02/07/2024
Less Transactional and More Transformational
Sunday, we talked about how easy it is to fall into a ‘transactional mindset’ when it comes to relating to other people. Jesus wasn’t a fan of looking at others in terms of what they could do for him. In fact, he was much more likely to wonder what he might offer to them.
The question we need to ask ourselves this week is this:
“Who are the people with whom I choose not to come into contact with, because they really don’t have anything to offer me? How might I cool Jesus’ anger by responding to them differently than I have up to this point? How do I move from making Jesus mad to making him glad?
I came across a quote by Spencer Kimball, who said—
“Love people, not things;
use things, not people.”
When you relate to people based on what they can do for you—when you try to determine what value they will bring into your life—you might as well be buying a new laptop at Best Buy, a new gadget on Amazon, or a new car at the dealer. You’re asking, what it costs me vs. what I get in return. That is the wrong thing to do with other human souls. Another author wrote, “Sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.”
People aren’t things to be used,
They aren’t toys to play with,
They aren’t tools to be used to fix something broken in our lives,
They aren’t trophies to collect,
Nor are they competitors to compete against—
We are children of God. Each and every one of us are eternal souls put here according to God’s purpose and plan. To treat anyone as anything less than this is to make Jesus mad, and to demean the image of God in which they were created.
Archived Posts
So many quips and quotes...
So little time to preach
I wonder what Mary and Martha’s phones might look like:
* Martha = the open browser with 27 tabs
* Mary = the single window that matters
* Psalm 46 = God saying, “Close the tabs.”
Quotable Outtakes That Didn’t Make the Sermon This Week
“When you try to control everything, you don’t just exhaust yourself—you quietly replace trust in God with trust in you.” & more
There is a challenge when it comes to preaching the Word of God.
Preachers are called to open up and interpret the word—inspired and written down thousands of years ago—and make it relevant to a very different world. On top of that there’s a degree of persuasion that goes along with the process.
What Jessica Really Meant to Say in Her Sermon…
When Jessica or Rick or a guest preacher takes the pulpit it’s hard for me to write a One More Thing Blog. I can’t share with you what didn’t make it into the sermon because I have no idea, not having written or delivered it.
Jesus Keeps On Ruining Funerals!
I didn’t have anything this last week that didn’t end up in the sermon. No catchy illustrations that didn’t make the cut. No theological insights that slowed down the main point. No one can ruin a funeral like Jesus. Told as I saw it and that was it. So I did some quick research and I thought I’d share just a reminder of what Easter is all about.
When I Don’t Get To Give My Benediction
Yesterday’s sermon talked about how we are in the thrall of self-centeredness—caught in a system that rewards those who climb to the top, even when you have to climb on the back of others. I talked about a famous sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, ....
Some Good Quotes that I Didn’t Get To Last Sunday
I have been working out of Adam Hamilton’s excellent book, Why Did Jesus Have to Die? And when I find something that says what I want to say more succinctly and expressively than I can, I like to quote it...