Civilian Or Soldier? | Heroes Week 4

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- Do you know that there are

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2 billion Christians in the world?

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My question is then how come there are still

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any problems like how come they're still any brokenness?

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There's only 7 billion people in the world total,

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2 billion seems like enough to help the rest.

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The only explanation is that most Christ followers

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are missing it, see they don't understand

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who they were made to be.

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Let me tell you the reason for that.

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There's a war going on around you

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that you're not supposed to know about.

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A battle raging that they're banking

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you'll passively accept like today's weather.

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Looks like rain, but whatever, right?

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The casualties are obvious, strewn across your feed

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like bugs and a windshield.

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But they're hoping you'll accept the splatter

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as a normal part of normal life,

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just colorful guts to wash out of your view.

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A fleeting inconvenience.

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Why?

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Because if you did discover the war,

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you might think to ask where all the soldiers are.

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And that absolutely cannot happen.

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So they'll do anything to get you

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to keep your eyes closed and go back to sleep, please.

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But if you do see the war, if the evidence

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on your windshield is too much to ignore,

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they have a plan,

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one that's been working for thousands of years.

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It goes like this.

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If I were fighting a war, I'll tell you what I'd do.

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I'd leverage my strengths.

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And if my strength was lying,

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like I was so good at it that my nickname

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was the Father of Lies, I would lie like hell.

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Not to my troops.

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I'd try to convince the opposing soldiers

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that they were actually civilians,

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because if I could pull that off,

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I'd win the war without a fight.

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So when you ask where the soldiers are,

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you never even think to look in the mirror

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because you have already decided

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you're a victim of the war, a simple civilian.

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And that's how I'd win.

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The question this week is simple:

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Are you a civilian or are you a soldier?

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The Heroes Journey is about your path to greatness.

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And today is when it hits an uphill climb

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that frankly few people ever make.

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So here's a promise and a warning right up front.

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The promise: if you're willing to watch

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and really listen, you're going to hear

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what I believe is second only to Jesus loving you

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and saving you, the best news of your entire life.

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See you are made for so much more than you know,

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you're so much more significant than you understand.

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And when that gets unlocked in you,

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you will experience life in the fullest,

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freshest, most invigorating way possible.

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We've been using this word hero in this Journey

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to describe that kind of life, the person that

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each of us is meant to become

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and the character we're meant to embody.

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And while there are many kinds of heroes, you know,

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from like reluctant heroes to accidental heroes,

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we're actually made to be a very specific kind,

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an intentionally enlisted hero.

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Another name for that kind of hero is a soldier,

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somebody who's sober mindedly signs on the dotted line

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and dedicates their entire life to service.

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Here's the warning: I'm giving you high octane today.

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I'm not going to pull any punches.

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Why?

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Because we're at the fork in the trail

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where too many people decided the path to greatness

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is just too steep and they waste their life

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looking at life instead of experiencing it.

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Recently, Sarah and I got to go to the Grand Canyon.

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It was our anniversary. We went there with no kids.

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Fantastic, by the way,

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highly recommend that part of the trip.

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And when we got there, it was packed.

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It was crowded.

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There was so many people at the rim of the canyon

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just looking down into it.

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And you've never been there, you have to understand

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it's like mind blowingly huge.

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I mean, it's epic in its proportions

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and everyone's just standing there looking at it.

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There was hardly any room at the rail

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to look down into it.

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And then Sarah and I, because we're kind of crazy,

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we decided what we wanted to do is

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actually hike the entire thing,

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which is 18 miles from rim to river and back in a day.

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By the way, there's an elevation change of one mile

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going down and back up.

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It's like the reverse of mountain climbing, you know,

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like in mountain climbing,

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you do the hard part first

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and then the easy part second.

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In canyon hiking you do the easy part first,

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the down and the hard part next.

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It's nuts. It's insane.

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Here's what we discovered:

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despite the crowds at the top

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peering into the canyon,

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if you just go about a mile down the path,

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no one is there.

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See, most people who go there,

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they pass on the real experience.

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They just stand at the rim

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and they spectate at the thing.

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And this is life.

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Most of us just stand at the edge

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and we look at it

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and God's invitation is to step into it.

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See you were made for greatness. You were.

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But you have to choose to go there.

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The people decide to pass because

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we have a very persuasive enemy

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who's waging a kind of psychological warfare,

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and it's been carefully crafting a lie

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for millennia just to make sure,

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just to make sure that you and me

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unwittingly waste our lives

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blindly strolling down the path to irrelevance.

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In fact, your enemy's greatest fear

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is you waking up to that reality.

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In John 8, Jesus said, He, your enemy,

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His chief and greatest lie to Christians,

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and really anyone exploring faith,

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it's that they're civilians, that their job

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is just to sit at the top and wait for

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the soldiers down below in the field

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and cheer safely from the sidelines.

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Now some of us recognize this isn't the call in our life.

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In fact, if you're someone who's giving,

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I know you've crossed through this barrier

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in your life and on behalf of everyone

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who's benefiting from your generosity

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through experiencing this journey

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and videos like this, I want to say thank you.

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And if you want to become part of

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that community of generosity, it's super easy.

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Just go to Crossroads.net/give.

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Now to get this, we have to start

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at the beginning of your life.

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See, according to the Bible,

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you and me are born as prisoners of war.

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It's a battle between the dominion of darkness

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and the Kingdom of God.

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And our natural pattern of living, called sin,

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it comes from being born into

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the evil side of the battle.

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And on our own we're actually powerless

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to overthrow its hold in our lives,

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which is why Jesus, God Himself, came to rescue us.

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Colossians 1 says:

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No one's saved from the evil side then,

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the defining question of our lives becomes this:

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what now is my role in this great war?

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And today you hit this exact

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fork in the road to greatness.

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It's a simple choice that God says you must make

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that will determine the entire course

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of your life from here on out.

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It's this simple:

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Are you going to enlist as a soldier

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or are you going to stay a civilian?

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Though you probably never thought about

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the choice in those terms,

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you intuitively understand the options, right?

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I mean, the job of soldiers is

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to jump into the cockpit, to take up arms

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and to start to fight.

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The job of civilians is to cheer on the soldiers

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and support their efforts,

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and maybe give some comforts they could

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otherwise have to funnel more supplies

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to the front lines.

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The soldiers, they live on the front lines.

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The civilians, they live on the sidelines.

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See the soldiers sit in the cockpits.

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The civilians sit in the bleachers.

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And here's the thing, we think that

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few are called to be soldiers, right?

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The few, the proud, the Marines.

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And most of us are called to be civilians, right?

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That few are called to be pastors

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and work on church staffs and be lead volunteers

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and those sorts of things.

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But most are just called

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to cheer them on as civilians on the side

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to sit in the stands and clap.

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I used to think this.

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I used to think that my job was to sit and cheer.

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I don't have a Bible degree.

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Still, don't, you know, not for me.

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This kind of job is kind of what --

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it must be for the pros.

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Me, I'm just a civilian.

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But here's the kick,

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and I need you to lean in close here,

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lean in close.

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According to Jesus,

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there are no civilians in the Kingdom of God.

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There's just soldiers.

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Do you know what would be

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the most radical difference between Christianity

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and every other world religion is

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the absence of a special class of people.

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See, most religions have this special class,

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they're usually called the priests.

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And priests have, one, special access to God,

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and two, special powers and special responsibilities.

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Metaphorically, they're the soldiers.

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Chances are, even if you've been around church,

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maybe especially if you've been around church,

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you've missed this critical piece of understanding

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because see, there are certain people

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called pastors, right, or priests,

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and everyone else is usually called the laity

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or the laypeople.

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Which regardless of the bad theology here,

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can we just agree that's a terrible name.

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We really need to rebrand that. It's awful.

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But here's the thing, this two class system,

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it's not found at all in the Bible.

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Let's look at what the Bible actually says.

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I'm going to read you a section of a letter

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written by Peter.

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He was one of the top three disciples of Jesus,

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and he wrote this to pretty much all believers

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all over the known world.

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And now it's a book in the Bible called 1 Peter

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because it was the first book he wrote.

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That's really, that's all there is

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to know about that one.

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Anyway, he addresses it like this

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in the very beginning, 1 Peter 1:1, it says:

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God's elect means anyone who believes in Jesus.

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And those places that he's talking about,

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they're basically modern day Turkey,

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plus the western Mediterranean coast.

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If you were to overlay it on the U.S.,

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we're talking an area the size of the East Coast

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from Jacksonville, Florida, up to Hartford, Connecticut,

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that stretches inland all the way to St. Louis.

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So like a lot of people.

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And to all of those people, Peter wrote:

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Royal priesthood.

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That means that everyone is royal and a priest.

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Everyone.

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Now, this is a critical understanding

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of the family of God.

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See, when you believe in Jesus,

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you're actually adopted into God's family

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and He's the King, which is the royal part.

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Passages like 1 John 12, Romans 8, Galatians 5,

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they make that crystal clear.

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What that means is that you have a seat

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at the royal family's table,

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and nothing you ever do can change that. Nothing.

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But here's the thing, you not only have

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a seat at the table, you actually have battles

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to fight as part of the army of God.

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See, everyone is both a son and a soldier.

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Everyone is both a daughter and a soldier.

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And that's the priest part.

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Have you ever wondered why I'm not Pastor Kyle,

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I'm just Kyle?

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And why Brian is Brian, not Pastor Bryan?

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This is why.

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Though relatively small,

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that little qualifier would set us apart,

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and it would tell everyone, new or otherwise,

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that we have some kind of special access

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or insight into God

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that's probably not available to you.

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That we have special powers

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and special responsibility. that go beyond,

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well, all of you people.

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But see, Jesus warned against this directly

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and explicitly in Matthew 23, he said:

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That's Jesus.

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It's clear, it's clear,

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God's call to every believer,

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you include it if you believe in Him,

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is to be a soldier.

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Ephesians 6 says:

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God says, I have armor for you.

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You're a soldier and He wants you dressed.

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And can we just agree?

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It's probably not so you can sit on the couch.

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This isn't a dress up party. That's not--

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It's not Halloween.

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He wants you to spend your life fighting.

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And see you have an enemy who doesn't want

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you to know any of this stuff.

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He wants you to think that you're an observer,

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a fan, that you're doing and being the church

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if you come to church or you watch church.

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You know, one of the curses of my life

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is being a Cincinnati Bengals fan.

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It's tragic, tragic flaw.

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I inherited it from my dad, and his dad before him

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and now my children are suffering. It's awful.

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They haven't won a playoff game in like 30 years.

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I mean, I think we stop counting at some point.

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It's been forever, forever.

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And see, I logically know that choosing to root

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for the Bengals is like picking a product,

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any other product, right?

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I mean, if I picked a toothpaste

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that rotted my teeth

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and made my breath smell like garbage,

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I would just pick a different toothpaste.

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But with the Bengals, even though they rot my teeth

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and make my breath smell like garbage metaphorically,

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I can't quit them. I can't change. Why?

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It's because when I talk about the team,

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I say we, even though I've never played

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a down of football in my life.

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I say stuff like, "Yeah, man, I mean,

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I really like what we did in the draft this year.

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I mean, that wide receiver, dang, is amazing."

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Or I say, you know, as you're watching the game,

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"We need to block better or we should throw more.

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Wait, was that interception?

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Man, like I've been saying,

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I think we should stick to the run.

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You know" I've been saying that the whole game."

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By the way, if you're an actual Bengals player

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and you're watching this,

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I have a good feeling about us this year. I do.

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I think I think we're going all the way.

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I really do.

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And even though you rot my teeth, I'm still in.

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Let's go. Really, I love it.

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I'm being honest. I can't quit it.

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Now, here's why this happens.

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It's because of I want to call the Sunday myth

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that affects church and football.

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See, we think watching makes us part of the team.

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Listen to what I'm going to say very carefully.

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Listen very carefully.

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I want you to pay attention.

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You watching church no more makes you

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a Christ follower than you watching football

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makes you a football player.

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Maybe the greatest mistake the church ever made

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is we built what looked like bleachers,

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and you thought that your job was to sit in them.

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And it seemed that, just like the NFL,

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we're just inviting you to be fans,

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to follow us then like, comment, and subscribe,

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you know, buy the logo T-shirt,

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root for your favorite pastor, celebrate the killer sermons,

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and then tune in for more next week.

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It's a tragedy that has to stop.

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It has to stop because the world is too broken

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for the majority of God's Church

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to just sit and watch.

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So you have to understand, by default,

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the culture you live is shaped

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to get your life to curve to the norm.

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And that norm is not just being a civilian,

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but the most passive, harmless to

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the kingdom of darkness kind of civilian, a consumer.

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La, la, la, living my life.

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There are Christians who believe

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their primary role is to be pastor watchers

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or worship listeners fall into this category.

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I'm supposed to watch, to listen, to consume.

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How would you know if that's affected you?

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Simple question: What do you talk about

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after a message like this?

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Do you talk about God's Word

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and how it's changing you

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or you talk about the teacher's performance?

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I mean, it was OK, you know, it was OK.

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It wasn't Brian's best, though.

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See, too much time is spent evaluating and talking

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about churches the way we talk about pants.

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It just wasn't a good fit.

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Hear me clearly, I'd love you

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to follow me on Instagram.

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I'd love you to follow Brian.

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But we're not posting so you can be our fans.

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This isn't a show.

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This is a pep rally. It's a mission briefing.

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We're not performing.

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We're coaches aiming to equip you for the fight.

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Please hear me, please.

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Please don't waste your life

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attending and evaluating church.

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Be the church.

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Don't waste your life sitting on the sidelines.

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Don't waste your life watching other people fight.

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This idea that you're made to be a civilian

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while the pros handle the heavy lifting,

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it's a lie.

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It wants to take your dreams

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and make them so microscopically small

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that when you stare into the future of your life,

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what you imagine is a nice lawn.

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Really, I did a little bit of research

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this week on like, what are the --

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what's the advice to have a great life

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and I found this this blog post on the AARP website.

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It's the American Association of Retired People.

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And the title was: Want to Live Longer?

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Mowing the lawn helps.

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Stare into your future, imagine a great lawn.

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Now, can you imagine getting to

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the very end of your life, the whole thing,

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standing before God and saying,

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"Look, Lord, at my lawn.

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I mowed it in a perfect checkerboard pattern, Lord.

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I aerated I overseeded.

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It was so much greater than Todd's lawn next door.

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Lord, so much greater.

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Have mercy on him, Lord,

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he knew not what he was doing,

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I mean, with his lawn, Lord."

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What a tragedy, what a waste of life.

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Every single spiritual great

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had a different vision for their life.

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So rather than die with full barns and lush lawns,

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they dreamed of dying empty,

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of spending everything on the most and the highest

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and the only worthy cause in the universe,

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The advancement of the Kingdom of God.

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Jesus's call on your life

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is that you would do the same.

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You weren't created to be a civilian.

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You were made to be a soldier.

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See, if you want to be great, that means

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you have to take commands from the commanding officer.

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What is His command? It's pretty simple.

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Here's what He said in John 15:

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Jesus is your commanding officer, and He's saying,

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"Don't waste your life being a civilian.

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Don't waste your life consuming and consuming

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and consuming, even church stuff, until you die.

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No, take up your sword and fight.

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Find your place, jump into a roll."

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And you fight by rolling up your sleeves

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and by serving, by giving up your life,

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something that's precious to you,

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your time, and serving.

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This doesn't mean quit your job.

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We don't need more professional pastors.

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All I am is the army chaplain.

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We need more warriors on the front lines,

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in schools and in businesses

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and city squares and hospitals.

00:20:08

We need servants serving with the power of God

00:20:12

in every sector across our country.

00:20:15

We need you in your unique lane

00:20:16

using your unique gifts.

00:20:19

I know it may be hard to believe, but do you know

00:20:22

the world is literally waiting for you on this?

00:20:26

Literally waiting.

00:20:27

Romans 8 says, "for the creation waits," for what?

00:20:32

In eager expectation

00:20:34

for the children of God to be revealed.

00:20:39

That means step into their destiny.

00:20:41

The creation itself will be liberated

00:20:43

from its bondage to decay

00:20:44

and brought under the freedom and the glory

00:20:47

of the children of God.

00:20:49

You were born to be a soldier,

00:20:51

to fight victoriously in the war

00:20:53

that's going to end all war.

00:20:54

It's your destiny and it's your choice.

00:20:58

You know, I know even if you want

00:20:59

to make that choice, even if you're going,

00:21:01

"Yes, I want to step into it.

00:21:02

I don't want to live my life,

00:21:03

waste my life as a civilian, as a consumer.

00:21:05

I want to step into it as a soldier."

00:21:07

There may be a resistance in you.

00:21:09

First, maybe you don't feel qualified

00:21:11

in the sense of having gifts and talents.

00:21:13

Some people have gifts. Some people have talents.

00:21:16

I don't have anything. Not me, I got skipped.

00:21:19

Here's what 1 Corinthians 12 says:

00:21:58

That means when God thought of you,

00:22:00

when He imagined you, He thought of

00:22:03

what He wanted to gift you with.

00:22:06

And see, each one means everyone

00:22:09

and everyone means you.

00:22:13

Here's good news, you don't have to figure out

00:22:15

how to use your gifts on your own.

00:22:17

This Journey is designed to help you

00:22:19

step into the fact that God has gifted you,

00:22:21

that He has called you.

00:22:22

This isn't just a thing for special people,

00:22:24

for some of us. No, it's for all of us.

00:22:26

But you don't have to figure it all out on your own.

00:22:28

We've got your back.

00:22:29

See, next week you're going to have

00:22:31

an opportunity to sign up to serve in a role

00:22:33

that puts some of those gifts to work,

00:22:34

and we'll help you find that spot for you.

00:22:37

In fact, even this week,

00:22:39

we'd love to help you change the world.

00:22:40

We have a summit to help you do that.

00:22:42

It's called a World Changing Summit.

00:22:44

If you're interested in that,

00:22:45

you can go to online.crossroads.net

00:22:47

to get an early start on it, honestly.

00:22:49

And here's the thing, serving doesn't just

00:22:52

have to be a Crossroads official role.

00:22:55

Those are just the ones that we have to offer.

00:22:57

They're easiest for us to plug you into.

00:23:00

The main thing here is that you

00:23:02

jump into the fight and serve.

00:23:05

God has gifted you for that reason.

00:23:08

The second resistance you might feel is

00:23:10

you feel like you've messed up so bad,

00:23:12

so bad that you've missed it.

00:23:14

And messed up can mean like screw ups,

00:23:16

or it can just be like maybe I've waited too long,

00:23:18

it's too late in my life.

00:23:20

No, you know, the record we have of Abraham,

00:23:24

like father of the Nation of Israel

00:23:26

and him following God begins

00:23:29

when Abraham's 75 years old.

00:23:32

It's not too late for you.

00:23:34

And on messing up, you aren't qualified

00:23:37

because of the study that you've done

00:23:39

or your good behavior

00:23:40

or your super smarts, or whatever.

00:23:42

You're qualified by one means only: Jesus.

00:23:46

It's a one point resume.

00:23:47

It says, Jesus saved me. That's it.

00:23:50

And that means that you're expected to fight.

00:23:53

You know, this week and your guide

00:23:55

you'll be putting all of these pieces together,

00:23:58

and it's going to help you see

00:23:59

how God has wired you to serve

00:24:01

in preparation for next week.

00:24:03

Now I want you to know, being a hero will cost you,

00:24:06

not monetarily, but for sure in time.

00:24:09

There is a cost to it

00:24:11

that you're going to work through.

00:24:12

But I want you to know the secret.

00:24:15

The secret is this: when you lose,

00:24:17

when you give things up,

00:24:19

when you pay the cost of being a soldier,

00:24:23

you actually win

00:24:24

and you actually gain way more than you give up.

00:24:28

Luke 9:24 says:

00:24:30

But all who lose their lives in

00:24:33

the service of God because of Me will save them.

00:24:39

The best view of the game,

00:24:40

it's not from the bleachers,

00:24:42

it's from the middle of the action.

00:24:44

And the best life, it's not lived

00:24:46

watching other people fight.

00:24:48

It's actually taking up arms.

00:24:49

It's joining the eternal brotherhood

00:24:51

and sisterhood that stretches back, back,

00:24:53

back, back generations

00:24:55

and putting the full weight of your life

00:24:57

into serving as a soldier

00:24:59

in the world redeeming army of God.

00:25:03

When you do that, this is the amazing part,

00:25:05

the victories, they become your victories.

00:25:09

And the soldiers, they become your brothers

00:25:12

and your sisters.

00:25:13

And the captain, he becomes your captain.

00:25:17

You know, in a minute I want to share with you

00:25:19

what I think is the most powerful thing

00:25:21

Jesus ever said to His soldiers.

00:25:24

But before we do that, we need to pause

00:25:26

for just a minute and spend a few minutes

00:25:28

talking to God, who's calling us to step forward.

00:25:32

He's calling us to move.

00:25:34

And I want us to say to Him right now together,

00:25:37

"When you tell us to move, we will move."

00:30:11

- The most powerful thing

00:30:12

Jesus ever said to his soldiers,

00:30:15

it's a parable about the end of our lives.

00:30:17

This is Matthew 25, Jesus said:

00:30:51

In this parable, everyone looked around.

00:30:53

They were like, "Hey, cool, cool, cool.

00:30:55

Time out, though. When exactly did we do that?"

00:30:58

Then Jesus continued:

00:31:10

Serving looks like, often times, serving the least,

00:31:14

doing things that feel beneath us,

00:31:17

holding a door, making coffee.

00:31:19

These little acts of service

00:31:21

that honestly cost us time

00:31:23

and can just feel like a waste of time.

00:31:26

But Jesus says when you do that,

00:31:29

when you serve in the least way,

00:31:31

the least people,

00:31:33

that's what I notice the most about your life.

00:31:37

In fact, that's the thing that let me know

00:31:39

that I have your heart.

00:31:40

It's the thing that let me know

00:31:42

I need to build you a room in my kingdom

00:31:44

because I want you with me forever.

00:31:46

That's it. that's it.

00:31:48

My prayer for you this week is that

00:31:50

you would have the courage

00:31:52

to step off the path of irrelevance

00:31:54

that your life begins on

00:31:56

and to get on the path to greatness.

00:31:59

And say, "God, if you need a soldier,

00:32:01

here I am, You can send me, send me."

00:32:04

I'm going to pray a blessing for you this week

00:32:06

as you interact with your guide

00:32:08

and your dialog with God, here's a blessing for you.

00:32:10

God, thank you for everyone watching.

00:32:12

Thank you for everybody listening.

00:32:14

I pray that You would show up powerfully to them,

00:32:17

that as we take one small step forward, God,

00:32:19

You would meet us, that You would show us our gifts

00:32:21

and that You would get us to the right spot.

00:32:23

God, this is an army and it's a big war.

00:32:27

And I ask that every single person

00:32:29

would get placed in the exact right spot

00:32:32

to most use their gifts

00:32:34

for the advancement of Your Kingdom.

00:32:37

You're so good to invite us into this. Amen.

00:32:40

Hey, like I said, next week you'll have

00:32:42

an opportunity to sign up to serve,

00:32:45

and many people have done this at Crossroads.

00:32:46

Here's just one person's story

00:32:48

I want you to check out, and I'll see you next week.

00:32:52

- My name is Sarah Wilkie, and I serve in Kids' Club.

00:32:55

So I knew God in a way that I grew up

00:33:01

going to the Catholic Church.

00:33:02

And I prayed. I prayed when I needed things.

00:33:05

I prayed when I felt sad.

00:33:08

And then I just went through this time

00:33:10

in my life that things weren't looking the best.

00:33:14

And that's when I came to this just empty circle.

00:33:18

So I would wake up and I would just

00:33:19

relive the same day over and over.

00:33:22

And I knew that I was meant for something

00:33:25

so much bigger than that life that I was living.

00:33:28

I joined a group at Crossroads

00:33:30

back in January of 2020, and I was exposed

00:33:37

to volunteering and getting involved.

00:33:40

And I've always had a passion for working with kids,

00:33:42

and I knew that serving in Kids' Club

00:33:44

would definitely be something that I could pursue.

00:33:48

Learning from kids has always been something

00:33:51

that speaks to me.

00:33:54

Kids ask questions that adults don't ask

00:33:57

and they challenge you.

00:33:59

Hearing questions, a lot of the times

00:34:01

I don't have answers and it challenges me

00:34:04

to go home and reread that story in the Bible.

00:34:07

It makes me think like, how can I come back

00:34:11

to them next Sunday with a better answer?

00:34:13

The things that happened in my life

00:34:15

that have changed are endless.

00:34:18

I started serving in Kids' Club.

00:34:20

I said yes to Jesus.

00:34:21

I ended up getting baptized.

00:34:23

I had friends in the Christian community.

00:34:26

I met my best friend.

00:34:27

I cannot be more thankful for just the way

00:34:31

that God has moved in my life.

00:34:33

It's been unreal.

00:34:34

It's been a snowball effect because this has

00:34:36

like been the most amazing spiritual journey ever.

00:34:42

- For our 25th anniversary, we wanted to bless

00:34:44

a number of our reachout partners

00:34:46

by giving away 2.5 million dollars over 25 weeks.

00:34:51

We want to bless as we've been blessed.

00:34:56

- Nelson Mandela said:

00:34:57

education is the most powerful weapon,

00:34:59

which you can use to change the world.

00:35:01

We've been partnering with Build the Future

00:35:03

in South Africa for the last 15 years,

00:35:06

where their focus is providing educational services

00:35:08

and nutrition to children

00:35:10

in impoverished communities.

00:35:12

One of the largest problems

00:35:13

the communities face is a lack of resources.

00:35:16

Build the Future helps the people they serve

00:35:18

get the most out of the land around them.

00:35:20

You'll find Build the Future

00:35:22

where the streets have no names

00:35:23

and the people are forgotten.

00:35:28

- In 2014, we put our first school here

00:35:32

and we started with seven kids in a small container.

00:35:36

And it was always about taking

00:35:39

as many kids off the streets

00:35:41

and putting them in an environment like this

00:35:44

where they were going to be

00:35:45

fed, healthy, nutritious meals,

00:35:48

where they were going to be protected,

00:35:50

where they were going to get really good education.

00:35:53

And it was going to be a place where

00:35:56

from that foundation they would be

00:36:00

launched into primary school.

00:36:02

And right from the beginning

00:36:04

when I first got involved in community work,

00:36:06

it was always the kids that suffer

00:36:08

and it was how can we make an impact in these kids?

00:36:12

How do we get these kids off the streets?

00:36:13

And that was the reason for the school.

00:36:16

It was how do we get the kids off the street,

00:36:19

educated and fed and the two come together

00:36:22

and make the difference?

00:36:24

- It is the relationship with the teachers

00:36:26

and their stories, how they are lives that

00:36:29

have come out of this community started out

00:36:31

as just a helper, you know, became a teacher,

00:36:35

now she's the principal.

00:36:36

That's Elizabeth's story, right?

00:36:38

And so it is about the relationships.

00:36:41

- From Kya Sand in Johannesburg to [indiscernable],

00:36:45

one of the big things,

00:36:46

apart from the financial aid,

00:36:48

is the groups that come out

00:36:49

and the trips that come to South Africa.

00:36:53

The folks on the trips are blessed

00:36:56

and they take away something

00:36:58

and the people here are blessed.

00:36:59

Simply put, as you know, the scripture,

00:37:03

the fields are waiting to harvest

00:37:05

and the laborers are few.

00:37:06

If that wasn't the case,

00:37:07

I'd see more vehicles like mine doing stuff.

00:37:10

And that's the bottom line.

00:37:11

It changes your life.

00:37:12

And this is more than a vacation.

00:37:15

It's more of a calling than anything else.

00:37:17

There's nothing like planting a seed

00:37:20

and seeing it grow and watering and nurturing it.

00:37:24

And when you get the response from the children,

00:37:26

that's ridiculous.

00:37:27

Small steps and you look back

00:37:29

and we've made quite an impact, I would say.

	Why do we still have problems?	0:03
	The Uphill Climb	2:30
	Civilian Or Soldier?	7:33
	God's Elect	10:23
	Who is your commanding officer?	19:31
	We Will Move	25:43
	What will you do?	30:14
	Sara's Story	32:52

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