Light on the Hill

James Kaddis: Obedience to God is never going to be comfortable. Never. You'll never find comfort in obedience to God other than a peace that comes, which is surpassing that of your understanding. You see, we as believers oftentimes want to find comfort in our understanding rather than finding comfort in the peace of God. Finding comfort in the peace of God requires an action of continual discomfort in what we know and understand in front of us. It's not an easy thing to do.

Guest (Male): There are things in life we must do every day in order to live healthy and long lives. If we ignore those things, our health and sustainability will degrade. There are also some things that if ignored will cause sudden and disastrous consequences. We'll explain today on Light on the Hill as we finish Mark chapter 9. Here's Pastor James Kaddis.

James Kaddis: Look at how serious God takes rebellion. Let's talk about this because here's the thing that I want everybody to understand. We are in a society today, and this is especially to Christians—if you're here and you're walking with the Lord, you need to hear this more than anybody else that's listening to this study—because this applies to you more than anybody else. You live in a society right now that has conditioned you to seek comfort. You live in a society right now that has conditioned you to seek entertainment.

You live in a society right now that has conditioned you to pursue the state of being that is absent of pain and discomfort. People oftentimes ask me about the psychology of those that are addicted to drugs, especially as it relates to pain pills. People ask me all the time, they say, "James, what is it about pain pills that people tend to run to? You talk to people who struggle with these things all the time." And my statement is the same thing: they're not addicted to the pill itself; they're addicted to the idea of not being in pain.

And although I cannot blame somebody with being addicted to not being in pain, I can also tell you that one of the most destructive elements that exists in society today is the conditioning that we have developed in this world to pursue the function or the element of not walking in pain or discomfort. If it's uncomfortable for me, I'm not going to do it. If it means I'm going to have to exert myself, I'm not going to do it. If I'm not in my comfort zone, then I don't want to do it.

And that's, by the way, the sole reason why so many people in the body of Christ are not walking with the Lord. It's the reason why so many people in the body of Christ are not growing in their maturity in their relationship with God. It's the number one reason why people in marriages come to me and ask for help because they chose to pursue the things that were comfortable and to avidly avoid the things that brought discomfort. In doing so, when they got to the point of no return, they crashed and burned.

I was talking about this with my wife because this conversation came up, and I think it's one that's been on my heart lately. I get asked all the time, "James, why don't you do a lot of counseling anymore? Why don't you do as much as you used to do?" I'll tell you why. Because when I counsel people, it's just like antibiotics. I go to somebody and I tell them, "This is what the Word says. This is what you need to do." And I can promise you, it's going to be uncomfortable.

You've got to pursue what is not comfortable in order to obtain or achieve an appropriate response. If you want a good result, you're going to have to pursue that which is not natural to you, that which is uncomfortable. And you know what they do? They say, "Okay, that sounds good. I'm so desperate that I'm going to do what you tell me to do." And just like an antibiotic, when they take it and they begin to feel well, then what do they do? They say, "Everything is good, I got it from here." And then they end up being worse than they were in the first place.

Why? Because they will pursue whatever it takes to allow themselves to get out of the place of discomfort rather than pursue the thing that they know would be the most benefit to them, even if it costs them a thing or two. It's the reason why a lot of Christians in the United States of America are more in debt than they are walking in wealth. It's the reason why a lot of people in our society today walk below the line of poverty and in some cases will struggle for the rest of their life to simply meet ends meet. It's because they're not willing to put themselves in a place of discomfort right now in order to obtain or achieve a comfortable result.

No discipline, no willingness to be able to take that step. And Jesus is about to tackle this issue head-on right now. He's about to confront it in a way that most people have never heard it being confronted, and it's significant. And although we are looking at metaphorical use, although we are looking at something that might even be referred to as somewhat allegorical or even typological, the one thing that has to be understood is Jesus is using this terminology to put into effect an emphasis upon something that virtually nobody wants to do. And that's this: walking in extremes.

If you want a good result, you have to walk in extremes. If you won't walk in extremes, if you won't be willing to do the work that needs to be done in order to achieve the result that God intends, oh, you might be comfortable and that might last for a very long time. But there will come a point where everything falls by the wayside and it all falls apart.

I have a friend who might be one of the most famous, for lack of a better term, immigration attorneys. He's one of the most famous immigration attorneys in the country. And one of his greatest frustrations with the moment in which we live right now is the world of immigration right now is being affected substantially by all of those who have broken the law. There's a bunch of people that he's been working with for five or six or seven years as an attorney that he's been begging them, "You're on legal grounds. Deal with it right now or it's going to come back and bite you." And they've been ignoring him.

And you know what he told me? He told me now, in the current moment that we're in, he's getting hundreds if not thousands of calls from that same group of people who were avoiding for the last six or seven years doing something about their immigration status. And now it's too late. That's the world that we're in right now. It's "I want comfort for the moment, and I will avoid discomfort as much as I possibly can, even though what will happen down the line will be destructive."

Let's get into what Jesus says here in light of this. He says, "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." That's a heavy statement. Boy, is there some wisdom there, isn't there? There's some real wisdom in that statement. If this hand right here is the very thing that's keeping you from achieving what's necessary in order for you to have your life sustained, cut it off. Better to lose your hand than it is your whole soul. Makes sense?

It's kind of an interesting picture when you think about the way this works and the mindset behind it. I think it's a hilarious thing, but the reality of it is there's a powerful biblical principle that is tied to this. And that's this: God requires us to function in a way that is militant as it relates to our spiritual lives because if we do not have an extreme view as the one being prescribed here, it will allow sin to creep in in a way that will so permanently damage and affect our minds, our lives, our hearts, that we will enter into the place of no return.

And I know lots of people who have entered into that place. I know lots of people right now that I can name you where the only way that I could ever foresee them coming out of the crashing plane—the plane that is going down in a massive tailspin—is by God to miraculously pluck them out of it. And does that happen? Sure, it does. But it's very rare when it does.

Look, the discomfort that comes from the action of discipline in the moment pays a greater dividend than anything you've ever thought possible. And it's something that's so critically important. We'll talk about that in a minute because there's some powerful principles that are tied to this. Verse 45: "And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched." It's a great example. What would you rather do: walk for a short period of time and experience hell, or lose a leg and save it from the fire that will burn forever? It's a smart question. It's very important.

Look at what he says in verse 47: "And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast out into hellfire, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched." By the way, it's so interesting the picture that's being created here. And the picture that's being created is you don't want to end up in hell because hell is the place where even the most fragile creatures will not literally burn away and perish from existence while the greatest of fires exist.

In other words, it's not like you're going to go to hell and then it's going to be a half a second of you burning with intense heat and then you're gone, you're abolished. No. Even the smallest little creatures will not be affected by the fire that will cause the greatest pain that you've ever experienced. Jesus said way better for you to lose your eye, to lose a limb, to lose your arm, to lose your leg, than to perish forever.

But look at what he goes on to say. He says, "For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will you season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace with one another." The picture here is pretty remarkable, and the picture I think is something that I think is really, really, really important.

There is a series of things that will happen to you in life that, based on your response, will have two distinct effects. The first effect is it will corrode you and lead you to destruction and judgment. The other effect that it could have, if coupled with perfect obedience to the Lord, is that it will strengthen you. Not only will it strengthen you, it will grow you. And not only will it grow you, but it will bring a flavor into play that will dramatically change your life and everything else around us.

I'm confronted with this on a lot of levels in my own life. I find myself in a season where my life is changing very rapidly. Things are happening that are changing the course of not only my life but my family's life because I'm being confronted with lots of opportunities, and I'm recognizing if I do not allow myself to continue in discomfort while walking in obedience—or let me rephrase it—choosing to walk in obedience at the expense of walking in discomfort, then I also recognize that I am dooming my family to a place of no return.

Now this is kind of a crazy thing because the flesh in me wants to sleep several extra hours. The flesh in me wants to do the easy thing and look for the shortcuts. The flesh in me wants to take advantage of the tools that have been allotted to me to actually allow me to walk in cruise control instead of being used to enhance the very thing that God has asked me to do.

I think we're all in a place like that in our lives. Look, here's the thing. If God ever puts you in a position, which he does all the time, where you begin to master the very thing that has been put in front of you, the only reason why God has allowed you to master it is because he's preparing you to step into a more challenging condition. It's a prerequisite to the next place he wants to take you.

The problem is so many people don't recognize that. I think about this a lot because I think about some of the characteristics that oftentimes keep people from being willing to step into the uncomfortable spot. You know one of the things as I was beginning to look at this and study it and read up a bunch on it? You know one of the things that I think comes up quite a bit, and it comes up in many different ways? Procrastination. That's an interesting word, by the way. That's not me condemning anybody who does things at the last minute, but it is pointing out a function of very unhealthy spiritual living.

When people procrastinate, they're not procrastinating because they're lazy. Almost all of the time, it has nothing to do with that. When people procrastinate, they're procrastinating because there is a condition of their very soul that is being left to a function of anxiety or depression that is not being confronted head-on or dealt with. When that begins to happen, it changes your outlook on entering into whatever it is that God has called you to enter into with excellence. And as a result, mediocrity comes.

Mediocrity is a function of disobedience, literally ignoring the voice of God while choosing to look for the most comfortable position to be in. Now I say that because I don't think many of us are willing to be as extreme as God would ask us to be in order to achieve the greatest result. Here's the funny thing about being extreme and embracing that which is uncomfortable. It's the only way possible, humanly possible, to open up your life fully for God to maximize the perfect work he wants in you.

You'll never be able to achieve it any other way. You'll never do it. And the worst part that I see right now amongst Christianity, at least the culture we've developed in Calvary Chapels and many other churches, is that we say, "Well, if it didn't work out, then it must have been God's will," after completely ignoring what God's will was for us in taking the steps necessary and spiritualizing our disobedience.

God says if your right hand is causing you to do that, cut it off. If your eye is causing you to do that, pluck it out. If your leg is causing you to do that, cut it off. Why? Because the result that you will achieve as a function of your desire to pursue pure comfort will be destructive in ways you never thought possible. Now, why do I bring all this up, and why is it that I'm using this particular instrument to define the subject matter? Really simple. It's the easiest one for us to relate to.

Obedience to God is never going to be comfortable. Never. You'll never find comfort in obedience to God other than a peace that comes which is surpassing that of your understanding. You see, we as believers oftentimes want to find comfort in our understanding rather than finding comfort in the peace of God. Finding comfort in the peace of God requires an action of continual discomfort in what we know and understand in front of us. It's not an easy thing to do. It's not fun in some cases. But the results are unthinkable in a very powerful way.

So here's the thing I would ask, and I ask this to everybody. People come up to me, "Oh, I'm addicted to this. Oh, I'm struggling with this. Oh, I'm struggling with that." And I start asking them, "What are you doing to deal with it? What's happening? What are you giving yourself to?" "Well, I know this kind of gets the best of me." "Okay, well why haven't you thrown it out?" I had somebody talk to me the other day, "I'm just—I can't take my eyes off my computer screen. I do so much there," and didn't want to get into the details of all that. It's not rated for the pulpit, right?

But my thing is like, why haven't you gotten rid of it? "Well, you don't understand, I have to make my living with it." Find a new way to make a living. Who cares if you have to make a living with it? Find a new way to make a living. God will bless you. "No, no, I can't. I got to feed my family." You're no good to feed your family if you destroy yourself by continuing the pattern that you're continuing because very soon you will come back to me the moment before you end up on the streets and it'll be too late. We don't think that way.

"Well, you don't know, I spent so much money on this computer or I spent so much money on this thing." Great. Call it an expensive lesson and throw it away. Burn it to the ground. Do whatever it takes to walk in the extreme necessary to get your mind and your heart in the right spot. Somebody came to me and asked me the other day, they said, "Well, Pastor James, what do you think of this book? And what do you think of that book? And what do you think of this book? I'm thinking about reading this series of books on self-help and I just—I just want to grow myself." I said, "Can I ask you a question? How many times have you read through the Bible?" "Not once." Throw those books away. Don't even think about it.

Until you get to know the Bible better than you know your own face when you look in a mirror, don't come to me and talk to me about reading another man's opinion. Now, there's a lot of people, and I consider myself to be relatively well-read. I probably read on average 100 to 150 books a year, maybe a little bit more than that. But my thing is this: my thing is I have no business reading any of that or thinking through any of that unless I have learned to appreciate and understand and be in the Word so much that it becomes my guiding principle for everything else.

And I do this with people all the time. "What's wrong with reading this book?" "Well, I don't care about reading that book. I'm not even interested in that. Let's not even—let's drop the subject. Let's not even argue about reading that book. Let's not even argue about listening to this guy on YouTube or whatever. Let me just ask you some basic questions. Sit down with me for the next 30 minutes and summarize the whole Bible for me. I'm not asking you to get super theological or anything. I just want you to tell me what you see in the book of Genesis. Tell me what you see in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth." You get the idea.

Just give me a simple summary. If you can't do that, you got no business doing anything else. "Well, that would mean that I would have to really—because I have to do these things to live a normal life." Then great, you better get busy then. You better understand it. The problem is we don't understand that principle well. We've lost it. We've removed ourselves from it. And now the world in which we live has become the predator and we've become the prey because we don't understand the scriptures that were designed to protect us because we won't cut off the arm or the leg or pluck out the eye.

I think it's really simple. With all of this said and done, if we're going to allow ourselves to get to the point where we find victory in all that God wants us to have, if we're going to find ourselves in a place of experiencing success, walking in growth, there's only one way to do it. And that way is the extreme. It's that simple. You don't go any other way, and you never, ever, you never, ever, ever allow yourself to be distracted because if you do, you lose. That's what Jesus is talking about here.

The specific context in which he's talking about here is he's talking about the interaction with children, and he's talking about the life of obedience versus disobedience and so on and so forth. But the context applies in absolutely everything that you do. It applies in literally everything you do with every waking moment. It's that simple. I don't know about you guys, but I think there's too much at stake for us to be doubting that, right? There's too much at stake for us to be not thinking that through. There's too much at stake for us not to be considering all that God has confronted us with. It's time to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Amen.

Father, we just thank you, Lord, for your Word. And we thank you, Father, for what your Word teaches us, the insight that we gain from it, Lord. And God, we just pray that you'd continue to show us and direct us, Lord, and lead us in these ways that we would know and recognize and discern and understand, Lord, all these issues that we would walk closely with you. So, Father, we love you and thank you. We look to you. Help us to really consider these matters, Lord, closely. We love you and we just ask these things in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Guest (Male): This is Light on the Hill with Pastor James Kaddis, and we're currently going through the Gospel of Mark. Listen to this study and more at lightonthehillradio.com. Pastor James' teachings are also available through the Light on the Hill app and at oneplace.com. You can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts as well. When you have a moment sometime today, send us an email. We'd love it. It's encouraging to hear what the Lord is doing in our listeners' lives, and it's an opportunity to thank the Lord for what he's doing. There's a place to contact us at our website, lightonthehillradio.com.

Pastor James, we say this often at the close of our programs: we are a listener-supported ministry. Some may not really understand what that means. Will you briefly share about how the generosity of our listeners helps us bring the truth of God's Word to the radio and the internet every day?

James Kaddis: Yeah. First of all, let me just simply say this. Where God guides, he provides. Not that I would ever minimize the amazingly generous gifts that you continue to give us, but your gifts do help us immensely. We're in a time that's actually very, very unique in that we have an opportunity to potentially buy a new church building, which could make a completely massive difference for what we do on the radio as well as many other things.

And so, your contributions are a tremendous help. When you give to the ministry—the work of the ministry here at Calvary Chapel Signal Hill, you are doing something that is immensely helpful for the kingdom of God, and we are so grateful for it. And yes, it goes a long way. So with that, thank you. Thank you for your generosity, thank you for your contribution, and continue to stay open to the voice of God in how you might contribute and serve in giving to this ministry.

Guest (Male): If you would like to support what we're doing, there's a place to make a secure donation online at lightonthehillradio.com. More from the book of Mark coming up next time on Light on the Hill with Pastor James Kaddis. This listener-supported program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.