WEBVTT 00:00:01.389 --> 00:00:03.350 Do you wish you could put the brakes on the speed 00:00:03.350 --> 00:00:06.209 of life? I mean, between work and family, ministry, 00:00:06.410 --> 00:00:09.509 financial pressures, carpools. Is it any wonder 00:00:09.509 --> 00:00:11.810 that our lives and relationships are living on 00:00:11.810 --> 00:00:14.710 the ragged edge? If you long to start loving 00:00:14.710 --> 00:00:18.390 more by doing less, then stay with us. You won't 00:00:18.390 --> 00:00:23.949 want to miss it. Welcome to this edition of Living 00:00:23.949 --> 00:00:26.640 on the Edge with Chip Ingram. the mission of 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:29.019 this daily program is to intentionally disciple 00:00:29.019 --> 00:00:31.519 christians through the insightful bible teaching 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:34.439 of chip ingram and are you ready to embrace that 00:00:34.439 --> 00:00:37.299 radical idea chip just posed do you want to shift 00:00:37.299 --> 00:00:40.259 your life from busyness to loving people more 00:00:40.259 --> 00:00:42.820 then let me invite you to join us for the next 00:00:42.820 --> 00:00:45.560 handful of programs as we revisit chip series 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:48.890 spiritual simplicity He'll identify practical 00:00:48.890 --> 00:00:52.450 steps from 1 Corinthians chapter 13 that'll help 00:00:52.450 --> 00:00:55.450 us slow our lives down and refocus on what truly 00:00:55.450 --> 00:00:57.909 matters. And because we all wrestle with this 00:00:57.909 --> 00:01:00.369 delicate balance, let me encourage you to ask 00:01:00.369 --> 00:01:02.490 a few friends to join you in listening to this 00:01:02.490 --> 00:01:05.189 series, either through the Chip Ingram app or 00:01:05.189 --> 00:01:07.890 wherever you listen to podcasts. Okay, if you 00:01:07.890 --> 00:01:09.930 have a Bible, go now to 1 Corinthians chapter 00:01:09.930 --> 00:01:13.150 13 and settle in for Chip's talk, All You Need 00:01:13.150 --> 00:01:17.849 Is Love. I've observed something. I've observed 00:01:17.849 --> 00:01:20.209 there's a dance that is done. It's done all over 00:01:20.209 --> 00:01:22.790 the country. In fact, many places around the 00:01:22.790 --> 00:01:26.530 world. And I call it the Silicon Valley Shuffle. 00:01:26.969 --> 00:01:31.370 The music is very, very fast. The rhythm is very, 00:01:31.450 --> 00:01:35.709 very upbeat. And the people, I mean, they dance 00:01:35.709 --> 00:01:39.670 with intensity and passion and often to the point 00:01:39.670 --> 00:01:42.709 of fatigue. There's four words that describe 00:01:42.709 --> 00:01:46.319 the Silicon Valley Shuffle as I... watch it at 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:49.340 times in my own life and in the lives of lots 00:01:49.340 --> 00:01:54.400 of friends. It's bigger, better, faster, and 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:57.640 more. And so we live at a pace where if you don't 00:01:57.640 --> 00:01:58.980 want to work till seven or eight o 'clock at 00:01:58.980 --> 00:02:01.280 night, go work someplace else. And then pretty 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:02.879 soon you think about, well, you got to do that 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:05.579 with your kids. So if they're going to be really 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:07.640 good, you got to start them young. So like two 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:09.759 years old, they're playing soccer. You know, 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:11.520 three years old, they can't pick up the bat, 00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:13.219 but they're trying to get it off that tee ball. 00:02:13.780 --> 00:02:15.539 And you know what? You know, if you really want 00:02:15.539 --> 00:02:17.219 them to do well, then you get that tutor. I have 00:02:17.219 --> 00:02:19.900 a friend who told me his parents got him a tutor 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:23.259 in sixth grade and half a day, every Saturday, 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:27.259 he was preparing for the SATs. His sister scored 00:02:27.259 --> 00:02:30.240 a perfect score on both the SAT and the ACT. 00:02:31.979 --> 00:02:35.340 Went to an Ivy League school and now has changed 00:02:35.340 --> 00:02:38.080 her phone number twice and has no contact with 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:40.750 her family. Does not want to ever talk to them 00:02:40.750 --> 00:02:44.969 ever again. See, the Silicon Valley shuffle is 00:02:44.969 --> 00:02:47.830 about pressure and about demand and about making 00:02:47.830 --> 00:02:50.150 it happen. And it's very unconscious. And the 00:02:50.150 --> 00:02:53.189 music is always playing 24 -7. Wherever you're 00:02:53.189 --> 00:02:55.310 living, there's this pressure. It's got to be 00:02:55.310 --> 00:02:58.129 better. It's got to be bigger. It's got to be 00:02:58.129 --> 00:03:00.569 faster. And then if it gets better and bigger 00:03:00.569 --> 00:03:02.310 and faster, then you look at what you've got 00:03:02.310 --> 00:03:05.389 and then it's got to be more. And the music just 00:03:05.389 --> 00:03:12.439 speeds up. And it produces something. Produces 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:19.020 this desire to be all and to do all and to have 00:03:19.020 --> 00:03:21.539 it all. We don't say it, but our lives reflect 00:03:21.539 --> 00:03:23.979 it. You know, I've got to be it all. I've got 00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:27.199 to do it all. I've got to have it all. And you'll 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:29.060 notice on your notes, I put three things that 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:33.020 over time this will produce. It's created a very, 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:39.520 very complex world. that moves too fast, that 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:44.780 delivers too little and demands too much. When 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:48.860 I sit quietly with people of all ages and whether 00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:52.139 they're in high school or whether they're running 00:03:52.139 --> 00:03:55.580 a company or whether school has just started 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:57.580 and they're driving all over the place with all 00:03:57.580 --> 00:04:01.479 the different demands, the push, the drive, the 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:06.639 demands, over time they produce fatigue that 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:10.419 is high, margin that is thin, relationships that 00:04:10.419 --> 00:04:13.460 are shallow, families that get fractured, marriages 00:04:13.460 --> 00:04:17.180 that drift, loneliness that rains, addictions 00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:21.160 that surface, people who get hurt, kids that 00:04:21.160 --> 00:04:25.779 get neglected, and our souls have a dis -ease. 00:04:25.779 --> 00:04:29.879 Not just a disease, but your soul doesn't have 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:34.829 peace. You lose your grounding. You lose that 00:04:34.829 --> 00:04:38.110 sense of I'm where I need to be moving at the 00:04:38.110 --> 00:04:41.069 pace I need to be moving. And pretty soon you 00:04:41.069 --> 00:04:44.389 can feel the relationships aren't where they 00:04:44.389 --> 00:04:47.269 need to be. whether you're a parent with your 00:04:47.269 --> 00:04:49.149 kids or with your spouse or whether you're a 00:04:49.149 --> 00:04:51.610 single person and realize, you know, I work a 00:04:51.610 --> 00:04:53.310 lot of hours and I have a lot of superficial 00:04:53.310 --> 00:04:57.290 relationships, but a deep friend and time for 00:04:57.290 --> 00:05:01.870 you and time for God and time for authenticity 00:05:01.870 --> 00:05:05.670 and time for depth seems to be something that 00:05:05.670 --> 00:05:08.550 you keep pushing out that you'll do that when 00:05:08.550 --> 00:05:12.430 this deal is done. You'll do that when you go 00:05:12.430 --> 00:05:15.069 public or you'll do that as soon as you finish 00:05:15.069 --> 00:05:17.310 this project. Or right now, you know, they're 00:05:17.310 --> 00:05:18.930 in diapers. You'll do that when they get out 00:05:18.930 --> 00:05:20.449 of diapers. And then pretty soon they're teens 00:05:20.449 --> 00:05:22.230 and you'll do that when they go off to college. 00:05:22.310 --> 00:05:25.949 And here's what I can tell you. You'll do that 00:05:25.949 --> 00:05:30.610 when thinking someday, some way, somehow, and 00:05:30.610 --> 00:05:34.089 that when will not come unless you stop it and 00:05:34.089 --> 00:05:38.129 decide, I will simplify my life. It's interesting. 00:05:38.269 --> 00:05:41.680 The great majority of executives, have a lot 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:45.180 of vacation and rarely take much of it. Sort 00:05:45.180 --> 00:05:48.680 of an oxymoron, isn't it? But it's because they're 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:51.879 indispensable. It's because there's never a really 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:58.139 good time. But sometimes on a vacation or a missions 00:05:58.139 --> 00:06:02.899 trip or a men or a women's retreat, or sometimes 00:06:02.899 --> 00:06:06.560 God intervenes in his love and a stroke that 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:09.620 doesn't kill you, a biopsy report that comes 00:06:09.620 --> 00:06:15.329 back, positive, a car crash, a little scare when 00:06:15.329 --> 00:06:18.930 it started with a couple glasses of wine to wind 00:06:18.930 --> 00:06:22.389 down. And now you're becoming this person that 00:06:22.389 --> 00:06:24.149 you didn't think you could ever become as you 00:06:24.149 --> 00:06:30.529 cope. And in a crisis or in a time where you 00:06:30.529 --> 00:06:33.930 get alone with God, I've had men and women over 00:06:33.930 --> 00:06:35.850 and over and over tell me, you know, I said, 00:06:35.910 --> 00:06:39.029 I got to slow down. I got to get some margin 00:06:39.029 --> 00:06:41.639 in my life. The things that really matter, I 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:45.180 can see are fleeting and going away. And the 00:06:45.180 --> 00:06:48.439 momentum and the speed of what's happening in 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:51.480 all the relationships with God. I mean, how can 00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:54.300 you not have time for God who made you? How can 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:56.120 you not have time for the person that you said 00:06:56.120 --> 00:06:58.800 till death do us part? How can you not have time 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:01.560 for the people that half of their DNA is yours? 00:07:01.779 --> 00:07:04.279 How can you not have time for people that want 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:06.740 to love you and care for you and be great friends? 00:07:07.100 --> 00:07:09.699 So the question I want to ask and answer with 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:14.339 you is, is it possible to break free of the high 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:18.019 speed, high pressure, high demand, guilt producing 00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:23.550 dis -ease of our complex lives. I took the word 00:07:23.550 --> 00:07:26.910 disease because it means something's wrong. And 00:07:26.910 --> 00:07:28.870 I put the hyphen in it because there's sort of 00:07:28.870 --> 00:07:31.949 a dis -ease. There's a lack of ease. There's 00:07:31.949 --> 00:07:34.730 a lack of sense of pace. There's a lack of peace. 00:07:35.269 --> 00:07:37.490 And when you have a physical disease, what do 00:07:37.490 --> 00:07:40.040 you do? You go to the doctor, right? I mean, 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:42.500 you know, your temperature goes up, you feel 00:07:42.500 --> 00:07:45.399 terrible. And usually if you're doing the shuffle, 00:07:45.420 --> 00:07:46.980 you say, well, you know, I'll just get through 00:07:46.980 --> 00:07:48.480 this. I'll keep going to work. But eventually 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:50.540 you go to the doctor. When you go to the doctor, 00:07:50.660 --> 00:07:53.339 you want a doctor who does something very, very 00:07:53.339 --> 00:07:56.480 important to make a proper diagnosis before they 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:58.519 give you a prescription, correct? I mean, if 00:07:58.519 --> 00:07:59.860 you went and say, I don't feel very good. He 00:07:59.860 --> 00:08:01.259 goes, hey, I got some pills on the shelf. Take 00:08:01.259 --> 00:08:03.699 these. Well, wait, wait, doc, doc, hold on. Or, 00:08:03.740 --> 00:08:05.660 you know what, I'm really struggling with, and 00:08:05.660 --> 00:08:07.000 you tell him one thing, it gets good. Tomorrow 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:08.860 morning, 6 a .m., surgery. You're going, whoa. 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:13.959 See, the key to the right prescription is a proper 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:16.600 diagnosis. You want them to really figure out 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:18.279 what's wrong before they start pumping drugs 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:21.319 in you or cutting you open. And the same is true 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:23.180 spiritually. So I want to take you this morning 00:08:23.180 --> 00:08:27.759 to just a little stop to the Simplify Your Life 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:30.360 doctor. And in order to do a little diagnosis, 00:08:30.420 --> 00:08:32.600 I'm going to ask like a doctor does, right? When 00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:33.919 you walk in, he goes, well, how long have you 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:36.200 been having this? Is there any of this in your 00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:38.860 family? Tell me about your diet. Tell me about 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:40.379 your exercise. Do you have any stress in your 00:08:40.379 --> 00:08:43.460 life? And then you laugh. But they ask a lot 00:08:43.460 --> 00:08:44.960 of questions. That's how they do a diagnosis. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.299 And so the question I want to ask you is, what 00:08:48.299 --> 00:08:50.779 do you want to be known for? That's the first 00:08:50.779 --> 00:08:52.779 question because there's something behind the 00:08:52.779 --> 00:08:54.279 bigger, better, faster, more, bigger, better, 00:08:54.340 --> 00:08:56.919 faster, more. There's something in you and something 00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:59.580 in me that creates this momentum and this drive 00:08:59.580 --> 00:09:01.840 and this pressure and this demand. And part of 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:04.220 it is going to be rooted in what do you really 00:09:04.220 --> 00:09:07.200 want to be known for? And we heard, I wanna be 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:09.480 known as a kind and loving person. I wanna be 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:11.480 known as a person who's fair. Other people would 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:13.379 say, I wanna be known to be a great mom or a 00:09:13.379 --> 00:09:15.639 great dad, or I wanna be known as an excellent 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:18.139 student. I wanna be known as, one person said, 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:21.500 a person who solves some problem is very knowledgeable. 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:23.399 I wanna be known as someone who's very wise. 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:27.360 I wanna be known as someone who's, and if you 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:29.820 had to write down, I wanna be known for, what 00:09:29.820 --> 00:09:33.860 would you write on your notes? What would you 00:09:33.860 --> 00:09:40.759 write? Now, the problem with this question that 00:09:40.759 --> 00:09:44.940 was kind of interesting is we all have two lists 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:47.419 of what we want to be known for. There's the 00:09:47.419 --> 00:09:49.779 list that when someone like me asks you this, 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:52.480 I mean, no one is writing, I want to be known 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.019 as an ax murderer, okay? I'm thinking we're okay 00:09:55.019 --> 00:09:59.539 on that one, right? But I'm figuring there's 00:09:59.539 --> 00:10:01.480 not a lot of you who say, I want to be known 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:05.320 for being a driven, overextended, hurried parent 00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:07.460 who doesn't connect with my kids. No, that's 00:10:07.460 --> 00:10:09.259 not a good one. I want to be known for a very 00:10:09.259 --> 00:10:13.779 successful business person who has been through 00:10:13.779 --> 00:10:15.980 two or three marriages. No, no, no, no. I want 00:10:15.980 --> 00:10:20.759 to be known for someone who's way too busy to 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:24.779 have any meaningful deep friendships. See, what 00:10:24.779 --> 00:10:27.539 I'm going to say with my lips and what I intellectually 00:10:27.539 --> 00:10:33.240 want to be known for is one list. And then your 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:37.690 schedule and my schedule And your words and where 00:10:37.690 --> 00:10:41.710 your time and energy and money goes is a separate 00:10:41.710 --> 00:10:45.330 list. And the bad part about life is like when 00:10:45.330 --> 00:10:47.610 we go to the doctor, when they ask, how are you 00:10:47.610 --> 00:10:49.889 eating? We tell them stuff like, I think pretty 00:10:49.889 --> 00:10:53.750 good. You know, I mean, fairly healthy. You know, 00:10:53.789 --> 00:10:55.850 I roll out of bed, coffee, no breakfast, get 00:10:55.850 --> 00:10:59.149 a Danish, have a candy bar at noon and eat a 00:10:59.149 --> 00:11:02.169 decent supper. I mean, isn't that good? Not that 00:11:02.169 --> 00:11:06.529 I do that. I'm just, that was hypothetical. Do 00:11:06.529 --> 00:11:10.509 you see the difference? Well, let me ask one 00:11:10.509 --> 00:11:12.450 more question. If you could get it down to one 00:11:12.450 --> 00:11:17.350 word, just one word, what would you want to be 00:11:17.350 --> 00:11:19.990 known for? And I realize that's super hard, but 00:11:19.990 --> 00:11:22.970 if there was one word that could describe you, 00:11:23.090 --> 00:11:26.110 one word where if you're a parent, your kids 00:11:26.110 --> 00:11:29.429 would say, this describes my dad or my mom. Or 00:11:29.429 --> 00:11:31.830 if you're married, your spouse would say, this 00:11:31.830 --> 00:11:35.549 is the one word that epitomizes when I think 00:11:35.549 --> 00:11:38.830 of my mate, it's this. Or one word that really 00:11:38.830 --> 00:11:42.250 epitomizes what my closest friends think of me. 00:11:42.610 --> 00:11:50.590 What would it be? Got it? I'm going to suggest 00:11:50.590 --> 00:11:53.649 that there might be a lot of good solutions, 00:11:53.690 --> 00:11:59.190 but there is one word that No matter what word 00:11:59.190 --> 00:12:02.789 you came up with, if it's not this word, that 00:12:02.789 --> 00:12:05.669 your word is a distant second. And not there's 00:12:05.669 --> 00:12:07.250 anything wrong with wanting to be a good mom 00:12:07.250 --> 00:12:09.230 or a good dad or a hard worker or a successful 00:12:09.230 --> 00:12:11.490 business person or to start your own company 00:12:11.490 --> 00:12:13.350 or to be a great athlete or a great artist. I 00:12:13.350 --> 00:12:15.809 mean, those desires are fine, but you can do, 00:12:15.990 --> 00:12:19.029 you could fulfill all those desires. But if you 00:12:19.029 --> 00:12:22.990 didn't fulfill this one word, according to God, 00:12:23.230 --> 00:12:27.370 all of those are not like a close second. They're 00:12:27.370 --> 00:12:30.070 like such a distant, distant, distant second. 00:12:30.169 --> 00:12:33.450 If this one word does not describe my life and 00:12:33.450 --> 00:12:39.750 your life, we will find ourselves missing what 00:12:39.750 --> 00:12:42.850 matters most. And I'm convinced the only way 00:12:42.850 --> 00:12:45.450 to simplify your life is to get clear on what 00:12:45.450 --> 00:12:48.809 really matters. The Apostle Paul would write 00:12:48.809 --> 00:12:54.360 one very overarching principle. And he's going 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:58.019 to tell us that anything minus love is nothing. 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:03.980 Anything. Any success, anything powerful. And 00:13:03.980 --> 00:13:05.980 then he's going to tell us, put another way, 00:13:06.059 --> 00:13:10.960 that everything minus love is nothing. And you 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:12.159 might say, well, Chippewa, where did you get 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:15.379 that? The apostle Paul is writing to a church. 00:13:16.190 --> 00:13:18.590 I mean, they're high capacity. They're very gifted. 00:13:18.889 --> 00:13:21.490 They're situated in a part of the world that 00:13:21.490 --> 00:13:23.669 where they, I mean, they have just great influence. 00:13:23.909 --> 00:13:26.549 It's the Corinthian church, but I mean, they 00:13:26.549 --> 00:13:29.789 have a lot of shuffle problems. They have dysfunctional 00:13:29.789 --> 00:13:32.009 relationships. The things that matter most aren't 00:13:32.009 --> 00:13:34.940 going very well. And so there apparently was 00:13:34.940 --> 00:13:38.659 maybe a tattletale, a good tattletale who sort 00:13:38.659 --> 00:13:40.620 of said to Paul, you know, that church, they're 00:13:40.620 --> 00:13:43.019 not doing very well. Here's all the issues. And 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:45.120 like the first four or five chapters, he talks 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:46.639 about, you know, they're suing one another and 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:49.179 there's divisions. And it's, you know, all the 00:13:49.179 --> 00:13:51.000 things about living the way Jesus said, they're 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:52.600 just not doing very well. That's not what you 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:55.690 taught. And then later, Paul gets a letter. And 00:13:55.690 --> 00:13:57.210 they have a number of questions. They have questions 00:13:57.210 --> 00:13:59.090 about marriage and questions about singleness 00:13:59.090 --> 00:14:01.250 and questions about divorce and questions about 00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:03.690 lawsuits and questions about the Lord's Supper 00:14:03.690 --> 00:14:06.129 and questions about all kinds of things, the 00:14:06.129 --> 00:14:08.909 gifts of the Spirit and spiritual maturity. And 00:14:08.909 --> 00:14:12.370 so Paul is writing this letter to address all 00:14:12.370 --> 00:14:16.350 these specific issues. You're listening to Living 00:14:16.350 --> 00:14:18.730 on the Edge. We'll get you back to our series, 00:14:18.870 --> 00:14:21.779 Spiritual Simplicity, in just a minute. But first, 00:14:21.860 --> 00:14:24.220 if this teaching has ministered to you, consider 00:14:24.220 --> 00:14:27.080 becoming a monthly partner. Your regular financial 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:29.539 support goes a long way to help us encourage 00:14:29.539 --> 00:14:32.679 pastors, create resources, and share Jesus with 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:36.159 today's youth. Visit livingontheedge .org today 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:38.759 to learn how to support us. Well, with that, 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:41.960 here again is Chip. And one of the issues, he 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:45.139 opens it up in chapter 12, verse 1. He says, 00:14:47.189 --> 00:14:49.210 Now, most of your Bibles, you can actually open 00:14:49.210 --> 00:14:50.870 up because we're going to go to chapter 13 in 00:14:50.870 --> 00:14:52.470 just a second. But if you open your Bibles to 00:14:52.470 --> 00:14:54.250 chapter 12, it'll give you some context here. 00:14:54.370 --> 00:14:56.970 He says, now concerning spirituals, literally, 00:14:57.129 --> 00:14:59.129 it's spirituals. Now, most of your Bibles will 00:14:59.129 --> 00:15:01.570 say spiritual gifts because when it's not completely 00:15:01.570 --> 00:15:04.750 clear, it'll be in italics, and then 12 is about 00:15:04.750 --> 00:15:09.509 gifts and 14 is about gifts. But if you study 00:15:09.509 --> 00:15:11.690 all three of those chapters very carefully, what 00:15:11.690 --> 00:15:15.139 you understand is The major overarching issue 00:15:15.139 --> 00:15:20.059 of chapter 12, 13, and 14 isn't gifts, it's spiritual 00:15:20.059 --> 00:15:21.980 maturity, or what's it mean to be spiritual? 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:24.679 Because the Corinthians believed that what made 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:26.980 you spiritual was they were really into the gift 00:15:26.980 --> 00:15:28.980 of tongues, speaking a language that they hadn't 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:30.879 learned, and they felt like really spiritual 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:34.000 people had this gift. Paul will argue in chapter 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:37.019 12, that may be a very important gift, but the 00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:40.639 most spiritual gift is prophecy because it benefits 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:44.080 other people and it reveals God's truth. And 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:46.139 look at chapter 12, look at the very end, look 00:15:46.139 --> 00:15:49.299 at verse 31. He says, now he makes this, talked 00:15:49.299 --> 00:15:51.460 about all the gifts and their role in spiritual 00:15:51.460 --> 00:15:53.860 maturity. And then he says, now let me show you 00:15:53.860 --> 00:15:57.519 a more excellent way. And then he opens it up 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.399 and he says, if I speak with the tongues of men 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:02.799 and of angels but have not love, I'm a resounding 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:05.980 gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift 00:16:05.980 --> 00:16:07.960 of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:10.220 all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move 00:16:10.220 --> 00:16:13.419 mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 00:16:13.899 --> 00:16:16.340 If I give all my possessions to the poor and 00:16:16.340 --> 00:16:19.799 surrender my body to the flames but have not 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:22.879 love, I gain nothing. Could you go in your notes 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:25.669 and just underline but have not love, but have 00:16:25.669 --> 00:16:27.690 not love, but have not love. Three times, right? 00:16:28.610 --> 00:16:33.070 But have not love. And did you notice the progression? 00:16:33.210 --> 00:16:36.669 It goes from not very good to bad, then to worse. 00:16:37.429 --> 00:16:41.649 And so he takes that gift that they esteem, and 00:16:41.649 --> 00:16:43.990 it says this ability to speak in another language 00:16:43.990 --> 00:16:46.889 that you haven't learned, if you could even speak 00:16:46.889 --> 00:16:50.389 it in angels' languages, but if you don't do 00:16:50.389 --> 00:16:52.740 it with love, I mean, you guys really think this 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:54.679 is the biggie? If you don't do it with love, 00:16:54.779 --> 00:16:58.000 you just become like a gong and a clanging cymbal. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:00.320 And he's referring to their background. In their 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:02.879 background, in pagan worship, they believed that 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:04.779 you had to wake up the gods. And the way they 00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:06.559 would wake up the gods as they would start their 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:10.180 pagan festivals is they got bong, bong, ching, 00:17:10.180 --> 00:17:12.119 ching, ching, bong, bong. And they would make 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:14.220 all this noise that didn't have any music or 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:16.420 any sense to it to get their god to wake up. 00:17:17.549 --> 00:17:20.269 And so Paul's giving a little dig to them because 00:17:20.269 --> 00:17:22.730 there's not love in this group. They've got a 00:17:22.730 --> 00:17:25.430 lot of gifts. They treat each other badly. They 00:17:25.430 --> 00:17:27.730 gossip about each other. There's division. There's 00:17:27.730 --> 00:17:30.349 disunity. And they've got all kinds of dysfunctions 00:17:30.349 --> 00:17:32.170 in this church. And he's saying, you want to 00:17:32.170 --> 00:17:35.130 really be spiritual. He said, if you had this 00:17:35.130 --> 00:17:38.170 greatest, greatest gift ever that you think is 00:17:38.170 --> 00:17:41.769 so hot without love, you just basically come 00:17:41.769 --> 00:17:43.650 like the beginning of your old pagan worship 00:17:43.650 --> 00:17:47.319 services. And so actually it produces nothing. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:50.880 Then notice he goes on to say, if I have, so 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:53.299 he moves from a performing something that you 00:17:53.299 --> 00:17:56.539 do to something that you possess. And then he 00:17:56.539 --> 00:17:59.019 goes back to his spiritual perspective of if 00:17:59.019 --> 00:18:01.220 prophecy is the highest one, and he goes, even 00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:03.000 if you have that and you knew mysteries, you 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:05.180 had all this knowledge and you had this faith 00:18:05.180 --> 00:18:06.839 that you could trust God that I mean, supernatural 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:09.839 things would occur. If you do that without love, 00:18:09.940 --> 00:18:13.140 not only does it not produce anything, you become 00:18:13.140 --> 00:18:19.680 nothing. Think of that. Just, I mean, that's 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:24.180 your essence. And then finally says, if you exercise, 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:26.140 I'm sure he's thinking here of the gift of giving 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:30.039 that he explains to him later. If you are so 00:18:30.039 --> 00:18:33.150 sacrificial in your giving. But I mean, it's 00:18:33.150 --> 00:18:36.450 lavish. I mean, 10%, I mean, you blew by that. 00:18:36.650 --> 00:18:40.549 20%, you blew by that. 50, 60, 70 % of your income, 00:18:40.670 --> 00:18:43.390 you're lavish. In fact, you decide at one point 00:18:43.390 --> 00:18:45.450 in time, you would actually lay down your life, 00:18:45.589 --> 00:18:50.529 allow your body to be burned, be martyred, sacrificially, 00:18:50.529 --> 00:18:53.109 you are providing. But he says, if you didn't 00:18:53.109 --> 00:18:58.529 do it out of love, profits you nothing. I want 00:18:58.529 --> 00:19:01.670 to summarize love supremacy. And what I've done 00:19:01.670 --> 00:19:03.930 here, I've taken a little bit of liberty because 00:19:03.930 --> 00:19:07.970 in the context, Paul is speaking to them about 00:19:07.970 --> 00:19:11.549 the focus they need to have. They lived in a 00:19:11.549 --> 00:19:14.250 complex world. They were a very gifted church. 00:19:14.450 --> 00:19:17.269 They had a lot going for them. And so I wanted 00:19:17.269 --> 00:19:20.890 to apply this passage to us. And so performing 00:19:20.890 --> 00:19:24.349 in your world with the greatest gifts and abilities 00:19:24.349 --> 00:19:30.380 without love, jot down. produces nothing. Performing. 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:34.500 Some of us are good at performing because we 00:19:34.500 --> 00:19:37.079 have learned that when you perform, you get strokes 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:39.880 and affirmation and strokes and affirmation. 00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:42.680 Although it's not like real love from in -depth 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:45.200 relationships, it feels pretty good and it's 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:50.619 a cheap substitute. Second, possessing the best, 00:19:50.660 --> 00:19:53.319 the finest, the most amazing things you can imagine 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:57.859 without love, you become nothing. Now in the 00:19:57.859 --> 00:19:59.880 context here, he was talking about possessing 00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:03.200 these amazing gifts and what you possess in terms 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.740 of position and privilege and what you possess 00:20:05.740 --> 00:20:08.099 in terms of the esteem of other people and what 00:20:08.099 --> 00:20:10.799 you possess in terms of reputation and how old 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:13.440 are you and how quickly are you moving up and 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:15.619 what you possess in terms of your little kids 00:20:15.619 --> 00:20:17.960 and can they hit the ball or run faster or farther 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:21.759 than other little kids. And what you want to 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:23.960 be known for, these get into the things that 00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:26.599 drive you. This is why so many people are living 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:31.799 in SUVs and eating fast food five nights a week 00:20:31.799 --> 00:20:35.460 from minivan to minivan, from practice to practice. 00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:38.000 This is why people don't eat dinner together 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:40.279 and don't have time to eat dinner together and 00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:42.339 why couples see each other briefly in the morning, 00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:45.200 see one another with blurry eyes and reconnect 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:48.700 not very well at 10 o 'clock that night. And 00:20:48.700 --> 00:20:52.019 keep thinking, okay, there's more to do. There's 00:20:52.019 --> 00:20:54.299 more to get done. The to -do list is longer. 00:20:54.539 --> 00:20:57.200 I just got to keep it going. And then the lie, 00:20:57.380 --> 00:21:00.660 but when this season is over, it's always just 00:21:00.660 --> 00:21:04.079 a season. But it seems like the seasons stack 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:09.819 up on one another. And third, sacrificially providing 00:21:09.819 --> 00:21:12.980 for those you love, the neediest, the greatest 00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:16.079 cause on earth without love, profits you nothing. 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:21.079 I mean, a lot of us with our motives and our 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:22.640 heart, it's not like we're trying to live insane 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:25.019 paced lives. I can't tell you how many people 00:21:25.019 --> 00:21:27.180 I've talked to said, I've tried to slow down. 00:21:27.339 --> 00:21:30.259 I've tried and I just keep getting pulled back 00:21:30.259 --> 00:21:33.460 into the rushing river of movement, demand, push, 00:21:33.700 --> 00:21:37.279 go, make it happen, innovate. You're losing it. 00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:40.839 Market share. What about this? Providing. And 00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:42.799 so you want to provide for your kids this and 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:45.319 provide for yourself this and provide that until 00:21:45.319 --> 00:21:50.140 you can accumulate. Now listen very carefully. 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:54.900 Every time you buy into a lie and the biggest 00:21:54.900 --> 00:21:57.559 ones are so subtle, they're coated with such 00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:01.960 significant amounts of truth that you feel like 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:03.539 you're between the rock and the hard place and 00:22:03.539 --> 00:22:07.740 you can never get out. Here's what I wrote. Many 00:22:07.740 --> 00:22:12.180 of us live very hurried, overextended, complex 00:22:12.180 --> 00:22:15.700 lives with shallow superficial relationships, 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:19.000 even with our closest friends. and families, 00:22:19.180 --> 00:22:22.579 because we have unconsciously learned to believe 00:22:22.579 --> 00:22:28.420 performing well, possessing much, and providing 00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:38.200 stuff is what life is all about. This is Living 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:40.720 on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and you've been 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:42.799 listening to part one of Chip's message, All 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:45.319 You Need Is Love, from our series, Spiritual 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:48.210 Simplicity. Chip will be back shortly to share 00:22:48.210 --> 00:22:50.450 some helpful application for us to think about. 00:22:50.950 --> 00:22:53.029 Have you ever felt like there's never enough 00:22:53.029 --> 00:22:55.509 time in the day for yourself, the people you 00:22:55.509 --> 00:22:58.730 love, even God? If you can relate, don't miss 00:22:58.730 --> 00:23:01.430 this series. Chip's going to challenge the unrealistic 00:23:01.430 --> 00:23:04.589 standards and expectations we all feel pressured 00:23:04.589 --> 00:23:07.549 by. Join us as we learn how to break free from 00:23:07.549 --> 00:23:10.210 this demanding cycle and discover the simpler, 00:23:10.309 --> 00:23:12.829 more fulfilling life God has in store for us. 00:23:13.029 --> 00:23:15.329 I hope you'll be with us for every part of this 00:23:15.329 --> 00:23:18.130 study. Well, Chip's with me in studio now. And 00:23:18.130 --> 00:23:20.269 Chip, since you're teaching from a pretty familiar 00:23:20.269 --> 00:23:23.049 passage in 1 Corinthians, highlight what you're 00:23:23.049 --> 00:23:25.250 wanting our listeners to walk away with. Why 00:23:25.250 --> 00:23:27.890 are these truths so necessary for all of us right 00:23:27.890 --> 00:23:30.650 now? Well, that's a really great question, Dave. 00:23:30.789 --> 00:23:34.009 And it is a classic passage, right? 1 Corinthians 00:23:34.009 --> 00:23:37.089 chapter 13 are often called, you know, the love 00:23:37.089 --> 00:23:39.880 passage. Even people that... Don't think anything 00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:43.460 about religion or God or the Bible. Have read, 00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:46.400 you know, love is patient, love is kind, and 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:49.279 is not envious. This kind of poem, if you will, 00:23:49.380 --> 00:23:52.319 by the Apostle Paul as he was directed by the 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:55.339 Holy Spirit. And it happens to be sandwiched 00:23:55.339 --> 00:23:59.099 in between two passages about how different we 00:23:59.099 --> 00:24:01.480 are and how we have different gifts and how we 00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:04.200 really need to take all of our differences and 00:24:04.200 --> 00:24:07.720 how they fit together. And the Apostle Paul says 00:24:07.720 --> 00:24:10.640 there's a more perfect way. There's a way for 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:12.599 the church to get along. There's a way for people 00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:15.400 to get along. There's a way to, instead of comparing 00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:18.500 with one another and being against one another 00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:20.700 and seeing all the things where we're different, 00:24:20.940 --> 00:24:23.940 this is a passage that is sandwiched in between 00:24:23.940 --> 00:24:26.740 those differences that says the more perfect 00:24:26.740 --> 00:24:30.089 way is loving one another. And contrary to kind 00:24:30.089 --> 00:24:33.170 of popular culture, Dave, where love is basically 00:24:33.170 --> 00:24:37.089 a feeling and you hear love is love, well, love 00:24:37.089 --> 00:24:39.789 has some boundaries. It has some clarity. There's 00:24:39.789 --> 00:24:43.470 some objectivity to what it means to love a person. 00:24:43.750 --> 00:24:47.069 And this passage is very unique in that it's 00:24:47.069 --> 00:24:49.910 the way God is toward us. If love is patient, 00:24:50.049 --> 00:24:53.430 that means that God is patient. God is understanding. 00:24:53.930 --> 00:24:57.910 And in a world that is so polarized right now, 00:24:58.519 --> 00:25:02.319 In families, in politics, in racial conflict, 00:25:02.519 --> 00:25:06.059 in, you know, all the things that we face coming 00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:09.259 out of those years of pandemic. What's it look 00:25:09.259 --> 00:25:13.880 like to really love? Because love covers a multitude 00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:18.390 of sins and love never fails. Thanks, Chip. Well, 00:25:18.470 --> 00:25:20.329 I hope you'll join us for every part of this 00:25:20.329 --> 00:25:22.549 series. And to help you get the absolute most 00:25:22.549 --> 00:25:24.910 out of Chip's teaching, let me encourage you 00:25:24.910 --> 00:25:27.509 to get his message notes. They include his outline, 00:25:27.809 --> 00:25:30.369 the verses he references, and some key fill -ins 00:25:30.369 --> 00:25:32.710 to help you remember what you hear. Download 00:25:32.710 --> 00:25:35.529 them under the Broadcasts tab at livingontheedge 00:25:35.529 --> 00:25:39.589 .org. App listeners, tap Fill in Notes. Well, 00:25:39.609 --> 00:25:41.549 now here's Chip with a few final thoughts from 00:25:41.549 --> 00:25:45.000 what we heard today. Thanks so much, Dave. You 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:48.259 know, I want to repeat the very last line of 00:25:48.259 --> 00:25:51.279 today's message because it really struck me, 00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:54.799 and I'm guessing it struck you. Many of us live 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:58.900 very hurried, overextended, complex lives with 00:25:58.900 --> 00:26:02.160 shallow, superficial relationships, even with 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:04.779 our closest friends and families, because we 00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:07.579 have unconsciously learned to believe performing 00:26:07.579 --> 00:26:12.180 well, possessing much, and providing stuff is 00:26:12.180 --> 00:26:15.240 what life is all about. And I know intellectually 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:18.500 as a follower of Jesus, you don't believe that. 00:26:18.619 --> 00:26:21.640 But the fact of the matter is our behavior, our 00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:24.920 rush, our hurry. Because I live out here in the 00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:27.200 Silicon Valley. I call it the Silicon Valley 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:29.940 shuffle. How many of us, hey, let's get together. 00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:32.680 And, you know, yeah, someday, sometime. And then 00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:35.279 this badge almost of honor. Well, I'm really 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:38.400 busy. And when things slow down. And you know 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:40.960 what? We'll always be busy. Things never slow 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:45.279 down. As we begin this journey about learning 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:48.819 to do less and to love more, I'm going to ask 00:26:48.819 --> 00:26:51.900 you to really pause today, to pause and say, 00:26:52.059 --> 00:26:56.599 why am I in such a hurry? Where am I going so 00:26:56.599 --> 00:27:00.980 quickly? And why are tasks dominating my life? 00:27:01.140 --> 00:27:04.380 And who's the person in the cubicle next to me? 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:07.240 Or how will I greet my roommate when I get home? 00:27:07.319 --> 00:27:11.019 Or my wife or my husband? Is it just hurrying 00:27:11.019 --> 00:27:13.160 the kids off to get them here and to get them 00:27:13.160 --> 00:27:16.559 there? Have you looked into their eyes? Have 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:19.319 you wondered what's really going on inside? Do 00:27:19.319 --> 00:27:21.680 you have some margin where you can turn off the 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:24.880 TV and everyone kind of shut off their screens 00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:28.559 and sit around a table and eat a meal and just 00:27:28.559 --> 00:27:31.460 say, what was your day like? How are you really 00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:35.579 doing? And pause before those kids go to bed 00:27:35.579 --> 00:27:39.339 and take your time. sit down on the bed, and 00:27:39.339 --> 00:27:41.359 if they're little, you can still tell them a 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:44.039 story, and if they're older, you can just probe 00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:48.599 into their heart. Margin, unhurried lives develop 00:27:48.599 --> 00:27:52.220 deep relationships, and deep relationships is 00:27:52.220 --> 00:27:55.339 what fills our heart and gives us meaning. Could 00:27:55.339 --> 00:27:58.680 I encourage you? Let's live more simply. Great 00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:01.000 challenge, Chip. Let me take a second before 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:03.119 we go and thank the generous people who support 00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:05.759 this ministry every month. Your faithful gifts 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:08.539 help us inspire Christians to live like Christians. 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:11.619 If you haven't partnered with us, would you prayerfully 00:28:11.619 --> 00:28:13.779 consider joining the Living on the Edge team? 00:28:13.960 --> 00:28:17.480 Now, you can set up a monthly donation at livingontheedge 00:28:17.480 --> 00:28:34.109 .org Well, join us next time as Chip continues 00:28:34.109 --> 00:28:37.250 his series, Spiritual Simplicity. Until then, 00:28:37.269 --> 00:28:39.230 I'm Dave Drewy, thanking you for listening to 00:28:39.230 --> 00:28:41.210 this edition of Living on the Edge.