There is within each of us a longing to
be useful, to be needed and belong, a desire to contribute to the needs of
others in a meaningful way, a passion to be significant and make a difference
in our society, a hunger to be part of something important and big. And yet we
so often feel unworthy, unimportant, useless, rejected, inadequate and
insignificant. Have you felt like that any time? Perhaps some of you are
feeling like that right now. If you are, then you have company. In the Animated
film (Antz 1998), the main character is Z-4195 (Woody Allen), or "Z"
for short, a neurotic and pessimistic worker ant living in a wholly
totalitarian society without any individuality. In his opening monologue, he
complained about his insignificant life during therapy to his psychologist.
Listen to his complaint: Play the YouTube clip. At the end of the session (Paul
Mazursky), who was the psychologist, concluded their discussion with the
statement that Zee had made a break-through: ("Yes, Z, you are
insignificant"):
In this world unless you
are an A+ type the system disregards you. Just like the worker Ant Z, the
system can make anyone feel insignificant. But that is not how God operates. He
sees everyone with value and dignity because all human beings are made in His
image. In fact God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. We serve an
unchanging God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His character and
calling never changes. I would like to talk about, “Your place on God’s Dream
Team. I was inspired by this teaching in a LEAD conference I recently attended.
I met the speaker Tony Cooke and asked his permission if I could bring this
teaching to our Church, and he said he would be honored if I did. So let’s
begin by reading Romans 12:1-8, which deals with how to assess our true
potential; how God looks at us and how He empowered us with gifts.
BACKGROUND:
The Book of Romans is
deep in theology and rich in practical Christian living. The first 11 chapters
deal with the total depravity of man, God’s wrath, judgment, His faithfulness,
Israel’s role in God’s plan of salvation, Israel’s disobedience and their
eventual turning to God. At the end of chapter 11, Paul pronounces the
Doxology, normally one would think that is the end right? That’s not the end of
the letter, he dedicated the next four chapters 12-16, explaining how God has
set us free from the power of sin, given us a new life and has returned us to a
right relationship with Him and how we should live this new found Christian
life.
Chapter 12:1-3 talks about
our spiritual act of worship which is to offer our bodies as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to God. Then he says
that we must not continue to live the way we used to live before we became
followers of Christ. We must break the old patterns of life. How could that be
possible? The only way it is possible is by being transformed by the renewal of
our minds. He goes on to explain how we can break one of the wrong patterns of
this world which is boasting or arrogance or pride. He called the Roman believers
to employ sober judgment when it comes to assessing their own capabilities.
What is Sober Judgment?
I.
SOBER
JUDGEMENT (Vs 3)
“As your spiritual teacher I give this piece of advice to each one of
you. Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance, but try to
have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God
has given to you all.” J.B Philips. Paul here is warning the Roman believers
against arrogance. It is apparent that some in that church had more visible
gifts and whereas some had gifts that were frequently done in secret.
Paul recognized that they were comparing themselves with each other, he
wanted to warn them against continuing in that mindset. We live in a culture
where a lot of people “Blow their own horns” They brag about their achievements
and abilities. Have you been around people who boast about their studies, how
many countries they have visited and all their great accomplishments, after a while
it kind of gets tiring to be around such people, isn’t it? I’ve heard someone saying, “You fake it until
you make it” Really! It is common for us to measure ourselves against others.
We do it constantly, how much money we make compared to others, how thin we are
compared to others, what brand clothes we wear or what houses we live in, what
type of cars we drive, and what leadership positions we have in the church.
Sometimes when we meet people in our mind we can be quickly tallying
ourselves versus them to see who comes out on top. (I can remember at times
doing this.) Whereas Paul here is saying to us that we are not to overestimate
ourselves and become proud and look down on others or underestimate ourselves
like the worker AntZ and feel insignificant, instead measure ourselves with
sober judgment. What does that mean? It
means to have a sane estimation of our gifts, capabilities and weaknesses. People
who are humble have a realistic view of themselves, they know their strengths
but are equally aware of their weaknesses and their needs.
Obviously Paul is aware of this bragging, so he calls us to be wary of
thinking too high of ourselves and our gifts. In simple words, he is telling us
to stop tooting our own horn and let others speak well of us and our gifts. Let’s
face it boasting is a BIG problem in our time isn't it? Consider the definition
of "boasting or bragging": “talking with excessive pride and
self-satisfaction about one's achievements, possessions, or abilities.” Another
word for boasting is arrogance which means, “Exaggerating or
disposed to exaggerate one's own worth or importance often by an overbearing
manner, showing an offensive attitude of superiority.”
What does
God say about boasting? He hates it, Psalms 94.4 explains "They babble and
speak arrogantly; All the wrongdoers brag about themselves." Psalm 5:5 “Boasters
can have no standing in your sight; you abhor all evildoers.” (AMP) Proverbs
6:17, six things God hates and one of them is “A proud look [the spirit that
makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others]
Boasting
about ourselves is never from God but of the devil and of the world. “Don’t
love the world’s ways. Don’t 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 its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does
what God wants is set for eternity.” I
John 2:15-17 The Message
Let’s face it, what is that you think you have, that is not been given
to you by God. When it comes to think of it, there is absolutely nothing. “Every good
gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down
from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] whom there can
be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an
eclipse].
James
1:17
All the
gifts and talents we have, have been given to us by our father in
heaven. We are to thank Him for those gifts and remain humble and use them to
serve others in the body of Christ instead of using them to meet our own
selfish needs. Sober judgment means not to overestimate or underestimate our
capabilities. Underestimating is what many struggle with in this world.
Do you underestimate yourself, doubt yourself and you feel
insignificant? If you do I have good news for you, you are not alone, you are
in the company of a great cloud of witnesses whom the bible calls the heroes of
faith, and they too have felt the way you might be feeling today. History tells
us that God used people the most when, they came to an end of themselves and
recognized that they couldn't do it on their own.
Here are some of the Biblical characters who felt they weren't quite cut
for the job: Noah must have felt ridiculed and mocked while building the Ark.
Abraham felt too old when he was told that he would have a son at age 75. Jacob was afraid of his brother Esau. Moses
said he was dumb and not eloquent in speech. Gideon said he was the youngest
and his clan was the least among the tribe. Elijah after taking on 400 false
prophets of Baal single handedly, ran for his life because of a threat from
Jezebel, sat under a broom tree prayed that he might die.
What one thing was common among all these people? When they saw
themselves from their own perspective and through the eyes of the system of
their time, they felt afraid, inadequate, in secured, rejected, less important
and insignificant. But God had a different assessment of them; he saw their
faith, and the determination to follow Him regardless, that’s why Hebrew 11:6
reads, “God is not ashamed to be called their God.” I wonder what God would say
of us today, would he be ashamed or proud of us?
In conclusion, sober judgment means to have a sane estimation of our
gifts, capabilities and weaknesses. How do you assess yourself today? You may
be wondering, I am an A type personality, and a high achiever is there a place
for me in God’s Dream Team? Of course you have a place; God uses high achievers
like the Apostle Paul who was a Harvard grad of his time. But there is
absolutely no place for the boastful or arrogant in God’s Dream Team. Some here may be wondering well I am an average Joe; I don’t
have all those degrees; I am just an ordinary person; is there a place for me;
yes indeed; there is a place for you; and you belong.
God often uses broken people in fact we all are broken one way or the
other. He uses the insignificant and the uneducated alike just as he used the
Apostle Peter who was a fisherman. Unlike the championship teams of this world;
there is place for everyone on God’s Dream Team; we will continue next week to
find out what is “Your place on God’s
Dream Team. Amen
