Pastor Elwin Ahu
July 18, 2004 - W0429

Today we’ll be talking about moving from good to great. There’s a book by that title; it’s called, “From Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap & Others Don’t.” The author, Jim Collins, provides a very interesting observation:

“We don’t have great schools principally because we have good schools. We don’t have great government principally because we have good government. And the vast majority of companies never become great precisely because the vast majority become quite good. But that’s their main problem!”

And then he says this about people: “Few people attain great lives in large part because it’s just so easy to settle for the good life.” It’s so true. We can fall into this quality of life where we do good things and become good people having a good life. But God says there are places reserved for those who are great!

“…the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven…’” (Matt. 18:1-4).

Instead of pointing to the one apostle that He thought was the greatest, Jesus brought a child into the middle of this group of grown men. What did He mean? Simply this: Children in that culture had nothing – no money, no position and no knowledge – and so they were nobodies. They were an empty vessel that represented the greatest in the Kingdom.

On the other hand, as long as the disciples were so full of their “goodness” they would never grasp what it would take to be great. Author Jim Collins came to the same conclusion in his book: “Good is the enemy of great!”

Q1: Are you “suffering from goodness”? In other words, do you think that perhaps you have a good life but maybe not a great life for God? How so?

Q2: How would you rate your job, family, devotions, life: Good or great?

What is holding you back from becoming great? Is it how good you are? Let’s take a closer look at this to find out how we can make the leap from good to great. Here are a few keys:

1.     A WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE.

We must possess a willingness to change ourselves and the way that we look at life. Although there may be some things that are hard to change (seemingly impossible!), in order for you to enter the Kingdom of God there must be change. And you must be willing to change, to be “converted”: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3).

Jesus wasn’t speaking about a physical rebirth but a spiritual rebirth. The word “converted” in that Scripture means literally “a turn in the road, to make a complete turn and go back the other way.” And that can be a very difficult change to choose.

Why? Because our lives are so conditioned to measure greatness by a different standard. We measure greatness by achievements and accomplishments. We are encouraged to fill our resumes with titles and positions. These can be secular achievements or even those in the ministry! It’s a mentality that pervades our faith, and that can’t be so!

The Lord says that doesn’t matter. What matters is your heart: “And He said, ‘…Do you not understand that … the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart? … For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders” (Matt. 15:16-19).

Q3: What do you define as great? Are you using world’s standards of achievements or God’s standard of doing things with all of your heart & obeying Him?

Q4: Who are your heroes? (This is a good indicator of what you see as great.)

To be great, there must be a change in your heart. You see, God’s Kingdom can exist in your heart if there’s a change. It’s sort of like entering a foreign country, where the ways of life are different. For example, we just went to China and they have a different electrical system. One of the things I packed was my hairdryer because my hair doesn’t look very natural in the morning. I have to tame it with a hairdryer!

But when I went to plug in my hairdryer, it didn’t work because I didn’t bring a converter with me. That’s what I needed to convert it from a 220-volt system in China to a 110-volt hairdryer designed for use in America! What worked in this country, didn’t work in a foreign country.

The same is true of cash, you have to convert it into their currency. You can bring as much cash as you want, but it’s useless! You have to convert it to be able to use it in that country. The same is true of our hearts. You can fill your hearts with whatever you want on this earth, but enter the Kingdom of God, you must convert everything into God’s currency—the currency of the heart.

It’ll affect the way we view life, the way we see other people, and the way we measure greatness. We can’t bring a world’s heart, we must be willing to change into a Christ-like heart. Then we will be able to fulfill the second leap in going from good to great: We will be able to…

2.     SEE OUR CIRCUMSTANCES THROUGH GOD’S EYES.

The one who humbles himself, turning away from the world’s standards, is the one who becomes great. Like the child that Christ talked about as the greatest of all. You see the disciples thought Jesus was the Messiah who would free them from an earthly empire. They thought Jesus was gong to take over as the new king, and they jockeyed for position in His empire.

But it was not about a new empire, it was about a heavenly empire where Jesus would reign. And the greatest position there was the one who was most humble. That would only come through a clear perspective of circumstances as seen through God’s eyes.

God says to become great in this world we must delete all of the world’s opinions and measures of greatness or worth. Instead we must see ourselves and others the way God sees us: “…every man among you should not think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3).

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself” (Philip. 2:3).

To have this sense of humility is to have a right opinion of ourselves, of others, and of our circumstances according to what God says. Not by what the world says. That way we begin to…

• Appreciate God’s Grace.

You see, we don’t deserve the grace of God. The great apostle, Paul, understood that: “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:9-10). He knew he had a great ministry but it was only through a completely undeserved grace of God.

When we realize & recognize what God has given us and appreciate it, that is a sign of humility. It’s also appreciating God’s grace even in the midst of suffering. What? Yes, because if you think about it, it could have been worse.

It happened in an elderly care home where a group of old-timers were complaining. One man said, “My arms are so weak, I can hardly lift up this coffee cup. Another piped up, “Yeah? Well my cataracts are so bad I can’t even see the coffee cup!” Still another one chipped in, trying to outdo the other two: “My meds make me so dizzy I can’t even drink out of the coffee cup!”

An old woman was listening and she quieted them all: “Yeah, but by the God’s grace, at least we can still drive!”

It’s about appreciating the grace of God no matter how bad it gets! It’s knowing that if it wasn’t for His grace, it could be a lot worse! “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Cor. 12:9). In suffering, we appreciate God’s grace.

Some of you may think, “Yeah, well you don’t know my situation. My husband just left me with four kids to feed.” Or, “I have a financial mess to clean up that would spin your head!” Or, “I have this illness that’s just knocking me off of my feet!”

If you have humility, you’ll understand that it could be a lot worse if it wasn’t for God’s grace in your life. We will never be able to fully comprehend everything there is to know about our infinite God. We will always be short of answers because we have a very limited, finite mind. And that should make us appreciate what we do have. It’s in the midst of suffering that we ask God the hardest questions and get to know Him the best.

Thank God for His grace! We don’t have to understand everything else, but we do get to understand that it could be a lot worse. Suffering is a part of an all-knowing God’s plan. And so we’re grateful for grace. So do whatever you have to do to glorify God in your situation.

And when you’re able to do that, you’re ready for the third key of accelerating good to great:

3.     EMBRACE AN ABSOLUTE TRUST.

Absolute trust is about trusting and obeying God, whatever your circumstances may be. It’s not about forcing an outcome that you desire. It’s not substituting your ideas for what you think should happen. It’s believing that what you’re experiencing is already known to God. And you’re going to leave that in His hands and trust Him with it:

“O our God… we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on Thee” (2 Chron. 20:12, emphasis added).

It’s saying, “My circumstances may not be the best, in fact they may be the worst, but I know that You’re a loving God and I know You’re in control. I will remain focused on You. I know You will work all things for good for those who love You.” That’s a childlike faith. One that is absolutely trusting of a Good Father.

If you put your son up on a wall and asked him to jump, he would jump! Why? Because he trusts you as his loving dad (or mom). But if you asked another adult to do that, that friend would ask you for a reason and for reassurance. They may even ask for your insurance company and some compensation! Yet a child who has absolute trust in his father has no conditions. They just trust.

How do we know we can trust God, our Heavenly Father? Well, there are over 7,000 promises in His Word (the Bible) that have already come true in history. In my own life I have witnessed His promises coming true—both healings and prayers answered. And He has promised us that He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8) and He is the same God of promises-come-true today. And He’ll continue to do that for every day that we face.

I don’t know what you’re going through, or what you’ll go through in the future, but I do know that you can absolutely trust the Lord because He can handle anything.

There is a space reserved for us, for those who are called great in God’s Kingdom. It starts with a changed heart, one that’s willing to be humble before the Lord, and one that’s willing to have an absolute trust in the Lord. I know we believe the Lord with all of our hearts, but sometimes the world gets in the way. We, as the Church, need to push that aside and become not just good, but great!

Q5: How would you rate yourself on each of the three items. On a scale of 1-3: 1 = need serious improvement; 2 = good; 3 = great:

a.      Willingness to change     ____

b.      Willingness to be humble before the Lord     ____

c.       Having an absolute trust in the Lord     ____

A good test is to have your spouse, a close friend or even your children rate you on these measures as well to see if they match up. Then, ask God how He would rate you. Is there room for improvement?

Q6: “What is the main point God is speaking to me about in today’s message? And how will I be different because of it, starting today?”

Thank you, Dawn O’Brien for lending us your expertise in summarizing this week’s message. URDABES indeed!