Living Generously: Embracing a Wartime Mentality for Christ
Summary
In our journey of faith, we are often confronted with the challenge of simplifying our lives to align more closely with the teachings of Jesus. This isn't about adopting a one-size-fits-all lifestyle but rather about each of us earnestly seeking to live with less so that we can give more. The principle is simple: expenses tend to rise to meet income, and without intentionality, we find ourselves just getting by, regardless of how much we earn. The call is to put a cap on our spending, to live with a wartime mentality where resources are used strategically for the cause of Christ, rather than for personal comfort.
This wartime lifestyle is not about deprivation but about prioritization. It's about moving towards need, not comfort, and streamlining our lives so that we can give generously to the work of the Kingdom. This requires hard decisions about retirement, education, and lifestyle, but it is a call to live for a cause greater than ourselves. The evangelical church faces a significant challenge in this area, as evidenced by the fact that only a small percentage of believers tithe. This lack of financial commitment limits the church's ability to extend its ministry and meet the needs of a hurting world.
Moreover, our investment in the Kingdom is the most secure and significant investment we can make. Unlike earthly investments, which are subject to market fluctuations, investments in God's Kingdom yield eternal dividends. This perspective should shape our approach to stewardship, tithing, and giving, seeing them as opportunities to invest in the most important enterprise under the sun.
In our pursuit of living like Christ, we must also embrace the full spectrum of His character. Jesus was not only gentle and loving but also bold and confrontational when necessary. We are called to imitate Christ in His entirety, which includes His righteous indignation against hypocrisy and falsehood. This imitation must be tempered with humility, recognizing our own sinfulness and the need for grace in our interactions with others.
Key Takeaways:
1. Simplifying our lives is not about adopting a monastic lifestyle but about prioritizing our resources for the Kingdom. This requires intentionality in spending and a commitment to living with a wartime mentality, where resources are used strategically for the cause of Christ. [01:24]
2. The evangelical church faces a significant challenge with financial stewardship, as evidenced by the low percentage of believers who tithe. This lack of financial commitment limits the church's ability to extend its ministry and meet the needs of a hurting world. [04:40]
3. Our investment in the Kingdom is the most secure and significant investment we can make. Unlike earthly investments, which are subject to market fluctuations, investments in God's Kingdom yield eternal dividends. [06:21]
4. In our pursuit of living like Christ, we must embrace the full spectrum of His character. Jesus was not only gentle and loving but also bold and confrontational when necessary. We are called to imitate Christ in His entirety, which includes His righteous indignation against hypocrisy and falsehood. [12:02]
5. Imitating Christ requires humility and an awareness of our own sinfulness. We must approach others with grace, recognizing that our attempts to imitate Christ are imperfect and in need of His redemptive work. [25:29]
Youtube Chapters:
[00:00] - Welcome
[00:11] - The Call to Simplify
[01:24] - Wartime Mentality
[03:01] - Moving Towards Need
[04:40] - Financial Stewardship Challenge
[06:21] - Investing in the Kingdom
[07:48] - The War for the Long Haul
[09:08] - Imitating Christ's Boldness
[12:02] - Embracing the Full Spectrum of Christ
[14:24] - The Danger of Selective Imitation
[17:11] - Public Critique and Debate
[19:45] - The Seeker-Sensitive Movement
[22:00] - Cultural Bait and Switch
[25:29] - Humility in Imitation
[30:14] - Biographies of World Upsetters
Study Guide
Bible Study Discussion Guide
Bible Reading:
1. Matthew 8:20 - "Jesus replied, 'Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.'"
2. Matthew 6:19-21 - "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
3. Galatians 6:1 - "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted."
Observation Questions:
1. What does the sermon suggest about the relationship between income and expenses, and how does this relate to the concept of a "wartime mentality"? [01:24]
2. According to the sermon, what is the current challenge faced by the evangelical church regarding financial stewardship? [04:40]
3. How does the sermon describe the nature of investments in God's Kingdom compared to earthly investments? [06:21]
4. What aspects of Jesus' character are highlighted in the sermon as important for believers to imitate? [12:02]
Interpretation Questions:
1. How might the principle of living with a "wartime mentality" influence a believer's decisions about retirement, education, and lifestyle? [03:01]
2. In what ways does the sermon suggest that financial stewardship impacts the church's ability to meet the needs of the world? [04:56]
3. How does the sermon encourage believers to view their financial contributions to the church and the Kingdom of God? [06:21]
4. What does the sermon imply about the balance between imitating Christ's gentleness and His boldness? [12:02]
Application Questions:
1. Reflect on your current lifestyle. Are there areas where you can simplify to better align with a "wartime mentality" for the Kingdom? What specific changes could you make this week? [01:24]
2. Consider your financial habits. How can you be more intentional about tithing or giving to support your church's mission? What steps can you take to start or increase your giving? [04:40]
3. Think about your investments, both financial and personal. How can you prioritize investments in the Kingdom of God over earthly ones? What is one action you can take this month to shift your focus? [06:21]
4. In what ways can you embrace the full spectrum of Christ's character in your daily interactions? Identify a situation where you can practice both gentleness and boldness this week. [12:02]
5. How can you cultivate humility and grace in your relationships, especially when addressing hypocrisy or falsehood? What is one practical way you can demonstrate this in your community? [25:29]
6. Identify a specific area in your life where you struggle with prioritization. How can you apply the sermon’s teachings to make a change in that area? [03:01]
7. Reflect on a recent interaction where you may have been quick to judge or criticize. How can you approach similar situations with more grace and understanding in the future? [25:29]
Devotional
Day 1: Prioritizing Resources for the Kingdom
In our journey of faith, we are called to simplify our lives, not by adopting a monastic lifestyle, but by intentionally prioritizing our resources for the Kingdom of God. This involves living with a wartime mentality, where our spending is strategic and purposeful, aimed at advancing the cause of Christ rather than personal comfort. By capping our expenses and focusing on what truly matters, we can live with less and give more. This approach challenges us to make hard decisions about our lifestyle, retirement, and education, all for a cause greater than ourselves. [01:24]
"Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven." (Proverbs 23:4-5, ESV)
Reflection: What is one area of your life where you can simplify your spending to better align with Kingdom priorities?
Day 2: The Challenge of Financial Stewardship
The evangelical church faces a significant challenge in financial stewardship, as evidenced by the low percentage of believers who tithe. This lack of financial commitment limits the church's ability to extend its ministry and meet the needs of a hurting world. By embracing a mindset of generosity and stewardship, believers can contribute to the church's mission and make a tangible impact on the world. This requires a shift in perspective, seeing tithing and giving as opportunities to invest in the most important enterprise under the sun. [04:40]
"Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." (Proverbs 3:9-10, ESV)
Reflection: How can you take a step towards greater financial stewardship and generosity in your life today?
Day 3: Investing in Eternal Dividends
Our investment in the Kingdom is the most secure and significant investment we can make. Unlike earthly investments, which are subject to market fluctuations, investments in God's Kingdom yield eternal dividends. This perspective should shape our approach to stewardship, tithing, and giving, encouraging us to see them as opportunities to invest in something that lasts forever. By focusing on eternal rewards, we can find greater purpose and fulfillment in our financial decisions. [06:21]
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." (Matthew 6:19-20, ESV)
Reflection: What is one way you can begin to invest more intentionally in the Kingdom of God today?
Day 4: Embracing the Full Spectrum of Christ
In our pursuit of living like Christ, we must embrace the full spectrum of His character. Jesus was not only gentle and loving but also bold and confrontational when necessary. We are called to imitate Christ in His entirety, which includes His righteous indignation against hypocrisy and falsehood. This imitation must be tempered with humility, recognizing our own sinfulness and the need for grace in our interactions with others. [12:02]
"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1, ESV)
Reflection: In what ways can you embrace both the gentleness and boldness of Christ in your interactions with others this week?
Day 5: Humility in Imitation
Imitating Christ requires humility and an awareness of our own sinfulness. We must approach others with grace, recognizing that our attempts to imitate Christ are imperfect and in need of His redemptive work. By acknowledging our own shortcomings, we can extend grace to others and foster a spirit of humility in our relationships. This humility allows us to grow in our faith and become more like Christ in our daily lives. [25:29]
"Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'" (1 Peter 5:5, ESV)
Reflection: How can you practice humility in your relationships today, acknowledging your own need for grace and growth?
Quotes
I don't have any one lifestyle in my mind, but I think almost everybody can put governors on your spending, and everybody knows the principle that expenses rise to meet the income so that everybody is just getting by. If you make thirty thousand, you're just getting by; if you make fifty, you're just getting by; if you make a hundred, you're just getting by. [00:00:36]
If you're going to keep from being one of those just getting by millionaires, then you need a cap; you need some governors. So I'm just pleading with people, though I don't have any clear, simple, one-size-fits-all criteria for what that lifestyle is, I want everybody to be struggling with it. That's what I want. [00:01:18]
Simplicity does hardly anybody any good, but a wartime lifestyle says, okay, we're in a war, and in a war, you use metal differently, you use rubber differently, you use everything differently because you got a cause you're living for. Most Christians don't have a cause they're living for, and then you simplify to give it, give everything above that away. [00:02:30]
The greatest scandal in the evangelical world is reflected in a poll. The last one I saw said that of those people who identified themselves as evangelicals in America, only four percent of them were tithers. We're not talking about going well beyond the tithe; we can't even get people to the tithe level. [00:04:26]
The most fabulous and significant investment any person can ever make is in the kingdom of God. I mean, that's the one place where we know for sure there's never going to be a bear in the woods to destroy that market because it's always a bull market when we support our king. [00:06:17]
I really believe that we need to see our stewardship, our tithing, and our giving as an investment in the most important enterprise under the sun. I want to pick up right where R.C. left with the issue of investment because I think this is something that perhaps even American evangelicals may understand better a bit now than even years past. [00:06:40]
We are called to imitate Christ in all that he does. Now, this is the lopsidedness of our age. Everybody, when we ask the question, what would Jesus do, everybody acknowledges that it's appropriate to imitate Christ in his love or Christ in his gentleness or Christ receiving the children. [00:12:02]
I believe we ought to imitate him in that and how we received the children and how we bless and how we speak to people in our family and how we love our children. I believe that we should imitate Christ and pursue that imitation with a passion, but we should also imitate Christ in how he handled theologians that corrupted the Word of God. [00:12:20]
If we're going to imitate Christ, we should imitate Christ. If we want to be like him, we should want to be like him, and that means the whole thing. Now, I do believe that there are dangers in imitating Christ's polemic or John the Baptist's polemic or Paul's polemic or Jeremiah's polemic. [00:13:29]
I don't believe that we imitate Christ's love perfectly, his gentleness perfectly. I don't believe that we imitate anything he did perfectly, but I do believe that we are called to imitate him across the board, and we can do so confident that God has justified us and receives our imperfect attempts at imitating him. [00:14:10]
You don't turn the world upside down by being nice; you turn the world upside down by being biblical. That means you love what God loves, you hate what God hates, you praise what God praises, you condemn what God condemns, you make fun of what God makes fun of. [00:14:41]
I noticed that Jesus does not treat everybody alike. When he's dealing with the Lambs, he's the most tender, gentle person you can imagine. When he's dealing with the woman caught in adultery, with those who were in shame, with those who were broken, he is so sensitive and tender it's unbelievable. [00:32:06]
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