Spiritual Simplicity - In the Name of Love, Part 1

In the name of love. We've all done some pretty stupid things. I can tell some pretty embarrassing stories about in the name of love.

I love someone and then I just did something absolutely idiotic today were to help you not make some of those very same day with thanks for joining us for this Christmas Day. Addition of living will be good with dripping Living on the Edges of international discipleship ministry featuring the Bible teaching of dripping picture continues a series simplicity doing less loving more revealing how something very good, very honorable actually be the worst relationships. It's about after the teaching trips always with us and student brings more personal thoughts and application message, so be sure to stay with us for that you have a Bible open another first Corinthians 13 joint your pores message in the name of love.

What were a series of Chinook called spiritual simplicity and has anyone noticed that each of the titles of the messages have been the title of the song have you picked that up right you know we had Tina Turner. What's love got to do with it. All you need is love and well I'm kinda on a roll so this is to be the title of song. What I love is that some of the songs I had to preface it with like if you were born you know, maybe for this on an oldies station. Will this is one of those where you may have heard the band play it as you came in and was interesting. Some people on the sort of 50 and up are gone. I don't think I know that song and most people in the 45 and undergone minutes you to. I can't believe the plane that went to church. You guys over here like this. The title of the song is actually the most son song sung by you to and in either concerts is one of the early hits it got to number three in the UK charts and number five on the Dutch charts and then it grew and its popularity. It's been on three different albums. It's a of the according to Rolling Stone, which is the authority on rock 'n' roll of all time best rock 'n' roll songs. It's 388/500 and according to VH1 out of the top hundred songs ever.

It's number 38. You just didn't know I would know that kind of stuff that you what's interesting about this song is apparently at the melody and things they were in a jam session why they were in a studio in Hawaii and later the lyrics came out and the lyrics are about a famous person and that but if you read the lyrics I actually read the lyrics and if you try to figure out what this half is about. It's almost impossible.

In fact got a quote here from Bono who says you know when we started to put on the album.

The lyrics are really sketchy and when I read and he says what in the heck is this talking about. This is just a bunch of vowels thrown together, but don't make a lot of sense. Now this is his own comment on the lyrics but the producers of the song said you know what, that's really true doesn't make a lot of sense, but for non-English speakers. The different words that it has to be like an impressionistic painting and so it's interesting.

So here we have a song in the name of love that at the core of the lyrics. If you read the lyrics. They don't make a lot of sense and and in your thinking okay chip you really need to make the connection here soon about what this has to do with, you know, living simply hears what hit me.

All of us in the name of love do things that don't make sense.

I mean, in the name of love. Sometimes we do very very good things, but they just don't make sense.

And so I came across theirs is a little poem on if you at your notes out here some things that in the name of love and by the way there's no criticism here. This is this is like genuine and sincere in the name of love.

I really want to do what's best to really want to care for people want to be a good person, but in the name of love we give and give and give some more. Yet still feel guilty for not giving more in the name of love. We get up early and come home late, leaving little time or energy to relate in the name of love are always on the go, but love requires the gear of slow in the name of love.

We start them early so there will be a star and then we spend our weekends in the car in the name of love.

We buy them computers and fancy phones only discover they feel all alone in the name of love. We celebrate their role in the traveling team and wonder later why the church there, rarely seen, and in the name of love. We make success.

What we reward, but show little passion for God's word and the Lamb of love we hold with honest feedback from a friend. Then watch them repeat the negative consequences of their actions yet again. Now if you went through that. What I can tell you is there's a lot of unit look at the first one isn't good to be giving and generous will yeah and in the site is not good, work hard, get up early if you have to stay late. Yeah wasn't good to be on the go and be active that you will be a couch potato right that's a good thing isn't it good that you stardom. I guess early and you want to develop their skills in the motive is great.

There, you know, heck coming, don't you want your kids to have a computer and it's the agent need to learn and no phone to keep them safe and there's a lot of really good things with a lot of really good motives that if the means becomes the end or if there's a little shift over time. In the name of love in our minds and hearts and motives.

We often think were doing some really good things that produce some really bad results. And that's the question I want to address this morning here in part for why do so many good things so often result in so many bad lives. I want to do a quick review before we talk about how love responds to misplaced priorities. The whole issue mean I'm getting emails from people that are so encouraging.

I got an email from a lady who said I just want you to know I had a number of opportunities this week to absorb the blow when people hurt me and respond with a hug. I got email from someone said you know something.

I had a situation this week where all the circumstances, look like while really bad stuff happening and I chose to believe the best about this person's motives and so let's do a quick review is the issue isn't. Someday, some way that we try to be more loving these are the kind of things we have to practice in real time situation number one is how does love respond to hurts. The truth is love is patient and kind.

The practice we learn is when you're hurt and wounded rejected or ignored. Love never the pillow absorbs a blow it's not fair it hurts you rejected. But then by God's grace returns a hug situation number two was how love responds to differences.

The text says love doesn't envy doesn't boast it's not rude is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs. The practices love celebrates differences in member the principal about loving love refuses to compare any time you compare yourself with another person in any area it always leads to carnality. You are who you are in the station you are in the season your living by the grace of God. If I compare upwardly.

I'm prone to envy. If I compare downwardly and prone to arrogance love chooses to do another, but celebrates that's where they're at.

That's what they have. That's how they're made. That's their gifts. That's their season third situation is how does love respond to failure. The truth was versus 608 love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, it always trust it always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

The practices love responds to failure. Member with both truth and grace when people fail you when your mate fails you when your best friend fails you when people don't show up when you fail other people.

When you fail God love. This is how responds it doesn't put it under the rug. It doesn't act like it doesn't happen it doesn't stuff it down it doesn't pay him back later. Love responds with truth. This is the truth about that failure. It's very real. It was very painful and it was wrong and it also responds with grace and I still care about you and I want to forgive you and this can be made whole. And so we learned that the practice of giving truth and grace was about boat bearing all things, believing all things. Hoping all things, and enduring all things. Now the apostle Paul is going to address these Corinthians because they are self-centered, they are more concerned about who does what it who has what and their priorities in the church are absolutely out of whack.

They are so into in some cases my needs that they're suing one another there so interested in being first in being out front that there doing some spiritual practices and literally just dissing other people that there there in this deal where their priorities there exalting some of the gifts and exalting some of what is supposed be in the church that God talks about, but they put it up here in the things that really matter. The totally neglecting. So the apostle Paul is in a right tomb situation number four. How does love respond to misplaced priorities. You can jot that your notes if you would, and he answers, here's the truth. Love never fails where there are prophecies will cease where there's tons they will be stilled, where there is knowledge, it will pass away. Then he gives us the reason for we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when the perfection comes in, put a circle around perfection. We will come back and address that when the perfection comes, the imperfect disappears and now he gives us an illustration he's going to give us some help about how to get your priorities in order.

He says when I was a child I talked like a child, I thought like a child and I reasoned like a child when I became a man I put away childish things in your notes where you underline the word talked underline the word think and underline the word recent. There are three key key verbs. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror.

Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I'm fully known and now these three remain faith, hope and love but the greatest of these is love. Now it is poetic. It is beautiful.

It is on plaques everywhere in the world it is it is set at weddings. It said in you, romantic settings you need understand what he's addressing here is not sort of foo foo movie GUI how to feel about one another. He's correcting misplaced priorities in the church and he's giving them very clear guidelines about what's really important and how to get some of those things even I'm just can assume the best of the Corinthian Simon assume they really wanted to do the right thing. But just like in the name of love. We do things are kinda silly and stupid and don't get us there. So today so that the practice here is love ruthlessly refuses to allow temporal good things to crowd out the eternal best things and we put a box around. I mean, I chose these words very carefully ruthlessly refuses put a box around that price and I want to give you a warning. What were going to talk about is where a lot of the rubber really meets the road. If you want to simplify your life if you want to find yourself three months three years five years 10 years down from here and save yourself you know something I love God. Now, like I never dreamed I could experience. I have relationships like I never drink there's issues in my family that have come together that I never thought I would ever experience a lot of it is going to come down to you hearing today what God says to you and then you taking some very specific and I mean will be radical steps we will not talk about how to tweak your schedule and get five or 7% more time to do few more important things to talk about priorities that if you get serious about what God wants you can have to say to certain whole sections of your life.

You know something that's been way up here. You know what for a season. I just need to stop doing that I get a get refocused at a new level about what really really matters.

Love ruthlessly, ruthlessly, that me that me I don't want if I do that she'll get mad at me if I do that I want to do that will I get a lot of strokes out of that will that's one of my hobbies and I really think, and so you keep trying to tweak and what happens seven days later years. Overscheduled over demand overwhelmed as you were two weeks before your really smart people. If tweaking a little bit here or there was the solution you would solve this long time ago.

So let's look at okay got helpless. How do we ruthlessly refused to allow notice is not bad. Thanks the things that eat you up, that they're not bad things there temporal there really good things, but the good is always the enemy of the best. His thesis here is that love is supreme love is our number one priority. That phrase love never fails.

It's kind of the hinge. Last week we looked at it, it summarized what went before. Love never fails. It summarizes how love responds to failure and it kinda opens the door to how love responds to misplaced priorities.

The word fails 70 different times in the New Testament is translated. Love never falls.

It means love will never be corrupted. Love will never cease.

Love is permanent love last.

He saying loving God and loving people is the number one priority in your life and see what we gotta do is step back and say okay if someone picked up my schedule. If someone picked up where all my money went. If someone could pick up and read my mind about where my thoughts are when it did have something to do with my thoughts and my time and my money and my energy and my actions tell the story that while this person really loves God really loves people or what it's who they listen to my words and say this person says and thinks and actually is deluded into believing they really love God really love people. But when you look at the time their money, their dreams are schedule their energy looks like they really love themselves a lot and he really believed if you like. That's what he's dealing with the that church then and that's what is talkativeness about today. The contrast this is love is supreme love's number one priority. The best of temporal things.

The good even spiritually beneficial powerful gifts are far less important than love me isn't that exactly what he says look at look at first second half of verse eight.

There's a big word love never fails.

But but where there's prophecies will cease where there's tongues in and of themselves are going to go away where there is knowledge meaning in the great mysteries of God to the apostle Paul. If you study this book carefully member.

He told them in chapter 12 prophecy is the most important of all the gifts and now he comes back and says unit. Even that was going away.

The Corinthian's believe that tongues was the most important gift is all yours is going away.

Listen we would both agree that I may knowledge the very mystery knowledge of life and got thesis that's going to go away and those of the things those are about ministry. Those are about the kingdom of God.

I mean prophecy and tongues and knowledge and he says when second compared to love they're not the number one priority. The reason he gives us in verse nine and 10. The reason is because they don't last. There temporal could you put a line under they don't last because this is what is trying to get into their mind and into their hearts he says for we know in part, we prophesy in part. But when perfection comes when the perfect comes a lot of debate on this but the clearest explanation. Things are going to be completed when Jesus comes back. I mean, I don't mean the rapture. I don't mean when he comes back.

I mean, when the second coming of Christ. When the absolute completion and perfection of all things gets sealed. There will be need for prophecy. What we need for tongues. The knowledge won't be in part, it'll be face-to-face knowing fully. Just as we been already fully known. What he saying is look, you guys are so into arguing about and stressed and pooled in all these directions about some very good things, but what prophecy and knowledge, all they have in common is there temporal South that they don't matter at all.

It's like helping your kids learn sports an early age, or wanting to get into a good college or wanting to be upwardly mobile or getting some extra training or wanting to do well in your job or you know what are those those are bad things are, they mean if you if you would walk through carefully later today.

The list of things that I put on the front page of your notes. Every single one of those has a really good's is good to be giving it's good to be giving that if you give, give, give, give, give, give, and don't honor God and take some time to get renewed then guess what you just feel guilty and burned out. I mean, it's good to help your kids grow, but if your whole world is traveling around in minivans and SUVs and all your weekends are taken up helping your kids hit balls and kick balls and chase balls to where you never together and connected from the heart see some good mean some very good things.

But it's sort of a wash server living in this world where you know you're not a good dad.

If you don't do this, you're not a good mom. If you don't do that mean you never can make it as a single person as you go here, go here, go here. Do this do this when you're not successful in significantly you have a bag that looks like this a lot.

It looks like this in the car. The dress like that if an units of Silicon Valley. If you don't want to get up at 530 in the morning and come home at eight at night you not a player here, you want to make it or not and and you start asking. Make what so yeah that's that's right so what do you want to make you want to make it big and go through a couple marriages make it big and have kids. I don't know your name don't care about you want to make it big and be successful and innocent people. He knows that they do in ministry there. Every time the church doors are open there here doing this and doing that I was talking on the phone with a guy from another country last night that a going to do some ministry within the future and we just got off the phone and I just cannot just do know the guys is a Harvard grad is got theology. He teaches in the seminaries in charge of this humongous the administrative side of the church about 75,000 in another country and I said just isn't one thing I could pray for you I said yeah there's one thing is there's a little picture of his daughter on Skype whittle Skype call. Yeah. And I said what is a casino. I have three almost full-time jobs and there's all this demand and my wife's very understanding that my daughters eight.

She just doesn't understand very much subordination, understand, choose what I just don't see her very often. So when you don't see her very often.

I don't see her and I work 12 to 14 hour days I'm gone early to come home late, so I just don't see her very much and this is a pastor and I know that's not right. And it's always followed by this but I said you know what when I'm I'm gonna be in your country you in the near future and what you and I get some time.

I've kinda lived where I was tempted and struggle with some of the things I for kids and let's let let's make that part of our little time together. Not in. I didn't tell him buddy.

I'm going to build trust with you and I'm in a spiritually kick your rear end is hard and as long as I can and I'm gonna look you in the eye and say if you think this good things that you're doing for God is in the replace of being the dad that you're the only dad she's got didn't understand how good things very good things in the name of love produce a really bad lives I'll take he's he's can have a little girl that doesn't like God, let alone love God and will wonder why the church for God took her daddy away from her and some of you can have kids wonder why the name of your company did that your drive did that or golf did that or your hobby did that with the speed of your life did that or how be just because you could say I want I want please please yeah yeah yeah and you cave into them. Guess what you can give people what they want, but if you don't get what they need. They like you for giving them what they want now than they hate you later for not giving them what they need. That's the difference between parents and kids picture that help me with this was a guy named Jim definitely gave a message that really help me had an illustration that I like to just deal because you know there's part of this theological and you say what what you mean will fade away. They don't matter. It's not like those good things you're doing don't matter. It's not like ministry doesn't matter.

So what's it mean, what's the picture and I love illustration he gave.

He said imagine that we are having a big party. Everyone in the church big part of all the services come together and you know we we rent a park and I me were going to have ice cream and Reagan have food and a barbecue were to celebrate this would be great music, and so we get like four or five of our best artists we say this is can be a celebration of what God's doing adventure and we want you to get this 2000 block piece of ice and we want you to create a sculpture that I mean gives glory to God just magnifies artistic talent and ability that you have. And here's this big room with about 30' x 40' in this big block of ice and you know that in there and there were chainsaws and pinched to so they work for weeks and then they put on these rollers and were thousands of us and were having music and here it is this beautiful fountain and it's out in 100°. And who knows, maybe Chocolate coming out of it or something. But you know there's Swan's and MMS just an amazing deal right and I and and you know we stop it all is going why what can you believe that believe what you see on it.

That is the most amazing how do they do that with ice right in a world just like this.

Three hours later parties over what they did was wonderful. Their energy was wonderful.

We appreciated but 3 to 4 hours later. Some of us are volunteering cleanup chairs were picking up the paper the Swan only has one arm the things melting by dusk a handful of us are just cleaning up and where that beautiful ice sculpture used to be. There's just puddles of water see it's not that what you are doing or what I'm doing doesn't have any value. It's that it doesn't have any value that lasts. And there's some of us will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. I just say this from God's loving heart to you as a warning and you will spend your time and your energy doing very good things that you think with all your heart and the name of love in your relationships in your families and in your work and you'll get near the end of your life, or worse. By the time if you have a family were your kids are grown and what you will look back on is just pools of water, but have no significance that are going nowhere and you wish you could turn back before we even go I just want to stop and I want to ask you what aspect your life is like the ice sculpture means not that is not beautiful. It's not that is not something that looks pretty cool or takes a lot of energy and effort, but it doesn't last. At the end of the day it's really trivia. You know sometimes God brings us some emergencies some things to jolt our life because were talking about how love response to misplaced priorities and will have them to 1° or another, and after many years of being a pastor I have a pretty good rhythm of my life in terms of priorities and when I study and what I do and but I like everybody else you know you get tired and you slip in the patterns where you watch little too much TV your you know, go into a little denial and spend more time on a hobby doing this or that and it was interesting as soon as I found my wife had breast cancer.

It was like I know I needed to simplify and I'm not not stop doing things that were wrong. I just knew you know for this season. I just want to watch any TV for the season not trivia for the season I decided to unite my devotions in the morning for this season. I decided you before I go to bed. I'm just gonna read to the Gospels, I need to draw near to God. I need to to purify and clarify.

And I believe that's what God saying to some of you so let me ask you how much time goes into hobbies. How much time is pursuing more money and more work in and what's I can look like later. Or how many of you are just, I mean overdosed on how good you can be at this border that sportier SAT scores what school they go into knots and forbade her in and of itself, but what does that produce in the long haul. If it consumes your heart in your life. I mean how much time goes into fantasy football and and passing on YouTube funny things to other people. How much of our life just is consumed with playing and eating and watching and not asking the big question why am I here what am I to accomplish my rightly aligned with God to have peace in my heart and my loving people around me. The word amuse means means against and muse means to think amusement means to not think and if someone is rightly said in our culture were amusing ourselves to death.

Let me encourage you to take stock today to evaluate where your priorities are and then make one specific step toward clearing the decks for some extra time with God to get some clarity from him. If what should just cheer to something you want to pursue were in a series called spiritual simplicity. It's about getting perspective doing less and actually loving more to dive deeper all the resources for spiritual simplicity, CDs, free MP3s, the book and the video small group study are available right now on our website LivingontheEdge.org if you like to talk with someone about these different resources were always available at 1-888-333-6003 as we wrap up today's program. This is obviously most special day of the year we celebrate Christ's birth. And like you, there's been presence. There's been a tree. This can be all kind of things. My family will have grandkids to be a lot of paper to pick up a probably outside if it's not too cold for many of us to be a basketball on the new Kuban you know a bike that's been put together and all kind of amazing things. For some this will be distant and amazingly wonderful day for others it's going to be hard and sad and you'll struggle because this is the first Christmas without some people that you really love, but you know Christmas really is not about just the presence in the family and the relay highs. Or maybe the really loves but it's about Christ coming to love us and to love us in a way so that we could actually not be preoccupied with doing more but by loving more so I may just encourage you today may not be the best day, but as you think about between now and the first of the year to ask yourself what really matters. Not necessarily. Here's the nine new things. I'm going to do and I'm going to get in shape and go on a diet. Never miss reading my Bible. Of course we need to make some of those New Year's goals resolutions if you will, but I'm talking about something much deeper in your soul you say to the Lord you heard I want my life to count. I want to be about what really matters. I want to draw near to you which you show me the very good things in my life that are crowding you out. Would you help me understand why you came and make that more real in my heart and my life than ever before. I pray it's a very deep and blessed Christmas and whether you're in one of those highs and encouraged her a very very hard day. Here's my prayer that are living God would meet you in a very powerful way. God bless you. You know a great way to stay engaged and connected to chip and Living on the Edge is with the chip and remap.

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I'm Living on the Edge chip will continue his current series, to be sure to make plans to join us that until then, this is Steve Drewry saying Merry Christmas. Thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge