible moment when I realized, someone was watching me. I began to carry myself differently. My mindset changed instantly. I had so much more confidence.

We all have within us a desire to be noticed, to stand out, to be seen. It is why we spend so much time changing clothes, asking how we look, trying to cover up our imperfections. We want to be noticed for our looks, our clothes, our athletic ability, our intelligence, our music ability, our leadership, our planning ability, our preaching. We all want to be noticed. Even those who are behind the scenes, who would never want to be out front, I believe, want people to take notice of how well they do what they do. And now with the reach of the internet, through blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instangram, ect. our world revolves around the ability to let people see what we want them to see about us. Have you seen the new State Farm Commercial?

We have the ability to control other people’s perception of us. And honestly we love it that way. Jesus talks about a new righteousness in chapter 5 of Matthew and leads into chapter 6 with a warning. Be careful not to do acts of righteousness for the purpose of standing out, of being seen, because if you do the only reward you will get will be from the people who praise you for your piety.

Jesus knows us so well. He understands our nature will be to seek praise for what we do. If we give, there will be a tendency for us to want people to see how generous we are, or at least how generous we want them to think we are. If we pray, we will want people to be impressed by the depth of our relationship with Christ. If we fast, for all to know we are fasting, so they can be impressed by our devotion. So Jesus says, BE CAREFUL! This is a dangerous trap.

Jesus tells the first followers, be careful because Your MOTIVES MATTER! You can say it like this…

WHY you do, WHAT you do, is just as important as what you are doing.

But why?

The focus of these and other disciplines is to grow closer to Christ. Period! If you are doing it to be seen you are merely pretending. Interestingly enough the word Jesus uses throughout this section, “hypocrite” was not a word that was made up just for the Bible; as in someone who says one thing but really does another. Hypocrite was actually a secular Greek word that was used in the theater. In theater a hypocrite was an actor who wears a mask. So anyone on stage wearing a mask was a hypocrite. So Jesus uses this word to describe a person who gives, prays or fasts for the purpose of being seen. He says, if you are just giving so others see how spiritual you are, you are an actor, wearing a mask pretending to be someone else. There is a danger in fooling others but there is an immense danger that you would fool yourself, that you would deceive yourself and think you are something you are not.

This deception causes two problems. Some might see you and feel they could never be as close to God as you are, when in fact you’re not that close. Secondly, it creates a false sense of security. It becomes easy to look at others and say things like…

Luke 18:11-12 ^NIV
‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men–robbers, evildoers, adulterers–or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

Jesus is merely reminding his followers, you are not saved because of what you gave, how you prayed or how often you fasted. You are saved by grace. Stop deceiving others and yourself, making them think you are saved by your own works. Life in Christ is not about being perfect, it is about realizing you are not perfect and are desperately in need of a savior!