If I hear the phrase "we're taking it to the next level!" one more time at a business conference, I think I'll scream.
"Taking it to the next level" has been a buzz phrase has been around for about 10 years. The problem that I find with the phrase is that there is never any clear definition of what the "next level" is or supposed to be. The meaning has been rendered often times nebulous.
I understand what the speakers or marketing directors are trying to say, but I think something's getting lost in all of the superlatives.
In fact, I would dare to say that superlatives are almost becoming meaningless. Awesome is rarely awesome, let alone fantastic or great. Regardless of the purposed meaning, these phrases and their ideas can become a part of the Chatterbox.
Let's face it, almost all of us are climbing. We're trying to move upward and onward in our private lives or careers. We're reaching for that "next level". Even in ministry, we strive to be "better" or "more victorious" in our service to God and man.
Now, there's nothing wrong with reaching up at all. I would dare say that God expects each one of us to keep reaching, to keep improving, to keep bettering ourselves. God wants us to become like Christ. That's part of the sanctification process. We rely on God Himself to lift us because we simply can't do it alone. We're not capable. And yes, we do in fact "improve" - mature may be a better word - but there is a cost.
Most of us who have been in the presence of a great person sometimes think "boy, I would love to do or be like them. Their life must be awesome! So in touch with God..." and so on and so on.
The problem is that few of us realize what it has cost that person to have progressed to that "next" or higher level. We don't understand the physical, emotional, or even academic demands that the person has gone through. It may look "glorious" and they may look like they have it all together, but we don't know - perhaps don't want to know - the "true cost" of discipleship.
The Chatterbox of the "Successful"
If I asked you to think of two well-known and "successful" Christians from the last 50 years or so, I'll bet you that these names come to mind: Billy Graham and Mother Teresa. These two people could be considered "giants" of the Christian faith.
Billy Graham is probably the best known, "most accomplished" (whatever that means in God's economy - trust me, there is NO disrespect intended) evangelist and communicator of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the last century. God endowed Billy Graham with the power to proclaim a simple message, "call on the name of Jesus and be saved. You must be born again." Graham was stating what the Bible already said. Graham was the "pastor to the President". And God used him - and is still using him - mightily. But Billy Graham is also very human. He knows his limitations, especially as he advances past his 95th birthday. Billy Graham also knows and understands the truth of life. He said it simply and succinctly (as we would expect): "You're born. You suffer. You die. Fortunately, there's a loophole."
You can hear the pondering and ruminating in that thought. As he ages, Billy may not be speaking as energetically or forcefully as he once did, but I'm sure that his mind is plumbing even deeper thoughts and mysteries and truths of God than he ever did.
Then there's Mother Teresa. Great woman and servant of God. Nobel Peace Prize winner. "Teacher" of Presidents. The trappings of this world meant nothing to her. She only wanted to serve God by serving the poor and the sick and the downtrodden to the best of her ability with whatever God gave her. Like Billy Graham, she reached the "pinnacle" of Christian service. Like Graham, she also would go through times of wondering and pondering and praying.
In one of her many diaries, Mother Teresa writes:
"From my childhood You have called me and kept me for Your own - and now when we both have taken the same road - now Jesus - I go the wrong way.
"They say people in hell suffer eternal pain because of the loss of God - they would go through all that suffering if they just had a little hope of possessing God. In my soul I feel just that terrible pain of loss - of God not wanting me - of God not being God - of God not really existing (Jesus, please forgive my blasphemies - I have been told to write everything). That darkness surrounds me on all sides - I can't lift my soul to God - no light or inspiration enters my soul. I speak of love for souls - of tender lover for God - words pass through my [lips] - and I long with a deep longing to believe in them...
"I beg of You only one thing - please do not take the trouble to return soon. I am ready to wait for you for all eternity." (Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the "Saint of Calcutta", pages 192-194)
You can hear the struggle and the pain. You can imagine the weeping in the dark night of the soul. But...
All Christians struggle at one time or another in the dark night of the soul. You do. I do. We all do. We wonder. We even doubt. Even the great apostle to the Gentiles struggled. In Paul's letter to the Corinthian church he writes:
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 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. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." 2 Corinthians 4:7-12
A "D-mented" Life
Pastor Steven Furtick in his book, "Crash the Chatterbox" notes that all of this is normal. All of us struggle. In fact this struggle is so normal, that he quips "If you haven’t had a head-on collision with the devil it may because you want to go in the same direction." Ouch!
An unfortunate but true result of maturing in God and His Word, is that we do struggle. We struggle to understand Him better. We struggle to communicate the Gospel and other Truths from His Word better. We want to be a good witness. But you know what? As we discussed last week, our adversary and accuser the devil is right there to beat us down mentally and emotionally and sometimes even physically. He wants to derail our effectiveness for Christ and sully God's Image that we are supposed to reflect.
How does Satan do this? He uses the 3 D's: Discouragement, Discontentment and Disappointment.
These three D's are interrelated and play off each other. Just follow their bloody trail of destruction in our minds and thoughts.
Discouragement - What is the greatest source of discouragement that you have faced so far? Like it or not, I can name many of my own: personal, business, spiritual. My greatest times of discouragement have been the times of severe pain as I watch one of my children stumble, fall and refuse to be helped and I am discouraged because I can't see the purpose behind it... I can't see any purpose. Even worse, I'm not looking for God's purpose or purposes. We wonder if we're doing or are in God's will.
Furtick reveals that the secret struggles of Graham or Mother Teresa or Paul or you or me actually prove the opposite! Inner conflict should maybe looked at as a confirmation of God's calling and working in our lives! Why? Think about it... our enemy the devil is threatened.
Discontentment - Often times, I am discouraged because of my discontentment with me, my life, my family, my business, the TV programming, you name it. But why am I experiencing discontentment? My discontentment may be rooted in the fact that MY expectations are not being met. Think about that for a minute...
What about the expectations of the other party I am in contact with? What about my wife's expectations of me? My children's expectations of me? Then there are the expectations of my staff, customers, friends, pastors. What about God's expectations? My self-centeredness is showing.
Disappointment - When there's discontentment in my life and in my mind, there's also disappointment. People disappoint me. Circumstances disappoint me. The weather disappoints me. And it can get so bad that even God disappoints me. The reality of the situation is that because I am discontent, I become discouraged and I am disappointed in myself.
The prophet Jeremiah put it this way:
He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”
I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Jeremiah wan't called the weeping prophet for nothing! But thankfully, Jeremiah goes on to recognize and say:
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:16-24
A Fourth D - At the center of this cycle is the fourth D. Furtick doesn't mention it directly, but from my own personal experience, there is Despair (sometimes mingled with fear and anger). The other three D's circle around it, protect it and feed it.
Despair is not a good place to be. It is cold. It is dark. It is uncaring and unloving. It is - and I may be going out on a limb to say this - ungodly. You feel as though there is no escape or hope. The world and all of its problems become the obstacles to even getting out of bed in the morning or trying to close your eyes at night. The chatterbox of the mind is alive and well and active. Left alone, the cycle of D's repeats itself into a vicious spiral that can consume my life and ministry and even relationships. It is a cycle that has to be broken, but we usually (almost never) can't break it on our own.
God doesn't want us dwelling here. We were made to live in Christ's freedom and grace. We have to rely on the supernatural power that is only found in Christ's resurrection. We have to rely on our Father - even if we don't want to. And we have to allow Him to work it out in His strength because we simply can't; I can't. I don't have that power whereas He does, and out of Love and abounding Grace, He wants to set me free. I only have to accept His free gift of release.
Let's look at a great Biblical example of Disouragement, Discontentment and Disappointment
From the Zenith to the Pit of Ministry
John the Baptist is the last prophet of the Old Testament. I know that's a technicality, but he was. John was the last prophet to herald Jesus' arrival to His earthly ministry. Aside from being Jesus' herald, John was also Messiah's cousin. Mary and John's mother Elizabeth were cousins. They was kin folk as my southern friends would so eloquently put it.
From the earliest times of John's life, he is excited about Jesus!
Luke's Gospel tells us “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” Luke 1:44. John was doing cartwheels for Jesus. I'm sure their growing up as children was interesting to say the least. But then they grew up and temporarily grew apart until it was time for the two to take up their individual and appointed ministries. John would herald Jesus ministry and soften the ground as it were as he called the people to repentance as the Kingdom approached.
John would preach a gospel of repentance and baptize people in the muddy waters of the Jordan River. He would preach:
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:11-12
And then Jesus came. John felt completely unworthy to baptize His Lord and Savior. But Jesus was firm and gentle with him that this act needed to be performed. Jesus needed to be baptized...by John. Scripture had to be fulfilled. And that's exactly what John did. He obeyed. The Father was pleased. Jesus would begin His ministry.
John knew that as Jesus' ministry increased, his would decrease. He understood that and yet he also understood that he still had a job to do. He still was in the preaching to repentance business. He would finally preach to King Herod and his wife. This act would land the prophet in prison waiting to die. Things really couldn't get any worse. While in his own "dark night of the soul", John sends several of his disciples to ask of Jesus, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" Matthew 11:3.
Like it or not, this is a fair question. Look at John's discouragement, discontentment and disappointment. The Jews were expecting a Messiah that would free them from the grips of Roman bondage and oppression. The Jews were expecting God's Kingdom then and there. These were also John's expectations... and they weren't met. He was discouraged (he spoke truth and look where it got him), his contentment level was low (an understatement - his actions put him in prison), and he was obviously disappointed in not seeing the Kingdom actually appearing. The chatterbox of John's mind produced this doubt and disappointment.
Jesus is the Answer
So how did Jesus answer John's questions? Bluntly and truthfully, but maybe in a way that we need to look at a bit closer.
We read: “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Matthew 11:2-4
And then John's disciples leave to bring the news to their master.
After the disciples leave, listen to what Jesus then tells those who were with Him: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Matthew 11:5-9, 11.
I don't know about you, but sometimes I need a compliment. As a business owner I can honestly say that it's often lonely at the top. You think you're doing your best, but there's nobody to affirm you. There's no one to regularly tell you "hey! great job!" Sometimes you just have to hope that you're doing a decent job.
Why didn't Jesus speak those kudos directly to John? According to Jesus, "there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist." I would call that a fantastic compliment. However John would never hear those words. Very shortly he would lose his head for Jesus and His cause. But soon enough I believe John would hear the words "well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master's happiness." Which would you rather hear?
God Fills the Gap
Our disappointment is the gap between reality and expectation. God fills in the gap to level our discouragement, our discontentment and our disappointment. An old preacher friend of mine once told me, "brother Ron, when you are in dispair, go and Praise the Lord! God is so good, how can you not Praise the Lord?" My friend was 100% correct; but it wasn't and isn't an easy thing to do when it's so dark.
The fact of the matter is that only God is big enough to fill in the gaps of my discouragement, discontentment and disappointment. When I smarten up and do what I've been resisting (praising God for Who He is) the chatterbox is quieted. Here are a few great examples of understanding God's gap-filling perspectives on our lives. Keep these in mind and remember that the Scriptures are laden with many more. Also keep in mind that for some of you, even reading them out loud may be really hard - but read them aloud anyway.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100
“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
“As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:31-37
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-14
“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:6-8
The Turn Around
God fills in the gaps. His Word and His work in and through our lives accomplish much.
Our Discouragement is turned to Encouragement not only for us, but so that we can also encourage those around us.
Our Discontentment is turned to Contentment as we learn to accept all that God has blessed us with. God is so Good! I have my family and friends. I have my health. I have a ministry in God's Word. I have a God who loves me despite myself.
Our Disappointment is turned to an understanding that I am Appointed by God for great works for His purposes and plans and Kingdom; not mine. It's not about me, it's about Him.
Lest we forget
One of the best things about knowing Jesus and understanding Who He is is that He understands everything about me. He knows my standing up and sitting down. He knows my anxious thoughts. Jesus has experienced deep pain and lose and He didn't hide His thoughts and feelings.
On the night Jesus was betrayed, He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. We read: "He went away a second time and prayed, 'My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.'" Matthew 26:42
Twelve hours later while hanging on a cruel cross, a cross that you and I deserved to be hung on for our sins against a Holy God, Jesus would cry out in agony and a loud voice: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?" Matthew 27:46
The thing is, Jesus knew Who He was (is). He is God's Son. He is the Father's Beloved. He knew that as bad as it was, the Father was in complete control. His work was finished. The Father would and did accept His sacrifice. Just a little more time and Jesus would return to His rightful place seated at the right hand of the Father.
Steven Furtick's fourth confession is "God says I can..." Yes, God says "I can". Let's reread the words of Paul from his second letter to the Corinthian church.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 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. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." 2 Corinthians 4:7-12
I can because He did. God empowers me. His work is finished in me. He calls me to participate in His work.
But who will I believe? The Chatterbox of discouragement, discontentment and disapproval or God's Truth and Words of Encouragement, Contentment and Approval? God has given me the choice of His victory or ...
The choice is mine. It is my choice to continue to the next level and understand what God has called me to do and be.
It may take some practice and work, but I continue to choose Jesus.
Click here to return to the Crash the Chatterbox study.
Music video: Matt Redman, "Your Grace Finds Me"
This study is based on the book "Crash the Chatterbox" by best selling author and pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church, Charlotte, North Carolina.
