Never Enough | Week 4

So I said the only thing I know how to say in a moment like that, bless your heart. And if you're from the South, you know what I just said. And and and so going into this, a little ground rules. Please, I'm gonna ask you to think of it differently as you look at the sermon, as you listen.

I want you to not hear what I'm not saying. I don't want you to hear what I'm not saying. I I I want us to to to think about this a little different. I don't want us to to to react. I I I want us to be able to understand that that what we're gonna talk about here is what scripture says is it I'm not saying

politics doesn't matter. I'm not saying we shouldn't be actually engaged. Romans 13 says this. It says government is something we should be involved in, but we need to keep it for the right purpose. And the purpose is, it says government is is to restrain evil and to promote good.

That's all it's supposed to do. And I think when we try to make it be more than it is, that's where some of our fear comes from and some of our frustration comes from. Matter of fact, I I I think we have two types of people in this room that are on on both both ends of the spectrum. And I'm not talking about right versus left. I'm talking about those of us who are politicked off.

And then a lot of our younger people will act this way. I'd rather bury my head in the sand because I don't trust anyone and it's all overwhelming, so I'm just Paul annoyed. And and

some of us are fearful, some of us are just overwhelmed, some of us just don't care. Some of us cared so much and we're getting frustrated and angry. And and what's happening is it's not that it's wrong, it's if we try to make it what it's not supposed to be.

And then what happens is it now becomes a bad, as Solomon talks about. It's meaningless, but then it becomes a bad thing because then we start acting out in ways that are not Christ like, and the way we approach it are wrong. And it's about our attitude more than how we think we should vote.

And and that's kind of why I don't really get in the pulpit and try to preach, here's the issue that every Christian needs to be on this side of, because I don't think that's the purpose of this room. I have lots of political opinions, and I can tell you about them.

I believe I try to draw them first and foremost from scripture, but a lot of what we vote on in our world, in our country, is more about preference. There isn't a clear scriptural mandate on it. There are a few, and I think everybody should learn scripture and let that guide your voting process.

And I think to do that, you need to learn the scripture, see the Lord, seek the Lord, and then also be informed about what's happening politically. So don't hear what I'm not saying. I am not saying I avoid these topics because I don't care about them. I do. We come here to know the real answer, to praise the real answer,

to get to know him better, to understand him, and to find hope in that. In other words, I don't wanna sit there and confuse the world as to what it means to be able to come and know the love of Christ. I I I I don't want to put myself in that position or or you in that position because

I think I don't want anyone distracted from learning about Jesus first. There should be no prequalification. You shouldn't come into a church and feel like, oh, if I'm gonna be a Christian, I have to vote this way. I want you to meet and know Jesus first.

In other words, here's what I'm telling you. If you are more of a liberal persuasion right now in your politics, I'm glad you're here. If you're someone that's more of a conservative in in your politics, I'm glad you're here. If you're a libertarian, I don't care if you're wasting your vote. I'm glad you're here.

Little humor there. But even more so, to prove my love of how I want us to know Jesus first and foremost and then let the Holy Spirit and the word of God start to transform us from the inside out, I don't even care if you're a Seahawks fan. I'm glad you're here. Amen?

So that's what what I I I just wanted to dive in because here's what we're gonna learn today from what the words of Solomon and then another primary passage just a few pages away is simply this. This is all I'm trying to say. The gospel, not the government, fulfills hearts and fixes people.

And the one last thing before we dive into what that looks like, please, please just listen. What I what I what I what I what the people that are probably gonna get heartburn is if you're gonna listen to me like a political commentator analyst, that you're gonna listen and after the the speech,

you're gonna be, well, know, George, when he said this phrase, that's liberal coded. And or this is more conservative coded. You gotta know something about me if you don't know me already. I'm not smart enough to code my words. I

barely know the English language as it is. I can't have a hidden agenda. I'm gonna try to preach what God's word says to give us some hope. What I really wanna speak to is people that are maybe afraid of what's going on in the world of politics or people that are thinking that's the answer. That's all.

And the big idea is my code. This is it.

The gospel not the government fulfills hearts and fixes people. And Solomon says as much in in in Ecclesiastes chapter four starting in verse 13. He says this, it is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice. Such a youth could rise from poverty and succeed.

He could he could, might even become king, though he has been in prison. So you have an older king, and now this other young guy replaces him. And he says, even though he might have been in prison, that that's really referring most commentators, and I agree, is not prison like he murdered someone. It's a he was a a potential

threat to the throne, like another outside heir, someone that disagrees with him, so he's a political prisoner. In other words, the guy that's young and actually has the opposite political platform now might become the guy that's king. There's two kings already in the first sentence.

He goes, then he might even become king. Then verse 15, but then everyone rushes to the side of yet another youth who replaces him. Endless crowds stand around him, but then another generation grows up and rejects him too. It's all meaningless like chasing the wind. Two sentences.

He talks about four changeovers back and forth that now they don't want that. They want this. Now they want this. They go that way. And he goes, meaningless. Didn't say useless.

We need government. God created it because it helps restrain evil. In other words, bottom line, restrain evil and promote good. God created government so we don't all kill each other before Jesus comes back. Because then there's no one for him to come back to.

And and that's the truth. That's what it's supposed to do. And he's trying to say meaningless means if we are trying to make it the ultimate fulfillment, and if we run to that thinking, hey, if we can get our government right, then our economy will be good, and then we'll all be you know, have contentment.

We'll all have enough. And then if we could if we could get our laws right, then there'll be less crime, and we'll all be safe. And if we can get get our borders and all these things straightened out, it'll all be stable. And then we'll have security, contentment, and peace,

and and it'll all be good, and then we'll be alright. He's saying that's not gonna happen.

He goes, that's exactly why, if you go read in scripture, when when the Israelites cried out, we want a king. Because they didn't have a king before. They have judges. They have leaders that will lead them, but they go, we want a king like the other nations.

And God says, no. And he was actually disappointed. He gave them, alright, fine, can have a king, but you're gonna learn the hard way. He wasn't mad about the form of government. He It's not like he would have said, we want a constitutional republic. There you go.

No. It wasn't the form that he was upset about. It was they looked around and they said, you know what? If we had what they had, we would have more contentment and peace and joy in all of that. They were saying, we don't believe God is actually the source. That's what they were saying.

And he was saying, alright, you'll have a king and you're gonna find out that does not fulfill your heart and that will not fix people. It'll restrain evil, but it doesn't regenerate a heart. And and and so that's the issue.

We need to talk about, like, what how does this fit? Well, the gospel, not the government, fulfills hearts and fixes people. And I wanna show you this a few pages over in the book of Isaiah.

And and there's a a story about this guy, Isaiah, the book that he wrote. It's it's he gets called to be a a prophet, which is really a preacher back then. He comes and has a mission to go preach and show the guy get people to see the Lord and look to the Lord and trust the Lord, kinda like what I do. And

and this shows his calling in Isaiah six. And who he's what's happening in this this reference to understand the power of this moment is is the people of Israel right now, they have their king, but they and they they're religious, but they're not responsive to God. They

they go to the temple. They go this, but they don't honor them with their time, their money. They're like even says all they do is take the wealth because because actually Israel is super wealthy at this time. They're doing really well, and they're ignoring God

because they got what they think they want. And it says they just keep building bigger houses and spending like they don't care about his mission. They don't care about what he wants. They don't care about justice. They don't care about people. And they're just going and going and going, and they're kinda they're doing the motions. They come to church. It'd be like someone that all you do if if if your involvement with the Lord is all you do is show up and sit here once a week and occasionally open your Bible,

that's what they're doing. They're not really on mission and actually living from God's love. They're they're they're just saying, we believe in God, and we like the rules, but other than that, we're not responding.

And in the midst of this moment where he ends up called to go teach them about where real healing comes from, where real hope comes from, the king dies. And that's how he ends up with his call. And when a king died then, you think it's crazy every four years when we're trying to elect a president, no one can agree?

It's like when a king died, it was worse. It was life and death. You never knew what was gonna happen. The king could do whatever he wants.

And and it was a scary, scary time. And this is why he opens this chapter referencing that moment when he says this, verse one. It was in the year king Uzziah died that I saw the Lord.

He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings, they covered their faces, and with two, they covered their feet, and with two, they flew.

They were calling out to each other, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heaven's armies. The whole earth is filled with his glory. Their voices shook the temple to its foundation. The entire building was filled with smoke. Then I said,

Lord, it's about time you showed up. Go get those people. Help us change over. Give us a good king, and we'll make everybody be good now. No. He says, then I said, it's all over. I am doomed. For I am a sinful man, and I have filthy lips. And I live among people with a filthy with filthy lips.

His response in a time when there was political turmoil and people were just his culture had gone away that did not seem biblical. And when he saw the Lord, it was to look inside, not outside. When he sat and you know what it made him forget about? All the problems out there. Because he saw that God was bigger than that.

And it made him realize the real problems are not out there, they're in the hearts, starting with his. And he said, yet I have seen the king, the Lord of heaven's armies.

Then one of the Seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, see, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed and your sins are forgiven. That's the gospel.

At the end of this message, I'm gonna read John 12. And in John 12, it says, this moment, it's a it's he sees Jesus. And that's the gospel. He saw that he was a sinner first. Rather than say fix the world or get us a different king, he's like, I need to deal with my own heart.

And so that happened. He's forgiven. His sin is dealt with. He's he's met the love of God and has a changed heart. And so then it says in verse nine eight, so something else changes now. Now God says, then I heard the Lord asking, whom should send us as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?

And he said, here I am. Send me. Now he's willing to go, I'm gonna go on the mission that God has for me.

And look what he says. And he said, yes, go and say to these people, listen carefully but do not understand. Watch closely but learn nothing. Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way they will not see with their eyes nor hear with their ears nor understand with their hearts to turn to me for healing. And he said, I'm already a parent.

Just kidding. It doesn't say that he that doesn't literally mean God's sending him to be confusing to people and make them not see. He's saying that's gonna be the results.

You're gonna come share about my healing and they're gonna harden their heart. It's kinda like if you take ice or you take clay and you put it in heat, one melts, one hardens. And he's saying, you're gonna go share where real healing is and real hope is and most people are gonna harden. It's gonna be a hard mission.

It it it it it it's gonna be difficult. And a matter of fact, he realizes that. He didn't say go change the culture. He didn't say go go try to politically control things. He told him to go with this mission of the gospel

before we even had Jesus born. He was saying, go share where the real hope is and where where it really is at. And you know what? In verse 11, when he hears, but most people aren't gonna listen. This is gonna be difficult. It's not really gonna

be an easy road. It's gonna be hard. He said what I think all of us would say. Verse 11, he says, then I said, Lord, how long will this go on? You know, how long is this gonna go on? Because he's like, that seems hard. And the Lord replied, and he replied, until Gen Z takes over.

That's not what he said. But what he does say is until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is wasteland. Until the Lord has sent everyone away and the entire land of Israel lies deserted. If even a tenth, a remnant survive, it will be invaded again and burned.

But as a terebinth or oak tree leaves a stump, here's the hope, when it is cut down, so Israel's stump will be a holy seed. So he said, you have a mission to go share where the real hope is and the real healing is,

and a lot of people aren't gonna listen. That's gonna be hard. And he goes, well, how long am I supposed to do it? Until they learn. And the way they're gonna learn, this is God's people. He chose these people and formed them into a nation. And what he's saying is, you're gonna do this until their own ideas

of trying to do it this way implodes in on themselves. And that's where there will be this remnant, will turn back to God. That was called they went into captivity. Their society collapsed. And then they get taken over.

And in captivity where you think the worst thing, now they have no saint. They're basically slaves. They've taken away in chains. They have no votes, no rights. They're not in their own land. They're not in this. You think that's the worst part. They've lost all their freedom, lost all this. And God took care of them in captivity.

So their society imploded and that's what led them back. That's why if we as Christians make the mission political, we might be preventing and being in the way of how God is gonna rescue people. Because we think we just have to save society. No. We have to share the gospel so heart change can happen.

Because the gospel, not the government, is what fulfills hearts. So why?

Why is the government not enough? And it's not enough because basically everything Solomon is talking about, all these things, he's talking about I made them into idols.

Because an idol is not just you have some statue you bow down and worship. An idol is anything, even a good thing that you put, you make it the God thing. You put it in the place of what the Lord's supposed to be and do. And when you do that, it's gonna distort the way we act. It's gonna take us on a different trajectory, and it's never gonna fulfill.

Pleasure is that. Work is that. Government is that.

It's not useless. It has a place. God wants us to use it as the gift that it is. But when we try to make it do something it doesn't, it gets distorted. And one of the ways government is such a strong call to us to be an idol that we chase after without even realizing it. We say, I believe in God. I believe in this. But we actually make politics

the idol is because of this. I have a list here. There it is. When government is never enough is because it's easy for us to fall for it as an idol because it offers an identity. Politics gives a fast answer to who I am. I'm this.

It it it gives us belonging. Not not biblical community, it gives us a tribe to belong to. Yay, we're all together. Certainty though. Politics simplifies a confusing world.

You know, everybody in politics, I don't care what side you're on, a lot of people are saying, here's what we want. We want the same thing. But the way they go about saying is like, well, I don't think that's the way. It's like But they say, this is the It's it's it's It doesn't allow for conversation most of the time when it gets polarized. It doesn't allow for any slight variation. It doesn't allow for a good. It's just like, no. This is it. This is the simple one size fits all answer on everything.

And we like that. Sometimes we just want the simple answer. It also creates moral superiority, meaning outrage can feel like righteousness. It's a lot easier to just get on a keyboard or just get angry and just spout off on look at how screwed up the world is as a Christian and feel like you're being righteous.

But that's not what we're called to. And it could bring this fear of control. Politics can feel like protection against collapse. Like that woman said, if we don't vote this way, it's all gonna collapse.

And and and and and so that's why it That'll never be enough because all of that is a false sense of trying to go after our real identity, real community, what we're really called to be. It's a cheap substitute.

And it's also easier to just spout off about things like that than to live a righteous life and point people to Jesus by loving them like Jesus. And so it can't change hearts. And because you know why? Because when we live that way, here's the results.

When I just looked at politics, here's the result that ends up happening. We, as Christians and as churches, we become angry but not peaceful. We're called to be peacemakers. We become reactive but not wise. We freak out over everything. We don't cook for the wisdom of the Lord. We become loud but not loving,

certain but not careful, and tribal but not truthful. That's why it's a cheap substitute. It takes us down a road that does not make us Christ like. Once again, don't hear what I'm not saying. Did I say we should not be active? The Bible commands us to care about politics. The Bible commands us to be good citizens.

We should care deeply about political stances and we should be involved in them. Just don't replace the gospel with it.

And because when we replace it the gospel with it, that's when we act very un Christlike in the way we approach talking about politics, and then where we get frustrated, we get fearful. All that's not coming from the fact that politics isn't going my way. That's coming from it has to go that way or I can't have peace or I can't have hope.

So how do you know if you're doing this? I'm gonna throw another list. This is easier. It's quicker. I can manage the content faster. You can take a picture about it and then think about it later.

How do I how do you know? Because you'd think just listening to that list, you'd know if you're doing that, but we don't. We usually don't think we are doing what we're doing. So ask yourself these questions of how how how do you know? Is Does my peace tend to rise and fall whenever it's an election cycle?

Do I fear or despair? Does that control the heart when a side loses? It should say when my side loses. Normally we're really excited when our side wins. Does my political identity feel stronger than my identity in Christ?

That's a good way of saying, do the people around you know more about what you believe politically than what you believe biblically? Just ask yourself. That's all I'm saying.

Because if if that's true, you you're gonna be either frustrated or fearful more than we need to be. You don't need to have this lack of peace. We don't need to be this angry.

In other words, just say, hey, ask yourself this question. When the ground shakes politically, how do I react and what do I see?

Isaiah saw the Lord. And that made him look into his own heart and then be willing to raise his hand and say, Here I am, send me. And go after a mission that was difficult, It wasn't politically correct, but it was about pointing people to Jesus.

So it can't fulfill our hearts, only Jesus can. But the second thing it can't do is gospel not government is the only thing that fixes people. Because that's another thing we think about as Christians. We think we gotta get these laws enacted because then we'll fix people. They'll stop being this. They'll stop being that. That's kinda ridiculous.

It doesn't. I mean, just look at some of the greatest legislation we ever enacted. The the civil rights movement. It and you know what? I guess that's a bad example because since that was enacted, no one's a racist anymore. Right? It was necessary. It was great. A lot of our it did a good job. It restricted the fallout

of some of these attitudes that makes it not safe. It didn't stop it completely, but it restricts it. It did some good, but it didn't change anybody's heart. It's it's only Jesus can change a heart. Laws don't transform hearts. Love does. The love of God will transform a heart. Laws can restrict evil. Only Jesus can regenerate.

And so we need to remember that. Because sometimes we just think if we don't get these Oh, man, all these people are doing evil. We gotta eat the law. We gotta We think that that's gonna solve the problem. No. That just It just it just holds back the outcomes.

And sometimes when we we we get that out of order, what happens is we end up confusing and and we end up tied up and we end up distracted. We end up distracted. Second Timothy two chapter verses two, chapter three and four says this.

He's talking about how we're supposed to be good soldiers. He's comparing being a Christian to a soldier.

And he says it really clearly. Endure suffering along with me as a good soldier in Christ. A lot of times we as Christians, when we're really worried about politics is if it doesn't go this way, it's gonna get more uncomfortable for me.

We don't want to be a soldier. We don't want to to do that. And he says, but soldiers don't get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.

He's saying, God's the officer. Jesus enlisted us, and we won't please him if we get. And that word, don't get tied up in civilian life, it almost sounds like you're saying, well, doesn't that say we shouldn't care about politics? No. The Greek word there for tied up means distracted.

It doesn't mean you don't do it. It just means don't let that become a soldier has a main mission. Just don't get distracted by this this this other. Engage, honor, do the right thing,

but don't let it distract you from the primary image because otherwise you can't please the officer enlisted you. It's the same kind of principle about what God said about you can't serve two masters, you can't serve God and money.

If you make money your primary place to get security and all that, you will not trust God with it.

You won't tithe. You won't give. You won't say, hey, he's the one that takes care of me. And tithing now is an act of trust to say, I know I can live without that because God takes care of me. And it teaches So then, you know the the gift that is? You stop being materialistic.

You stop worrying. You stop fighting with your spouse. There's a gift in that. But if I try to serve them both and make them both primary,

you're distracted by one and you can't serve the other. That's what he's saying with politics. We're supposed to have money. We're supposed to handle it. We're supposed to steward it. We're supposed to enjoy it when we steward it. Right? Same with politics.

But don't get distracted. In other words, don't make it the mission. When we think as the church, the goal is the mission, that's where sometimes people think I should talk about more things up here. I don't think it's always bad any time bad. It's okay to bring stuff up every now and again.

But if I became the the the Christian commentator on the day the the weekly events, We're never gonna get to what God wants us to do. I'm just always responding to the next thing. We need to be about the primary mission,

to point people to Jesus by loving them like Jesus and and and starts in our own heart with discipleship. Because otherwise, we end up trying to blend the mission. We try to take this this action, this this this principle

of being a Christian, one of the things we're supposed to to to you know, we should be a good citizen. Okay. But when we make it the mission, get the government changed, and then that'll transform.

And then the blend then becomes this. It becomes, is the mission to point people and let them have the transformative love of Christ, or is the mission to take our culture back?

It's really hard to do both of those at the same time because the personal mission helps people one hard at a time. The culture thing says we're gonna control the laws, we're gonna be the people in power, and then we can force all this. That usually doesn't lead people to Jesus. If you look in history, every time the church

had the power when it comes to politics and then you mix the two, you know what he ended up with? Politics. The Pharisees was one of their problems. They they knew the bible. They knew that. They were religious, but they were more about their power. That's why Jesus was a threat to them. It became politics.

If you look at history, every time people, just like what happened here, people turned back to God when they were not the controlling. When the Jews weren't controlling their own society, they were in another society, Babylon, that was very different. Every time Christians end up in Babylon, the gospel spreads.

More people come to know Jesus. That happened with the Roman empire, and guess what's happened the last three years in our country when now everyone's Christians are so upset. Wow. Where is look at our society. We're so post and anti Christian now and all that, it's terrible, and we're having no hope.

The last three years is the first three years, first any year since the 50s when evangelical church attendance, people by believing churches, has actually gone up for three years in a row.

I don't get up here and be really political. Not that I don't believe that we should be a part of politics. But we also had 6,100 people come to Christ last year.

What happens is when we're in Babylon, people actually see the Lord. And one of the you know what's been driving the last three years? Young males. It's happening in England too. First time since World War I

church attendance has gone up there. And and and and why? Young males. Because you know what happened? It's the same thing. Said when society imploded in on themselves, basically I was only half joking.

You're gonna do this till Gen Z takes over. You got a younger generation that was sick if they saw how it didn't work, didn't work, didn't work. And we've lived in a culture that, yeah, it's become post Christian. We've lived in a culture that for years,

years, the idea of what a man should be biblically has been eviscerated. Eviscerated.

And a lot of the young men that I've talked to, I've seen them coming back to church because they're like, it ain't working. All this confusion out there ain't working. I need to find something. And you know what's happening? The real battle is not politics. The real battle is are they coming to Jesus or are they coming to Andrew Tate?

And if you don't know who that is, you don't wanna look it up. It's crazy. But that's what's happening. They're looking for the mooring. So if so if my here's my my my my my two cents on this. Then why do we think the battle is let's keep the culture and do all this when it's actually

the Lord that comes in in the midst of the chaos? And that's when things change. And then shortly, what happens is enough lives get changed like that, and then the culture becomes different. People coming to Christ is what took down the Roman Empire in many ways. And then Christianity dominated the Holy Roman Empire,

And it became more about control than people coming to Christ.

And that's what I'm saying. Don't blend the missions. And here's why. Because when we blend that, it it it well, I actually have a list here. Don't try to I'll go too long again. What happens when we do it? The churches loses clarity. People come and go, what are we really about?

The church sounds partisan before it sounds Christian. Did I say that we there's things that scriptures say that, you know what, if I'm a Christian, should probably look at it this way? There are, and we should learn those.

But when you lead with those, people come in and says, oh, so there's this checklist of things I gotta do. And so it confuses outsiders. The church trades disciple making for culture war energy. That's what I talked about. I mean, I'm just if you look in the New Testament,

Jesus didn't make a lot of talk about politics. He attacked what the problem is, but he never really went after it. And then people say, well, there was a dictatorship you couldn't do back then. Jesus had no problem attacking a dictatorship.

I mean, he had he had but what he wouldn't do is when someone tried to bait him into having a political debate in front of everybody, he just wouldn't take it.

They brought up, hey, should we pay taxes? What's what what do you think scriptural what's the and and and this was the Pharisees. They were goading him into this because they want him to say something against Rome. And he was like, homie, don't play that game. He goes, let me see a coin. Whose face is on that?

He's like, Caesar. Right. Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's. That's the point. And and when we blend it, it's weird. Jesus never said, go and control culture. He said go make disciples. But here's the weird thing, when you make disciples that's the only way you actually ever do change culture.

That's why the political way is in many ways the easier way for Christians to go. Because it has the added benefit of it keeps things the way I like it. And then external compliance gets confused with inner transformation.

Bottom line, when you confuse it, the goals get mixed up. The problem isn't the things we do. When when when when when government gets blended, when I see things where they're, you know, political rally where they do worship and all that, the worship's great. They talk about Jesus great. I don't have a problem with that at all. They actually say good things. My problem is what's the goal of that moment?

What's the goal of that moment? If you're ever to put it, the goal is the politics. That's always the goal at the end of it. It's we're rallying to get Christians so they'll vote this way so we can get empowered. The rally is about that. That's the ultimate goal. And so it's You can do all the right actions,

but if you have the wrong goal, that's not good. Let me let me give you an example to make it easier for us guys. I'll give us a sports example. Imagine, if you will, the Cardinals actually got a good quarterback. And and and we signed someone that's amazing. He had all these attributes. He wasn't a hobbit.

He had the habits of a leader and the work ethic of a leader that wants to develop even more. And he got there early, learned the playbook already, invites all of the receivers and tight ends to hang out with him in preseason

on his own dime to really learn and get chemistry together. He's doing all the he's showing up at public appearances. He's doing all the coolest things. At that moment, don't you go, there's some hope. There's some hope in this moment. That would be awesome, right? But then the season starts and you realize two things.

One, he only signed a one year contract. And two, they keep losing games, but he plays awesome and he doesn't seem upset by it. He's joking around at the press conference and all that. What does that tell you guys that know sports?

Does he plan on really building a culture and taking the Cardinals to their ultimate goal of getting to the Super Bowl and being the best? Or does he plan to have one good statistical season and get into a bidding war and then get a team that has better owners to sign them?

Right actions. Wrong goal.

That's why I think God doesn't talk about some of these things.

I have no problem with Christianity being a part of the political landscape. And I think we should be involved. So don't hear what I'm not saying. What I'm saying is in the hearts of it, just like like what happened with Isaiah.

When we see the Lord in these moments, we gotta see the Lord and deal with our own heart. And our own heart is, why do I care about the politics? What do I think it's gonna do? What is the goal in it?

Because if the goal is we have to do that to win, we have to take back the culture or we're doomed, we have to get this to really move the ball forward, then we will be fearful, frustrated,

and going after the wrong goal tends to make us We do it in an angry way. We look like the world when we're on Facebook. We post things that are crazy. We just act like the world does.

Even if we're gonna be a part of civil discourse and talk about it, we need to talk about it in the way Christ would talk about it. Like, for example, we can't bury our heads, but we're also not supposed to bury our enemies.

The Bible says pray for your enemies. Pray for your leaders. It doesn't qualify pray for the ones that you like and pray against the ones. Pray for them because God directs the hearts of all leaders. He directs their hearts like he directs a river. God's in control of of of time.

And so what we should be doing instead of getting fearful is to faithfully pray for them instead of doing what I like to do, pray on them. I I'm just like you. I would rather It's it's so much more fun to rip on stuff than it is to lift it up.

And that's where it gets confusing when we don't do this. So in other words, we we should ask ourselves this. Am I trying to fix people through laws and outrage or loving them enough to point them to Jesus who alone can renew their hearts?

So in the end, just to be super clear, because I don't need anyone to hear what I'm not saying, let me put this list up. Bottom line, here's the recommendation on what to do with with politics. Engage politically. Don't expect politics to save.

As as Maverick Mitchell would say, just trying to control the expectations here. Care about justice, but do not lose your peace. Vote, speak, participate as citizens, discuss it, have healthy arguments about it. All that's good.

Even in small groups, you can say, hey, how does this I'm struggling on voting here. Is there anything scriptural again? Instead of everyone getting persecuted, oh, you gotta do it this way, and getting them all heated, just share, well, here's what I've learned and here here here's what how I kinda viewed it and went down that road. Have good conversations.

Took off there. Didn't really know the last point. Part of it. What did I say here? I can't remember now. It was the last part of that. Oh, there it is. It came back magically. Refuse entanglement that distracts from Christ's mission. There you go.

That's what I'm saying. Because that's what I think scripture says. And this is this Isaiah passage,

I wanna just read before we close down here what it says in John 12. It says, but despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still not believe in him. This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted. Lord, who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?

But the people couldn't believe. For as Isaiah also said, the Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts so that their eyes cannot see and their hearts cannot understand and they cannot turn to me and have me heal them. Once again,

just the presence of what Jesus taught and stuff, it just it just He didn't force them to be that way. Just was. And if you study biblical history, you know that why most people turned away from Jesus. He got huge crowds beginning. But when they realized he wasn't gonna be a political messiah,

he wasn't gonna just fix their economy, get rid of Rome, deal with that stuff on the external, he came to actually rescue us from the real problem ourselves, they turned against him. He says Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah's glory.

Many people did believe him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders, but they wouldn't admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. Political power. For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.

Jesus shouted to the crowds, if you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me.

I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all you put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. I will not judge those who hear me but don't obey me, for I've come to save the world and not judge it. Why? When we take the political rant as Christians, we actually act like we're judging the world.

Jesus didn't even say he was gonna judge the world this go around. Why should we go? We're not supposed to judge because we we we should we should be like Isaiah. I am a man of un of filthy, unclean lips, and I live amongst a people of filthy, unclean lips.

We're not here to say, I am the righteous one and you're the wrong one. We're here to say, I found the way out. This is where life is really at. But all who reject me and my message will be judged on that day of judgment by the truth I have spoken.

See, what will get judged, what we end is this, did you ever see the Lord and trust in his love and his grace and go? Because if you're not, you're gonna die in your sin. Politics, government cannot do that. It can't. I don't speak on my own authority. The father who has sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.

And I know his commands lead to eternal life, so I say whatever the father tells me to say. And I pray hard. I I study his word. I try to model what Jesus just said there.

I'm just trying to open this up and say, God, what do you have to say about this? And what we've seen in his word, what he said is, I think many of us are struggling with fear, frustration, anger, disappointment, even thinking I don't think this Christianity thing, I don't get it, is because

God planted a longing in your heart for eternity for him and for a real relationship and what real life is. And we're trying to fulfill it with things like pleasure and work and political control and cultural change. We're trying to externally make it work. And he says, it's never enough. Only I am.

And then the churches, we confuse it when we start trying to make it about the same external things, and it's not gonna work. It's not. We need to see the Lord, and what we need to be drinking is living water, not salt water. In 1945, the US Navy sent a ship called the USS Indianapolis on a top secret mission.

It delivered the first atomic bomb. And they didn't tell anyone. Only the naval high command knew, a handful of people. And they took off, they dropped it off where they should, and then disappeared back into the Philippine Sea. No one in that area, no naval personnel, they had no idea the ship was even out there.

And on its way back, it got torpedoed by a Japanese sub and it went down. Several 100 of the crew died, eleven ninety five crew, only 900 of them even got into the water. And then they started to have a problem at first. It was sharks. There's an eerie scene in the movie Jaws that talks about it.

And and they started getting attacked and killed by sharks. But after a while, that wasn't their only danger. They started to realize how to defend off the sharks and slow down as they drifted. The problem that ended up killing more people at the other end of it was dehydration because

the naval high command didn't realize they hadn't showed up and didn't even know to say they were missing for like three or four days. Then they had to start looking for them. So they had no water even though they're surrounded and floating in water.

And what happened is men started to look around and they were dying of thirst. And they saw this water and they started drinking it to quench their thirst. And people tried to stop them. Mother goes, you can't do that. That will not rehydrate you. That will dehydrate you.

That will they don't take you down. And and and then guys would fight it. Would drink it. Then what happened is the guys that drank the salt water started to get more delusional.

And then they started I wouldn't discount many of the men. They started having this weird they'd look down in the water and go, look. There's the Indianapolis. It's right under the water there.

And we could go, I see fresh water. I see milk. I see food. Let's go to the let's go get on the ship. And they would dive under the water, swim like into the darkness of it, disappear, and they would just drink in the water and die.

Do you realize three hundred and sixteen men survived? So a lot of them died from sharks and dehydration. But the three hundred and sixteen men that did survive had one quality they didn't do. None of them drank the salt water. Everyone that drank salt water died.

And that's really what God is trying to tell us with all of these things that are never enough. Not just politics, work, this, all the things we've been looking at. He says, it's salt water solutions to a fresh water problem. Fresh water, the living water who is Jesus,

is the only answer to what we're trying to get all these other things to do. And I'm telling you, it's so clear. That is where many of your emotions are coming from. Many of your fears, many of your frustrations, many of your angers, many of you like, Bill needs to talk about this,

is really coming from the fact that you think we should drink the salt water. And some of you, you just dive deeper into it. And you're going down on the wires thinking that's the answer. It'll never be the answer. Of course, it has its place.

Of course, we should be involved in the government. Of course, we wanna pray for it. We wanna vote. We wanna make it the best at restraining evil and the best government promoting good that ever lived. Of course, we want that.

But that's not the mission and that's not the answer to the things that are making you frustrated or fearful.

And that's why I don't talk about saltwater solutions. My job is to bring Jesus in front of us and look at the living freshwater solution. The ultimate, the eternal answer. And maybe if we just put these things in the right place,

I'm not saying those of you that are really politically out, you love it, you're into it, I'm not saying stop caring about it. It's just what would happen if for your testimony,

for your heart, for your emotion, for the way that relationships are treated when there's disagreements on this, what would happen if you just put it in the right place? Now you can go after governmental change, but still have a great testimony and opportunity to get people to see Jesus.

What would happen if we did that?

What can happen in your heart? Father God, I thank you, Lord, for you love us so much. So God, I just I I I just I just pray for myself and everyone here that we would whenever we're rocked by anything, not just political things, but anything in this world that just wants to make us frustrated or fearful,

that we could just have a moment like Isaiah did, where we see you and your glory and your love. And we can we can embrace the gospel of that that that that burning coal that touches our lips and changes our hearts. And in that encounter to be reminded of that, we can then walk through the problems

trusting you as our hope. Lord, that's my prayer for me and everyone in this room and anyone watching online. And I pray it in the mighty name of Jesus, amen. Hey, I love you guys so much.

Thank you so much for joining us for church online this weekend. You can stay connected with everything happening here at Rock Point on our social media or by visiting rockpoint.io.