Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
When was the last time you hung out with some
fellow believers and afterwards you just felt
so much closer to God? I mean, you opened up,
you shared your life, you laughed together, maybe
even you cried. And as you were going home, you
thought to yourself, why can't I have more times
like that? Well, it's called authentic community.
And today we're going to learn how to get more
of it. Stay with me. Welcome to Living on the
Edge with Chip Ingram. I'm Dave Drewy, and today
we're unpacking one of the most important and
most overlooked ingredients for real spiritual
growth, authentic community. Chip shows us that
it's not enough for the real you to show up and
meet real needs. It has to be done for the right
reason and in the right way. He'll get personal
and maybe a little uncomfortably honest as he
continues his series, God's Dream for Your Life.
Now, looking in the book of Romans, chapter 12,
verse 9, here's Chip Ingram with today's message.
So let's look together. What is authentic community?
And maybe more importantly, how do you get it?
First, from verse 9, authentic community is the
real you, not a projection of yourself. See,
you can't have authentic community unless the
real you shows up. Authentic community, he says,
let love be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling
to what is good. The two characteristics of the
real you showing up is one, authenticity, and
two, it's purity. And so when the real you shows
up, that's the beginning of authentic community.
But it's beyond that. It meets real needs, not
superficial or convenient ones. Authentic community
doesn't happen when you do a little nice thing
or a little nice thing here and it doesn't really
cost you very much. Authentic community happens
when the real you shows up. Notice it says devotion.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
Humility. Giving preference to one another in
honor. Real needs getting met always involves
devotion on our part and humility. The word devotion
here is strong. He's saying you need to be committed
to one another and lay your lives down for one
another like you would for blood relatives. I
mean, for people that you feel this moral responsibility
for. And he says, be devoted to one another how?
In brotherly love. Philo delphia. That's the
word. We named a city in Pennsylvania by that.
It's this commitment of family love, of being
there for one another, of doing whatever it takes.
I thought I knew what it meant to kind of be
devoted and love. I was a new Christian, and
after probably, I guess it was about five or
six years, I'd been coaching for a couple years
after school, and Teresa and I were married,
and we had two small kids at this time. And I
came home after school. It was in my first or...
Second year and Teresa's eyes were all red. I
said, honey, man, what is going on? Are you okay?
She goes, oh, I spent all afternoon with Pat,
you know, right across the hall. I said, well,
what's going on? She goes, well, her husband
left her. And she goes, it's worse than that.
Bank accounts are emptied. He left her. They
have a like two or three week old newborn and
she has no money. And we just prayed and cried.
I thought, wow. So, you know, I'm thinking. My
heart's really going out to her, so I'm thinking
it's really spiritual. So, honey, you want to
pray for her? She goes, well, actually, we did
that. But I've been thinking about it, and we
talked over dinner. She goes, I think we should,
in two days, her rent is due, and they're going
to kick her out if she doesn't have rent money.
And I think we should pay for her rent. And so,
you know, I'm figuring I'm probably going to
have to learn how to be a pastor someday. Might
as well start now. And so, okay, Lord, here it
is. And we write the check. And by the way, it
was not noble. I think people get this idea that
when we take big steps for God, yes, God. Most
of my really big steps are like, yes, God. You
know, I don't really want to do this. I'm pretty.
But okay, I'm gonna claim your promise, but my
God will supply all my needs according to his
riches and glory in Christ Jesus. You said I'd
do that, and the context is giving, being generous,
Philippians 4 .19. I'm standing on that passage.
Our rent's due. No money. And that day, in the
mail, an envelope came. I got a letter from someone
from the Green Bay Packers. I was like, what
is this? So I opened the letter, and the letter
says, hi, Chip, I'm sure you don't know me. I
met you about six years ago or so. I was a senior
in high school at the time, and you taught a
Bible study in San Jose. And I later went on
and played college football, and I was the first
quarterback taken in the draft. And I'm playing
for the Green Bay Packers now, and when you taught
that Bible study, all I can tell you, I can't
really remember what you said, but something
happened that changed the spiritual trajectory
of my life. and I've never forgotten it. And
I've not thought of you for six years, but this
is weird. Out of the blue, you came to my mind,
and I'm supposed to send you this thousand dollars.
I mean, it was just like, oh! You know what happened?
I got to experience authentic community. And
I will tell you what. Man, we got tight with
Pat. I mean, it was like 20 years later, he got
a postcard. Teresa, you know, I saw somewhere
you and Chip and da -da -da. I just want a picture
of her and her grown son. And after that, in
the last 30 years, we've done that scores of
times. Scores of times, never knowing for sure
how God's apply. My testimony, He always does.
And what we've experienced is God. See, at the
end of the day, you know what most Christians
don't know? God is real. He's not a philosophy.
He's not a formula. He's not a moral code. Jesus
is a person and he's real and he loves you and
he made promises and he wants you to stand on
him and you take risks, which are called faith,
and you love one another and people get love
through you and then he supplies. When the real
you meets real needs through devotion and also
through humility. Because at the end of the day,
you know what? You have to think more of other
people than yourself. Jot in the corner of your
notes Philippians chapter 2, if you will, verse
3 and 4. The Apostle Paul says, I mean, think
of how all -encompassing this. Do nothing out
of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility
consider others as more important than yourself.
Boy, would that change your small group. Would
that change your family? Each of you should look
not only for your own interest, but also the
interests of others. In fact, he goes on to say,
have this attitude in yourselves, which was also
in Christ Jesus, that although he existed in
the form of God, he didn't regard equality with
God a thing to be grasped, but he humbled himself,
taking the form of a bondservant, becoming obedient
even unto death. Humility. Humility is putting
other people, giving preference, where you lift
them up. I've had the privilege of working with
someone that's modeled this for me, and there's
a number of people that do it, but I just have
the longest history with a guy named Greg. He
came out of the Silicon Valley, early days of
Palm Pilot, later went to Cisco, project manager,
later was a volunteer over in Santa Cruz and
had 40 or 50 volunteers, did light, sound, real
super techie guy. When I went to walk through
the Bible, he came with me and was just He's
just a manager of just tremendous ability. And
then as Living on the Edge went out on its own,
he ran all of Living on the Edge, the broadcasting,
the money, the finances, the operation, everything.
And we started to grow, and there was a guy who
came along. He wrote a strategic plan for us,
and he led a huge ministry in the United States.
And I'll never forget, he met with me. He said,
this is really exciting, and I think God's in
it. I'd like to help you fulfill it. And a little
humility, I said, well, I now know kind of. what
you've done in your life, and you now know all
of our books, I could pay you maybe half of what
you've ever made. This is an amazing downward
mobility opportunity for you. And he looked at
me and said, I'll take it. And Andrew came, and
in the next three and a half years, he tripled
the size of everything that happened at Living
on the Edge. But here was the interesting point.
Greg is really good into the people and roles
and personnel and HR and all that stuff. I'm
not. we sat down, the entire executive team of
Living on the Edge, me and Greg. It was two of
us, you know? And he said, if we hire Andrew,
you need to know something. I said, what's that?
In about six months, he needs to lead the whole
organization, and I need to be just over broadcasting
and just technology. Because his gifts and what
he'll bring, he's far better. He will bring what
I don't have, and there's no way the ministry
will be what God wants it to be unless he has
that role. So I'm just telling you that, you
know, he needs to become my boss. Now, when's
the last time you ever worked or met anyone who
had the power to hire someone that when he hired
them, he knew they will become greater, I will
become lesser, he will have a higher role, make
a higher income, and I will move down because
I want to serve you, serve God, and the mission
is what matters. You know what that's called?
Giving preference. See, That spiritual ceiling,
where we get stuck, is often the real you doesn't
show up. And if the real you doesn't show up,
often we're not meeting real needs. We're just
meeting convenient or superficial needs. But
then he says, not only does the real you and
me need to show up and meet real needs, but he
says, you need to do it for the right reason.
Not to please people. He says, not lagging behind
in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the
Lord. I'm not gonna be slow about the promptings
that God gives me. I'm going to be filled with
enthusiasm that comes from God, and I'm gonna
do it not even just for them, but to serve him.
And he says, in your motives, don't be slothful.
Be enthusiastic. Notice at the bottom of your
notes, genuine service to God is characterized
by diligence, excellence in what we do and how
we do it, and enthusiasm, passion to serve God
and love people. not please people or impress
people. You're listening to Living on the Edge,
and Chip Ingram will continue today's program
in just a minute. Today's message is part of
Chip's series, God's Dream for Your Life, and
you can hear it anytime at livingontheedge .org.
Whether you want to revisit what you've heard
today or pass it along to a friend, this message
and hundreds more are available online. You'll
also find small group resources and opportunities
to help you live out God's dream for your life.
It's all there at livingontheedge .org. Well,
now here's Chip. My dad was an alcoholic, a great
guy in general, but just one of the roles in
an alcoholic family is making peace and fixing
things. Well, once I came to Christ, I didn't
realize it. It took me a while to get going spiritually,
and when I finally got going, what I found out
was I was still trying to fix things and work
out my dysfunctional issues now in the body of
Christ. And what I found is this group of people
who call themselves Christians, and I was genuinely
transformed, and lots of great things were happening,
but I found if you memorized a lot of verses,
and you served people, and if you said the right
things, and you just kind of went off the charts
in your performance orientation to quote what
looked like loving people, you got a lot of strokes
and affirmation. And so after a slow start, I
went nuts. I memorized hundreds of verses. I
was in this Bible study, led this Bible study,
was in this group, did this. I mean, I was just
like a maniac. I was such a maniac that there
was times I thought, I make myself sick. And
I had this opportunity, you know, if you were
a leader on this campus, you could go to this
special thing in the summer that only a few people
could go to and you memorize these verses and
everyone would go to this city and you'd get
a job and then there'd be, you know, like 100
or 200 and you'd be on teams of five. You'd have
a team leader and four people and, you know,
they would help you grow and you got a job and
you did evangelism. It was like a hot house for
spiritual growth. And it was really, really beneficial.
But this particular group, had a very structured
approach to sanctification or how you grow spiritually.
And their approach combined with my warped personality
and background was like the perfect storm to
create a Pharisee. And so I really thought by
the end of that summer, I mean, you need to do
this, you need to do the Bible study, you need
to share your faith, you need to do this. By
the end of that Bible study, you go to the end
and your team leader would meet with you individually
and kind of give you an evaluation and say, as
you go back to your campus, here's something
to think about to really help you grow your campus
ministry. And you know, some of the people were
talking and they were a little uptight, like,
wow, this might be very threatening. I'm thinking,
this is going to be great. Because in my private
world, I'm thinking, I'm more disciplined than
anybody here. If they were going to give an all
-star, most valuable Christian award. You know,
so I'm supposed to have this meeting with John,
my team leader, and I literally can't wait. I'm
thinking, I'm finally going to get some pats
on the back that I really deserve. And he's going
to tell me just, you know, it's probably you,
Hudson Taylor, Dawson Trotman, Martin Luther,
you know. You and the boys are going to make
a big impact someday. I mean. It was so sick.
And let me pick up the story because it's too
embarrassing to tell. John was quiet. He's my
team leader and had a very understated approach
to his leadership. I was honestly looking forward
to the meeting and I secretly hoped that he'd
notice the discipline and what I modeled for
the other members of my team, the servanthood
that I've demonstrated in our relationships and
the knowledge and faith that were rapidly developing
in my life. I'd worked hard and was ready for
that good pat on the back. Our meeting didn't
go as I expected. Although I was full of zeal
and performed well throughout the summer, John's
evaluation stunned me. His assessment of my spiritual
growth was far different than my own. With very
few words, he said he appreciated getting to
know me throughout the summer and that God had
revealed three verses on his heart that he wanted
to share with me, handed me the note cards, and
said, I pray God really speaks to you as you
go back to your campus. Anti -climatic. So I've
got these three, three by five cards with verses
that he'd handwritten out. The first one said,
for my now seeking the favor of men or of God,
or my striving to please men, if I was still
trying to please men, I would not be a bondservant
of Christ. Galatians 1 .10. I thought, hmm, that's
an interesting verse. Second verse, John 5 .44.
How can you believe when you receive glory from
one another and you do not seek the glory? that
is from the one and only God. There may be a
message here. All doubt was removed by the last
verse, Luke 16, 15. And he said to them, you
are those who justify yourselves in the sight
of men, but God knows your heart. That which
is highly esteemed among men is detestable in
the sight of God. See, the real you can show
up and you can meet real needs and you can do
it to serve you like I did. To get affirmation,
to get strokes, to play a game inside the Christian
community where you appear loving. But what you
really do is you end up using all the verses
that you know and all the good deeds that you
have to create a little world where you just
send a different hologram. of a fake and phony
person that's working out your own dysfunctions
to get people to accept you rather than say,
I am accepted in Jesus. And the acid test of
your motives is always when you get treated like
a servant, when no one notices, when they don't
say thank you, when you're not rewarded, when
you feel like, you know, the only one that sees
what I'm doing is God. The only one that seems
to really care is God. And in your heart of hearts,
if you can say, Oh yeah, that's right. I'm serving
an audience of one. People's response, people's
strokes, people's affirmation. God, when it comes
or if it doesn't come, that's not why I do what
I do. It's the real you meeting real needs for
the right reason. And finally, it's in the right
way. He says your focus, the right way, is there's
an upward focus and there's an outward focus.
And it says you need to rejoice in hope. That's
a mindset, not rejoice in circumstances or people's
response. He says, what do you need to do? Persevere
in tribulation. You're going to have multiple
times where I don't know how I'm going to pay
my rent. I don't know how I'm going to solve
this problem. I don't know how I'm going to heal
this marriage. I don't know how I can break this
addiction. But God, I'm asking for your help.
And I'm going to share my life openly and in
authenticity with a group of people that are
safe. And we're going to go through this together.
And there's an upward focus. It's not your resources.
The spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells
in every child of God. You have all the power
you'll ever need. But that power gets accessed
through his word and through the community of
God's people. And that power gets accessed as
you pray. One of the greatest evidences of genuine
humility and dependency is your prayer life.
And so there's an upward focus, and then it's
followed by an outward focus. An outward focus
says, notice what it says. It says, contributing
to the needs of the saints, practicing or pursuing
hospitality. It's where he says, there's an outward
focus. The resources are, there's times where
God's going to ask you to contribute. The real
meaning of contribute is contribute. Like, give
money away to people in need. Give time away.
Give things away to someone that doesn't have
what you have that's a brother or sister in Christ.
Contribute to the needs of the saints, fellow
believers. And when you do, it's like, what about
me? God says, I got that one covered. And then
it says, pursuing hospitality. Literally, the
phrase is pursuing strangers. So you can get
into authentic community. I think this is added
at the very end for a very important reason.
It can be us for and no more. We got the greatest
Bible study. We're really close. We're so authentic.
We're open. We can share anything. We're super
supportive. We've been doing this for 25 years
with just us. Wow. Goody for you. I wonder if
there's anybody else in the church that might
have needed this in the last 24 or five years.
Who are the people that are unlovely? Who are
the people that are lonely? Who are the people
that need you to pursue and open your home and
open your heart and invite them to a meal? Who
are the people that need you to be the presence
of Jesus? See, this is what breaks the ceiling.
This is how you get unstuck. The seed of God's
word in a good and honest heart, the soil, in
the environment of authentic community. The real
you, meaning real needs for the right reason
and the right way, is where supernatural transformation
occurs. It mattered so much to Jesus. Notice
how he closed his last prayer recorded in scripture.
He says, my prayer, Father, is not for them alone,
his disciples. I pray also for those that will
believe in me through their message, that's us.
That all of them, notice, may be one, Father,
just as you are in me and I am in you, may they
also be in us. The Trinity has authentic community.
And Jesus is praying to the Father that we could
experience what they experience and then we could
experience with them. And then look at the purpose
clause. So that, this is why this is so important.
So that they may believe you sent me. The greatest
apologetic on the face of the earth is when you
love authentically brothers and sisters with
the real you meeting real needs for the right
reason, the right way. Those outside of Christ
will understand and believe that Jesus could
be their Savior too. This is Living on the Edge
with Chip Ingram. And he's been walking us through
what authentic community really looks like. The
environment where genuine transformation actually
happens. And it's at the very heart of God's
dream for your life. If today's message got under
your skin a little, in a good way, we'd encourage
you to share it with someone. You can find it
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gives you Chip's full unedited messages exactly
as preached. Well, now once again, here's Chip
with a final word. As I was thinking about this
message, You know, I thought about authentic
community. And the first thing that came to my
mind was some men's groups or couples groups
I've been in or actually a guy that I'm working
out with right now. He's a personal trainer and
he was a very committed Christian, but was never
in authentic community. And while when he got
into a group that shared from the heart, his
life just it's been amazing to watch. But then
as I thought about it, I thought, you know where
the real authentic community needs to begin?
I mean, I love couples groups, men's groups,
women's groups. All that's great. And we share
hearts and we're going through it together. But
I think the first and most important group is
your family. And for some that are single, it
might be a roommate. But for many of you, it's
you and your kids. It's you and your mate. And
it's... The real you showing up at home, meeting
real needs at home and doing it for the right
reason in the right way. Could I just implore
you to do some of those things that build authentic
community? I mean, real practically, eat together
as often as possible and at least three or four
times a week have dinner together. Talk to one
another. Have a time where you put away all the
devices and people actually make eye contact
and talk. And if you have little ones, please,
please, please don't miss the bath times and
the bed times. You're shaping the soul of your
child. Authentic community is the fiber that
connects our hearts with one another and eventually
connects it with God. Can I encourage you? Don't
miss out. Is there someone in your life who has
hurt you or something bad that's happened to
you and you just can't get past it? I'm Dave
Drewy. And tomorrow, Chip Ingram gives us the
answer to that issue right here on Living on
the Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored
by Living on the Edge.