The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: The problem is we have too many independent people who don't need Jesus. He's going to let you see how far you can get without Him.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans talks about the spiritual hunger created when we discover how little we can really do on our own.

Dr. Tony Evans: When you want something bad enough, you don't find a way; you make a way.

Guest (Male): This is The Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. The whole idea of following someone is to go where they go. But today, Dr. Evans talks about why some people who call themselves Christ-followers aren't always willing to do that. Let's join him as he explains.

Dr. Tony Evans: Turn your Bibles with me to our first of a number of passages, John chapter 21. The call to follow Jesus Christ is a personal call. It is a personal decision. No one can follow Him for you. Jesus says in verse 18 to Peter, "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hand and someone else will guide you and bring you where you do not wish to go."

Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow me!" Peter, you know our boy Pete, don't you? Turned around and he saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, and the one who had leaned back on His breast at supper and said, "Lord, who is it who will betray you?" He saw John, in other words.

Peter, therefore, seeing him, said to Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me." It is okay to follow people as people follow Christ. It is not okay to let your focus on other folk keep you from following Christ. Many of us say, "Well, if this person wasn't in my life, I'd be a better Christian."

That person is not stopping you from being a better Christian. They're just revealing to you how poor a Christian you really are. Because if that little old person can take you away from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He doesn't have that much influence on your life. Jesus says, "What is that to you? Follow me." That is, I am to be the focus of your life.

And if you spend more time focusing on following Christ and less time on how everybody else is doing, all of us would get further in our Christian lives. In order to follow Christ, it meant and it means that Christ becomes the all-encompassing center of the galaxy of your life. What the sun is to this galaxy, so that all the planets revolve around the sun, if you're going to follow Christ in college, at work, at home, as part of your life, it means that your life and every part thereof will revolve around the Son.

That you will have a galaxy called your life, and it will surround Jesus Christ. In other words, He will become the standard, the measuring rod for all of your life. Now, let me tell you the good news. The good news is when Jesus Christ is the center, all the other parts of your life stay in orbit. When Jesus Christ is not the center, when you become the center or somebody else becomes the center, don't be surprised when things begin to spin out of control and the planets of your life go in every which way.

He must be the center. Everything must revolve around Him. All of us have cameras, and I don't really understand all the mechanisms of cameras, but I do understand one thing about cameras. And that is whatever you want to get a picture of, you must get it in the box. When you look through the view, you will get this little box on the screen, and you must get the camera to take the picture of whatever is in the box.

If you have a good camera and if you get the subject of the camera in the box, the camera has been so constructed to take care of everything else. But no matter how expensive a camera you have, if you don't get the picture in the box, the best camera in the world can do you no good. Listen to me. If Jesus is in the box or the focus of your life, He'll take care of everything else.

But if He's out of focus, it doesn't really matter much whatever else you do. If Jesus Christ is not the focus of your life, where everything revolves around Him—that's what coming after Him means, following Him—then you will be out of sync. Your life is to be lived much like a train. The engine is up front, and all the boxcars are connected.

It doesn't matter how big or how strong the boxcar is if it's disconnected from the engine. And it really doesn't matter how smart the people are in the various cars if the car that they're in is disconnected from the engine. Because in order to get somewhere, you must be connected to the front car, the engine, to take you where you need to go.

If you're disconnected from Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter how much education you get. If you're disconnected from Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter how many promises you make, how much money you make, how much time you spend working that career. You will live your life and have very little to show for it at the end because Jesus is the engine car, your life is the boxcar, and the main thing is to remain connected and follow Him.

So the first thing I've said: it's a personal decision. Nobody can make it for you. Secondly, it is a progressive decision. You have to make it brand new every day of your life. You don't make it one time and it covers you forever. You have to make it ongoingly. Philippians 3, Paul brings this point out quite clearly.

Philippians 3 is the joy book, the book about his joy in the Lord. And it's in that book that he talks about his own following of Christ. Please notice he had all the attributes of greatness. He spends time in verses 5 and 6 talking about all the great things: great education, great family background, great history, great heritage, great opportunity, great position.

He says he was a Pharisee, one of the leaders of the community, religiously speaking. But notice what he says in verses 7 and 8: "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ."

Did you see that? He took all of his glorious accomplishments and he says, "When I place all that I have achieved next to Jesus Christ, it pales in insignificance and appears to me as garbage." Unless your commitment to Christ supersedes your commitment to any other good thing in your life, you are not following Him. Did you hear that? Until Christ means more to you than your job, you are not following Him.

Until Christ means more to you than your career, you're not following Him. Until Christ means more to you than your relationships, you're not following Him. Until Christ means more to you than your money, you're not following Him. He says in verse 9, "I want to be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."

This is a faith walk. It's a continuous trusting God day by day to lead me to where He wants me to go. And you know the problem with us? Many of us have not yet learned to live by faith. We only live by sight. We only live by what we see, so God can't lead us because we're only tied to our five senses. When is the last time God led you in a way that you would not ordinarily go, and you knew it was Him talking?

Unless that happens to you, you're not following Him because you're not in touch with Him close enough to follow Him. He says, "That I may know Him." Please notice the passion. Please notice the passion. Wherever a man follows God in all of the Bible, you can bank that you'll always find one thing, and that is passion. Paul says, "That I might know Him."

David said, "As the deer pants after the water brook," Psalm 42:1, "so pants my soul after thee, O God." Moses said, "Show me your glory." You know why many more of us are not following Him? We don't want it bad enough yet. It boils down to that. We don't want it bad enough yet. Because anything you want real, real, real, real, real bad, you try to make a way out of no way, don't you?

When you want something bad enough, you don't find a way; you make a way. He says, "That I might know Him." When a man wants to get a woman's attention bad enough, he'll make a way. Come up with words he didn't even know were in the dictionary because he wants a relationship. If you want it bad enough! Wherever you see men in the Bible who follow Christ, they want it bad. They're hungry. Our problem is we're not hungry. You say, "Well, what do I do if I'm not hungry?" You've got to hang around good cooks. If you're not hungry, you've got to hang around people who will make you hungry. You've got to hang around environments that are cooking up good Jesus, so that you want to be hungry. But it takes a passionate commitment every day to come before God and say, "Lord, make me what you want me to be."

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return in a moment to tell us more about how God satisfies that spiritual hunger and why part of that process can be a little hard to swallow. First, though, I want to make sure you don't miss your chance to get Tony's book, Experiencing Israel. This high-quality, hardcover book chronicles one of his recent tours to the Holy Land and lets you relive the whole experience through stunning pictures, insightful commentary, and real-life application. It's like taking the trip of a lifetime without ever leaving home.

You'll learn about the history, geography, culture, and people as you see the sights Jesus saw when He walked on earth. You'll not only feel closer to the Lord, you'll get a whole new perspective on what you read in His word. Request a copy of Experiencing Israel right away, and we'll send it to you as our gift in appreciation for your contribution toward Tony's ministry.

And as a bonus, we'll also include all eight messages in his current teaching series, Pursuing Christ, making this the perfect package to help you deepen your devotion to the Lord. Again, both of these powerful resources are yours as our thank-you gift when you make a donation in support of Tony's ministry. The Alternative is a completely listener-supported broadcast, so your faithfulness is the only way we can keep bringing it to you each day. Make the arrangements at tonyevans.org or give us a phone call at 1-800-800-3222. That's 1-800-800-3222. All right, now let's return to Dr. Evans for more of today's lesson.

Dr. Tony Evans: Thirdly, it is a priority decision. Look at Luke chapter 9, verse 57. This was the talking disciple. This guy had a rap second to none. "I will not only follow you, I will follow you wherever you go." Verse 58: "The foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Now, say what? This was the man who wanted to talk verbally, but he thought that following Christ was a guarantee.

He thought it was a guarantee to riches and fame. There's a theology out called prosperity theology. That's where the preacher tells you, "Come to Jesus and get your new BMW. Come to Jesus and get your new Benz. Come to Jesus and get your new 4,000 square foot house. Come to Jesus and get your new designer suits." There's nothing wrong with the Benz. There's nothing wrong with the BMW. There's nothing wrong with a four-bedroom house.

But Jesus isn't calling you to Him just so He can give you cookies and candy. He's not calling you to Him just so that you can get more stuff. He does bless and He does honor, and there's nothing wrong with making a better salary and living in a better neighborhood. But please don't let that be your motivation for following Him. He says, "Listen, following me can often lead you in places where foxes are better off than I am. Following me can lead you in the places where birds are better off than I am. I want you to follow me with no guarantees."

And that's why a lot of times He doesn't tell you where He's going to lead you first. He doesn't say, "Follow me and let me tell you where I'm going to take you so that you can negotiate whether you're going to follow." No, He says, "You follow me because it's me you're following. Because it's me you're following." So the first guy was a talking disciple. The next one is a procrastinating disciple.

Verse 59, and to another He said—now, the first man came to Him, this other one He goes to the man—"Follow me." And he said, "Permit me first to go bury my daddy, my father." But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." Oh, Jesus, you're so cold. Well, lest you accuse Jesus wrongly, let me clarify something.

His daddy is not dead. All right? First of all, in the Jewish religion, when you died, you had to get buried the same day. So if his daddy was dead, he wouldn't have been there talking to Jesus; he'd have been taking care of funeral arrangements. Secondly of all, when's the last time you've seen dead people burying dead people? The father is not dead yet. What he is saying is, "Let me go back home, and when my father dies, let me bury him."

In other words, let me take care of my daddy until he dies, and then I will follow you. Now, why does he want to take care of his daddy until he dies before he follows Jesus? It's very simple. The will, folks! It's the will! You see, when daddy dies, I am in the will. I want to cover myself since you're not giving any kind of guarantees. Let me procrastinate until things get better.

Are there any procrastinating disciples in the house? Are there any people that say, "When I get a better job, I'll follow Jesus. When I get a mate, I'll follow Jesus. When I get more money, I'll follow Jesus. When I move out of an apartment into a house, I'll follow Jesus. When I get older and all of my youth is drained away, then I'll follow Jesus." Then we come to the undecided disciple. Verse 61, and another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but permit me first to say goodbye to those at home."

"Let me say goodbye to my family." Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." So Jesus' answer is reacting to their reasons for saying it, so you can tell what they mean by how He answered. If you go back, mama, mama would say, give you some tears, "Are you really going to leave me to follow Jesus?" Daddy's going to say, "Look, I raised you to take over this business. Are you not going to take over this business? You're going to leave me to follow Jesus?"

And they might change your mind. Jesus says, "Don't get started if you plan to keep your eyes looking back, because then you're going to live a crooked life." It is a priority decision. Next, Luke 5, turn back a few pages. It is a painful decision. Jesus has been teaching. The men are washing their nets from their attempts at catching some fish. And when He got in one of the boats, verse 3, which was Simon Peter's, and asked him to put out a little ways from the land, He sat down and began teaching the multitude from Peter's boat.

And when He had finished speaking, He said, "Simon," or Peter, "put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Peter, put down your nets and get ready to catch a great catch of fish. And Simon answered and said, "Master, we have worked all night and caught nothing." In other words, "Jesus, I am the fisherman; you are the preacher. You stick to preaching and let me take care of the fishing." In other words, "Jesus, I know what I'm doing."

Many proud men are like this. "I've been running my family this way for years. My daddy ran his family that way. Jesus, you stick to preaching; you let me do mine." If you're going to follow Jesus Christ, I can guarantee you something: He will break you first. Accepting Jesus Christ isn't all tiptoeing through the tulips. He is going to strip you of your self-sufficiency. See, the problem is we have too many independent people who don't need Jesus.

Too many independent Christians who don't need Jesus. He's going to let you see how far you can get without Him. He says, "Listen, I want to strip you. I know you think you know fishing, but I want to show you my way." He wants to break Peter and He wants to break all of us. Now, what does Peter say? He says, "We have toiled all night long and we have caught nothing."

And a lot of us are living our lives that way, doing everything we can and still catching no fish. Doing everything we can to make life work and it won't work. Doing everything we can to make marriage work and it won't work. To get our careers on track and they won't come on track. You say, "Why won't God bless me?" Well, one reason is He may be trying to break you. He may be trying to strip you of your self-sufficiency.

Peter was commanded to launch out, to throw out his nets. Listen, if he would have never done that, he would have never seen this miracle. Verse 6, and when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish and their nets began to break. Not only that, verse 7 says they signaled to their partners in other boats for them to come and help them, and they came and filled both the boats so that the boats began to sink.

Oh, there's something about Jesus. If you ever let Him break you, then He can bless you. If you ever let Him show you what you don't know, He'll show you what He can do. But as long as you can do it without Him, He'll let you fish all night and catch nothing. As long as you can do it without Him, He'll let you do it by yourself and get exactly nowhere. And some of us ought to be tired of going in circles.

We ought to be tired of trying it this way and it don't work. We try it that way. Jesus is saying, "Try it my way, and then you'll catch some fish." In other words, they got so much blessing, they were going to die from it because the boats began to sink. Look at Peter's response as we come to a close. When Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus's feet, saying, "Depart from me. I am a sinful man, O Lord."

For amazement had seized him and all of his companions because of the catch of the fish which had been taken. That's what God wants. He wants to bring us to our knees so that we say, "Nobody else like you." If you're not saying that yet, it's because you haven't seen Him do His stuff yet. And if you haven't seen Him do His stuff yet, you're not following Him. Let me ask you: when is the last time God did something in your life that you couldn't explain?

And if you can't think of anything He's doing in your life that you can't explain, you're not following Him. Because what He wants to do is break us and bring us to total insufficiency.

Guest (Male): The good news is that once we discover how insufficient we are, we discover how completely more than sufficient God is. That's why it makes so much sense to declare our dependence and give our lives to Him. Dr. Evans will return in a moment to tell you more about what that means. First, though, I want to remind you that the full-length version of this lesson is part of Tony's current teaching series, Pursuing Christ.

A step-by-step look at what it takes to develop a close, vibrant relationship with the Lord. Remember, all eight messages in this collection are yours as our thank-you gift when you make a donation to help keep this program coming your way. Along with it, you'll receive that hardcover illustrated guide I told you about earlier, Experiencing Israel. Just reach out to our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 before this special offer runs out. Team members are standing by around the clock to help you. That's 1-800-800-3222 or visit tonyevans.org.

The Bible says we should be doers of the word, not just hearers. But being a doer takes a kind of discipline many of us struggle with. Join Dr. Evans next time as he explains how we can find the motivation and muscle we may be lacking. Right now, he's back to wrap up our time together with an important invitation.

Dr. Tony Evans: If you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you can do that right now. Simply go to Him and acknowledge that you're a sinner in need of a savior, and that you're transferring your trust to Him alone because of His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. In fact, I'm going to say a little prayer, and you can repeat it after me. You just have to mean it for yourself.

Heavenly Father, I know I'm a sinner and that I can't save myself. I believe Jesus Christ, your Son, died on the cross in my place for my sin, and I now am trusting Him alone to forgive me and to give me the gift of eternal life that He promised to give to anyone who came to Him for it. Thank you for saving me, and help me from this day forward to live a life pleasing to you. Congratulations, welcome to the family. God bless you.

Guest (Male): If you prayed that prayer for the first time today, we invite you to visit our website at tonyevans.org and click the link at the top of the page that says "Jesus". You'll find plenty of information and resources there to help you get your new life headed in the right direction.