Pastor Jon Burgess
July 1, 2018 - W1826

Good morning church and thank you all for being here! As we continue our Ohana Factor series today, we’ll look at the reason Everyone Needs An Editor. We’ll also look at another key figure in David's life that helped him to become all that God intended him to be—his name is Nathan.

My desire is that God would stir something inside us (where we have refused correction) and use His Word and by His Spirit move us into action—where we finally admit that we need someone speaking into our lives and welcome the input they bring, so that we would be our best for Him! I'm wondering how many people have we allowed to speak their perspective and wisdom into our lives to make what we're doing even better!

Hebrews 12:6 NLT says, “For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”Yes, God loves us the way we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us that way—so he brings an editor with a corrective word into our lives! How many mistakes are we repeating daily just because we refuse to have anyone edit us?

We also have a responsibility to lookout for each other because a soul that is not edited can go further away from God. Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:15 NIV, “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.”

We will look at two areas from the life of David with his editor Nathan when we especially need an editor...

1. After 15 Minutes Of Fame, We Need A Reality Check.    

The phrase 15 minutes of fame is indicative of the fact that when we are on top of the world (everything we touch turns to gold, everything is going smoothly, everything is wonderful) watch out! We often think that we need an editor only when everything is going wrong; but, no, it’s when everything is going right that we need a reality check by an editor, as we shall see in David’s life:

Ever since David walked on to the scene with courage in his God and a sling in his hand, everybody was saying: “King Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands!” He was famous and won every battle because he prayed and asked God for direction, and God showed him what to do! The fulfillment of the prophecy that he would be king over Israel came to pass!

So it's only natural when David strolls up to his editor (prophet Nathan) and says, “Hey, I want to build a house for God,” that Nathan would go along with that plan. Who else would do it? That makes sense, but …

1 Chronicles 17:1-4 NLT says, “¹When David was settled in his palace, he summoned Nathan the prophet. ‘Look,’ David said, ‘I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant is out there under a tent!’ ² Nathan replied to David, ‘Do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you.’ ³ But that same night God said to Nathan, ⁴ ‘Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord has declared: You are not the one to build a house for me to live in.’”

The best editors are the ones who allow God to edit them: Here's a prophet who had just told the king to do what he had set his heart to do; yet, God is editing Nathan, so Nathan can edit David.

Nathan had to humble himself and go to the king and say, “Listen, I know I gave you the green light and I know that I represent the word of God to you, but I didn't actually ask the Lord first and He corrected me on that. David, I was wrong. God said that because your hands have been used for battle and are dirtied with blood, you are not the one to build a holy house. You are to set up your son Solomon to build the house of God.”

1 Chronicles 17:15-16 NIV says, “Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation. Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: ‘Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?’”Is there someone in your life that after talking to them, you are led to seek the face of the Lord? Those are the editors you want to spend more time with.

If you have someone in your life that's willing to admit they were wrong, listen to them because they are listening to the Lord. But if you have someone speaking into your life that thinks that they're perfect, take their ideas with a grain of salt because if they're not humble before the Lord their God, there's a good chance they're missing the very thing God wants to speak to them to you.

Sometimes your editor will tell you the last thing you want to hear! They get under your skin. You're not even asking for their opinion, then God moves on their heart to share something with you, and you don't want to hear that! But it’s what we need to hear—to make God the center of our life again. The second area when we need an editor is…

2.   After 15 Seconds Of Foolishness, We Need A Fierce Conversation.

You’ve fallen flat on your face in sin and you need a fierce conversation with your editor to show you your failure and to get you back on track with Jesus. We need editors in our lives that will have real/fierce conversations with us—not just tell us what we want to hear, but what we need to hear!

So when David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, he had a fierce conversation with his editor in…

2 Samuel 12:7-9 NIV: “Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes?’”

An editor points out our sin to set us free—not to push us down, condemn, and beat us up. Let’s read how David responded when his editor had a fierce conversation with him: 

2 Samuel 12:13-14 NIV says, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.’”

When we repent, we will be forgiven of our sin no matter how abhorrent; God will not keep us out of heaven—but we will live out the effects of the sin!

David received forgiveness when he repented at the word from his editor Nathan—but he still had to work out the effects of that sin upon his family and his son dies! Nathan didn’t abandon David and say you really made a bad mistake I’m done with you. No, he walked out with David and didn't abandon him so…

3. After 15 Years Of Faithful Editing, We Need To Honor Our Editors.

An editor is someone you have built trust in over time and has a track record that you can put stock in. This was Nathan to David—it didn't happen overnight!

You cannot edit a video, a book, a song, and a soul in a couple of minutes. It takes trust in someone over a period of time to build a track record to trust their editing. Here’s an equation: Trust + Time = Track Record.

Proverbs 13:20 MSG says, “Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.” In other words, the one you walk with will determine whether you're becoming wiser or more foolish in the journey of life. Wisdom doesn't happen overnight. It will take time!

Honor your editors who may not say what you want you need to hear, but will say what you need to hear. Look at how David honored his editor:

1 Chronicles 3:5 NIV says: "...and these were the children born to him (David) there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel."

Nathan meant so much to King David that he named one of his sons after him.Likewise, we should honor the people that have been speaking into our lives for a consistent amount of time. Perhaps, you could call them up after service, text, or take them out to coffee this week.

Who is your Nathan? Look your editor in the eyes and say in a sincere way, “Thank you for speaking into my life what I needed to hear even when I didn't want to hear it. When things were going great after 15 minutes of fame, you reminded me, ‘Don't get stuck on pride,’ or when things were going bad, you reminded me to forgive myself and ‘Repent and find your freedom!’  I need you in my life!”

Some of the editors may need to hear from you because right now they're asking God, “Does it make any difference? Is it causing any change?” One simple way of honoring your editor would be to keep them hearing the word of the Lord for you, and you responding to the word of the Lord from them. Amen?

Questions

1. Why do we need editors in our lives?

2. What are the three reasons we need an editor?

3. What can we learn from the story of Nathan and David?

4. Why can’t you edit a soul in a couple of minutes?

5. Why do we need to honor our editors?