How to Be Second Greatest

“A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.… He must become greater; I must become less.” – John 3:27-30

Aside from Jesus Christ, who is the greatest person in the Bible?

In Matthew 11, Jesus answered that question. Interestingly, he didn’t choose any of the great leaders you might expect. He didn’t choose Abraham, Moses, Esther or David—all great heroes of our faith. Surprisingly, Jesus said in Matthew 11:11: “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”

Really? John the Baptist? The guy who lived in the wilderness? The guy who wore camels’ hair clothes and ate bugs? Seriously, Jesus? That’s the GREATEST man who’s ever lived? Yes. And John 3 explains why.

The Gospel of John makes it clear that the early part of Jesus’ public ministry overlapped with the final weeks of John’s public ministry. While Jesus was turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana, while Jesus driving out the money changers in the temple courts, and while Jesus was having a one-on-one conversation with Nicodemus about being born again … John the Baptist was still out there preaching and baptizing.

Well, by John 3:22, Jesus had also begun baptizing people in the Judean countryside. Some of John the Baptist’s loyal followers didn’t like that. They felt that Jesus had come into John’s backyard and snatched up John’s customers. So they went to Aenon, where John was—once again—preaching and baptizing (v. 23). And they told John: “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him” (v. 26).

John’s disciples thought they were being good, loyal followers by being offended on his behalf. How did John the Baptist respond to his zealous disciples? He responded masterfully … by responding humbly: “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ … He must become greater; I must become less” (vs. 27-30).

It would have been so easy for John to side with his followers and feel offended and mistreated. It’s easy to feel offended. It’s easy to feel wounded. It’s easy to feel unappreciated. All of us have done it at one time or another. But John the Baptist didn’t take the easy road. John’s humble response to his disciples’ frustration and jealousy reveals WHY Jesus considered John the Baptist to be the greatest man born. Instead of following his ego into a trap, John corrected his disciples on the spot.

Here are three Life Lessons we can learn from this passage:

Life Lesson #1: Be careful that your sympathy for others doesn’t encourage them to be bitter or jealous. As the great theologian William Barclay writes, “Sometimes a friend’s sympathy can be the worst possible thing for us. It can make us feel sorry for ourselves and encourage us to think that we have not had a fair deal.” So often when people feel they’ve been ignored or treated unfairly, we validate their toxic thoughts and feelings. When speaking to a Christian who feels shafted, 1) Remind them that God is control; (2) Encourage them to be content with what God has given them; and (3) Urge them to rejoice with others who God is blessing.

Life Lesson #2: As you serve Christ, be content with every season of ministry—the highs, the lows and everything in between. The world’s view of success and God’s view of success are NOT the same. God doesn’t call us to be “successful” by the world’s standards. Instead, He calls us to be obedient and faithful … and leave the results up to Him. Sometimes the results God brings will knock our socks off. At other times, the results will seem underwhelming. But GOD KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING. He is always true to His promise to work ALL things together for the good of those who love God and are called to carry out His purposes. So, trust Him. And be content to be used by Him on the mountaintops AND in the valleys.

Life Lesson #3: As you serve Christ, make this your motto: He must become greater. I must become less. As the forerunner to Jesus, John had two important jobs: #1) Prepare the way for Christ. And #2) Get out of the way of Christ. Don’t you think that’s a pretty good job description for you and me as well? From the moment He was born, John the Baptist had a subordinate role to Jesus. He understood that. He owned that. John was okay with that—as long as Jesus Christ was glorified.

There was once a pastor who had a thriving ministry. His church services were full every Sunday. But as the years went by, most of his attenders left to attend a new church just down the road. So, one evening the pastor asked his small congregation, “Where have all the people gone?”

After a few seconds of awkward silence, someone spoke up: “I think they’ve gone to the church down the street to hear the new minister.” The pastor thought for a moment, then said, “Well, then. I think we ought to join them.” And he descended from the pulpit and led his congregation down the road to attend the other church that night. In Jesus’ book, THAT is a great pastor.

Do you want to be a great servant of the Lord Jesus Christ? That’s fantastic—as long as you don’t misunderstand what greatness looks like in the Kingdom of Heaven. Wherever Jesus is working and whoever He’s working through, celebrate the life-changing work of Christ. He must become greater; you must become less.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Join us for worship on Sunday at 8:30am or 10am at 16209 Kamana Road in Apple Valley, or livestreaming on Facebook or YouTube. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

3 Prayer Requests from Jesus

“This, then, is how you should pray.” – Matthew 6:9

The Sermon on the Mount is the greatest sermon of all time, delivered by the greatest preacher of all time—Jesus Christ. And right in the middle of this ground-breaking message, Jesus gives us a model prayer to follow when we’re speaking with our heavenly Father. It includes six prayer requests in all, and today, I’d like to take a look at His first three prayer requests with you.

Jesus’ 1st Prayer Request (v. 9): “Hallowed be Your name.” Now, “hallowed” isn’t a word that we use every day. The closest word to it in everyday English is Halloween, which has absolutely nothing to do with what Jesus has in mind here. The word hallowed comes from the same Greek word as holy, which means “to be set apart.” So, to be hallowed means to be regarded as holy or to be set apart from everything else. But if we draw the conclusion that hallowing God’s name is just a matter of regarding God as holy in our minds, we have missed Jesus’ point. God is not interested in hearing us say with our mouths, “Hallowed be Your name” unless we really mean it in our hearts. If our hearts don’t mean it, then God’s ears don’t want to hear it.

Here are a few synonyms for “hallow” as Jesus uses the word in The Lord’s Prayer: revere, honor; esteem, value, treasure and love. With that in mind, what is Jesus’ first petition in this great prayer model? It’s this: “Our Father in heaven, we want Your name be revered here on earth. We want Your name to be honored among us. We desire to esteem and value Your name more than any other name. We want to treasure You as the highest priority in our lives and love You will all our hearts.”

If we’re just praying with our mouths and not with our hearts, our prayers will always be shallow and weak. But our prayers come alive when they are prayed from a heart that truly desires for God to be honored, valued, treasured and loved here on earth just as He is in heaven. Once you understand what it means to truly pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name,” Jesus’ next two prayer requests make perfect sense.

Jesus’ 2nd Prayer Request (v. 10a): “Your Kingdom come.” This second petition touches on two key things. First, it focuses on Jesus’ present Kingdom expanding now. As Jesus walked this earth, wherever He went, He took some of the best parts of heaven with Him—mercy, grace, kindness, truth, compassion, and unconditional love. And if you and I are followers of Jesus Christ with the His Holy Spirit living inside us, we also take some those parts of heaven with us wherever we go.

So, when we pray, “Your Kingdom Come” what we should mean is this: “Father in heaven, because our hearts long for You to be revered, valued, treasured and loved, we ask that You expand Your kingdom wherever we go. This world we live in has pushed You away long enough! So, Father, won’t You expand Your kingdom in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our schools, and in our church. Everywhere we go, loving Father, grow Your kingdom through us.”

This second petition also touches on Jesus’ future kingdom covering the earth. Jesus is urging us to be forward thinking, to say as John says at the end of the Book of Revelation: “Come, Lord Jesus.” As Christ’s disciples, we are determined to expand Jesus’ kingdom today in our corner of the world. But at the same time, we long for the day when Jesus Christ will come down once again and restore complete order, peace and righteousness to this old earth—as it is in heaven.

Jesus’ 3rd Prayer Request (v. 10b): “Your will be done.” This petition goes hand-in-hand with the prior one. As God’s kingdom is established, His will must be done. As with the first two petitions, when we pray this prayer, we must be ready and willing to live it out. Yes, we want God’s will to be done in the White House, but first God’s will must be done right here in our house. Yes, we want God’s will to be done in our neighbor’s backyard, but first God’s will must be done in our own backyard.

With each of these petitions, we are asking God to partner with us to hallow His name, to usher in His kingdom and carry out His will. If you’re like many Christians, you’ve probably wondered at times why God doesn’t seem to answer your prayers. Why is that? Well, if you and I aren’t willing to roll up our sleeves and make it so in our own lives, the words of our prayers are empty. But when we’re willing to surrender our treasuring of ourselves to our treasuring of God; when we’re ready to scap our own kingdom in order to expand God’s kingdom; and when we’re prepared to push aside our will in order to carry out God’s will—you’d better believe that God will answer our prayers.

Try this in the coming week: Pray every day. And when you do, pray for God’s name to be treasured and loved  by you and by those around you. Pray for God’s Kingdom to come. And pray for His will to be done in your little corner of the world.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service tomorrow at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

An Eye For an Eye?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person.” — Matthew 5:38-39

Over the course of human history, many countries around the world have had some version of the Law of Retribution, also known as the Law of Retaliation. Retaliation comes from a Latin word that means “pay back in kind.” The earliest known version was in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, which dates back more than 3,750 years. And when God gave ancient Israel the 613 Laws of Moses, the Law of Retaliation was included in those laws: “But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise” (Exodus 22:23-25).

So, was the Law of Retaliation carried out literally? It seems clear that in ancient Babylon, the answer was “Yes!” Under Hammurabi’s Code, it seems that eyes were literally gouged out, and stealing hands were literally cut off. However, I’ve found no evidence that ancient Israel ever carried out the Law of Retaliation literally. Although murderers were routinely put to death for taking a human life, there is no record of local magistrates gouging out eyes or breaking teeth or bones in retaliation for a man’s crimes.

God gave the Law of Retaliation to Jewish courts as a guide for handing down just punishments on lawbreakers. But in Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were using the Law of Retaliation, which was designed to be used in a court of law, to justify private retaliation in their personal relationships. They used it to justify revenge—in their homes, in their neighborhoods, in their workplaces. Every time someone offended them, criticized them or accidentally tripped them on the street, they believed that they could take the law into their own hands and get some payback. They could “make that person pay for what he did,” and they claimed that God’s law justified it.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds us that this law was NOT given as a mandate for personal vengeance. He starts with this general principle: “But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person” (v. 39). In other words, “Don’t stoop to an evil person’s level. Don’t respond in kind. There is no room in My Kingdom for petty, tit-for-tat vengeance.” 

In verses 39-42, Jesus gives us five quick examples of the way we should treat people who have hurt us or wronged us.

Example #1 (v. 39): “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Just as in our day, most people in Jesus’ day were right-handed. So, how would a right-handed person slap you on the right cheek using his right hand? It would have to be a back-handed slap, right? In Israel, a back-handed slap was especially insulting. So, Jesus is saying this: “Christians, if someone insults you in a big way, don’t retaliate by insulting him back. Stand there and take it—as long as you need to—to do the work I’ve called you to do.”

Example #2 (v. 40): “If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” If your enemy wants to unjustly take something from you, give him more than he’s asking for. If the judge tells you to give her $500, give her $700 and apologize. Or better yet, give her more than she’s asking for before you ever enter the courtroom.

Example #3 (v. 41): “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” If someone who can’t stand you asks you to help him for 30 minutes with a menial task, help him for an hour instead. Even when someone treats you like garbage, don’t give him your bare minimum effort. Go the extra mile. When someone asks you to wash the dishes, wipe off the countertop as well. When someone asks you to put $5 of gas into their gas tank, put $10 of gas into their tank.

Example #4 (v. 42): “Give to the one who begs from you.” When an undeserving person asks you for something, if he really needs it, GIVE it to him.  Now, I don’t believe that this means that God is calling us to give money to every panhandler. In fact, I almost never give money to a panhandler, because, in most cases, it doesn’t really help them. What Jesus is saying is that if someone approaches you with a legitimate need and you have the ability to meet that need, help him—even if that person drives you up the wall. Give it to him.

Example #5 (v. 42): “Do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” When an undeserving person asks to borrow something from you, if she really needs it, let her borrow it—even if she is rude or mean.

Jesus is really raising the bar, isn’t He? He’s asking those who follow him to do better than the self-righteous, self-serving Pharisees. He’s saying, “Enough already with your shallow, self-centered religion! It’s time to get out of the spiritual nursery and grow up! It’s time to go deeper and aim higher. It’s time to bring heaven—especially the unconditional love of God—to your little corner of the world.”

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service tomorrow at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Can People Count on You?

“All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”
— Matthew 5:37

Recently I was reminded of the good ol’ days of telling fibs on the grade school playground. My buddy would swear that he was telling me the truth. I didn’t believe him. So, I’d tell him to cross his heart, which he’d do as he repeated the tired line: “Cross my heart and hope to die … stick a needle in my eye!” And it turned out that he was still lying … because his fingers were crossed!

Back in Jesus’ day, the religious leaders had some of their own sneaky ways of getting around having to tell the truth. Those leaders, particularly the Pharisees, had developed a complicated system of oaths and swearing they could use as loopholes when it suited them. So, Jesus had those loopholes in mind when he gave us these verses in his Sermon on the Mount:

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King….  All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:33-37).

Not sure what he means? Well, let’s look at this familiar teaching in a fresh way. In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrases these verses this way: “And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk…. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.”

Remember, Phariseeism is all about looking good on the outside to impress people. So, not surprisingly, the Jewish teachers’ oaths were all about impressing people. In Matthew 23, Jesus levels “Seven Woes” on the religious leaders. In verse 5, he says, “Everything they do is done for men to see.” And in verses 16-19, Jesus points out how hypocritical their oaths and swearing were: “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?”

Jesus had good reason to be upset by the religious leaders’ oaths and swearing. They had developed a ridiculous list of nauseating rules that spelled out what you could and couldn’t swear by. “If you swear by this, you have to keep your promise, but if you swear by that, you don’t.” These so-called “religious leaders” were like second-grade boys at recess.

In Matthew 5:33-37, Jesus gives his fourth example of the clear difference between the righteousness of Phariseeism and the righteousness that God seeks. To borrow Eugene Peterson’s words, Jesus is condemning the act of “laying down a smoke screen of pious talk.” He is rebuking us for “embellishing our words with religious lace.” And he is scolding us for “manipulating words” to get our own way.

For the follower of Christ, there should be no difference between our truthfulness, from conversation to conversation or from place to place. I should be no less truthful to a stranger on the street than I am to my wife at home. I should be no less truthful to the checkout lady at Target than I am to my kids at school. I should be no less truthful to the cop who pulls me over –Uh-oh! Now it’s getting convicting!—than I am to a friend at lunch.

Jesus Christ is raising the bar, calling us to be honest at all times—saying what we mean and meaning what we say. No embellishing. No half-truths. No white lies. Simple, untainted honesty.

But Jesus is teaching us to be more than just truthful. When he tells us to “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’,” he is also telling us to be reliable. If you say you’re going to be there at 8 o’clock, be there at 8 o’clock.  If you say you’re going to pay someone back next Saturday, pay him back next Saturday. If you say you’re going to pray for her, pray for her now.

Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ be ‘No.’ As Christ’s followers, we are called to a higher standard. Jesus expects us to be honest and dependable. It boils down to this: Jesus Christ calls us to be honest and dependable in all of our relationships—from our spouses to our friends to our co-workers. When we do this faithfully, we bring a much-needed taste of heaven to our little corner of the world.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Blessed Are the Compassionate

 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” — Matthew 5:7

Normally, when we think of mercy, we think of withholding someone’s just punishment. Our 5-year-old deserves a swat, but in mercy … we only give him a scolding. We deserve a ticket after blowing through a stop sign, but in mercy … the police officer lets us off with only a warning. A convicted felon deserves three years in prison, but in mercy … the judge only gives probation.

That’s normally the kind of thing we think of when we hear the word mercy. But that’s not what Jesus focuses on in Matthew 5:7 when he says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” As he delivers this fifth beatitude in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ main focus in is on active kindness and compassion shown to the poor and the hurting.

In Matthew 9:27, two blind men called out to Jesus, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” They desperately needed a healing. So, they cried out for mercy … and Jesus gave them mercy.

In Matthew 15:22, a woman whose son was demon-possessed cried out to Jesus, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me.” And of course, Jesus did. In Matthew 17:15 a father whose son suffered greatly from seizures knelt at Jesus’ feet and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son.” And once again, Jesus did.

Time and time again, Jesus showed compassion, kindness and mercy to those who were poor and hurting. And he did this because mercy is one of God’s greatest character traits. Psalm 103:8 says: “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Psalm 103:8). “The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made” (Psalm 145:9). “[God’s] mercies never fail. They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23). And because mercy is one of God’s greatest character traits, heaven is full of mercy. So, as you and I are called to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth, one of the most important things that God calls us to bring to our corner of the world is—you guessed it—mercy.

We must show that we are followers of our heavenly Lord by extending undeserved mercy to those around us. I emphasize the word “undeserved” because mercy—by definition—is ALWAYS undeserved. How can you possibly give a second chance to those around you who don’t deserve a second chance? Because Jesus gave YOU a second chance when you didn’t deserve it. How can you find the time and energy to show compassion and mercy to the broken people around you? Because Jesus showed YOU compassion and mercy when you were broken. How can you muster the motivation to help a homeless man who smells like urine, or a family member who does nothing but complain, or a freeloader friend who doesn’t even say, “Thank you”? You can do it because you know that Jesus showed you kindness and mercy when you smelled bad, complained and were ungrateful.

Pastor John Piper says it so well: “Mercy comes from mercy. Our mercy to each other comes from God’s mercy to us…. The key to becoming a merciful person is to become a broken person. You get the power to show mercy from the real feeling in your heart that you owe everything you are and have to sheer divine mercy. Therefore, if we want to become merciful people, it is imperative that we cultivate a view of God and ourselves that helps us to say with all our heart that every joy and virtue … of our lives is owing to the free and undeserved mercy of God.”

If we are followers of Jesus Christ, you and I have both stepped out from under the storm clouds of heaven to be bathed in the mercy of God. And everyone in your little corner of the world needs to experience that same slice of heaven: to be bathed in God’s mercy—through you. Our world needs less of our judgment and more of our mercy. Our world needs less of us giving people what they deserve and more of giving people what they don’t deserve: kindness, forgiveness, and compassion.

In Christ’s kingdom, poor and hurting people are a higher priority than us getting enough sleep. Poor and hurting people are a higher priority than eating three square meals a day. And poor and hurting people are a higher priority than our precious schedules. Showing Christ’s mercy to poor and hurting people will cost you—a lot. But show them mercy anyway. And as we do, guess what? What goes around comes around. As we forgive others, God will forgive us. And as we give others undeserved kindness and mercy, God will give us undeserved kindness and mercy. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service tomorrow at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.