A couple of years ago Kendra and I engaged in some home renovation. Our house has a wide-open space where the kitchen, a dining area, and a hearth room all flow into one another. For several years we had been dissatisfied with the look and feel of those rooms. In our minds we had a vision for the way the three rooms should look and feel. Finally, we decided to turn that vision into reality. We renovated. First, we removed what wasn’t working and what wasn’t appealing. We tore the linoleum out of the kitchen and the dining area. We ripped out the carpet from the hearth room. And I demolished a half-wall which had separated the dining area from the hearth room. Having removed what wasn’t working and what wasn’t appealing, we added things which were more attractive and effective. We had warm brown tile laid on the floor of all three rooms. We purchased a new dining set and a new desk for the area. And now we are much happier with all three spaces.
During the next four Sunday mornings I’m going to speak about life-renovation. It is possible to do in our lives what Kendra and I did in our house. It’s possible, working together with God, to remove things about our lives that are unappealing and ineffective and replace them with things that are more attractive and effective. We’re going to focus on four areas of life-renovation: our character, our relationship with God, our relationships with others, and our money. What I hope to do is give you a vision for what your life could be like in 2011 in each of these areas and provide you the opportunity to make that vision a reality.
Before we move into this morning’s project—character—I want to introduce a model for life-renovation. This model is inspired by one of the individuals in the Bible who experienced some of the greatest life-renovation ever. His name was Paul. There was a time when Paul was selfish, arrogant, violent, intolerant, judgmental, and impatient. But through partnership with God, Paul was transformed into a man who was generous, humble, gentle, welcoming, accepting, and patient. Paul gives a hint at how this transformation happened in Phil. 3: 7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 17Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. (Phil. 3:7-17 ESV).
I want to tease out of Paul’s testimony some principles for spiritual renovation. The four principles I’ll share are my summary of Paul’s words and other words by authors like Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and John Ortberg.
First, life-renovation happens best when our focus not on our mistakes but on our Master. When it comes to life-renovation, many of us tend to focus on our mistakes. We get bogged down in how many times we’ve lost our temper, how many mornings we haven’t prayed, or how many people we haven’t served. We focus on our mistakes. As a result, we get discouraged. But notice what Paul does. Paul forgets what lies behind and strains toward what is ahead. In other words, Paul keeps foremost in his mind the vision of life which Jesus has given him. When Paul fails to achieve that vision, he puts that mistake in the past and keeps his focus on the goal.
Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus write that “People move in the direction of their most dominant thought.” If all you think about is your character failures, or your lack of Bible reading, or how you misspent your money, you may actually keep moving in that direction. You may just keep repeating the same mistakes. But if you focus on a compelling and positive vision for what your life could be, you will move in that direction.
Dallas Willard writes that change in life takes place in three steps summarized by the letters V, I, M. First, he says, we have to embrace a Vision of the kind of change we want to happen. Then, we make an Intentional decision that we’re going to pursue that vision. Finally, we determine the Means for living out that vision. Change begins with Vision. That’s how it was for Paul. He kept his eyes on Jesus and on the vision Jesus had for his life.
The place to begin with character, your spiritual life, your relationships with others, or your approach to money is to focus not on your mistakes but on your Master. Each Sunday, I hope to inspire you with Jesus’ vision for what your life could be like in these areas.
Second, life-renovation happens best when our focus is not on earning but on effort. I’ll be talking a lot of about steps we can take to partner with God in changing our lives. It is easy, however, to think that these steps earn us credit with God. The more efforts we undertake to renovate our lives, the more God loves us. Paul, however, rejects this thinking. Paul writes that we’ve been given a righteousness—a right standing with God—that did not come through law, through human effort, but through Jesus. Any language about effort in this series is not meant to point in the direction of legalism. We’ve been freely given a right standing with God, and no amount of renovation is going to make God love you more.
But while God is opposed to earning, as Dallas Willard writes, he is not opposed to effort. Twice Paul writes about how he “presses on” and once he describes how he is “straining forward.” This is the language of effort. If we want to experience change in our character, our relationship with God, our relationships with others, or our approach towards money, it will require intense effort.
But it is effort done in partnership with God. John Ortberg uses a raft, a rowboat, and a sailboat to illustrate. Imagine that the shoreline on the opposite side of a lake represents where you’d like to be in your character, or your faith, or your relationships with others. How do you get to that shore? You could jump onto a raft and assume that God’s going to do all the work for you. But you’d just end up drifting aimlessly. Alternatively, you could jump into a rowboat and assume that you’ve got to do all the work. So you row and row, but eventually you burn out. What you need is a sailboat. There is hard work for you to do in the sailboat. But ultimately, the wind carries you to the other shore. You and the wind co-labor. You and God will co-labor to achieve true life-change in these areas.
Third, life-renovation happens best when our focus is on the compass rather than on the clock. When we focus on the clock, our question is “How fast am I going?” How fast can I experience the change I want? But when we focus on the compass, our question is “In what direction am I headed?” We don’t care how fast change is happening. What we care about is whether progress is being made. Too often we get discouraged because we’re not growing in prayer quick enough or becoming generous fast enough. But the real issue is whether we are making progress. Are we moving in the right direction?
By the time Paul writes his letter to the Philippians, he has been a Christian for about thirty years. In spite of three decades of life in Christ, Paul can say that he still hasn’t obtained his goal or become perfect. This, however, does not discourage him. His focus is not on the clock. His focus is on the compass. What matters to Paul is the direction his life is headed, not how fast he’s heading there.
Our culture is oriented around quick and easy. We want to overcome lust in one week. We want to become more kind in ten days. But true life-renovation is not quick and easy. It is slow and steady. What matters is the compass. Are we moving in the right direction, slowly and steadily?
Malcom Gladwell in his book Outliers writes this: “The emerging picture from studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert in anything…In study after study of composers, basketball players, chess players, master criminals and what have you, this number comes up again and again…” It takes ten thousand hours to achieve mastery in an area of life. If you want to become a master at praying, it takes ten thousand hours of practice. If you want to become master at generosity, it takes ten thousand hours of practice. If you pray 1 hour a day, it may take 27 years to master that habit. If you work 30 minutes a day on your generosity, it may take 54 years to master that habit. Our focus has got to be on the compass, not on the clock.
Finally, life-renovation happens best when our focus is not on trying harder but on training harder. You will not overcome lust or pride by just trying hard. You will not experience growth in your relationships by just trying hard. What is needed is training. Training allows us to slowly improve in increments. We understand this principle when it comes physical fitness. If you show up in December and want to run the Saint Jude Marathon, you might try really hard. But if you haven’t trained, all your trying won’t get you across the finish line. What’s needed is training. You need the opportunity to slowly improve your running ability in increments. The same is true when it comes to Jesus’ vision for our character, our relationship with God, our relationships with others, and our approach towards money. We need to engage in training. We need some ways to slowly improve over time. Spiritual disciplines are one way of training. Each Sunday, we’ll explore some of these.
Paul hints at this principle when he urges us to “keep our eyes on those who walk according to the example.” One small step toward life-change is to find someone living the kind of life you want to live and to start watching them. Let their example inspire and instruct you. That’s a kind of training you can do.
With those principles in mind, let’s turn to the first area of life-renovation: our character. It is possible to experience radical change in our character. One of our elders, Barry Mitchell, shared with me that he once had a problem with anger. If someone he interacted with at the office didn’t do their work or lied to him or was incompetent, he got irritated and frustrated. But he says over time, with God’s help, he’s become a different person. Now he’s able to accept people where they are. He’s able to be patient and sensitive. He’s a changed man in that part of his character. And that life-renovation can happen for all of us.
The place to begin is with Jesus’ and God’s vision for our character. In at least five places in Scripture, Jesus and God paint a portrait of contrasts when it comes to character. They reveal an anti-vision—the character they do not wish us to have. And they reveal a true vision—the character they do wish us to have. I’ve included all five texts on your handout this morning. Let’s briefly visit three of them. As we gaze at them, I want to you prayerfully discern your answer to this question: What is the one character-renovation you struggle the most with/most desire? That is, when we look at the anti-vision, circle on your sheet one of those character flaws you struggle with. Or, when we look at the true vision, circle on your sheet one of those character traits you desire.
The first character portrait comes from Rom. 12:9-21. Here is the anti-vision, the character flaws God wishes us to remove: Tolerating evil, being slothful, being haughty, being wise in your own sight, repaying evil with evil, being vengeful, being overcome by evil. Circle one of those flaws which you struggle with. Here is the true vision, the character traits God wishes us to build: Loving in a genuine way, holding on to the good, showing brotherly affection, showing honor, being fervent in spirit, being joyful, being patient, being prayerful, being generous, showing hospitality, blessing those who persecute you, living in harmony in with others, associating with the lowly, doing what is honorable, living peaceably with others, overcoming evil with good. Circle one of those traits you desire to have.
A second character portrait comes from Col. 3:5-14. Here is the anti-vision, the character flaws God wishes us to tear down: Being sexually immoral, being impure, being controlled by passions, having evil desires, coveting, being angry, being wrathful, acting maliciously, being involved in slander, speaking obscenities, lying. Circle one of those flaws you struggle with. Here is the true vision, the character traits God wishes us to install: Being compassionate, showing kindness, being humble, being meek, demonstrating patience, bearing with others, forgiving others, loving. Circle one of those traits you desire to have.
A final character portrait comes from Matt. 5-7. Here is the anti-vision, the character flaws God wishes us to remove: Being angry, having lust, acting deceptively, being vengeful, being prideful, being greedy, being worried, being critical. Circle one of those flaws you struggle with. Here is the true vision, the character traits God wishes us to build: Being peaceful, being pure, being honest, forgiving, being humble, being generous, trusting, being considerate. Circle one of those traits you desire to have.
That’s the vision. That’s the kind of character it’s possible to have. That’s the dominant thought Jesus wants in your mind. That’s what he urges you to make every effort to attain. That’s the direction he wants your compass pointing toward. That’s the event he wants you to train for.
And let me remind you again that it is possible, with God’s help, to achieve that vision. Highland member Claudia Garrett was recently honored by HopeWorks as a Star Graduate. Years ago Claudia battled with addiction. The struggle was so deep that it led Claudia into criminal activity. But through the help of a community of people at HopeWorks, Highland, and elsewhere, through the power of God’s Spirit, and through effort on her own part, Claudia’s character was transformed. She’s been clean and sober for 14 years. She is a licensed alcohol and drug abuse counselor and is an HIV/AIDS counselor and tester. God’s using her to help others who are now where she once was. Deep and lasting character-renovation is possible. God can transform you into the kind of person revealed in the texts we’ve looked at this morning.
But if your character is going to experience real change this year, you’ve got to make an intentional decision to do something about it. Nothing’s going to change if you keep on doing what you have been doing. Transformation is possible, but only if you decide to make it possible.
Then, you need to decide on some small but strategic steps to help you reach for this vision. On your handout I’ve listed several things that might help you train so that your character looks more like the one envisioned in Matt. 5-7. It’s just one example. What I want you to do is identify one character area to work on this year. Then, identify a small but significant step you can take to train so that you and God will work together to experience slow and steady improvement in that area.
Joe McKenzie passed away last Tuesday. She had been a Highland member for over forty years and the loving partner and wife of long-time Highland minister Larry McKenzie. I was grateful to pray over Joe with Larry, Robin, Jeff, and Trisha a few hours before Joe passed. It was a sobering experience. There is something terribly clarifying about death. As many of us read or heard of Joe’s death on Tuesday, we were given an opportunity to see what really matters in life. As many of us gathered to pay our respects on Friday evening, we were given a chance to grasp what truly counts in life. What mattered at the end of Joe’s life was not how much money she had earned, whether she had ever appeared on national television, how large her house was, or how high on the corporate ladder she had climbed. What mattered, and what we celebrated, was the kind of loving and supportive wife she was to Larry especially when Larry was traveling the world teaching and preaching, the kind of hardworking and devoted mother she was to Robin and Trisha, the kind of sensitive and caring teacher she was for 16 years to the 1st graders at Dunbar Elementary, the kind of dedicated and compassionate servant she was as she oversaw Highland’s nursery for many years. What mattered was not what she had accomplished but who she had become. In a word, what mattered, and what we celebrated, was character. Joe McKenzie lived out God’s and Jesus’ vision for each of us. She became a human being of great and godly character. May we each go and do the same.
