Are you bored? I mean, are you just flat tired
of what life has been offering you? Have you
ever noticed that our world is on an all -out,
no -holes -barred pursuit of activities that
numb our senses to keep us from experiencing
boredom? Now how would you like to overcome boredom
and find real fulfillment? Sound good? It's possible.
Stick around and we'll talk about what it takes.
Tired of the endless pursuit of new things that
promise fulfillment but deliver emptiness? Today
on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram exposes our
culture's desperate attempt to avoid boredom
through constant entertainment and distraction.
But here's what most people don't realize. Boredom
isn't your enemy. It's actually God's gift, a
divine tap on the shoulder, reminding you that
you're an eternal being trying to satisfy yourself
with temporary things. Here's Chip Ingram with
how to overcome boredom and the blues. Webster
says boredom is the condition of becoming weary
by dull, uninteresting, or monotonous activity
or focus. It's trying to get satisfied with something,
and then after you try it for a while, it doesn't
satisfy, so you try something else, and then
things just get dull. If you don't think we're
a culture that struggles with boredom, consider
the word amusement and the multi -billion dollar
industry. You know what the word muse means?
It means to think. You know what amusement means?
Not to think. We have amusement parks, video,
TV, vacations, bungee jumping, thrill -seeking,
adrenaline riding. We have people that the highlight
of their week is when one of their favorite authors
writes a new fictional novel. We're a culture
that lives vicariously. We are so bored. We are
so empty when it gets down to what matters. We
vicariously live through rock stars and sports
figures and romance novels and the latest movie.
We have to line up and we have to get there first
because in the office or we want to talk about
what? Fictitious people in made up stories who
live in Southern California, whose lives don't
work, who they paint up after surgery to put
on pretend lives that we pay seven bucks a ticket
to watch. You tell me we're not bored. We're
bored. Why are we bored? I'd like to suggest
something. I'd like to suggest that boredom is
the inevitable result of seeking an infinite
reference point in a finite object. It's a matter
of trying to find significance in things and
in people that can only offer success. Boredom
is what happens when the new wears off. You're
in a new relationship. Oh, this is so exciting.
And then what? You get a new car. Wow. And then
what? Get a new house. It's your dream. And then
what? Then it's repairs, fixing it up, working
through dysfunctional backgrounds. And what I've
observed is that the boredom and the blues go
hand in hand. The blues, kind of that low feeling
of life doesn't really matter, is the emotional
baggage of boredom. The blues comes when that
inner voice in your heart and mind says, this
is the next hill to take. This is what you're
going to do with your life. And this inner voice
says, been there, done that. And then you awaken
to the reality. that the next venture will only
yield more of the same. You see, there's a vicious
cycle. It's new venture, excitement, challenge,
growth, plateau, boredom, then the blues. And
so you say, well, that must not be it. New venture,
excitement, growth, challenge, plateau, boredom,
and the blues. Well, that must not be the right
person. I'll try someone else. Excitement, growth,
challenge, venture. It's a vicious cycle. It's
a vicious, vicious cycle. You know, some people
spend 70, 80 years and never figure this out.
Like little hamsters in big cages running faster
and faster, changing colors, never going anywhere.
Could boredom, in fact, be a gift in disguise?
I'd like to suggest that boredom, this... sense
of not being able to get satisfied in this life
is God's gentle reminder that we are spiritual
beings made for not only time but eternity. That's
why we're bored. Boredom is the natural result
of seeking to scratch an eternal itch with temporal
things. They just can't do it. In fact, boredom
tells us that the object of our worship isn't
big enough or great enough to be worshipped.
You can worship success, and once you get it,
it gets small. You can worship a person, you
get it. It's not what you expected. You can think
if you raise this family this way, then it happens.
If you can get this job, if you can drive this
car, if you can score on this test, if you can
get into this college, and then once you get
it, if you happen to. See, I think those of you
that happen to be successful are really fortunate.
See, if you're successful, then you actually
learn it doesn't come through. Some of us that
fail a lot in a lot of those areas are still
believing that we can. God's answer to boredom,
interesting, is authentic worship. The great
theologian Augustine wrote, This was after he
sought meaning in a wild, wild life, seeking
pleasure in everything imaginable. Augustine
wrote, God has placed a God -shaped vacuum in
every heart, and we will not be satisfied until
we find him. He went on to say, and our hearts
will never be at rest until. They find their
rest in Christ. So what's authentic worship?
One writer says, worship is pulling our affections
off our idols and putting them on God. Definition
of worship is, worship is our response to God
for who he is and what he's done. That's a good
working definition. It's the key. It is the key
to overcoming a life of meaninglessness or boredom.
Followed by the blues. Real worship is our response
to God for who he is and what he's done. So the
$64 question is, what does he want? Right? What
should your response be? What does God want?
Can you imagine if Jesus would come in the flesh
and stand before us and we could get microphones
and line up and say, excuse me, sir, what would
you like from my life? I mean, since I'm made
for eternity and I only live here for a little
while. I'd like to use it well, and I don't want
to be bored, and then I don't want to get the
blues. So, excuse me, Lord Jesus, what do you
want from me? I'm going to tell you exactly what
he'd say. He wrote it through the Apostle Paul,
Romans chapter 12, verse 1. He would say to you,
do I want a little song? No. Songs are okay.
Do I want you to come to a worship service? Is
that what worship is? He'd say, no. They're good.
Do I want you to have a special feeling inside?
If you have the special close feeling, is that
worship? He said, oh, that's important, but no,
that's not it. He would say, I urge you, therefore,
my brothers and sisters, in light of God's mercy,
in light of all that I've done for you, to present
your bodies, your life, as a living and holy
sacrifice. Accept the will of God. The word means
well -pleasing. It's what he wants. which is
your reasonable service of worship. And that
last little phrase, reasonable service of worship,
very interesting word in the New Testament. It's
a technical term. In fact, if you look in different
translations, some will talk about reasonable
service and other translations will say spiritual
service. It's because the translators don't know
how to handle the word. What it is is that it
became a technical term for worship, but the
word logizima, I mean, we get our word logic.
In other words, it's the most logical thing to
do. He's the creator. You're the creature. What
is logical? What's wisest? What's the emotionally
most healthy, positive response for you in your
life is to present your life on the altar. And
by the word, that word present, it's an attempt
to the verb that means in a point in time. It's
not some vague, some way, somehow, yeah, I believe
in God or even I go to church. This is presenting
yourself on a specific day, on a specific day
of the week, at a specific time where you say,
you may already be a believer even, and you say,
I don't want to worship anything less than you.
It's when you do a little gut check and you look
at your boredom account and you say, In my heart
of hearts, I think I'm worshiping my girlfriend.
In my heart of hearts, I think I'm worshiping
my boyfriend or my job or my mate or my kids
or money or success because that's where all
my energy and my time and my dreams gravitate
to. And you call a time out in life and you say,
you know, God, I'm going to make a willful decision,
point in time to present myself on the altar
as a living and notice, holy. Holy means I'm
going to do it your way. I'll be set apart. My
speech, my life, my words, my sexuality will
be holy. And that's what you want. You're listening
to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We'll
return to our message in just a moment. But first,
did you know that you can access this entire
series anytime you want? Head on over to livingontheedge
.org where you'll discover Chip's full teaching
library, along with study guides and small group
materials. Whether you want to replay today's
message or explore other topics, everything you
need to grow spiritually is available online
at livingontheedge .org. Let's get back to Chip's
message. Notice the summary. It says, worship
is the complete and total giving of ourselves
for that which we believe has ultimate purpose
and will provide the greatest reward. I like
that definition. See, real worship is the complete
and total giving of who you are for what you
honestly believe is the ultimate purpose in life.
And, this is important, what you believe will
bring the greatest reward. And that's why when
you want to know what you're going to worship,
If you really want to know what you worship,
it has little to do with what your mouth says.
Does it? What you worship has very little to
do with, oh, I worship God. Well, maybe. If you
want to know what you worship, I'll give you
three litmus tests. Number one, go track your
money. Number two, go track your time. And number
three, ask where does your mind drift to when
you're dreaming about what could be? Where does
your mind gravitate? If it gravitates to the
things of God, if it gravitates toward intimacy
with Christ, if it gravitates toward seeing people
come to know Christ, if it gravitates toward
your heart breaking for the things that God hearts
break over, then you worship Christ. If it just
unconsciously gravitates to the next deal, the
next novel someone's going to bring out, which
team won, whether you can get home in time to
check the scores on ESPN. Whether so -and -so
is going to go with you or go with someone else.
Whether you're going to get this job or get into
that school. If your time and your money and
your dreams revolve around anything other than
Christ, that's what you worship. Now, here's
the deal. That can sound very threatening. Understand
God's heart. Understand God's heart. We all do
that at times. I certainly do. But the heart
of God is not. If you heard and if you felt emotionally
a little bit of a shame on you. Nah, nah, nah,
nah, nah. That's a bad boy. That's a bad girl.
Then you missed the point. This is a God who
wants to give you authentic pearls. And you're
holding on to these little plastic things that
you think will deliver for you. And he's holding
authentic pearls. And he's saying, you know,
if you could let go of that junk, I could give
you something real. That's what the lordship
of Christ is. That's what worship is. You can
spend your life chasing that girl, chasing that
guy, or the ideal marriage, or being successful,
or getting rich, or building a big house, or
remodeling this, or doing that, or driving that.
You can do that. And when you get done, your
plastic beads will be plastic. And you will be
bored. And it won't deliver. And then you'll
get blue. Or... All those things have their place.
You could allow Jesus to be the center focus
of your life. And he would dictate your time,
your energy, your dreams. And since he's all
-knowing, and since he loves you, and since he
died for you, maybe his plan's even better than
yours for you. Just a thought. Well, let's ask
the one question. Heart of hearts, don't raise
your hand. If someone asks you, Who are you worshiping
in your honest heart of hearts? Who are you worshiping?
Is it Christ? Or is it an idol? Person, job,
success? Could I suggest that as I keep talking,
you start having a little wrestling match with
God about what has your best interest in mind
and what would be the wisest thing for you to
do. And I want to challenge you before you walk
out of here at some point tonight. decide whether
you're going to offer your body as a living sacrifice
or keep worshiping something else. It's important.
In fact, your whole future depends on it. We
find in John chapter 4, verses 21 to 24, Jesus
ends up talking with a lady, a Samaritan. She
was a despised woman. Jews didn't talk to Samaritans,
so it's an unusual conversation. And the historical
history is Samaritans are kind of like Jewish
half breeds. They have about half Jewish blood
and half Samaritan, you know, blood. And they
had a real tussle between the Jews and the Samaritans.
And so Jesus is tired. The fellows go in to grab
lunch, bring it back. He's sitting by a well.
And this lady, we find out later, has a pretty
checkered past. Jesus looks beyond all that.
And they strike up a conversation. Jesus declared,
believe me, woman. Time is coming when you will
worship the Father neither on this mountain nor
in Jerusalem. They got talking about worship
and she said, well, you know, our fathers do
it here and you Jews do it over there. You Samaritans
worship what you do not know. We worship what
we know for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a
time is coming and has now come when true worshipers,
that's what we want to be, right? I do. True
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and truth. Now, notice this line. For they are
the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. You
want to be close to God? You want to experience
God? You want to see God do things in your life
about people that you read about and in the New
Testament, in the Old Testament? He is seeking.
I mean, he's got the spiritual x -rays out, probing,
looking for men, looking for women, looking for
students who would worship him in spirit and
in truth. He's the hound of heaven. He longs
to have a relationship with you. You are special.
But he won't interfere. You know, it's like people
dancing, you know. It's rude to rip someone else
and say, I want to dance. See, when you're polite,
what do you do? You tap them on the shoulder.
And then the other person steps back. And then
you step in. This is what God does. Day by day,
moments like this, he comes to you. And he taps
you on the shoulder. He says, excuse me, can
I cut in? And you say, well, I'm worshiping this
house right now. He says, I know. He said, not
a good dance. And he taps you on the shoulder
and he says, can I cut in? Oh, I'm worshiping
my career and I have to go to school and I got
to go to grad school and then I have to do this
and I have to do that. He says, I know. Can I
cut in? See, he seeks after people who worship
him in spirit and in truth. Why? God is spirit.
And his worshipers must worship in spirit and
in truth. Now, the question is what, right? What
in the world does it look like? If the Holy Spirit
will illuminate our minds, do you realize that
the Father will be seeking you? We find in John
chapter 4, verses 21 to 24, Jesus ends up talking
with a lady, a Samaritan. It's very interesting.
In verses 21 and 22, they're talking about geography
and location. Authentic worship can happen anywhere.
Now, we're more open to that, but in that culture,
that society, hey, God is going to show up at
the synagogue. Jesus said a time's coming when
location means nothing. See, worship is not about
form. It's about function. It's not about location.
It's about purpose. Worship can happen in a church
building, nature, quiet moments, a human heart.
1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20 says, know you not
that your bodies are the temple of God and the
spirit of God dwells in you? God, we are told
in scripture, doesn't take up residence in things
made by human hands, but what in human hearts?
This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Chip has more to share in just a moment. If this
message is helping you understand the restlessness
in your soul, you can share it with others by
directing them to Living on the Edge. For each
devotional, Chip teaches for 10 minutes from
one of three life -changing psalms. Following
his teaching, you spend 10 minutes in quiet reflection
and prayer. Today we've studied Psalm 27, which
reveals David's heart for worship and his bold
trust in God. Psalms of Hope will take you deeper
into that same transformative practice of meeting
God through the Psalms. Begin your journey today
at livingontheedge .org. Just search for Psalms
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We call it the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast, presenting
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our regular broadcasts on your podcast app. Just
search for Living on the Edge. Well, now here's
Chip with today's talking point. I want to talk
directly about worship. I think it's one of the
most misunderstood concepts in all the Bible.
We have said as we close today's program that
worship is the complete and total giving of ourselves
for that which we believe has ultimate purpose
and will provide the greatest reward. And I ask
you some questions. I think they're penetrating,
profound questions about what's going to happen
in your life and mine. What do you worship? Let
me ask you honestly, what do you worship? Wherever
your time. Wherever your energy, wherever your
mind is dreaming, and wherever your money goes,
that's what you're ascribing worth to. And I
didn't grow up in the church. And hear my heart.
I am not down on you at all. But I want to bring
you to the reality of the words of the Apostle
Paul. I urge you, therefore, my brethren, in
light of God's grace, in light of His mercy,
that what He really wants is you. Present your
body a living and holy sacrifice. That's what's
acceptable to Him. That's what spiritual worship
is. And I got to be honest with you, this is
a journey. It's a point in time, but it's also
a journey. God, through... Three significant
injuries that took me out of most of the season,
or at least a part of the season, showed me that
although I'd received Christ, I was reading my
Bible, I was praying, I worshipped basketball,
I worshipped baseball. I mean, I was living for
the day when they would interview me after the
game and I could tell them I scored so many points
and I did so great and it was all because of
Jesus. And God helped me see that, no, that wasn't
it at all, Chip. It was really because you want
the applause of people. And then as I continued
to grow, what I realized was my heart and my
lips said one thing, but my finances reflected
that I really was a lot more interested in hobbies.
I was a lot more interested in my future. I was
a lot more interested in my security than I was
really worshiping God because my money wasn't
going there. And I remember a watershed moment
in my life when I began to give the first 10%.
to God, to my local church, and then gradually
over and above that to missions, and then gradually
over and above that to specific things. And I
saw God bless. And what I realized was, that's
real worship. It's not what my lips say. It's
where my life and my energy are focused. That's
what I'm ascribing worth to. And I think today,
just to hear my heart, the evangelical church
in America, we think singing songs is worship.
I mean, that's part of it, but it's not singing
songs. It's love that is in deed and truth. So
let me ask you, what are you really worshiping?
Are you giving the first portion of your time,
your energy, and your money to God? And the given
is that you do that in a local body. But let
me just share very candidly too, we get emails
and letters and phone calls that are awesome.
I mean, people's lives who say, living on the
edge is changing my life. And yet... Can I be
very honest? It's a very small percentage of
people who really ascribe worth to the ministry.
And what I mean by that is people who say, you
know, when I hear the music come on, I pray for
you guys, or I've put you down in my prayer list.
I tell my friends because I believe it matters.
An even smaller percentage who say, by writing
a check, you know what, I believe there is worth,
there is value in the ministry. Not just that
I feel good, not that I'm just a consumer, but
this is helping me to the point that I want to
ascribe worth and I want to give on a regular
basis. And so I would ask you, what is your view
of living on the edge? What is your view, not
emotionally, but what is your view from the heart?
If we are ministering to you, we're on this station.
Because there's a core of people in this city
that sacrificially give. Would you be willing
to partner and join with them? We have some information
that we'd like to give you, but I'd like to ask
you to pray today and make a decision to support
Living on the Edge so that we can continue to
do what God has called us to do. But we can't
do it alone. Will you partner with us? And will
you do it today? What does God really want from
you? I'm Dave Drewy. Find out tomorrow on Living
on the Edge. Today's program is produced and
sponsored by Living on the Edge.