Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: Our mission is disciples making disciples. If we were a gym, what is our purpose? Our job, our goal is to get you spiritually in shape so that you can become a trainer in the gym and help someone else who walks in get spiritually in shape and become a trainer in the gym.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. So many of you have shared how important this program is to you and how Richard's messages have impacted your life. We also know that there are many others who have positively influenced your life and how to be a better Christ-follower.

We are devoting this entire month to celebrate and give honor to those in our life who have made a great impact and how we want to do the same in the lives of others. So, we're introducing a new feature on our website to help you share that story. More on that later. But for now, with today's talk, here's Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is "LA Fitness." I did not know for a long time if you see these gyms, I thought it was only for Hispanics. Have you seen the gym, "LA Fitness"? Am I not right about this? It's "L-A Fitness," right? But if you're me, you see "LA Fitness."

Now let me read you some statistics here. 45 million adults have a gym membership and are members of a health club. People on average tend to go to the gym twice a week, if they go. Apparently, 12% of all gym members sign up to gyms in January. Yet these memberships seem to be short-lived and according to the Fitness Industry Association, after just 24 weeks, most people have quit or stopped attending.

Planet Fitness, not trying to throw anybody under the bus here, but specifically, the gym industry was built on—the guy from Planet Fitness says—the gym industry was built on bodybuilders, people who work out multiple times a week. Planet Fitness was founded as a place for the other 85%, or to be precise, the other 82.5%. And then he goes later in this article and says a lot of people are not "lunkheads." They just want to get in, get on the treadmill for 30 minutes, and get out. They don't want to be bothered by anything else. Remember that.

Recent studies have shown that up to 15% of all the people in America have gym memberships. This percentage doesn't reflect usage, of course. Another article here says only 8% of those who have memberships actually use them. Now let me transition from gyms to churches.

Gallup International recently indicated that close to 40% of Americans report they regularly attend religious services. However, the numbers that actually do attend are less than half that claim. In 2013, the Pew Research Center reported that 37% of all Americans attend church on a weekly basis. In its turn, Gallup estimated the once-a-week church attendance of the Americans in 2013 as 39%.

Why am I giving you gym numbers and church numbers? You think because people say church attendance is in decline, people don't go. People sign up for gyms, they don't go. People sign up and join a church, don't go. I think though the problem is not joining a gym. The problem is not even joining a church. It's knowing why you joined either one.

I've had this scenario running in my head of a fitness club. Kind of like the one I cited where they just get in, get out. But if you actually joined a fitness club and the premise of the fitness club was this: you went, they had all the machinery, the treadmills, everything that a normal gym would have, but you walked in and no one was working out.

No one was doing anything. In fact, they had ice cream, they had cocktails, they had hors d'oeuvres, and you figured out pretty quick that it was really like a reception hall decorated as a gym. And you could rent it out for parties. And so you would go and you'd stand around and you could pick up chicks or whatever you're there to do, right? But it was basically just a party with decoration like a gym. You'd say that would be absurd. Who would do that? And yet people pick churches for the very same thing.

If you say church doesn't work for me, what is it you think it's supposed to be doing? And if you're pastoring a church or running a church and you say it's kind of like a gym, then what is your gym offering to the people who say they came to the gym? If there's no equipment, if there's no coaches, there's no trainers, there's no one to help anybody get going and keep going, it's not going to work because people get discouraged. They can't sometimes work out alone.

I cannot work out alone. I am telling you straight up. I worked out for a while with a guy and I haven't in a while and I will never in this lifetime probably, I can't even imagine working out by myself. I don't have what it takes. Look at you, you can barely get out of your seat. Don't be judging. My Spanx are just tighter than yours.

So you have to know these things. It's just reality. So if someone walks into a church and so you say where you're going with all this? Our mission statement as a church is disciples making disciples. So if we were a gym, what is our purpose? Our job, our goal is to get you spiritually in shape so that you can become a trainer in the gym and help someone else who walks in get spiritually in shape and become a trainer in the gym.

So you say I love coming to this gym because they require nothing. We require something. And it's not because we require it, it's just because the Bible says this is what it's about. So if your frustration with your church or going to church, you say it's not working, you actually may be correct. It may not be working because they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing or you're not engaging the way you're supposed to be engaging.

Go to Philippians chapter two. Now if you take a gym and we'll jump in here in a second, you take a gym, you go to a gym, you work out for the first however many weeks, it's miserable. It's awful. You're almost suicidal. You just hate it until things start to change. There are similar parallels spiritually.

If you decide to live a godly life and you've been living a godless life doing whatever your body, whatever your flesh says I want this and I'll do what I want to do, and you say no to the flesh and let the spirit of God, the power of God intervene in your life, you are going to suffer. There's going to be a period of time where your flesh is going to go you can't do this to me. We have done what I wanted to do your whole life. Why are you punishing me? Why are you making me hurt?

So you're going to have to get through that, hit that wall almost spiritually before you go, wow, I feel better. If church is working, you are going to feel better, you're going to look different, your life is going to change. If your life is not changing, it is not working. Does everybody hear that?

Go to Philippians chapter two, verse 12. And I don't have time to read this whole chapter, but I recommend going back and reading some of the previous stuff here. But Philippians chapter two, verse 12: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence," and he literally uses these words, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

What does it mean, this word "work out"? It means to work fully, that is, accomplish; by implication, to finish. Do the deal, work it out, stick with it, don't quit. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. This is an astonishing truth.

You say, but I don't have any desire to work out, I don't have any desire to grow spiritually. Then yield, then say to Him, God, I don't want to do this. But here's the prayer you've got to pray. I have no desire to do whatever it is You want me to do. I'm lazy. I would sit on my butt the rest of my life and eat spiritual cupcakes, whatever the analogy, and just do nothing. But here's what I am, God. I am willing to be made willing.

Give Him something to work with because what does it say? He works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. So He gives you the will to do what He wants you to do and then He literally does it. I cannot live the Christian life. I didn't know that for 20-something years and finally when somebody explained to me, you cannot live the Christian life by yourself.

You have to have the spirit of God living in you and living through you in order to live the Christian life. That's the only way you're going to live it. So you wake up in the morning and go, God, I can't do this. But I can do it if You do it. So give me the will to do it and do it and we will be fine today.

Keep reading that same passage, Philippians two. I'm going to read again, verse 12: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world," and look at this next verse, "holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain." Holding fast the word of life.

Now you say, what is the equipment in this gym? It's the scriptures. You cannot live the Christian life without the word of God. It's not going to happen. And if you've heard me preach for any amount of time, radio, wherever you hear it, it is a ton of scripture. And some people preach and they'll read a little line of a verse and then read the newspaper. I got nothing that beats scripture.

So we are trying to get you in the gym, so to speak, and in the gym you read scripture. And if you say, I don't understand how this machine works, then you get somebody to say this is how it works. You go, oh wow, that's changing my life now. I didn't know what to do with that machine. Getting in shape makes you want to get more in shape and stay in shape.

Philippians chapter four, verse eight: "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you."

So how does this apply? It applies because you apply it. It is very dangerous to follow the wrong people. So you have to be very wise. Somebody said a few years ago that you end up like the five people you spend the most time with. Be careful who you spend your time with. And if somebody comes along and says, hey, I'll lead you, I'll take you on, you better pray about that, find out who they are, where they're taking you, what's going on.

And so in a church, in a gym like this, where we are trying to equip people to be trainers, to be coaches, to help you, then you come and say, well, so-and-so came and said they would help me grow. Am I safe with that person? And if one of the elders, someone who knows that person, says, absolutely, you're in good hands, then you embark on a journey and what's going to happen?

You want to be around people who can say what Paul said: "The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do." You want people whose lives you can say, this is what you do, this is how you do it, and you do what they do. And the God of peace will be with you. It's so simple.

So, I remember the first time I walked in a gym. You know, some of those contraptions are just like, what are you going to do with that? And if you don't know what you're doing, just like that, someone in a gym knows that you don't know what you're doing in a gym. You get on some contraption and you're doing something you're not supposed to be doing, they go, dude, what are you doing? Can I help? Oh no, no, I've got it. I'm doing it a new way. Get some help.

Let me tell you something that'll just really rattle your cage a little bit. We already know you're screwed up. You didn't sneak in. And why are we experts at knowing that you're screwed up? Because we're screwed up too. But somebody came along and said, look, you don't have to live this way anymore and you don't have to die this way anymore and I'll help you.

And so you go, oh wow, I'm going to be okay. Yeah, you're going to be okay. Get some help for Christ's sake, your sake, everybody's sake. Let someone help you. Let someone grow you, let someone show you, and get someone around you that you'd want to do what they're doing because it turns out really good when you do that.

First Timothy 4:7. Go to that one. You'd be amazed what's in the Bible. First Timothy 4:7. And here Paul says to a specific young man, Timothy, "But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness." And this word "exercise" is where we get our word "gymnasium" and it means to exercise naked. I know that'll be an encouraging thing to some of you and you just pray your gym is dark for others.

But literally, that's what they did. To exercise naked in a palestra or school of athletics, to exercise vigorously in any way, either the body or the mind. So this is what Paul uses, this word, to Timothy says, reject profane and old wives' fables, but exercise yourself toward godliness. Exert yourself toward godliness. Make it a goal.

People say, well, if you just take these pills and—I don't care whether you eat the right thing, if you don't exercise, you're not going to be in shape. You're going to be skinnier maybe, but that's not the same as in shape. There are some guys going to gym and they're all buff and muscular and you could punch them in the nose and take off running and they'd never catch you because they got no cardio. They pass out. They can't run, they don't have that. So some people look in shape but they're not in shape. It takes exercise, it takes some effort on your part.

So read it again. Exercise yourself toward godliness. And then he uses the example, for bodily exercise profits a little. So he does not say—and I've had a large professor in college quote this verse one day—the Bible does not say bodily exercise is bad. The context here is, bodily exercise profits a little, it's a good thing, but what you really want to be chasing after is spiritual exercise.

To get spiritually in shape. To get toned up where you feel like you're supposed to feel and you live like you're supposed to live. That's very attractive to other people, by the way. It's very hard, you know, and this is one of the things I see coaches, and I don't know, maybe I'm just off on this one, but I see a football team and everybody's running wind sprints and they pan over on one of these pro coaches and the guy can't get out of his chair.

I'm like, dude, how does that speak to those players? You need to be in shape physically because you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, but you need to be in shape spiritually because you are either attracting or repelling people from the kingdom of God. Because what you want them to do is look at your life and watch your life and listen to you and see the peace of God that it describes, and they go, wait a minute, what gym are you a member of? And then they want to get in and figure out how to live the life that you have found.

Bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. And the same word is used there, a variation of that gymnasium word.

Go to Hebrews chapter five. I'll read you a few in Hebrews and then we'll do James and we're out. Hebrews chapter five, verse 12, and he says here: "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses" what? "exercised," same word, "to discern both good and evil." Now this is a little bit of a coach push here. You say, dude, I come to church, what else do you want? A lot more. A lot more.

I'm thrilled that you're here, but so what, you walked in the gym. We are trying to get you to the place where you get to solid food, full age, reason of use, you have your senses exercised to discern both good and evil, where you grow up. We will never outgrow the number of trainers we have in the gym. And if we do, it's going to be a mess. There are churches in this country that have thousands of attenders, but they don't have many people attending people who come that need someone to help them, because they don't know what to do with them.

So what are we trying to do with you? You show up and say, well, I think I'm supposed to come to this church. You need to be warned, we are going to turn you into a trainer. Our job as a church is to get you up and running, in shape. And if you have been here one year, two years, five years, 10 years, 15 years and you are still sitting on your butt just listening to sermons, it ain't working.

This is a disaster because you're turning this thing into some kind of reception hall. There is a time for growing, I get that, but there's also a time when you've had enough time to grow up, you need to get in the game. Okay? So my goal is to turn every single person in this room, and if I could, everyone listening beyond here, into a trainer so that when someone walks in our gym, you go, Lord, am I up?

And we're almost fighting over the customers because you're so excited to see what God has done in your life happen in somebody else's. Now if you ever get to where that's what's going on at church, we can't keep people away from church because you're not just going to church, you're being the church. And you have a built-in accountability. You have to stay in shape because you got people that are counting on you to train them and watching your life. And the people who isolate and say, well, I can be a Christian by myself under a tree, whatever, dude, you don't have any verses for that. Your tree church, whatever that is.

Hebrews 10, go to the next one. Hebrews 10:23. And I read this one just so you'll know it's in the book. Hebrews 10:23: "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works."

So that's the first part of the verse. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. So I love you, let's do the right thing. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." So it's about love, it's about encouraging to good works, and you get together because we need exhortation. You cannot isolate and do this the way you're supposed to.

Hebrews 12. And I may have to just read a portion of this. Let's go down to verse five. Hebrews 12:5: "And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: 'My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.'

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten or discipline? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?

For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present." When my dad would spank me as a kid, and it didn't take many times, by the way. Now think about that. Think about that. The spankings ceased when I obeyed.

"They indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained," or the King James Version says "exercised" by it.

So it's literally like God working something out, right? You're exercised by even the discipline and then you emerge with what? What does he describe here? The peaceable fruit of righteousness. You are not going to wake up one day and just go, oh, I'm a holy person, I'm a godly person. I wonder how this happened. It is a process. Yes, He declares you holy in scripture, but you are still working out this stuff.

You say, well, He says I'm holy but my life is crap. How's this possible? And so you keep people around you and you read the scriptures and you obey and you meditate on scripture, you memorize it, whatever you've got to do, and apply it. And then your life starts to change and then God uses the change in your life to change someone else's life. And that's what He intended.

And last one is in James chapter one, and then we're done. James chapter one, verse 21. Right after Hebrews. James 1:21 says this: "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."

Okay? So get rid of the filthiness, overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

Now here's the problem. Some people show up here because they listen on the radio somewhere and they go, oh, I want to go experience it. If you—please don't get me wrong on this and let me make sure I'm saying this right—if you don't come and stay for the right reasons, I am trying to get you out of here. I am trying to run you off.

But before you get run off, you need to be very clear: what are those people about? Because I'd like you to store in your memory that you say, well, I don't want to do what he's saying today. I want to live like hell, I want to do what I want to do. I get that. I've done that, still do from time to time. But I don't want you to think you can come and attend something and that you can just sit there indefinitely and nothing change and we're going to be okay with that. That's not what's intended.

But if you storm out, get upset, go well he can't talk to me that way, I'd love for you to end up someplace else in your life and then remember, I know a place that would not just accept attenders. I know a place that if I go back there, they will love me, they will challenge me, they will help me, they will get me a trainer, they will help me grow up where I can help someone else. That I'd be interested in.

So am I trying to get rid of you? No. But do I want you to think you can come and just sit on your butt the rest of your life? That is catastrophic. And if that can happen here, it's not working. Our gym is not working.

Be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. He doesn't remember what he looks like. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

So what are we trying to do? We're trying to get you on the machines, doing the workout, getting in shape, feeling better, looking different, everything about you where you go, wow, this is what was intended. And if you can't do it by yourself, which you probably can't, then let somebody come alongside and help you work out what you're trying to work out.

Guest (Male): Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to listen to Richard Ellis Talks. We know these programs encourage and inspire you because we hear from so many people about them. Richard has such a unique way of speaking right to the heart because it always comes straight from his own heart. And maybe there are others who have greatly impacted your life as well.

So, who is it in your life that was a great example as a Christ-follower? Possibly a parent, a grandparent, a friend, pastor, neighbor, coworker. Well, we have just the place where you can share this story. There's a brand new feature on our website called a Legacy Wall, where you can tell us who made a huge difference in your life in your growth as a Christ-follower.

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