The Christians Hour

Host (Announcer): Welcome to The Christians Hour. Thank you for joining us today. It's a pleasure to have you with us.

The Christians Hour is a ministry of Gospel Broadcasting Mission, where we share the love of Jesus Christ around the world through radio and media until all have heard.

I do not know about you, but if you have ever spent much time around a river or the ocean, you are probably well aware of the currents and tides that can greatly influence what happens when you step into that water.

The thing about rip currents is that sometimes you can see them, but most of the time, you cannot. You can get caught off guard as they slowly pull you wherever they want. Even when warning signs are posted along the shore, it's easy to dismiss them until it is too late, and you find yourself caught in the current.

In many ways, the same is true in our faith. We may be warned about certain patterns of this world or cultural influences that can cause us to drift, but often, we do not recognize their impact until it's too late. Until we find ourselves in a place we never intended to be, desperately needing help.

In today's message, Mike Breaux, teaching pastor at Eastside Christian Church in Anaheim, California. He takes a deeper look at how we can be pulled by the currents of this world and slowly drift off course. Get ready though, to be equipped, to stand firm with the power of God's word. Here's Mike.

Mike Breaux: Today, I want to talk about this. I got on a site called weather.gov site and it says about rip tides. Rip current speeds can vary. Sometimes they are too slow to be considered dangerous. However, under certain wave, tide, and beach shaped conditions, the speeds can quickly become dangerous. Rip currents have been measured to exceed 5 miles per hour, slower than you can run, but faster than you or even an Olympic swimmer can swim.

Trying to survive a rip tide is terrifying. You get out so far you wonder, "Oh man, am I ever? Am I ever going to make it back?"

Maybe you have been there. I mean not so much in the ocean, but with your life. Scary, isn't it?

It is so easy to get caught up in a cultural rip tide. You start hanging with a certain group of friends who do not really share the same values as you, and before you know it, man, you are swept away into the danger zone. All kinds of research shows how physical, emotional, and mental health is intertwined with who it is we hang out with.

It says this in Proverbs 13. It says, becoming become wise by walking with the wise, hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces. Paul, one of the writers of the New Testament talks about how bad company corrupts good character. We become like the relationships we cultivate and the culture to which we belong.

This is why Paul wrote this in a letter to a bunch of brand new Jesus followers who were living in the rip tide of a culture in the Roman Empire. He says this, do not copy the behaviors and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

I have always liked the J.B. Phillips translation of this verse is, do not let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold.

When the Bible talks about the world, it has three different meanings. One is the created universe, planet Earth, and all of its spectacular beauty. That world becomes a showcase for the genius and the creativity and the splendor of God, like that old song, and I think to myself, what a wonderful world. And it is.

Then the world is also used in the Bible to represent humanity or mankind, such as that famous verse in John 3:16, which says, "For God so loved the what? World." Men and women he is talking about. For God so loved people, men and women of all races, languages, shapes, sizes, and colors. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. In both those uses of the world are positive in nature, God's spectacular creation, and His most priceless creation, you and me, the people of the world.

However, there is a third use of the word world in scripture. I read a great book this past spring by John Mark Comer called Live No Lies. It has been really helpful in getting my head around some of the things that we are talking about in this series. In this book, he describes the world this way. He says the world is a system of ideas, values, morals, practices, and social norms that are integrated into the mainstream and eventually institutionalized in a culture corrupted by the twin sins of rebellion against God and the redefinition of good and evil. Those were the twin sins in the Garden of Eden, the rebellion against God and the redefinition of good and evil.

Did you know that Jesus called Satan the prince of this world? Meaning he is in charge of that whole system. All the little kingdoms that attempt to get people to live as if there is no God. In that world, man is in charge. And God? Well, he is either nonexistent, or he is unconcerned, or he is weak, or he is hopelessly outdated, or out of touch.

You see the world, because it is Satan's domain, is even more than just no God, it's anti-God. He feeds us lies, distorts values, makes right seem wrong and wrong seem right, he demonizes other people, he mocks the truth, he scoffs at wisdom, and invites all of us, "Come on, come on out and play in the rip tide."

Eugene Peterson, who wrote The Message translation says this, "The world is an atmosphere, a mood that crept into us like a cancerous rot, an airborne emotional pollutant we inhale every day, an anti-God impulse we circulate in our body's lungs."

The society, it's the society, the proud and arrogant humankind that defies and tries to eliminate God's rule and presence in history. Man, that sounds a lot like the place I used to swim in way too long in my life.

Jesus said one time, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit their very selves?" Jesus saw the world not just as a temptation to avoid, but as a threat to be on guard against. He was just telling us, "Listen, it's a rip current. It's a rip current that will suck you in and steal your soul."

Jesus' best friend, a guy named John, writes this in John chapter 2. He says, "For all that is in," there is that word, "the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life, it is not from the Father, but it's from the world." Again, those three things have contributed more to drift in my life than anything else, the desires of the lust of the flesh or the lust of the eyes and a pride-filled life, all those things. And those three things are not only tolerated in the world, they are celebrated in the world.

In the world, especially in our current world, if you can make it trend, you can make it true. I like what Renee Derester writes. She says, "The widespread social acceptance of an idea or behavior does not make it true, much less causes it to lead to flourishing. If history teaches us anything, it's that the majority is often wrong, crowds lie, the more people, the less truth."

And God watches that happen. As He watches the world, the people that He loves, the people that He so desperately wants to be with them. As He watches the world choose to get caught up in the rip tide of popular opinion and fall in love with the world, the world's system, it breaks His heart. And as a good dad, He just desperately tries to get out to all of us trying to rescue, saying, "Take my hand, come on, swim toward me."

John again writes this about the world. It says in John chapter 2, verse 15, "Do not love the world's ways. Do not love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world, wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important, has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from Him. The world and all it's wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out. But whoever does what God wants, that person is set for eternity."

Every follower of Jesus, including myself, has to constantly ask, in what ways have I been sucked into the culture? How have I let this world squeeze me into its own mold? Where have I drifted? Where have I drifted from my own true identity and my real home?

Also, I think it's helpful to ask, especially these days, how have I drifted in my God-ordained purpose to be a light in this world? That is what we are called to do, to make a difference while we are here.

It has been so sad to watch so many people drift from that purpose. It has actually been more than sad for me to see so many people whose social media profile describes them as a lover of Jesus, get caught in a cultural rip tide over the past two years.

I do not know, it might have been who they were hanging out with or how they filled their minds with fear-based news stuff and social media feeds, and so many Christians, even churches, were taken captive by an ideology, which by the way is a form of idolatry, and as a result they became proud and mean-spirited and divisive and angry and cynical and demeaning, which is so contrary to the one they claim to love.

They, we, began to fight with the same weapons as the world uses: angry tweets and my rights above all else and sarcasm and belittling and boycotts and cancel culture. I mean, you name it. It's almost like we want the kingdom without the king.

Again, I think John Mark Comer says it really well. He says a growing number of Christians are more loyal to their ideology or political party than they are to Jesus and his teachings. That takes us into territory outside the Kingdom of God. And I love this, and demagnetizes our moral compass, pointing us a direction that does not lead to life or peace.

Followers of Jesus need to come back to the reality that baptism is their primary pledge of allegiance. Contempt has zero place in the heart of those who claim to apprentice under Jesus, and the litmus test of our faith is the degree to which we love our enemies.

Friends, Jesus, our leader, came to serve, not to be served. He laid down His rights, He laid down His life so that we could be free. And He told us as His followers, we fight with light. Our weapons are not the weapons of this world. We fight with light and truth and grace and love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control.

Jesus prayed this prayer for His followers. He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was right before He was arrested and crucified. He said, "Father, I have given them Your word, and the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, the world system, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world." That would be impossible. "But I'm but I'm asking you to keep them safe from the evil one."

"They do not belong to this world anymore than I do. So make them holy, set apart by Your truth. Teach them Your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I'm sending them into the world, and I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by Your truth."

"I am praying not only for these disciples, the ones that are asleep in the garden, but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message." Talking about you and me. "I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one, as you and I as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that, so that the world will believe that you sent me."

Another one of Jesus' closest friends, one of those guys who was sleeping in the garden that night that Jesus prayed that prayer, is a guy named Peter, and he writes a letter also to Jesus followers. You can find it along with John in the in the in the back of the New Testament, the Bible. And guess how Peter refers to you and me? As foreigners and temporary residents here.

He tells us this world is not our home. He tells us that while we are in the world, we are to live such good lives that people would ask about the light inside of us, that people would ask about the hope that we have.

The Kingdom of God was central to the teaching and mission of Jesus. He mentions it dozens of times throughout the first four books of the New Testament called the Gospels. He tells all kinds of stories, uses all kinds of metaphors and parables to describe the Kingdom of God and expand our understanding of it. In short, Jesus says that God's Kingdom is the place that perfectly reflects His character and His values. God's Kingdom is the place that perfectly reflects His character and His values. That's why Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord's Prayer, pray, "Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." Father, we pray that Your Kingdom be expanded from Heaven to Earth, that Your will be done here just as it is done there. In other words, more simply we are praying, "Oh God, may up there come down here."

Jesus draws such a sharp contrast between God's Kingdom and the world. In fact, in God's Kingdom, the M stands for more is less, and less is more. In the in the in the Kingdom of the world, more is more. I mean, that is just the rule of our society, right? You gain followers, you climb ladders, you accumulate stuff, you win at all cost, no matter how many people you have to step over or on, because it is all about you and your kingdom. In the world, more is more, but not so in God's Kingdom.

Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew chapter 16, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it."

Jesus is saying, "Listen, the more you are looking for is found in less. In God's Kingdom, the way to become full is to empty yourself, to lay down your pride and your rights and your attempts to hang on to all the outcomes. Just lay your ego on the altar and follow me wherever I lead you." In this countercultural kingdom, more is less, and less is more. In fact, in this kingdom, it's always others first. Others first. See, relationships matter in this kingdom. People do not power up on other people in this kingdom. People do not use each other in this kingdom. People do not traffic others in this kingdom. People do not cancel each other in this kingdom. No, in this kingdom, they honor each other above themselves. They attach a high price tag to all kinds of people. They mourn with those who mourn, they walk with them through their grief, and they celebrate when something good happens to another person. They are not envious, even even though it did not happen to them.

People in this kingdom, they do not lie, they do not cover up, they do not they they they love the truth because He is the truth. They do not cheat to get ahead, they never flex their position, they do not flash their VIP credentials to gain an an advantage. They never pay back evil for evil. They they they do not hold grudges. They do not try to get revenge. As far as it depends upon them, they just try to live at peace with everybody. And they are the very first ones to pick up a mop and scrub a toilet and throw a towel over their arm and just go serve somebody. Because in this kingdom, which is so different than the world, you would never step on somebody else to get ahead. In fact, in this kingdom, you actually descend into greatness. You descend into greatness.

We have talked about this before, ego stands for edging God out. You know how you get so full of yourself, there is no room for anybody else, including God, and eventually ego takes you way out in the rip tide all alone. I have been there and it is really scary. So Jesus comes along and says, "Listen, there is a much better way to live your life. Just watch me."

Jesus teaches and models this radical version of humility, a version that unlocks the prison cell of pride. Jesus totally redefines greatness, saying, "In this kingdom, greatness is something you actually descend into." There is an awesome passage of scripture also found in the back of the Bible, it is in the book of Philippians. This passage in Philippians 2 became one of the favorite worship songs of of the early church. They sang it a lot to remind them to embrace Jesus' approach to life and to regularly just lay their ego on the altar.

It says something like, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who being in equality with equality with God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing. He made Himself a servant, took the very nature of a slave, and being found in the very nature found them being found in human likeness, and being in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross." Man, you talk about downscaling. And make no mistake about it, Jesus did not lay down His divinity. He laid down His self. He crucified His ego. He nailed His self-interest to the cross and thus saved all of us from ourselves.

In this kingdom, in this kingdom, you lay your ego on the altar and you descend into greatness. In essence, it is the kingdom of selflessness. You might also imagine it is a place where generosity just flows. Most kingdoms, think about it, are all about conquering, plundering, stock piling assets, but not in this kingdom. In this one, generosity just flows like a river. The leader Jesus says, "Give, it will be given to you." In fact, it is so much better to give than it is to get. It is not about the accumulation of stuff. You will never find happiness in building your own little empire. Generosity is simply the best way to live. And even when we generously live beyond ourselves, as deeply fulfilling as that kind of life is, it is still not about us, it is about God working through us. We are just gratefully representing Jesus. In fact, in this kingdom we sing, "Not to us, not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name be the glory because of Your love and Your faithfulness." Now, all of us do feel a great sense of satisfaction when we accomplish something. God wired us up so that we could experience the thrill of using our gifts and our talents, the thrill of bringing some light into a dark world. But in this kingdom, we still deflect all praise and honor to the one who puts breath in our lungs. Because it is a not to us kind of kingdom.

Unlike most kingdoms that become these, you know, empires with high, impenetrable, you know, castle walls and and moats filled with alligators or or these exclusive little clubs with a velvet rope and some big bicep bouncer standing out there, the Kingdom of God is radically different. It is inclusive. Radically inclusive. The religious leaders of Jesus' day, they created this little religious country club. If you want to be in, you have got to look like us. You have got to think like us, you have got to act like us, you have got to vote like us, you have got to dress like us, you have got to talk like us. They were trying to keep the undesirables out.

They even labeled people as notorious sinners. And you know what Jesus did? He comes along and peels those labels off. And He kicks down the door and He tears down the velvet rope and met people where they were, and He still does that. He still meets people where they are, no matter where we have been, no matter what we have done, and He showers us with grace and unfailing love, and He calls us to do a 180 and walk toward Him and walk with Him and follow Him into a better life. And I for one am eternally grateful that the Kingdom of God is inclusive, and He let a guy like me get in.

Life in a rip tide is scary. Terrifying, actually. Right now in our world, anxiety and anger are off the charts. The divide in our own country is deep and raw, and the global gap between the haves and the have-nots just keeps widening. Satan's promised Utopia is turning into something that looks a whole lot more like The Hunger Games than Jesus' vision of the Kingdom of God.

But think about it. What if, what if all this unsettledness, what if all this emptiness, what if all this anger, all this frustration, what if it calls people to cry out for help? The people of Jesus' day, they were looking for the Kingdom of God to come, but what they were expecting was a powerful king to show up. They wanted an economic savior. They they they wanted a strong military conqueror to ride in on a white horse and squash Rome.

But instead, in the most unexpected power move this world has ever seen, in this kingdom, we find a king on a cross. To a group of hopeful followers who had the same expectations of Jesus setting up the Kingdom of God. He said this, "When I am lifted up from the Earth, I will draw everyone to myself." He said this to indicate how He was going to die. He was talking about a cross. He was talking about laying down His life. He was talking about taking the punishment for the sins of the entire world. What kind of king does that?

Our king does. Our king does. Our king laid down His life. Nobody took it from Him. He laid it down and secured victory over sin and death, and He rose from the dead so that we could follow Him into eternity when we die.

Singing Group: Alone in my sorrow and dead in my sin. Almost without hope, with no place to begin. Your love made a way to let mercy come in. When death was arrested and my life began. Ashes were redeemed, only beauty remained. My orphaned heart was given a name. My morning grew quiet, my fear rose to death. When death was arrested and my life began. Oh, Your grace so free washes over me. You have made me new, now life begins with You. It's Your endless love pouring down on us. You have made us new, now life begins with You.

Released from my chains, I'm a prisoner no more. My shame was a ransom He faithfully bore. He cancelled my debt and He called me His friend. When death was arrested and my life began. Oh, Your grace so free washes over me. You have made me new, now life begins with You. It's Your endless love pouring down on us. You have made us new, now life begins with You.

Our Savior is laid on a criminal's cross. Darkness rejoiced as though Heaven had lost. But then Jesus arose with our freedom in hand. That's when death was arrested and my life began. Oh, Your grace so free washes over me. You have made me new, now life begins with You. It's Your endless love pouring down on us. You have made us new, now life begins with You.

Oh, we're free! We're free forever, we're free. Come join the song of all the redeemed. Yes, we're free! We're free forever, Amen. When death was arrested and my life began. Yes, we're free! We're free forever, we're free. Come join the song of all the redeemed. Yes, we're free! We're free forever, Amen. When death was arrested and my life began. When death was arrested and my life began. When death was arrested and my life began.

Host (Announcer): Well, have you ever found yourself there? In the currents and rip tides of this world? Friends, if that's you, please hear me well. You are never too far to come back. Do not believe the lie that you are beyond the forgiveness of Jesus. Today is the day to come back to Him.

Maybe you have not drifted to that point where you feel it is too late, but you are not really where you want to be either. Well, let me remind you, God still has a plan for your life, and His grace is enough for you today. Simply turn to Him and seek forgiveness. That's where it begins. Anchor yourself at His feet, in His love, and rebuild on His foundation.

Well, our thanks to Mike Breaux for that powerful message. And our thanks as well to Acappella Ministries for providing today's worship music.

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