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Since 2000 Every Man Ministries has been activating men worldwide to live out their truest identity in Christ through its discipleship resources, live events, and steaming platform.
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The Call to Discipleship and Global Impact 0:00 When Jesus left this earth, he told his followers to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything he commanded. Well, here at Everyman0:12 Ministries, we take that charge. Seriously, we exist to teach and admonish every man according to Colossians 1 28 so that we might present every man perfect0:24 in Christ. And that mission is made possible by your generosity. God is doing incredible things through partnerships around the globe. Our content is now being0:36 seen in multiple languages. In a hundred and 70 countries, we just started partnering to minister to over a half a million prisoners in state prisons by0:47 providing our content. God is moving. And we want to invite you to jump in. For those of you who are already on the team, for those of you who are already all0:59 in, God bless you and thank you. To those of you who have been blessed by this teaching and by this ministry, we encourage you jump on in. Because the water is flowing quickly and1:11 God is on the move. Well, welcome brothers to the men's global live stream. Grab your Bible and make sure you download the notes and get ready for this week'sConfronting the Idol of Comfort 1:22 session. What makes you mad? I'm not talking about what what frustrates you or annoys you or irritates you. When you think about your overall1:34 blood temperature, what makes you really upset? What boils your blood? And I think when we hear that, we immediately wanna think about something really noble. Right? It's injustice.1:46 It's people taking advantage of the weak. It's lies. It's evil. Right? Our first response might even be to spiritualize it. What boils my blood? Obviously, the things that boil1:58 the blood of God the father sin. Right? The enemies hold on God's children. And while those things are true, I pray those things are true for us as God's men. I want you2:10 to think about the last couple days and maybe even the last couple of weeks. When did you last get upset? When was the last time you yelled at somebody or or cursed quietly to yourself?2:22 My guess, if you're anything like me, it was either the last time you didn't get your way, that you felt overlooked or wrongly challenged. It was the last time that you were inconvenienced2:35 in some way. I mean, really, it's the last time that you and I were uncomfortable. And it's such a common struggle for all2:46 men. We wanna be comfortable. In Gerald Tolkien's, epic fantasy saga, The Lord of the Rings, he states that, amongst the the the race of men that above all2:58 else they desire power. But I don't know if that's the case anymore today. If we're honest, if we look at our hearts, if we look at the hearts of all men and the action of men, the trajectory of3:10 the behavior of men, it seems as though today above all else, we desire comfort. According to Lifeway research, almost 70 percent of3:21 evangelical pastors said that the idol of comfort has significant control over their entire congregation. Wow.3:33 You might hear that and think, Dusty, what's so wrong with wanting to be comfortable? What's wrong with not trying to be uncomfortable? I mean, it seems logical. Right? We3:45 avoid pain. We pursue stuff that's not painful. Right? The issue isn't really in the desire for comfort. The issue is in what we sacrifice3:57 in order to find that comfort. The problem is what we avoid in order to pursue comfort. The real issue comes in the things that we lay aside, the4:09 stuff that we forego. What is it that gets left behind, moved over, stepped over so that we can achieve, so that we can experience ongoing lasting comfort, the comfort4:21 we want. But what's interesting is that as God's men, we pursue this life of ease where we're building our lives around finding comfort even though4:33 Jesus, King Jesus, promised us a very different looking life. In the gospel of John, after an incredible discourse on the Holy Spirit and how4:45 God wants to to turn our sadness into joy, the work of the spirit in our life, Jesus says point blank. Something that kinda blows up the notion that following him is synonymous with a carefree life. He4:57 says this in chapter 16 verse 33. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. Here on earth, while you're alive, you will have many5:09 trials, many sorrows. Look at how clearly Jesus lays it out for us. He says, in this world, you're gonna struggle. He actually says, you're gonna have many varied struggles. The Greek word used5:21 there, for tribulation is the word phleipsis. And that carries the idea of affliction, of anguish, of burdens, even persecution and tribulation.5:33 We may desire comfort. But simply put, boys, Jesus promised us a life of discomfort. And the lowercase g, god of comfort,5:45 the idol of comfort, slithers up and into our hearts and promises us the exact opposite. Says that we should pursue ease, gets us to5:57 aim all of our efforts at a life of comfort. And really of all the idols that we've uncovered, that we've exposed throughout this series, no other gods,6:10 this 1 might be the craftiest. It might be the hardest to dethrone. And that might just be because the things that we pursue when we pursue comfort, they don't look like blatant6:21 sin. Outright, they don't look wrong. I mean, when we review the other counterfeit gods that we've uncovered, the god of pleasure often offers us things which are just wrong. It6:33 wants us to encounter and experience things outside of god's plan. It offers us sexual outlets that are outside of god's design. The god of more materialism, Right? Wants us to pursue6:45 excess through arrogance, through using people to earn more money, to use, our money on ourselves, to pursue stuff. Right? We talked last week about the dangers of relativism, of6:57 subjective truth, of my truth, and the way that the enemy will slither up and whisper to us that we are God, that we know what's right, that we know, what we should be pursuing. And in all of these things, we've seen7:09 these efforts, the bait has looked a lot like sin. I mean, it looks wrong. We still struggle with it, but we don't struggle to agree. Those aren't the kind of things we wanna pursue. But comfort?7:22 I mean, what's wrong with comfort? But remember, like we said, there's nothing inherently wrong with comfort. That is until comfort desires,7:34 demands more of our pursuits and our efforts. More of our hearts. Until it, in the pursuit of it, starts to call7:46 the shots. Remember, it's what we have to forego in order to go after comfort that becomes the problem. In our desire for comfort, right, we want safety, we want7:57 predictability, we want ease, we don't want challenge. And often our desire for comfort is birthed by a desire for things to just be orderly, understandable,8:10 knowable, even predictable. We want a life, if we're honest, with no surprises. Not just a life without challenge. We wanna know exactly what's coming. We feel entitled to8:22 know exactly what we're gonna be up against. We wanna be able to weigh it. We wanna prepare for it. We wanna hedge our bets. I wanna avoid the stuff that feels bad. I want the routine, and the comfort8:34 found in a predictable routine of knowing what's gonna come my way. Really, if I'm honest, I want the comfort.8:46 I want the type of life that requires no faith. Comfort is often an invitation to step away from8:58 faith completely. But why? How? I mean, understand that we have to understand what God's word says about faith. About the role of things that are9:10 difficult. About the role of things that are unknown and the impact they have on developing our faith. Specifically, as the challenges in our life develop our faith.9:22 But what is faith? Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1 says, faith shows the reality of what we hope for, and that it's the evidence of things that we cannot see. That's what the Bible says faith is. Now, it's9:34 not an idea. Faith is not an emotion or a feeling. Faith isn't synonymous with just our religious beliefs. Faith is a way of life.9:47 It's an ongoing decision. And the writer of Hebrews here says specifically, that faith should inform how we navigate things that we don't yet know about. Things that we're not yet9:59 comfortable with. And faith is not a decision that we made at some point in time to choose Jesus, but rather faith is something that you and I display moment by moment.10:12 Moment by moment. Minute by minute. Every day at a time. It's a decision. It's not a reflex. It's a choice. And so10:24 we have to continue to choose it. Right? And then our faith gives us, it says, evidence and reality to the stuff that we're hoping for. To things that we can't see yet. Some10:35 translations don't use the word evidence. They use the word assurance. Now we don't often use faith when we're talking about things that we're certain of. We use faith for things that we'd maybe like to be true, that10:47 we'd hope to be true. The CEV translation of the scripture says that faith makes us sure. Says it gives us proof of the things that we can't see. So faith is a lot more than wishful thinking10:59 or a nice emotion. Very simply put practically in our lives. Faith is trust. Faith is the decision to trust God.11:12 And it's not just a trust that's just based on ideas or head knowledge, or on things that we're certain are going to work out. Now our faith develops. It11:24 grows every time we choose to believe that God is who he says he is. That he'll do what he said he's gonna do. Even when that decision runs against our11:36 own insight or our own wisdom or our own feelings. Remember, it's not just cerebral, it's experiential. It's not just some unfounded hope. Our faith in11:48 God is based on what God has said in his word. On who God actually is as evidenced by his track record throughout all of history. All of the things he's done, not only in our own lives, but12:00 in the lives of those who love him. All believers throughout all of history. It's even based on things that haven't happened yet. It's based on who our great12:12 God is. Our faith is only as strong as the object of our faith. And we're talking about King Jesus. The object of our faith is worthy.12:24 And because of all this, our faith informs everything. That includes stuff that we can't yet see. True faith responds12:36 to the revelation of God's character. Right? What he's done and what he said. But what does that do every day? I mean, how do we live that out practically as God's men trying to trust12:48 him with things that are hard, with challenges, with difficult things, with uncertain situation, with broken relationships, with financial challenges, with health struggles. I mean, says faith is the assurance of13:00 things hoped for? For For things that haven't even happened yet for stuff in the future? Faith gives us the assurance13:12 that these things that haven't happened yet gives us the assurance that god will move us through them. Faith makes the future promises of god immediately13:24 impactful in our lives. It takes the promises that god has made in scripture about the future and it pulls them through time into our lives right now and gives us an anchor.13:36 A hope on the other side of our trial that pulls us through our trials. Isn't that amazing? It makes all of the beautiful future promises that we read about. It makes those ours right now. And13:48 that gives our lives direction. That gives us stability. It gives us hope. It gives us comfort. Real comfort. Our faith14:00 provides us with the ability to get through stuff that seems impossible. See, often our struggle is that we exist within time. Right? We're experiencing14:12 time chronologically. So often it's very hard to see beyond our current circumstances. The trial that we face is all that we can see. And it seems impossible to see14:24 beyond it or to see around it. The pain that we're in feels suffocating. Like there's no way out. And so it's so easy. It's so tempting to allow our current circumstances14:35 to completely cloud or block our view of a promised future. But it's always been like this for God's men. It's always been like this for the14:47 followers of Jesus. We just read a definition of faith from the book of Hebrews. Now the book of Hebrews was written to people who are having a very hard time seeing beyond their current14:59 struggles. Their current realities, the daily struggle in their lives, the persecution they were experiencing. It made it difficult15:12 to hold on to the promises that had carried them to that point. They they couldn't see beyond their current struggles to a future of hope. Can you imagine how this played out15:24 the day that Jesus was crucified? You know, the moment that Pilate gave the order for Christ to be killed, I can only imagine. Every disciple must have felt like it's15:35 over. I mean, in that moment they must have thought the enemy has won. All the promise Jesus has had made, all the veiled statements he had made about victory probably evaporated in light of this current15:47 impending death. They wrongly thought Rome has won. All the religious leaders that believe the wrong things about Jesus, they they've won. But the15:59 reality of Christ's resurrection, of his return, of his victory over death, how he would destroy the plans of the enemy. That16:11 reality was needed to trump what they couldn't see in the moment. Their faith had to inform what they couldn't see, things which were hoped for. And that's a really16:23 important truth for us today. If we're gonna move in faith and not just towards comfort, we have to let the truth of the future trump our reality16:35 in this moment. The truth of the future has to trump the realities of the moment, the truth of our future. At the end, how things actually work out must defeat whatever we're feeling to be16:47 true in this moment. Like I said, all the disciples could see was a tomb that was sealed where Jesus's body was laying without life in it. But there was a deeper reality.16:59 Remember Narnia? There was a deeper magic. There was something else going on. The reality is that Jesus was going to raise in 3 days. That he would defeat and conquer the grave. That truth was17:10 bigger, was truer than all of the hopelessness the disciples were experiencing in that moment. But that passion says that our faith that only gives us hope about future things, it says that it it17:22 informs the current things that we're not able to perceive. Our faith informs so much. It has to. Throughout this whole series, we've been tempted to take our eyes off Jesus and17:34 put him on other things. And those cloud our view of God, of us, of what he wants to do in our life. But brothers, our faith has to become the lens through which we see all of life.17:48 The lens like putting on new glasses where everything we see has to be seen through the light of our faith. It has to be a filter through which we put18:00 all things. Otherwise, we're never gonna live beyond our desires. We're never gonna be able to overcome our fears. We'll never set aside our own plans. We18:11 have to choose to live in such a way that faith is more than an idea. That it's the driving force that actually informs all of our actions. If you keep reading the book of Hebrews, you get to chapter 11.18:24 Sort of a hall of fame of faith. Hall of fame of believers who who live this out. It's made up of people who allowed their faith, who made the decision that their faith, their trust in God would18:35 inform every aspect of their lives. And it was never the desire for comfort that led these people. I mean, just look at the decisions that may they made. How could you explain the18:47 choices they made if their greatest aim was to pursue comfort? They made all the wrong decisions. They never pursued comfort, but we we do. We we want comfort19:00 even in our relationship with Jesus, even within our faith. Yes. We want Jesus, but we want just just the right amount of Jesus, please.19:12 Because even in my walk with him, I want a comfortable and a balanced spiritual life. But the problem is, if we do that, we'll never go all in for19:24 Jesus. If we want that comfort and that balance, we'll be afraid. We'll be afraid of what he might ask us to do. That he might even lead us somewhere where we're not going to be comfortable.19:36 So to avoid discomfort, we take in a little of Jesus. A little podcast here, some good truth, maybe a Sunday message. Maybe we even attend weekly just the right amount. We just add19:47 Jesus into our lives. But where in scripture are we called or encouraged to live this kind of a spiritually balanced life? We're not. Nowhere in scripture are19:59 we told to just add the right amount. Just add a comfy amount of Jesus into an already full calendar. Try to squeeze him into an exceedingly full heart. Living this way,20:12 right, wanting a comfortable relationship with Jesus, it's like we've wrongly asked Jesus to join us in our life pursuits. We then ask20:24 him to bless our plans, to cosign our decisions. In reality, we've asked Jesus to follow us. And the pursuit of comfort in that20:35 moment has cost us a life of surrender. A life of complete surrender. And pursuing comfort costs us a life of bowing low, of submission,20:49 of the real and true and beautiful adventure that only starts when we say yes to Jesus in all things. Comfort keeps us from that. And so instead of laying down21:00 everything we are, everything that we want, everything that we've planned in order to follow him wherever he leads us, we're content with just inviting Jesus along to walk with us. But brothers,21:12 Jesus died and rose again. Not so that he could follow us, but so that we could forget everything else and follow him all the way21:24 to the cross. But the God of comfort, he's not having that. And beyond surrender, 1 of the greatest things that the god of comfort will try to keep you21:36 and me from is offering ourselves in any kind of personal sacrifice. The god of comfort has eyes turned in and has no interest in serving somebody else.21:48 In in being inconvenienced for the sake of another, certainly not suffering for someone else. But is there anything more Christ like? Is22:00 there anything that makes us look more like King Jesus than choosing discomfort so that another person might experience comfort? I mean, isn't that the true crux22:12 of the gospel? The good news that Jesus chose the ultimate discomfort for our comfort? Look at all the discomfort that Jesus Christ willingly22:24 chose. Jesus gave up the comfort of his own plans. John 6 38, Jesus says, I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me22:35 not to do my own will. He laid down his plans. He specifically says, I did not come to do what I wanted to do. I have submitted myself fully to the father.22:48 Without regard for comfort, without regard for security or safety, or even having a say in the direction of his life. Just saying yes for the sake of obedience. Obedience23:00 all the way to the cross. No matter the cost. No matter what comforts were sacrificed. And during that time, boys, Jesus was not some sort of stoic23:11 robot who was not feeling the bumps and bruises. Listen to his pleas all the way to the end. He went on a little further, bowed his face to the ground, praying, my father, if it's possible, let this cup23:23 of suffering be taken away from me yet. I want your will to be done, not mine. Jesus laid down his plans, sacrificed them.23:36 But not only did he give up the comfort of his plans, Jesus gave up the comfort of his position. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with god as something to cling to.23:48 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. Jesus gave up the comfort of his position, his position24:00 in heaven. I don't even think I have a framework for understanding that level of sacrifice. Because I allow what I know about Jesus.24:12 Right? What I've encountered of his love, it kinda clouds the reality like, well, of course, that's who Jesus is. Generous guy, loving guy. It makes sense that he would give up all those things. And it's terrible to say24:23 that we can even take that incredible truth and become just comfortable with it. When the reality is, it should leave me in complete awe, in reverent24:35 awe that he knew daily perfect unbroken communion with the father. And then he voluntarily severed that. That's why at the24:47 moment that our sin was placed on Jesus and the father had to turn his his gaze away from his son. You can almost hear the panic in Jesus's voice when he says, god, you've forsaken me to24:59 know that that that breaking of that relationship in that moment, the term uncomfortable, it falls painfully, laughably short. Jesus25:11 is the model in intentionally choosing discomfort, but not for the sake of discomfort. I'm not saying that there's just a blessing and suffering, but for the benefit of25:23 another. Right? Don't don't just go out looking for aimless suffering. There's there's not a benefit in the act of suffering, the purpose behind it. It's what drove Jesus through the25:34 difficulty. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. Friend of mine, Chris25:46 Harper said this. He says, the true definition of a man, that's 1 who joyfully pursues sacrificial responsibility. Joyfully choosing the responsibility of25:58 sacrifice. So how do we battle the God of comfort boys? It's daily the pursuit. Dying to self to live for God and others. Dying26:10 to self. That's the death blow to the God of comfort. The God of comfort above all wants us to live our lives for us. Considering our comfort, seeking26:22 after our own desires, our own wants, avoiding stuff that's inconvenient or painful, but always with eyes squarely planted on ourselves. It's a narrative that we have to26:34 break in this culture. I mean, can we destroy selfish masculinity? And then watch as all the problems caused by it26:46 are also destroyed? To to stop looking out for number 1 above all? It it's it's so uniquely a problem today.26:58 I may have always been selfish, But there there's there's an increased amount in our self focus. You know that almost every single culture prior to ours had a moment when they define that a boy had27:10 become a man. And it and it wasn't when they had acquired some amount of wealth. It wasn't when they had encountered a woman for the first time. It wasn't when they physically were27:22 developed. It wasn't after they slayed a specific beast. It was always when the boy realized that the needs of his tribe were more important than his his own.27:34 That was the moment that a boy became a man when he realized that it was only an offering himself in order to bless others27:46 that he became a man. We must regain this type of thinking. What makes a man is not the power you wield in your company. The amount of zeros in your bank account, the amount of27:57 women that you've had in your life. That's not what makes you a man. That was what makes you a man of this earth. What makes you god's man is to daily die to self that others28:10 might be lifted up. Mimicking the Lord Jesus. And as men who want comfort, we have to hold on to that truth.28:22 If I desire comfort, everybody god wants to bless through me is going to suffer. In all things, I have to choose others. Big decisions, small decisions. It's others28:35 first. I have to get smaller in what I consider for myself. I have to decrease in order for him to increase. And it starts with a mental attitude of humility.28:47 You know, and Jesus, famously told, his disciples in Matthew chapter 11 that that he is where they would find rest. They were tired. They were worn. I says, if you're weary,28:59 come to me. I'll give you rest. But listen to this. After this, Jesus says something really interesting. It's 1 of the only times he says, learn from me. Let me teach you. I want you to29:10 do exactly what I'm about to say. And you know what he starts to talk about? Humility. Matthew 11 29, he says, take my yoke upon you. Let me teach29:22 you or learn from me depending on your translation. Because why? Because I am humble and gentle of heart. You'll find rest for your souls. He says, I wanna teach you something, men. I29:34 wanna teach you humility and gentleness. Until you and I are humble enough, we will never allow any amount of discomfort into our lives.29:46 We'll never offer ourselves for another. When we're immature, we think that the story that God is telling is really about us. Never realizing that the story he's telling is about29:58 him. And we look most like him when we're giving ourselves away so that someone else might be blessed. When we're willing to endure discomfort30:11 in order to bless someone, humility is such a necessary trait in all of this. And the God of comfort will always speak to us in the opposite30:23 voice, the voice of entitlement. The voice that says that we not only shouldn't give ourselves to discomfort, but that we deserve comfort. As god's men, we has to choose to put to death that30:35 attitude of entitlement. We are not owed a thing. And in the end, we find as we found with every single counterfeit god30:47 that what the god of comfort promises, they'll never deliver on. The pursuit of comfort always leaves us empty. We're chasing a30:59 mirage Like so many of those counterfeit gods, when we pursue comfort, we won't find it. Because comfort is not found in the absence of conflict or the31:11 absence of struggle. It's not found in the abundance of ease. I I wanna go back to the very first verse we looked at today in John chapter 16. It's where Jesus promised us that in this world, we31:23 were gonna have trials. Remember, he said in this world, you're gonna have many trials, discomfort. But look what he also says right after that. But take heart because I have overcome the world.Show more In this video 0:00 The Call to Discipleship and Global Impact1:14 Confronting the Idol of Comfort31:33 The True Source of ComfortComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
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