Message by Chad Kelly
Introduction
Viktor Frankl
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: To choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way.
If Viktor Frankl””having endured a concentration camp””can say that, what”™s our excuse for a bad attitude?
A chaplain was speaking to a soldier on a cot in a hospital. “You have lost an arm in the great cause,” he said. “No,” said the soldier with a smile. “I didn’t lose it–I gave it.”
What an amazing attitude!
The noted English architect Sir Christopher Wren was supervising the construction of a magnificent cathedral in London. A journalist thought it would be interesting to interview some of the workers, so he chose three and asked them this question, “What are you doing?” The first replied, “I’m cutting stone for 10 shillings a day.” The next answered, “I’m putting in 10 hours a day on this job.” But the third said, “I’m helping Sir Christopher Wren construct one of London’s greatest cathedrals.”
What made the difference?
Perspective. ATTITUDE!
Today we begin a series to parallel a Bible Study that begins tomorrow evening at 6:30, entitled, “Lord, Change My Attitude”.
You see, more often than not, we live our days “clinging to the idol of a perfect life” ”¦ and “by choosing to complain, by clinging to the idol of a perfect life, you are flushing away the grace of God” (James MacDonald).
We live””I live””clinging to the idol of a perfect life.
Here”™s the catch”¦here”™s the real issue:
Is “a perfect life” real? Is this even a possibility? Will we ever find “a perfect life”?
Because”¦if such a life is truly attainable, then maybe we should actually reconsider the god we worship! Let”™s be honest””a “perfect life” would be pretty hard to beat, right?
But the problem is”¦that perfect life we hope for and pursue and run hard after”¦it will never be found.
Why?
Because, if we reach yesterday”™s definition of “perfect”, our discontented, greedy hearts will redefine “perfect” and we”™ll find ourselves still wanting “more”, wanting “better”, wanting “easier”, wanting “more stable” or “more ideal” or “more comfortable””¦and on and on and on.
The KEY is realizing that THERE IS NO PERFECT LIFE APART FROM GOD”™S GRACE IN JESUS!
What makes life “perfect” is grace””that takes the imperfect and less than desirable circumstances of our life and relationships and transforms them into something beautiful that God uses to change us and point others to Jesus!
And what connects us to that grace is our own choices to have a grateful attitude that embraces grace.
Attitudes are patterns of thinking that take years to form. While we can’t change our attitudes overnight, we can recognize wrong attitudes and begin working on right attitudes to take their place.
“This little light of mine” can”™t shine for Jesus if I have the wrong attitude about life!
How many of us like to hear folks complain?
(Dare to Complain Slide)
Lord, Cure My Complaining!
Philippians 2:12-15
“This little light of mine” can”™t shine for Jesus if I have the wrong attitude about life!
Philippians 2:12-15 (NLT)
12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
14 Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.
Here”™s the big picture in simple terms:
“This little light of mine” can”™t shine for Jesus if I have the wrong attitude about life!
Paul tells us that we”™re to live life reverently because God is powerfully working in us every day so that His light shines through us to the a blind world that needs to see!
And in the midst of that, Paul makes it crystal clear that our attitude in the middle of God”™s work in our lives is key to whether or not we shine for Jesus!
How is your attitude about your life right now?
God is never the source of murmuring and complaining.
When we are murmuring and complaining””or having any other bad attitude””God does not have control of our hearts!
A grateful attitude WILL lead to joyful obedience/love to Jesus that will make our “little light” shine brightly to those all around us!
“This little light of mine” can”™t shine for Jesus if I have the wrong attitude about life!
But, seriously, Chad”¦is complaining really that big of a deal?
I mean, everyone I know complains about something, it seems. And times are hard, ya know? There”™s a lot of stuff to complain about!
Listen to what Paul points out about God”™s perspective on our complaining from the history of His people, Israel.
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (NLT)
1 I don”™t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters,about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” 8 And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
9 Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10 And don”™t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
Grumbling and complaining are lumped in with idolatry and sexual immorality among the reasons that God destroyed some of His own people!
WHY? Because God takes grumbling and complaining very seriously.
Numbers 11:1
And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.
Every complaint you or I have ever uttered””either out loud or in our hearts””has been within “the hearing of the Lord”!
** Don”™t forget something about the context of what was going on in among God”™s people during this time:
God had loved them and kept them and provided for them and rescued them from slavery in Egypt”¦and was in the process of taking them to the Promised Land””that land “flowing with milk and honey”””even as the complaints rolled off their tongues, even as the grumblings spewed from their hearts!
And yet, they complained!
How long is the list of God”™s goodness to us that we choose to forget/ignore in order to complain?
MacDonald
He considers our grousing an act of unbelief directed toward Him. He”™s the One who provides us life and breath, health and security, food and drink; yet when we complain, we”™re saying that His provision isn”™t good enough. What have You done for me lately, God? And why haven”™t You done this for me? Our complaints are insults, verbalizing that we don”™t trust Him to provide, protect, and order our lives. To the Lord complaining feels like an accusation that He”™s not taking care of us”¦
”¦because that is exactly what complaining IS!
Complaining ALWAYS results from our focus on what we DON”™T have!
And our complaints stem from 3 roots that all ultimately question the goodness of God towards us (and I”™m borrowing directly from our Bible Study here):
1) Our Fleshly Desires
What fleshly sense of entitlement has fueled your complaining?
2) Our Jealousy of Others
Are you murmuring because someone besides you is getting attention or praise?
3) Our Disrespect for Authority
Do you hate being told what to do? Do you complain about those in authority over you?
Realize””God puts people in authority and it”™s His design for us to submit to them. A complaining attitude about those in authority over us reveals a deeper disdain for God”™s authority in our lives”¦and is simple rebellion against God Himself!
“This little light of mine” can”™t shine for Jesus if I have the wrong attitude about life!
Grumbling/complaining can destroy your personal witness. After all, what”™s different about your God if you gripe just like everyone else around you?
Grumbling/complaining can destroy a church”™s witness. After all, though we can”™t save anyone, aren”™t we those who know the Savior of the world, the Source of all grace and mercy, the Love of our souls, the Fountain of living water, the Bread of life, the Redeemer and the Friend who will never leave us nor forsake us?
If we SAY we know HIM and do what we do as a church FOR HIM”¦then if our community hears complaining and grumbling in our ranks, how believable do you think the Message about Who Jesus is going to be to those who need to hear it?
“This little light of mine” can”™t shine for Jesus if I have the wrong attitude about life!
The KEY is realizing that THERE IS NO PERFECT LIFE APART FROM GOD”™S GRACE IN JESUS!
What makes life “perfect” is grace””that takes the imperfect and less than desirable circumstances of our life and relationships and transforms them into something beautiful that God uses to change us and point others to Jesus!
“This little light of mine” can”™t shine for Jesus if I have the wrong attitude about life!
It’s not about your actions. It’s not about your circumstance. It’s not about your relationships. It’s not even about your life’s calling. It’s all about your attitude! You can stop the flow of negativity that causes happiness to hemorrhage, and you can start the flow of good attitudes that cause abundant joy to flourish.
HOW? By choosing to focus on grace and be thankful for it!
And we”™ll focus on that next week.
Conclusion
Both the hummingbird and the vulture fly over our nation’s deserts. All vultures see is rotting meat, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. The vultures live on what was. They live on the past. They fill themselves with what is dead and gone. But hummingbirds live on what is. They seek new life. They fill themselves with freshness and life. Each bird finds what it is looking for. We all do.
Steve Goodier, Quote Magazine, in Reader’s Digest, May, 1990.
“This little light of mine” can”™t shine for Jesus if I have the wrong attitude about life!
Are you going to live as a vulture, feeding on the dung of complaints which accuse God of never being/doing enough for you?
Or will you be a hummingbird, feeding on the flowers of gratitude which praises Jesus for being, truly, a gracious plenty for you in every way?
“This little light of mine” can”™t shine for Jesus if I have the wrong attitude about life!