Key Takeaway
We should strive for excellence in our work, to be distinctive in our passion and dedication, to pay the cost to be consistent; but if all of that doesn't ultimately build a platform on which we tell the world around us about Jesus, then we will never live out our calling to its end goal.
The whole point of life is to know God and make Him known. Sometimes we can miss the entire point. We don't want to be like the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21, who was super successful, but didn't do anything to the glory of God. His soul was demanded of him, and he had nothing of value to offer.
We've all learned that in order to do our "whatever" in life for the glory of God, we do the following:
Make excellence the standard
Distinction is our calling card
Costly consistency is our operational grid
As we finish out, we will focus on how we make it our aim to tell everyone about Jesus. The win for us is for others to hear about Jesus. Our actions cannot be a substitute for us actually articulating the story of Jesus to the world. Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. No one comes to faith without some words being spoken.
Matthew 5:13-17 tells us how we are to be light for mankind. Our work and our ways will give us the opportunity to share our witness and our winnings for the glory of God.
Our witness is simply sharing the story of Jesus with people in your world. You have a story to tell that may be more powerful coming from you than anyone else. You don't have to debate or defend your story; you just have to tell it. After Jesus intersected with the woman at the well, she ran back to town proclaiming, "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah?" She simply told her story of what had happened to her. You don't have to start out with hosting a Bible study. You could just start out being a servant to people and caring for them. People will listen to people who care about them. Because of this woman, many people came and believed.
Our winnings are to be shared with our purpose. We take what we've earned and invest it into knowing Jesus and making Him known. This happens best when it's rooted in the sending soil of the local church.
It's easy to get distracted from the Church when you're successful. You have to prepare now for what you're going to do when you're successful. The better you plan to succeed, the more God tends to help you do it; otherwise, He knows success will wash you right out of your purpose. The Church helps keep you grounded.
Our work should fall in line with Colossians 3:23, which says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters." God has assigned you to your lot so that you can glorify Him and others can hear about Him.
Discussion Questions
1) Read Luke 12:16-21. How did he miss the entire point and purpose of our lives?
2) What are the three points that we have learned in the previous messages about how we can do "whatever" we do in life for the glory of God?
3) Why do the first three not matter if our aim isn't to tell the story of Jesus to everyone in our sphere?
4) Actions cannot substitute for us articulating what Jesus has done. How does Romans 10:17 support this?
5) What does Matthew 5:13-17 tell us about the effect we should be having on the world?
6) What is the simplest definition of "your witness?" Why does you telling your own story to your own sphere matter so much? What kind of weight does that hold?
7) What happened when the woman at the well shared her story about what Jesus had done for her? See John 4:39.
8) What are a couple of simple ways you can treat people that will cause them to take your story seriously?
9) How can your winnings be shared with your purpose?
10) Does your work fall in line with Colossians 3:23?
