Transformative Journey: Emotionally Healthy Mission and Spiritual Growth
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1. "It's impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. In other words, it doesn't matter if I've got a master of divinity and I've got a graduate degree in Bible and theology and whatever else it might be. At the end of the day, I might read the scriptures regularly. I might be someone who have all sorts of titles in front of my name. But at the end of the day, I've got an anger issue. And the way that my anger manifests and it's taken out on people whenever I get offended or hurt, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how many titles or how many degrees I have. At the end of the day, I'm really not that spiritually mature." [02:38] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "We often use this image as the image of an iceberg. An iceberg, of course, 10% of an iceberg is above the surface. This is what people can see. And yet there's this 90% that's down in the depths of the sea of an iceberg. And what we're trying to say is the discipleship is, and what we're encouraging you and me and all of us to be on the journey of following Jesus, it's more than simply just changing that 10%, putting on a smiley face, putting on our Sunday best and acting a certain way on a Sunday. It's actually getting into the guts of our lives. It's actually this invitation to get into the 90%, to allow God into the areas of my own defensiveness, into the areas of my anger, into the areas of my woundedness, into the areas of my workaholism." [03:56] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "Emotionally healthy mission is we go slow and we go deep and we go wide. Do you like how I said that? I was trying to rehearse that as much as possible. But can I hear you say slow, deep, and wide? That's right. That hopefully we're a people then that emotional health matters, a beneath the surface discipleship matters, as does mission. Now, both of those work together. Now, in a place like Manhattan in New York City, we are so driven though by progress and by achievement and by up and to the right and the bottom line and return on investment. I mean, this is the town that we live in. It so heavily emphasizes mission, achievement, money, success." [05:21] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "The earliest Christians, they understood that a fundamental part of their witness of their showing up in the world was not simply about advancing the mission, winning at all costs, but it was also the way that we showed up. We show up with compassion, with gentleness and respect, and with truthfulness and the way that we show up with character. Now, essentially, here's what Peter is writing when he's writing about the Christian witness, even being a persecuted minority. Here's what he's saying. He's saying character matters. The texture of character really matters. The way that we live in truthfulness really matters. And the way that we live with gentleness and respect for others, even our enemies, really matters. Character matters." [09:39] (56 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "When it comes to witness and mission, your character matters. My character matters. Now, the reality is, though, so many times character can get overlooked if you can fulfill the bottom line. If you make money for the organization, if you help us advance and go up and to the right, then, of course, we will, we will basically excuse character and just go for the results, the business results. That's what we're looking for." [14:02] (22 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "What good is it if the mission continues, and yet your character has somehow been denigrated? And some of us, when it comes to the way we use our words, the truth-telling, some of us, when it comes to money, sex, and power, there are ways, there are things that are starting to creep in. And the question for me and for you is, will we come correct before God and just say, God, I need you? This matters." [21:15] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "If your character and your well-being are in jeopardy, mission is in jeopardy. Your family's in jeopardy. Your career's in jeopardy. If your character, and your well-being are in jeopardy, mission is in jeopardy. In other words, as goes the person, so goes the mission. Now, here's the way that Jesus put it. What good is it, my friends, if you gain the whole world, but you forfeited your soul? What good is it? What good is it if you're on this upward trajectory, but you realize that you have not tended to your character and to your well-being? And because of that, the mission is in jeopardy. Your life is in jeopardy." [26:07] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "Here's the beautiful thing about Jesus is that today, today can be a new day. If there's any inkling within you, that if there's any area of your life where your character, there's a sense that something might be in jeopardy because of an addiction, or because of an ambition that's gone kind of over the top, or if there's anything in you right now where it comes to your own well-being, your own sense of wholeness and self, and it's beginning to impact your relationships and the people around you, and you realize you're not sure if you can make it another day. Here's the good news. Here's what Jesus says. He says, come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you all you have to do. Say, that's me, weary and heavy laden. I want, I need the rest of God. Take my yoke, Jesus says. Take my yoke. My yoke is easy and my burden is light." [28:13] (101 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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2. "We often use this image as the image of an iceberg. An iceberg, of course, 10% of an iceberg is above the surface. This is what people can see. And yet there's this 90% that's down in the depths of the sea of an iceberg. And what we're trying to say is the discipleship is, and what we're encouraging you and me and all of us to be on the journey of following Jesus, it's more than simply just changing that 10%, putting on a smiley face, putting on our Sunday best and acting a certain way on a Sunday. It's actually getting into the guts of our lives. It's actually this invitation to get into the 90%, to allow God into the areas of my own defensiveness, into the areas of my anger, into the areas of my woundedness, into the areas of my workaholism." [03:56] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "Emotionally healthy mission is we go slow and we go deep and we go wide. Do you like how I said that? I was trying to rehearse that as much as possible. But can I hear you say slow, deep, and wide? That's right. That hopefully we're a people then that emotional health matters, a beneath the surface discipleship matters, as does mission. Now, both of those work together. Now, in a place like Manhattan in New York City, we are so driven though by progress and by achievement and by up and to the right and the bottom line and return on investment. I mean, this is the town that we live in. It so heavily emphasizes mission, achievement, money, success." [05:21] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "The earliest Christians, they understood that a fundamental part of their witness of their showing up in the world was not simply about advancing the mission, winning at all costs, but it was also the way that we showed up. We show up with compassion, with gentleness and respect, and with truthfulness and the way that we show up with character. Now, essentially, here's what Peter is writing when he's writing about the Christian witness, even being a persecuted minority. Here's what he's saying. He's saying character matters. The texture of character really matters. The way that we live in truthfulness really matters. And the way that we live with gentleness and respect for others, even our enemies, really matters. Character matters." [09:39] (56 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "When it comes to witness and mission, your character matters. My character matters. Now, the reality is, though, so many times character can get overlooked if you can fulfill the bottom line. If you make money for the organization, if you help us advance and go up and to the right, then, of course, we will, we will basically excuse character and just go for the results, the business results. That's what we're looking for." [14:02] (22 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "What good is it if the mission continues, and yet your character has somehow been denigrated? And some of us, when it comes to the way we use our words, the truth-telling, some of us, when it comes to money, sex, and power, there are ways, there are things that are starting to creep in. And the question for me and for you is, will we come correct before God and just say, God, I need you? This matters." [21:15] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "If your character and your well-being are in jeopardy, mission is in jeopardy. Your family's in jeopardy. Your career's in jeopardy. If your character, and your well-being are in jeopardy, mission is in jeopardy. In other words, as goes the person, so goes the mission. Now, here's the way that Jesus put it. What good is it, my friends, if you gain the whole world, but you forfeited your soul? What good is it? What good is it if you're on this upward trajectory, but you realize that you have not tended to your character and to your well-being? And because of that, the mission is in jeopardy. Your life is in jeopardy." [26:07] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "Here's the beautiful thing about Jesus is that today, today can be a new day. If there's any inkling within you, that if there's any area of your life where your character, there's a sense that something might be in jeopardy because of an addiction, or because of an ambition that's gone kind of over the top, or if there's anything in you right now where it comes to your own well-being, your own sense of wholeness and self, and it's beginning to impact your relationships and the people around you, and you realize you're not sure if you can make it another day. Here's the good news. Here's what Jesus says. He says, come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you all you have to do. Say, that's me, weary and heavy laden. I want, I need the rest of God. Take my yoke, Jesus says. Take my yoke. My yoke is easy and my burden is light." [28:13] (101 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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