Jesus makes a significant statement in John 17

John 17:12: While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

• Jesus wasn’t just focused on teaching his disciples, he was also focused on keeping them.

The reality is that we aren’t Jesus, but small groups are designed to build strong spiritual families that are a manageable size. We aren’t able to (or expected to) protect people as Jesus did, but we can do our best to help those in our group stay healthy if they choose to. What that looks like on a practical level is:

• Creating connection opportunities in line with our purpose (Know Christ and become like him – Philippians 3:10)
• Staying in step with our mission (ambassadors for Christ – 2 Cor. 5:20)
• Encouraging one another so that we don’t turn away from God (Hebrews 3:12-13)

We may not be able to stop all loss, but let’s do a great job of keeping everyone we can!

Warning signs – to watch for and train each other to watch out for.

1. Entangled – 2 Peter 2:20

“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.”

• A marked return to worldliness or conscience searing sins
• Living too shrewdly (Luke 16:8) – Jesus says that the people of the light are different!

• Choked – Luke 8:14

The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.

• Caught up in things that consistently takes a lot of time, energy and focus away from God and the kingdom. (Get rich schemes, expensive hobbies, etc…)
• Key here is that they aren’t growing (maturing) – Growing is a huge key in staying faithful (2 Peter 1:3-10)

• Distant – Galatians 2:12-13

“Before certain men came from James he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.”

• Sudden (or subtle) changes in closeness – separating from people they used to be connected to
• Patterns of living change out of strong fear

• Swayed – Galatians 1:6-9

“Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.”

• More influenced by personalities than the Scriptures. Quickly going back and forth between strong opinions rather than clear teaching of the Bible.
• Watch for this when people study the Scriptures! Are they truly convinced by the Word?

• Unproductive – Hebrews 6:7-8

“But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed…”

• What are people producing? God expects good from the blessings he gives us. (Matt. 7:16-17)
• “Thorns and Thistles” – Words or actions that injure others – watch for bad action or bad example

Remember: We can’t make people change, but God does expect us to love each other deeply from the heart (1Peter 1:22). If we see any of these qualities in our brothers and sisters, love means speaking the truth to them in love about our concerns.

2 Timothy 2:23- 26 provides very helpful instruction:

²³ Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵ Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

“A brother wronged is more unyielding than a fortified city; disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.” Proverbs 18:19

Wherever there are people there is a potential for conflict. Conflict resolution can be very difficult, but here are some things that are very helpful.

1. Pray about the conflict and work on processing strong feelings before meeting. The goal of processing is to be able to discuss the issue without being emotionally flooded. Emotional flooding is when our feelings about something overwhelm us and we act out with those feelings driving our actions in ways that work against our efforts towards resolution.
   1. If we are not able to discuss without being emotionally flooded, it’s important to continue to do work on ourselves until we are able to. (Until then, someone coming in to mediate conflict resolution won’t really help)
2. Be clear about your goals. This is important so comments during the discussion don’t cause us to lose sight of those goals. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
   1. One or two goals tend to be manageable. More than that becomes difficult.
   1. Be specific – difficult to achieve general goals.
   1. If possible, let your mediator know your goals beforehand so they can be clear what you hope to accomplish.
3. Be prepared to use Active Listening skills. Here are some examples:
   1. Being fully present with open body posture and neutral facial expression (avoid death glares!)
   1. Listen to understand rather than respond
   1. Paraphrase and reflect back to show understanding and engagement
4. A special note about Listening
   1. Provers 18:13 says, “To answer before listening – that is folly and shame.”
   1. Please don’t cut the other person off – even in your thoughts. If you don’t agree, listen to the end, and try to clarify (“It sounds like you mean this, is that right?”)
5. Do your best to avoid statements that come across as attacking.
   1. “You” statements typically come across as aggressive and can make conflict resolution difficult. Try to frame statements as “When” statements. “When” is the language of experience. “When you said this, I felt this and responded like this.”

• The role of validation
  • Validation is your effort to hear what someone says and look at things from their perspective. It’s an important part of the process because we can often look for validation in conflict and can become very frustrated when we don’t get it.
  • Validation is NOT agreeing with the other person. It’s making a sincere effort to look at things from their perspective and communicate how it makes sense to you when you do that. It doesn’t condone wrong behavior, but it does create empathy that can help resolution efforts.
  • Example: “I don’t agree with you starting to drink again, but it makes sense to me when I think about what your last 3 days were like. Losing your job, having your mom go into the hospital and having your wallet stolen are tough to navigate.”
• Sample conversation cadence. Here is how things will often go
  • One person shares while the other engages in active listening. The sharer will describe their concerns or goals, using “when” language where needed.
  • The listener works to remain engaged and allows the sharer to finish without interrupting.
  • BEFORE responding, the listener will summarize what they heard and ask any clarifying questions.
  • The listener will now become the sharer and respond to the comments. Use validation where appropriate.
  • This cycle will be repeated with the mediator helping to steer the conversation towards stated goals.
• If, during the process, anyone feels they are getting flooded, the priority is reducing emotional levels. We will take a break while that happens.
• Helpful Passages
  • Proverbs 15:1 – A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
  • James 1:19 – My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry
  • Psalm 37:37 – Consider the blameless, observe the upright; a future awaits those who seek peace.
  • Romans 14:19 – Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

Spiritually Grounded In Crisis

Intro: Honored to share our thoughts. We aren’t experts but feel we have had to learn and grow a great deal over the years. Here is a passage to get us to start thinking about this topic. 

2 Corinthians 1:8-11

⁸ We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,^[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, ¹¹ as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Paul is speaking about some intense things. As we think about this passage, what thoughts and feelings does it inspire us to have?

·       Paul is sharing about an experience that was so intense that he felt he had been given the sentence of death (v. 9)

·       He was under great pressure (v. 8)

·       It was far beyond his ability to endure (v. 8)

When you read the title of this lesson and saw the word “crisis,” perhaps something in particular came to mind. It could relate to relationships, health, finances, loss. And it may not be something that has happened to us directly. When someone we love is experiencing a crisis, we, inevitably, go through it with them.

Ruben and I have personally been through some very challenging times over the past couple years and have walked with others as they were going through difficult times. One in particular that stands out is when one of our twin daughters suddenly fell sick early in 2022. I will share more later, but it affected our entire family and was life-altering for her.

A Proper Definition

We will come back to this passage, but as we jump in, it helps to consider what a crisis is. Think for a moment – what would need to be true for you to describe something as a crisis?

When you look for the definition of a crisis, here are the typical elements.

·       Often a sudden, unexpected situation that we are faced with that we have difficulty dealing with using our normal coping strategies.

·       Something that reduces or takes away our feeling of safety and replaces that feeling with strong negative emotions such as fear, dread, or anxiety.

·       Something that interferes with our ability to function well in our job, family and relationship arenas.

·       It’s not uncommon for a crisis to reopen past emotional wounds – which make it more difficult to resolve the current crisis.

Why is it important to define a crisis? Consider this:

A number of studies have been done to try and determine how the brain determines whether something is a problem or not.

What the studies seem to suggest is:

·       As we experience fewer challenges, we don’t necessarily become more satisfied. Instead, it’s more natural to decrease the standard for what classifies as challenging.

·       We can end up with the same number of challenges because we tend to adjust our expectations on what we’ve experienced in the past.  

Perhaps the first practical thing we can encourage us to do in order to be spiritually grounded during a crisis is to be aware of and deliberate about what we are classifying as a crisis.

How we view something has a lot to do with how we respond to it. Calling something a crisis typically ushers in a clear picture of a challenging (and negative) situation. How we view a situation is also affected by how much control we believe we have. Usually, control equals some degree of comfort. When our perceived control is taken from us, we often consider it a crisis. (Of course, we never really had any control in the first place!)

And this is just how language, and our use of words changes over time. Our English word “crisis,” comes from the Latinized form of a Greek word that was primarily used as a medical term.

Ancient Greek Physicians saw crisis as a critical point of change in the condition for those they were treating – it was the moment things either became better or for worse for their patients. It was a tipping point.

The focus was that this was a moment of change that could go either way, but our modern use of the word broadens the application to apply to many difficult life situations and at the same time, largely omits any sense that the situation could be a turning point in a positive direction.

When you go back to Paul’s sharing in 2 Corinthians 1

·       We see that Paul isn’t minimizing the challenges he was facing.

·       He is also NOT spinning this as a positive situation when it wasn’t one.

·       He’s framing his situation as a pivotal moment in his life that could have gone in both positive and negative directions.

·       He doesn’t see that life-or-death moment as wholly negative. God rescues him, (which was out of his control) but Paul recognizes his own growth in the crisis (a greater willingness to rely on God, who raises the dead – v. 9, along with a conviction to set his hope on God for future deliverance – v. 10). Note that Paul gained a reminder or recognition that God is the one who is in control, not himself.

The difficulties we face are real and they are challenging, but if we are going to frame ourselves as going through a crisis, let’s see them as the ancient Greeks did – as Paul also seems to view them; as being situations which create a point at which change must come, for better or worse, and usually a bit of both.

Limit-setting and Meaning-making

As you go through the letter, Paul shares other things that help tremendously with being spiritually grounded. 2 Corinthians 4:7-11

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.

There are 2 things that Paul does that we want to highlight as being very grounding..

The first is Limit setting.

Notice the cadence of Paul’s sharing about what he is feeling in these verses.

·       Hard pressed on every side – but not crushed

·       Perplexed – but not in despair

·       Persecuted – but not abandoned

·       Struck down – but not destroyed

Paul is working to describe the current difficulties of serving in the ministry God has called him to. His experiences are intense! Earlier in the letter, he described a situation in which he thought life was over for him, and as he writes the letter, he is still going through a very difficult time.

At the same time, he’s been forgiven of his sins, chosen by God as the minister to the Gentiles, has the ability to do miracles and is seeing God do amazing things.

How does Paul communicate what is going on when he has to account for all the realities he is experiencing (Challenges, blessings, God’s work, his own efforts, etc.) 

Paul shares about this complex situation by providing a series of limits that provides a sense of boundaries so people can more accurately know where Paul is and where he isn’t.

·       I’m hard pressed – (This is a really challenging time for me on many fronts) but not crushed – (I am not so overwhelmed or damaged by what is happening that I can’t continue)

·       I’m perplexed – (I don’t know why all this is happening or perhaps what I need to learn) but not in despair – (I haven’t lost hope or given up)

·       I’m persecuted – (I am persistently being treated unfairly) – but not abandoned – (I don’t feel that God has left me or that I don’t have meaningful support)

·       I’m struck down – (I am definitely wounded. This hurts and I am in pain) – but not destroyed – (I know this isn’t over and I will keep seeking to fulfill God’s plan for my life)

When we ask people how they are doing:

Can either want something too broad that it isn’t helpful or realistic (are you ok?) or something so concrete and narrow that it doesn’t give room to voice additional feelings they are experiencing at the same time – (feelings which might even be directly opposite – i.e. discouraged and excited)

Let’s give space for and encourage people going through a crisis to do this kind of sharing.

Let’s do this ourselves as we share about our own hardships.

Limit-setting is inherently grounding.

* Remember – limit setting is a way to more accurately share with others about where we are and where we aren’t. It provides a sense of order to our lives 

 * Knowing where we are and where we are not helps us to be anchored during difficult times. 

The work Paul does here is spiritually grounding

·       This “limit-setting” style of processing all starts with verse 7 where Paul acknowledges that we have this treasure in jars of clay in order to show this all-surpassing power is from God, not us.

·       As a result, this sharing includes the tough reality (what Paul is facing as a jar of clay) and the limit of that pain (represented by the “treasure” relationship with and presence of God working in his life)

Meaning making

·       If you remember from the first passage we looked at, (2 Cor. 1:8-11) Paul came to the conclusion that what happened to him occurred so that he would not rely on himself but on God.

·       After sharing about where he is and is not in chapter 4, Paul concludes that what he was experiencing was taking place so that Christ might be revealed in his life (v. 11)

o   “For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.” – v.11

Searching for meaning during a crisis, as Paul did, helps us to stay spiritual grounded

Note: Doesn’t mean that Paul knew all of why things were happening to him, or that the meaning he came up with was the only meaning he needed to accept, etc.

How do we respond to people who are going through a crisis?

• Be careful to avoid “summarizing” from the outside with limited knowledge and perspective (note: this is the trap that Job’s 3 friends fell into)

When we “summarize” we run a strong risk of oversimplifying what is probably a complex situation for the person going through the crisis. We run the risk of communicating something we don’t want to – (i.e. that their situation is just X when there is more to the story.)

• Let them define what they need. They may not know at the moment that we ask them, but unless we are close enough to them to know what would truly be helpful for them, help that we give may end up being not as helpful because what we provide for them causes them to have to manage our need to feel helpful. 

• Empathy is powerful – doesn’t mean we can relate to what someone is going through and doesn’t mean we have answers to the crisis; it is our willingness to communicate that we are present and available; that we share some pain (not because we relate) but because we care for the person going through the crisis. 

How do we take care of ourselves during a crisis?

• Giving ourselves and others the space to not be ok. (We tend to want people to reassure us because we feel bad they are going through a crisis) – Note: When Jesus asks for the disciples to keep watch with him in the garden, he is asking for presence, not wisdom, solutions, perspective or direction. 

• It’s all connected. We are spiritual/mental/physical/emotional beings. When we go through a crisis, all parts of us go through a crisis. It helps to examine each of those parts of us and determine what we need in order to do well as we navigate through the crisis.
  • Physical – could need a nap, walk, nourishing meal, hot soak, exercise, etc.
  • Mental – could need to journal, look at it from a different perspective, think about something else, address dysfunctional thoughts
  • Emotional – could need to talk, cry, pray, determine what you are feeling
  • Spiritual – could need to read, meditate, confess, sing, fast 

The Good Shepherd – John 10:11-16

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 

Familiar passage for all of us, but it’s one of my favorite passages about being Spiritually Grounded. Consider this: 

• Jesus affirms that he is the Good Shepherd. He has laid down his life for us. We always have to protect our hearts from becoming so familiar with this that it becomes purely intellectual and loses its practical meaning.
• Here’s how we know whether this has lost its practical meaning to us.
• Verse 14. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

Picture this: We are all sheep in the wilderness, standing around the shepherd, eating grass, in a group. Suddenly, a lion comes out of nowhere and charges towards us. What’s going to be the most natural thing to do?

• Most of us would say scatter; run and hide and try to get away.
  • Some of us might have said fall over or stand still in shock. One or two might have said charge the lion – but I will just continue to pray for you.

Running and hiding might be the most natural thing to do, but if the shepherd is Jesus, the best thing to do is draw closer to him and follow his lead.

• When Jesus says, “My sheep know me” – IN CONTEXT – they know that he is different from the hired hand. He is nothing like him. The sheep that know Jesus know he has laid down his life for them, so they trust him to shepherd them through whatever crisis they must face.
• This passage has so often been used to challenge people who lead to be good shepherds – to not be hired hands that run away when the challenges come. BUT…
• The main point is that we can depend on JESUS to never abandon us or run away during the cris.

The problem isn’t ever wondering where Jesus will be when we face challenges that seek to destroy our faith and hope.

The challenge is overcoming any natural tendencies we have that take us away from Jesus when we are in a crisis. While we are in the crisis, we have to allow him to shepherd us.

• There are many ways Jesus shepherds us, but I want to leave us with one.
• Hebrews 2:18 – “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

In the middle of a crisis, we are often tempted to do things that are rash, sinful or unhealthy because of the pain we feel from what we are going through. 

• When we are in a crisis, let’s identify our temptations
• Let’s take them to Jesus through prayer
• Let’s find examples of Jesus’ life in the gospels that speak to our situation and allow those examples to serve to guide how we think and act

How do we maintain zeal as we get older?

Intro: In this class we are exploring how to maintain our spiritual zeal – especially as we get older.

To do that we are going to explore the story of Moses at 2 different points in his life – Moses of Exodus 3 and Moses of Numbers 20

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:1-4)

Think about Moses at this stage of his life in Exodus 3 – Perhaps we can relate to this Moses.

• Moses is no longer young or idealistic. He’s moved on from his dreams he had as a younger man of being the one to free his people from Egypt.
• He accepts the reality of the roles he has to play at this point of his life – I am a husband, a father, a man who is no longer a prince of Egypt. I am a shepherd – a man hired to work with someone else’s sheep.
• He’s had to accept what he’s lost and what he’s gained and where his life is at. Thankfully, he’s not the Moses of Exodus 2:22 “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land” – this is my home now, this is my family, this is my life.
• God could have called Moses at any point, but he waits until this time to do so. Knowing that God doesn’t do random things, calling Moses at this point in his life must be deliberate.

I don’t know why God waited to call him. What I see is that having to run for his life and let go of his dreams was devastating for Moses. During the time Moses fled from Egypt and this moment, he had time (40 years) to process what happened to him; accept his new life and make peace with his past. (in Ex. 7 – Moses is 80 years old)

• Think for a moment: Would we describe Moses as zealous at this point of his life?
• We would probably need to define the term, but I don’t know if any of us would compare 40-year-old Moses and 80-year-old Moses and say that 80-year-old Moses was more zealous.

It can help to look at what Moses was like at 40

• Ready to rescue his people from Egypt on the strength of people rallying around him.

Acts 7:25 – Moses thought his people would realize God was using him to rescue them but they did not.

• He didn’t have a plan beyond that – I will kill this Egyptian and my people will rally and follow me to glory. He had passion, a dream, and thought it would just work out.
• Acts 7:22 – Moses – educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; powerful in speech and action.

Moses at 40 has power, ambition, vision, education, wisdom, skills, conviction and purpose.

Moses at 80 has a job that he never thought he would have –  (but it pays the bills), a wife, 2 kids, and stories of his past that start with “I really thought that God would…”

• When you read further in chapter 3, Moses no longer believes he is powerful in speech or action, and he has even convinced himself that he never was (Exodus 4:10)

What 80-year-old Moses has been able to maintain or restore is his curiosity. He sees that bush. He knows that the bush should be burned up but it’s not – even though it keeps on burning.

He’s curious enough to still care about something amazing. Moses draws near to that bush and is called by God. He could have walked by.

What is the point?

• If we had to decide from the description whether 40-year-old Moses or 80-year-old Moses was more zealous, we would have said 40-year-old Moses.
• BUT – If we had to say which one had more impact, we would say 80-year-old Moses because it was that Moses who God is able to use to deliver his people from Egypt.

Wait – are we saying something negative about 40-year-old Moses’ fire? NOPE. 80-year-old Moses needed to approach being zealous differently.

Sometimes we want to keep going back to something that we can’t reach because we are different. We find ourselves longing for something that we have romanticized in our minds. God didn’t call 80-year-old Moses to be 40-year-old Moses. They were essentially 2 different people.

40-year-old Moses

• Didn’t have to process feeling like his hopes and dreams were over.
• Didn’t have to wonder whether God was with him.
• Didn’t have to carry the shame of running away.
• Didn’t have to make decisions that included his wife and 2 children.
• Didn’t have to figure out who he was going to be now that life didn’t end up the way he planned.

80-Year-Old Moses had to do all those things and more. Was 80-Year-Old Moses zealous? Not initially, but I believe that “Spiritual curiosity is the pilot light of being zealous for God”

• When you read on in chapter 3, 80-year-old Moses draws close to God and listens to him.
• He is honest about his self-doubts. He is open about his concerns and admits how he views himself at this point in his life.
• In chapter 4, he voices the honest questions about what if things don’t work out this time.
• He’s brutally honest that he wants someone else to go do what God is calling him to do.

At the end of the day, he goes. This zeal doesn’t quite look the same as what 40-year-old Moses had. This is the zeal that resulted from 80-year-old Moses working through life in order to connect with the plans God still had for him after feeling defeated, frustrated, passed by and discouraged.

Everything Moses wrestles over, sorts through and deals with inside himself allows him to maintain zeal as an older person. The pain, disappointments, discouragements and hurts that we don’t process tend to become stumbling blocks that make maintaining zeal difficult, if not impossible as we get older.

How good are we at processing the pain, disappointment, discouragement and hurts in our lives?

• Again, this zeal doesn’t look quite the same as it did in 40-year-old Moses, but it’s filtered through a heart that has been refined by everything that Moses has learned in the 40 years since Egypt.
• 80-year-old Moses can’t go back to 40-year-old Moses, and he doesn’t need to. 80-year-old Moses is willing to rely on God in a way that 40-year-old Moses didn’t realize that he had to.

Let’s close with some practical applications in Jude 1:17-24

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Jude is written to Christians who are facing intense challenges from false teachers who are trying to influence them with their negative messages. They are threatening to divide them. There is doubt, confusion and as a result, some people are stumbling.

Jude calls them to contend for the faith that was entrusted to them (vs. 3)

Called to remember – verse 17

What we remember can affect how we think, feel and act whether we consciously decide for it to or not.

What do we most naturally remember about an event? Is it positive, negative? Do we typically remember what we did, what was done to us, or do we tend to remember what God did?

Is what we tend to remember helping us or harming us? (We all remember things) Is what we are remembering strengthening our resolve, or chipping away at our faith?

• Have to deliberately remember what God has said so we can think, feel and act in a way that allows us to keep from getting weary, discouraged, cynical or bitter. These things destroy zeal.
• Sometimes we have a really difficult time of doing that. “Dear Friends” – repeated over and over in this letter. Dear friends are crucial in memory. Jude is being a dear friend in this letter.
• Dear friends help others remember what God said so they can keep going and stand firm.

In the last month, who have you reminded what God said? Who have you allowed to be close enough to you to remind you? May need to be direct with our friends– “I’m having a hard time remembering”

Called to build ourselves up (vs. 20-21)

• “You must make your most sacred faith the foundation of your lives.” (Revised English Bible)
• We risk losing our zeal when we are somehow compromised in our own faith. “Building ourselves up” is a critical priority.
  • We can’t handle the pressure, stress, difficulty without continuing to build ourselves up. Fire needs fuel to burn. Curiosity is the pilot light, but faith is the fuel of zeal.
  • When the difficulties mount up, our foundation is what is most under attack – but it’s not usually through doctrine, but emotion.

For many of us, the issue isn’t false teaching but the discouragement that attacks our faith. Frustration, fear, anger may affect our faith much more than false teaching.

Our faith is one of our most precious possessions – how closely and carefully are we guarding it?

• Easy to not realize it until we feel absolutely depleted, until we no longer feel motivated; until we recognize we are looking at life with cynicism.
• Faith is like driving – needs constant attention and adjusting.

Here is a good gauge. (Jude verses 22-23)

²² Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.^[f]

These are all acts of spiritual fervor. They all take faith to do.

• Being merciful to those who doubt – spiritual act that Jesus did over an over again.
• Save others by snatching them from the fire – both the lost and the saved who are drifting.
• Hating even the clothing – having the right fear of what sin can do.

When I am depleted, I have a hard time doing these things. I get numb, weary, cynical and stop caring.

Close: (Jude 1:24-25)

²⁴ To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

God is amazing. Whatever stage of life we are in, he is able to do great things with our lives. Ultimately, being fired up is living with the concepts of these two verses as the reality of our lives. 1. We need God to keep us from stumbling. 2. Its about making it to heaven to live in God’s presence for eternity. 3. It’s accepting and proclaiming the glory, majesty, power and authority of Jesus until he returns.

Don’t forget: Maintaining zeal as an older person is about staying curious, and keeping the faith that was entrusted to us – even if we have to fight for it.

We can’t maintain zeal without processing hurt, pain, disappointment and loss so that we have the capacity to stay curious about how God will use us, and faithful that the scriptures we are obeying will make a difference.

Intro/Recap: We’ve been watching Saul change. He’s been moving from someone who was somewhat insecure to someone who would have to be described as deeply paranoid.

• We’ve talked about accelerants – factors that significantly influence the process of change.
• Some accelerants are situational, others are more constant.
  • Having the responsibility of the Kingdom was an example of a constant accelerant

Remember – Spiritually speaking, our character growth tends to be affected by 3 broad elements:

Spiritual People, Spiritual Actions and Spiritual connection.

• At this point in the narrative, Saul is in deep trouble because:
  • He’s lost Samuel, his #1 spiritual relationship
  • He’s doing a lot of things, but not many spiritual things
  • God has left him and he’s seeking relief instead of repairing his relationship with God.

1 Sam. 18:6-9

⁶ When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. ⁷ As they danced, they sang:

“Saul has slain his thousands,
    and David his tens of thousands.”

⁸ Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” ⁹ And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David.

¹⁰ The next day an evil^[a] spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand ¹¹ and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

Women come specifically to meet King Saul, but David gets exponentially more credit

• Notice the language Saul uses, “credited” – the praise he was given goes into his “security bank account” – He is now at the point where he can’t hear others get more praise than him in matters in which he participates.

Discuss: Think about why Saul is angry. How is he not thinking logically?

• Not a personal attack – women aren’t trying to anger Saul, but lift up both of the national heroes.
• Saul COULD have fought Goliath himself. He’s the one who gave the opportunity to David.
• He’s immediately tying the amount of praise David is getting into David wanting the kingdom.

Notice the connection between Saul’s insecure and jealous thoughts at that moment and his evil actions the next day. Look at the key progression:

• Saul has a situation in which he feels significant hurt
• Saul makes assumptions he hasn’t fact checked, but doesn’t get perspective about his thoughts.
• Saul keeps thinking about negative thoughts and feelings (creates closed internal feedback loop)
• Saul subconsciously accepts his negative thoughts and feelings as true
• Saul acts on those negative thoughts and feelings

When you look at the scene, Saul says to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall” – but once again, this isn’t a rational thought based on what is happening in the moment.

David is in the middle of providing relief for Saul. Saul’s still stuck in the feelings of yesterday. It’s not, “I’ll pin him to the wall for the way he’s playing, but for the feelings I had yesterday that David knows nothing about.”

Think for a moment: How good are you at processing what happens to you in real time?

• Meaning, when something happens, you take time at that moment to acknowledge your feelings about it and think through how it affects you. How long do you carry around unprocessed emotions?
• Are you creating closed internal feedback loops like Saul when you are hurt?

Where our difficulty in relationships really come back to hurt us are moments like Saul experienced in which we feel hurt, but don’t have someone objective to go to who can help us with crucial perspective.

Take one moment: Write down the name of the person you go to when you need perspective when feeling hurt. Now write down who you share with when that 1^st person isn’t available.

3 key Questions: How often do we really go to those people, How honest are we, and How objective are they really? (Not really helpful if they simply agree with us)

The answers to those questions are important.

The things we say to ourselves tend to make more sense than what we say out loud or to others. Saul says his intentions to himself and they make sense. Look at the difference when Saul says things out loud: 1 Sam 19:1-7

19 Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David ² and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. ³ I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”

⁴ Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. ⁵ He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”

⁶ Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.”

⁷ So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.

Discuss: What is the perspective that Jonathan provides for Saul?

• What you are asking/planning to do is a great wrong
• David has not wronged you (affirming the absence of wrong deeds)
• David has greatly benefited you (affirming the presence of right deeds)
• Remember the Lord’s involvement
• Remember your initial response (you were glad at one point)
• If you do this, you will be doing it for no tangible reason. Will you question your reasoning?

Wow! What valuable and specific perspective!

• When we provide perspective for others, the more specific we can be, the better. Simply saying, “You’re wrong” or “Don’t think/do that” is not as helpful.

Even though this state of peace doesn’t last long, there is a remarkable difference here. Once Saul voices his intentions, even though the bible doesn’t record any of his attendants challenging his thinking, Jonathan does.

• Saul’s attendants don’t act on what he says (to kill David) but they don’t challenge his thoughts.

Again, this is a key factor – but before we are hard on that group, think about the role they had been given in Saul’s life. They are all attendants; Jonathan is a son.

Attendant Status VS Relationship Status

Did any of the attendants really have a true position in which they could have spoken to Saul’s behavior?

• We have to be careful about giving people attendant status vs. relationship status.
• Both groups of people spend time with us, are in close proximity and we often share the same things with them, but attendants don’t really have the same influence and authority in our lives.
• Attendants sometimes become scapegoats for us when we want to blame others “Why didn’t you say something to me?” but:
  • Giving relationship status is a deliberate action
  • People who should have relationship status (family, spouses, close friends, etc.) can feel like attendants from how we treat them over time.

Discuss: Do we understand this concept?

Language

Our language says a lot and is often an indicator of how we are changing in our character. Sometimes we stop really listening to ourselves, but that is important – especially when we are under pressure, angry or discouraged. Let’s examine some of Saul’s dialogue at this point in his life. 1 Sam. 22:6-8

⁶ Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side. ⁷ He said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? ⁸ Is that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today.”

Discuss: What’s dangerous about the way Saul is speaking in this scene?

• “Is that why you have conspired against me?”
  • No discussion or debate about whether feelings are true, simply matter of fact.
  • No one can respond constructively because there is already an accepted conclusion
• “Conspired”
  • Inflammatory language. Implies ill will and evil intent
• “No one tells me” and “None of you is concerned about me”
  • Everything is everyone else’s fault, victim language.
  • Absolutes – none of you, no one
• Will the son of Jesse give all of you…
  • Manipulation – eliminates the ability to have a real conversation
• Son of Jesse
  • Not “David” – Effectively dehumanizes David. Easier to vilify

Saul has lost the ability to reason logically with himself, and he is talking to others but not really having a conversation with them, so he has blocked any attempt of others to reason logically with him too.

In all that Saul says here, he’s never vulnerable. “I’m afraid of losing the kingdom”

• Think through your conversations
  • Am I truly willing to be influenced? Means you can articulate how you can and should put into practice what you are hearing.
  • Are the terms that I use likely to escalate or diffuse a tense situation?
  • Do I use a lot of absolutes?
  • Am I vulnerable?

Final thought for this week:

Do you notice that in most every scene it is noted that Saul had his spear with him, in his hand? He’s become hypervigilant. He’s always on guard, always looking for something to defend against.

Whatever we struggle with in our character, hyper-vigilance is a key indicator that something major should be addressed in our lives.

Intro: Perhaps you know Jephthah from Hebrews 11 or primarily as the man who made the vow that cost him his daughter. Like all of us, he was a complex person with a number of things in his life that shaped his decisions. What are some of the major factors that influenced his life?

National Factors – One of the great themes in Judges is the cost of living out patterns.

When we connect with Jephthah’s story, the Israelites are back in an unhealthy pattern : Judges 10:6-10-14 (once again, the Israelites abandon God.)

⁶ Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served him, ⁷ he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, ⁸ who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. ⁹ The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim; Israel was in great distress. ¹⁰ Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, “We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.”

¹¹ The Lord replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites,the Philistines, ¹² the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites^[c]oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? ¹³ But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. ¹⁴ Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”

¹⁵ But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.” ¹⁶ Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.

Israel become entrenched in a pattern of only drawing near to God after they had been oppressed. Once God raised up a deliverer, it was just a matter of time before they went back to idolatry.

This pattern is on the national level, but it affects Jephthah’s life directly. The Ammonites are camped in his home town of Gilead. Whether he’s contributed to the national cycle, He’s directly impacted by it.

It’s our nature to develop patterns – we don’t think too hard about certain things in our lives because they tend to follow the same patterns – work, some relationships, morning routines, etc…

That’s fine if the patterns are neutral or good, but what about the patterns in our lives that aren’t so good?

What kind of unhealthy patterns do you see in your own life?

• Perhaps your feelings are easily hurt – blow up/attack/ or withdraw from relationship instead of being vulnerable and addressing that hurt directly.
• Perhaps you serve a lot but aren’t comfortable sharing about your own needs. But you still find yourself getting resentful that people don’t help or encourage you intuitively.
• Perhaps when you get really stressed, you eat a lot of unhealthy food, drink too much, spend too much on things you don’t need.

There are consequences to living out patterns. Israel had gotten used to acting as if all they had to do was cry out to God when he punished them and they could expect him to respond quickly so that things woud go back to normal. (verse 14)

• This time God’s response is that he will not be used. God isn’t worried that they won’t put away their idols, he just knows that they will soon pick them up again. This cycle has occurred 6 other times already in the book of Judges. His response was, “I will no longer save you when you are in trouble.”

Unhealthy patterns are dangerous, because as time goes on, we can find ourselves in the same place as the Israelites in Judges 10.

• They are crying out for help, but not really seeking to change, no real significant movement away from the pattern , just wanted to have God meet their immediate need of deliverance.

Personal Factors: It’s here that Jephthah is introduced. (11:1-3)

11 Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead;his mother was a prostitute. ² Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,” they said, “because you are the son of another woman.” ³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him.

Complicated past – Mighty warrior, son of a prostitute, hated and drove out by his brothers, no status, no land. Made a name for himself by fighting, and has surrounded himself by scoundrels.

Ask yourself – how did those things influence Jephthah? Major impact on his perspective, goals.

• As a son of a prostitute – would have no inheritance or family status. Would always be looked at as someone who was less because of his background.
• He’s in a society where you are measured in connection with your family. (So and so son of so and so) He’s a stain on his family just by being born. His brothers drive him out.
• Being driven out by his brothers doesn’t destroy him – he thrives, becomes resilient. BUT the men who follow him are scoundrels. What kind of life did Jephthah have to have for that to be the kind of men he attracts?

We all have complicated pasts –and many of us are affected by our family dynamics. If you are part of  the church that can affect you in a similar way because the church is our family too.

Jephthah is a mighty warrior, he’s overcome adversity in his life –  but he is a leader of thugs and unprincipled men.  These men are morally empty. David was able to take his band of discontented men and influence them because of his relationship with God. Jephthah could not change his men because he couldn’t give his men what he did not have.

What we want is a powerful driving factor in our lives. Everyone in this story wants something.

• As the story progresses, The Elders recruit Jephthah. They just want deliverance.

7 Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?”

• (Note: these were the same elders that ruled on behalf of his brothers who kicked him out) They face oppression from ruthless men, so they look for someone more ruthless. (not spiritual men of character – opportunists) – no apologies; never seek God’s direction.  
  • (no real respect – First they only offered him commander not leading all of them) They don’t offer him what they offered a full citizen of Gilead.
• Jephthah wants recognition and vindication among the family that he lost because of his status as the son of a prostitute. Hated me, Kicked me out, rejected me – Now I will lead all of you!

 – it’s easy to lose sight because some of our battles are very personal. We can start fighting for respect, recognition, acceptance, etc… WE WON’T ALWAYS BE ABLE TO SEPARATE THOSE MOTIVES – BUT, WE Need to be honest with ourselves and others about all we want so we can deal with the parts of our hearts that aren’t as noble.

What do you want in this chapter of your life?

Bridge: Jephthah’s known for his faith (he’s specifically mentioned in Hebrews 11) but not character. One of the big challenges with Jephthah’s character is that although he has a great deal of confidence and faith, his knowledge of God is in serious error. He sends a logical and passionate argument with the Ammonite king, (Judges 11) but in some respects he is just way wrong.

• Starts off great. Ammonite king says – give us the land back and there will be peace.
  • Israel never took that land from the Ammonites. They took the land in question from the Amorites who attacked them without cause as they traveled. King Sihon had recently taken it from the Moabites.
• BUT, He presents God as though he is like the local gods (Baal, Chemosh, etc…) 11:24 (Your god will give you what you should take, likewise, our God will give us what we are to posess) – NO, NOT RIGHT – Deut. 2:19 says that God gave the Ammonites their land – and there is ONLY ONE GOD.

¹⁷ the Lord said to me, ¹⁸ “Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹ When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.”

• Likewise – Chemosh was not the god of the Ammonites, but the god of the Moabites.

²⁴ Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? (Judges 11:24)

You may say, big deal – but because Jephthah is ignorant about significant parts of God and his Word, his ignorance leads him to make more mistakes. His mistake here doesn’t mean much – the Ammonite King was going to fight either way, but the next mistake is much more costly.

Judges 11:29-31

²⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. ³⁰ And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, ³¹ whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

• God decides to use Jephthah. The Spirit comes over him. The Spirit will help us overcome CHALLENGES IN OUR LIFE ,but we still have to make our own decisions Being overcome with the Spirit did not automatically impart spirituality. Jephthah still made his own choices.
• We saw Jephthah negotiating with the Elders – how shrewd he was. He attempts to do something similar here with God. “You give me what I want and I will do this for you”

This vow was completely unnecessary and rash

• Jephthah’s view of God is influenced by his dealings with people. God will want something, so I better keep him happy.
• Jephthah is trying to negotiate with God like he negotiated with the elders of Gilead
• Already had the assurance of the Spirit. God would have given the victory without the vow. God was rescuing Israel out of his love and compassion and grace – NOT Jephthah’s promises.
• Could have just said, I will offer a burnt offering to you out of gratitude. Why say, “whatever comes out of my door to meet me?”

Judges 11:32-40 – Now Jephthah’s lack of knowledge of God truly comes back to hurt him.

⁴ When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. ³⁵ When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”

• Comes away with a great victory for the nation but has a greater defeat than being driven out from his family years ago. His own rashness has taken away any personal joy from the victory.
• Lev. 27:1-8
• Had Jephthah only known God better he could have escaped his vow. Even though it was a sin to break a vow, God made provisions if you didn’t know the full ramifications of your vow. (could have rescued her with a monetary consecration) Jephthah loses his only daughter through ignorance, rashness and trying to manipulate God.

The sad thing is that Jephthah’s vow had nothing to do with his victory. The Spirit came on him BEFORE his vow. God certainly wanted nothing to do with human sacrifice.

        Jephthah’s stated ambition was to rescue Israel on behalf of the Lord. His secret ambition was to gain social status and long term inheritance in Israel.   As a result of trying to manipulate events and the Lord he gains his inheritance but loses his family line   – the irony is that Jephthah is seeking longevity, but it’s his daughter who is memorialized after her death – Not Jephthah. Hurts that we don’t deal with come back to impact our decision making        

Close: We can imitate Jephthah’s faith, but remember there is more to the story. We have to take into account the other things that influence us. We may want to do great things for God – but…what else do we want? Let’s deal with the things that influence us, how we deal with pressure, and lets make sure that we know God accurately – so we can truly glorify God. 

Jephthah – Began as a nobody, became a hero and ended as a despot, brutalizing his own countrymen. (Judges 12) In the end, he couldn’t escape the pattern of anger and desire for recognition and vindication that influenced his life.

      In Christ we can establish new patterns of faith, hope and love – so that we can escape wrong patterns                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Saul Part 3: 1 Samuel 15

Recap – We’ve been looking at how Saul changed, by examining the different forces that shaped his life

• Man of standing – born into a family that had some wealth and influence
• Family – his tribe brought a great deal of shame on Israel and were almost wiped out.
• Physically gifted – head taller than anyone else in all Israel, and handsome
• Cares about what people think (father’s concern for them, Samuel getting what seers get)
• Not ambitious – never wanted to be king

Having the responsibility of king becomes the dominant force that shapes Saul’s character because it’s the primary factor of influence upon his core character trait

Care continuum

Saul’s core character trait is his concern for others. This character aspect influences every aspect of his life. Concern for others can be viewed as a spectrum. On one end of the spectrum, you have “no care” and on the other end of the spectrum you have “too much care.”

<—No Care for what others think — Appropriate Care——-Too Much care—->

The goal is to avoid each of those extremes by remaining in the middle of the continuum, where we have the appropriate level of care for what other people think and feel. What is happening on an internal level as we move back and forth along that spectrum is that we are alternately hardening our hearts (blocking out our feelings) or allowing the emotions of our heart (insecurity, fear, worry) to have more and more free reign.

<—Hardening of heart —— dealing with heart ——    free reign of heart —>

The end result is that in Saul’s case, we head towards apathy on the left end of the scale or paranoia on the right side. My opinion is that when we first encounter Saul, he is naturally insecure, but still closer to the middle. 1 Sam 15 shows how his decisions are steadily moving him from insecurity towards paranoia.

It may be tempting to think, “Well, why did God give Saul the kingdom if it was going to have such a negative effect on him?”

Have to realize that having the kingdom could have had the opposite effect on Saul

• Could have driven him to be closer to God. From what the scriptures show us, Saul never really had a relationship with God.
• Could have transformed him to be secure in God. Saul gets a lot of confirmation that he is chosen and that God is with him, but he struggles to believe it and keeps trying to create his own confirmation.
• The hard decisions could have kept him in more in the middle of that “care continuum.” Focusing on obeying God would have provided boundaries for his feelings.

We all have character that is being shaped and developed by how we are following God’s expectations.

In 1 Samuel 15, we see another pivotal moment in the shaping of Saul’s character. It’s helpful to understand the dynamics at work.

• In between the initial battle with the Philistines and the battle this chapter describes, Saul fights valiantly against a LOT of enemies. Remember – just because he’s got insecurities doesn’t mean that Saul doesn’t also have great qualities.

⁴⁷ After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings^[e] of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.^[f] 48 He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.

• Also constant and bitter war with the Philistines (end of chapter 14)
• Samuel has told Saul that his kingdom will not last, BUT still brings him a message from the Lord of a mission from God that he is to carry out.
  • Is this a chance for Saul to redeem himself? In his message, Samuel speaks of the anointing, NOT the rejection.
  • At the very least, it’s an opportunity to show God/Samuel that he can fully carry out God’s commands.

Remember the two types of direction Saul has been given – very specific and quite general.

• Here is very specific direction. Saul isn’t told to simply kill the Amalekites, but to kill everything that belongs to them; all the people but also all their animals. Samuel even lists them specifically
• We’ve said that up to this point, Saul has done best with very detailed direction or information; that’s where we have seen his best qualities shine through.
  • Go find the donkeys; here is what will happen to you after you leave (1 Sam 10), and wait 7 days, etc.…

So this is a tailor made scenario for Saul to succeed, but Saul doesn’t follow all the commands

⁷ Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. ⁸ He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves^[b] and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

Q. Why keep Agag alive?

Q. Why not destroy the best cattle and other livestock?

Put another way, “How was it possible to rationalize the decisions to disobey God’s commands?

This is where you start to see the cumulative effects of how Saul’s character is affecting his decision-making. Remember: Saul’s core character trait is his concern.

• When that concern is about people it is fueled more by a natural insecurity than a natural confidence (challenges of being taller than everyone else, feeling the least because of family history, having standing, but not much natural ambition, etc.)

Saul has struggled to believe God is with him, struggled to believe that he should be king. The times we have seen him disobey God have been because he’s looking for some kind of confirmation that can build up his self-confidence or self-esteem.

Fueling his self-esteem starts becoming his primary focus for his actions.

Plunder is a large part of the battle.

• Keeping Agag alive gives Saul a victory trophy that he can use to feed his confidence. He can show Agag off to everyone.
• The plunder of the animals makes the men happy….with Saul.
  • Compare with 2 Chron. 25: 5-13 – Israelite mercenaries are hired for 100 talents of silver, but are dismissed (not allowed to partake in the battle). Even though they get paid, they are angry because they didn’t get a chance to get the plunder. They kill 3000 people in towns belonging to Judah and carry off a great amount of plunder for themselves.

Saul runs into his character. How do I show people that God is with me; that I deserve to be king, if I don’t have some kind of proof of my victory?

How do I keep these men following me if I don’t allow them to bring back plunder? My men abandoned me before with the Philistines. Perhaps I can keep them following me by being the king who makes them wealthy.

These are likely things that Saul was considering.

The challenge is that Saul’s challenge of needing more than God’s word to follow him is what he is training the troops to do. He’s training them to only follow him because of the personal benefit to them, not obedience to God’s commands.

The conversation with Samuel is very revealing.

I have carried out the Lord’s instructions

The soldiers brought [the cattle] from the Amalekites

We brought the best to sacrifice to The Lord your God

We totally destroyed the rest

When Saul talks about himself it is as one who has completely obeyed God. It’s the soldiers (separate from him) who brought the cattle back. When he has to group himself with the soldiers, it’s to highlight what he thinks will appeal to Samuel (sacrifices to the Lord his God) or to highlight his obedience (we totally destroyed the rest)

Closing Thoughts

It’s important for us to think about our own “core character traits.” Each of us could put together a continuum that would help us chart where we are and where we are headed. In this chapter, there are accelerators that start moving Saul more quickly along his continuum, such as losing his most important spiritual adviser.

Take time to think through where you are right now, and whether there are factors that are moving you towards one end or the other of your own character continuum.

The Faithful Witness

Intro: Sharing our faith is often a two part persuasion process. We may be conscious of needing to convince the person in front of us to look at the Scriptures and make decisions about Jesus, but we may not be in touch with the equal need to convince the person inside of us to be faithful in the encounter.

Being faithful in our outreach encounters is a combination of our awareness of 3 things:

• Our awareness of God and his role as the one who moves hearts, grants repentance and makes things grow
• Our awareness of ourselves (history and present) and our roles as ministers of reconciliation
• Our awareness of the person we are reaching as a person of need and value

Definitions

Awareness: For the purposes of this exercise, awareness is simply the knowledge that we tend to act on when we reach out. Awareness is what influences our outreach and can be conscious or unconsciously affecting us.

Full Awareness: Someone with full awareness would have a more complete knowledge that influences them no matter what they have previously experienced. For example: a full awareness of people would mean being aware that they (like us) are complex people who are capable of a surprising range of behaviors with no guarantees to respond well, but are still worth persuading.

Limited Awareness: Someone with limited awareness might have a complete knowledge on the intellectual level, but on the practical level (when it comes to actually reaching out) are heavily influenced by only a part of what they know.

The reason why awareness is important is that it represents a script that we play in our mind when we reach out. Like actors in a play, we tend to act on the script in our outreach, and then reinforce that script by holding on to things in the encounter that support our awareness.

For example: if the script in our mind is, “No one at my job is open” we might invite a coworker and get a negative response that we reinforce our script by thinking, “See, I was right! No one here is open.”

Situational script: Sometimes a script is situational and we respond from our awareness in a particular way based on our history with that person or the context of the situation. Example: we might feel awkward reaching out in an elevator and when we are in that situation, we feel that there is no benefit in doing that.

Universal script: When we don’t challenge our situational scripts, we can find that they begin to become the typical way we look at things. If that is a good script, that’s not a problem.

Elements of sharing our faith

As we know, there is no true formula in sharing our faith, but here are elements that we have to consider with each encounter.

• Awareness of God
  • Knowledge that he is working all the time on people’s hearts and is the one who makes things grow.
• Fear of God
  • Knowledge that he will judge us and the world and mankind will live with God or apart from him for eternity.
• Full Awareness of people
  • Meaning that we know and understand that people are wonderful as well as complex and sinful
• Limited Awareness of people
  • When we only seeing part of that equation – for example: We see the person in front of us too simply. Example: Seeing someone as wonderful or sinful – or completely open or closed.
• Full Awareness of self
  • Knowing and understanding our gifts, abilities, sins, history and limitations and accepting them as a part of our outreach experience.
• Limited Awareness of self
  • Only seeing some part of ourselves – could be just our limitations or only our strengths.

All these elements (or lack of them) play a role in our outreach. They are the elements we must deal with in order to be faithful witnesses.

6 ways evangelistic encounters unfold

The sweet spot in sharing our faith is Faithfulness, but we may have a range of responses in every encounter. Here are 6 broad categories to help us examine our awareness in 3 areas: God, Self and People (meaning those we are reaching out to).

Each of these has a particular awareness of God, self and people, and an underlying question that we ask ourselves.

1. Naïve
   1. Might not share our faith because we simply believe that God will connect them with the truth if they are open. Question: Why share?
   1. Main issue: Self:
      1. The person may trust that God is always reaching out to mankind, and my not have much of an issue with People, but this is a person that has not accepted role God has for us as persuaders.
2. Cynical
   1. Might share with people, but can doubt value in doing so. Question: What’s the point?
   1. Main issue: People/and/or God:
      1. Often cynicism comes from negative experiences with people and as Christians who know God is sovereign, we can find it difficult to reconcile. Undealt with, these encounters can dramatically affect our faithfulness in evangelism.
   1. Example: Jonah
3. Insecure
   1. Might share with people, but tend to doubt the value of own effort and/or effectiveness. Question: Why me?
   1. Main issue: self
      1. A lot of the time, people with this challenge have confidence that God can do anything, but don’t believe that God will use them for whatever reason. Can be focused on personal failure, shortcomings and weaknesses.  Insecure people are not seeing themselves properly which maintains a wrong awareness of God working in the encounter.
4. Faithful
   1. Fully aware of God, self and people – the sweet spot. Question: Why not?
   1. Main issue: N/A
      1. Faithful people aren’t perfect. They trust God to play the roles that only he can play, accept that wherever they are at, they have a role to play in this person’s life, and are confident that while people are complex they are worth saving.
5. Self-Reliant
   1. Might share with people, but rely on own strength, ability and wisdom. Question: Why God?
   1. Main issue: God
      1. People in this category may be confident and talented, but have a limited awareness of self because they are relying on their talents and effort to do what only God can do. Self-reliant people are not seeing God properly, which maintains a wrong awareness of their role in the encounter.
6. Dutiful
   1. Might share faith because it is expected, but even though there is no real doubt about the value, there is also no real vision. Question: Who’s next?
   1. Main issue: God and/or self
      1. People in this category aren’t necessarily hurt by rejection (people or God) but also don’t have the kind of vision that matures their faith and has them looking forward to what God will do.
7. Obstinate
   1. Won’t share with people and no practical awareness of God. Question: Why bother?
   1. Main issue: God/People/Self
      1. Under this definition, people in this category may believe that God is at work in some way, but have stopped believing certain groups of people are open and worth persuading.
   1. Example: Pharisees with the tax collectors

How to use the Handout

The terms we have been using aren’t labels as much as quadrants – spaces in our lives where we tend to live out the way we have described.

Note: It can be helpful to view these categories as the ends of 3 continuums. They aren’t perfect ends of one another, but keep in mind that reaching out – or not, is always leading us somewhere.

Insecure – Self-reliant: living in one quadrant, we are too confident in self, the other not enough.

Naïve – Cynical: in one quadrant we expect God to do everything, the other ourselves.

Dutiful – Obstinate: on one end we obey even there is no real heart or faith, the other is no obedience at all.

Being a Faithful witness isn’t the middle of any of those. It involves us recognizing where we are on any of these continuums and tackling our main issues in those areas so we can have the proper awareness of God, self and others in our evangelistic encounters.

We could be on one continuum for our family and another for our job, etc. We could be faithful in the way we approach evangelism on the job, but naïve about a particular group of people (wealthy people, certain cultures, etc.)

Activity

Using the handout as a reference, think through 3 broad categories: Family, Job, and Neighborhood

1. Try to identify what quadrants you currently find yourself in (meaning, what quadrants are you in regarding your outreach to the family, job and neighborhood. Should be thinking about 3 areas)
2. What would you say is the main thing keeping you in that quadrant?
3. What’s one step you can take to move forward in each area?

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton