Bigger, Better
What are you pursuing that, if you had it, everything would be better?
On July 14, 2005, a guy by the name of Kyle MacDonald was sitting at his desk holding a red paperclip and he had this thought, this idea. He remembered being a kid and playing this game called, “Bigger Better,” where you took something small and tried to trade it for something bigger and better.
So he wondered if he could do that with this red paper clip.
Kyle took a picture of it and posted it online and sure enough, someone responded and said, “Hey, we’ve got a pen shaped like a fish.”
Kyle got really excited. I mean, this is bigger and better than a red paper clip and he began to wonder how far he could go with this idea. So he posted a picture of the pen and just asked, “Does anyone want to trade something for a pen shaped like a fish?” Sure enough, someone said I’ll trade you that pen shaped like a fish for a door knob with a crazy face on it.
He then traded that door knob for a camping stove, the camping stove for a small electric generator, and he kept going until he ended up trading for a two-story farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan!
And it all started with a red paper clip and Kyle’s idea that he could trade it for something bigger, something better.
A World of Constant Pursuit
Everyone we know is always pursuing something bigger, something better.
And we’re willing to trade just about anything to get it!
We live in a world of constant pursuit. And we have believed the lie that if we could just get it, whatever IT is, we will finally be happy. Everything will finally be better.
So we strive for more and more BUT enough is never enough.
We work overtime and we say it is to provide for our family but what our family really needs isn’t more of anything except more of us.
We pursue bigger houses, better cars, titles, degrees, positions, things, things, and more things.
We want more money, more stuff, more likes, more followers, more attention, more clicks, more, more, more.
And we’re willing to trade just about anything to get it.
We’ve turned our life into a constant pursuit.
We’ve been told the things we’re pursuing will make us better, will make us healthier, will make us happier. But people have never felt more isolated and alone. People are riddled with anxiety and fear, depression and despair. People are angry, unhappy, discontent, and always on edge.
And listen, that can be for a lot of different reasons.
But what if one of those reasons, what if one of the primary reasons, is that we’ve been in pursuit of the wrong things?
Some people have traded away their virginity looking for love.
Others have traded away time with their family looking for fame.
Still others have traded away financial freedom looking to keep with the Joneses.
And others have traded away their values, their morals, their futures trying to be accepted, to be cool, so they could feel like they belong.
But what if we’ve been deceived? Tricked? Lied to? What if we’ve been pursuing bigger and better, constantly trading away our very souls for the hope of happiness and a little peace, but instead of trading up we’re trading down?
What if there’s another pursuit that, if we sought this one thing above every other thing, we would finally find what we’ve needed and deeply wanted all along?
The Ultimate Pursuit
We might be tempted to think that this constant pursuit for bigger and better is a new thing, even an American thing. And we certainly live in a time and place where it is easy to give into the pursuit of bigger and better and trading just about anything to get what we think we want.
But in reality, the bigger better game and the pursuit of things is as old as time.
Some 2000 years ago, as Paul is passing on his final words to Timothy, his son in the faith, Paul, nearing the end of his life, wants to share with Timothy important guidance about the greatest pursuit of his life.
Listen to this charge that Paul gives to Timothy. And by the way, every parent, every grandparent in the room or watching online may want to underline these words, highlight these words, screenshot these words and speak them over your children, your grandchildren.
Paul begins with this…
1 Timothy 6.11-16, NLT
11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God…
In other words, you are different. And you are to be different. And you are to live differently from the world around you. God has placed you in this world, in this culture, in this time for such a time as this.
You are called to live in this world, but you are not to follow the ways of this world.
No! You are a man of God. You are called to be different!
Thermometer vs. Thermostat
I am often inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. At the time he was writing to white influential pastors in Birmingham who were unwilling to do what was right. They were making a choice about which side they were on and history would prove the point that they should have made a different choice.
In his letter, he writes…
“There was a time when the church was very powerful–in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a THERMOMETER that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a THERMOSTAT that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators.”‘ But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were “a colony of heaven,” called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an arch defender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent–and often even vocal–sanction of things as they are.”
– Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 16 April, 1963
Martin Luther King, Jr. was calling the Christians and the Christian leaders in the Birmingham community to be a THERMOSTAT that changed and transformed the atmosphere around them!
And I wonder if he were alive today if he would call us to be the same thing.
If the Apostle Paul were alive today I wonder if he would call the church today to be the same thing.
Paul’s words to Timothy here, his charge, is not just to live differently, but to change the world around him by the way he lived!
He said, Timothy… You are a man of God! So… run from all these evil things.
Run From Evil Things
What evil things?
Paul doesn’t leave that up to the imagination. In nearly every letter he writes he lists the different sinful behaviors and practices in the world around him.
What’s interesting is that things haven’t changed much in the last 2000 years. Here’s the list he’s already given Timothy earlier in this letter. These are some of the things Timothy needs to RUN from!
In chapter 1 he writes…
8 We know that the law is good when used correctly. 9 For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders. 10 The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching 11 that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God.
Paul goes on to talk about the sin of pride, drunkenness, the love of money, being violent, quarrelsome, and more.
More often than not, the culture around us acts as the thermostat normalizing what it says is right.
But we are called, as the people of God, to change the atmosphere around us by the way we live. We are in the world, not of the world, and we always live from a place of love. But as men and women of God, as the people of God, we have to run from evil.
The Temptation to Linger
The temptation is not to run. The temptation is to linger.
And when we allow ourselves to linger we begin to rationalize. All of a sudden what was wrong isn’t so bad.
And by the time we realize that what we’ve done, what we’ve rationalized, what we have given into, when we realize that we not only hurt ourselves but we hurt the people we love the most, we’re filled with regret, and it’s too late.
We allowed ourselves to linger when we should have run!
Perhaps we need to recover the spiritual practice of running from evil things.
But just so you know, the Christian life isn’t just about what we run from, it’s about what we’re running towards.
Run Towards…
Listen to what Paul says next…
Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
I don’t know about you, but I used to think the Christian life was all about what we had to run from. What we were supposed to avoid. Don’t do this, don’t do that.
Don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t dance or date girls that do! 🙂
And there are a lot of Christians for whom this is the goal of the Christian life. It’s all about sin avoidance.
But the abundant life Jesus invites us into isn’t about a life of avoidance, it’s about a life of pursuit!
Paul tells Timothy, this is the way that leads to life. This is the way that leads to a rich and full and meaningful and abundant life.
Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
Does that list sound familiar? It should!
Once again Paul is calling us back to the fruit of the Spirit! This is what the Christian life is all about, it’s all about pursuing the right things, the things of the Spirit. Instead of spending all our time trying to avoid certain things, what if we devoted our time and energy to cultivating the fruit of the Spirit in our lives?
In his book, the Double Blessing, Mark Batterson makes this observation… and I love this thought:
“Let me ask a simple question: If you plant carrot seeds, what do you get? The easy answer is carrots. How about pumpkin seeds? The obvious answer is pumpkins. What if you don’t plant anything? You might think the answer is nothing, but you’ll actually get weeds.” – Mark Batterson
How many of us spend all our time and energy trying to avoid temptation and sin that we don’t plant anything, we don’t cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in our lives?
Then we wonder why we don’t feel closer to God. We wonder why the Christian life is so hard.
But the reality is, we’re not planting anything. So we continue to struggle because there’s constant weeds growing up and springing up in our lives.
It’s like that old game Whac-A-Mole! As soon as we think we have one temptation, one struggle, one problem defeated, another pops up!
Paul calls Timothy to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in his life.
Things like faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. This is how we pursue righteousness and a godly life.
If you’re trying to stop sinning but you’re not actively praying, you’re not actively engaging with the Word of God, you’re not active in God’s church and in the life of God’s church, if you’re not being drawn into deeper faith, hope, and love, you’re never going to defeat the temptation and sin in your life.
You have to run from sin, YES! But then you have to run toward GOD! Pursue righteousness and a godly life!
True Faith
And then Paul reminds Timothy, this is a battle. A daily grind! He tells his son in the faith…
12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.
Fight for the TRUE FAITH.
What is the true faith?
In chapter 1:15 Paul says it this way:
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
In chapter 2:5-6 he says:
“There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.”
And in chapter 3:16 Paul tells Timothy:
“Christ was revealed in a human body
and vindicated by the Spirit.
He was seen by angels
and announced to the nations.
He was believed in throughout the world
and taken to heaven in glory.”
This is the Gospel, the Good News about the great love of God revealed in Jesus! The true faith!
The Good News isn’t that we were bad and Jesus came to make us better. No! Jesus came because we were dead in our sin and we needed a Savior. Christ came to give us life!
The Handoff
So what are you pursuing?
Are you pursuing God?
On July 14, 2018, the Athletics World Cup Men’s 4 x 100m Relay Race was held in London. The Jamaican team was favored to win. The were pursuing first place.
But one critical error was made that led to them losing the relay race. Watch this:
Did you hear what the broadcaster said? “It’s the incoming runner’s responsibility…”
That’s you and me, those of us who are older who are currently carrying the baton of faith.
“It’s the incoming runner’s responsibility to hand the baton over. Jamaica had a bit of a fumble…” And then they said, “The baton changes can make all the difference.”
We live in a world of constant pursuit. We pursue all kinds of different things. We pursue jobs, careers, titles, and achievements. We pursue money, houses, cars, clothes, and all the other things money can buy. We pursue likes, follows, and all the attention we can get on our social media platforms. We pursue our dreams, our wants, our every desire.
Not all of those are BAD.
But there is one pursuit that should rise above every other pursuit for those of us who consider ourselves followers of Jesus.
But what happens is that over time our pursuit of other things causes us to fumble the handoff for the one thing that is greater than every other thing!
As followers of Jesus there is a pursuit that rises above the rest.
Paul’s reminder to Timothy is a powerful reminder to all of us as well….
Pursue righteousness and a godly life.
Cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in your life.
And teach your children, your grandchildren, to engage in this glorious pursuit as well.
Paul’s final charge to young Timothy…
Pursue God!
And what God your Father wants more than anything is to see you grow, flourish, thrive, to experience the abundant life that Jesus has invited us into!
Choose to Pursue God
Everyone you know is always pursuing something bigger, something better.
What if you choose to pursue God?
But when you pursue God we discover He is already pursuing you!
What happens when our children and our grandchildren and the children in this church see the adults in this church pursuing God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength?
What happens is this… We’re able to pass on the most important baton we carry. The baton of faith to the next generation.
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