A main component of the Army Master Resilience program:
-The Negativity Bias/Hunt the Good stuff
The negativity bias often comes into play when we read Scripture and when some people hear the words of the Lord.
Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31
If you have known the kindness and goodness of Jesus…you think…what’s negative about that?
I would say nothing…but others wouldn’t necessarily see it that way.
“The truth will set you free”… I like that, catchy, I like to be free…to do what I want.
*But what is the conditional “if” in that passage?
If you hold to my teaching…then you will know truth, then that truth will set you free.
When you talk to someone about biblical commands, the Lordship of Jesus, THE truth versus “my truth”…the negativity bias kicks in.
It sounds like restriction, loss of freedom…
“What a minute, you said I would be free…freedom is doing what I want, not what someone else wants.”
But the Cosmos creator became flesh.
He has designed us and knows exactly how we are designed and has said.
“Obey me…be free.”
You cannot hang “The truth will set you free” in midair…the foundation is that THE truth is a settled fact…it is given to us by the Lord, not designed by us.
Freedom is found only in obedience.
Let’s go to another place where the Lord has spoken definitively.
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28
Negativity bias:
-Teach them to obey my commands…becomes “You better obey me or else!”
-“Go” “Get out there…what’s wrong with you?”
What we actually have here in what is called “The Great Commission”
All authority belongs to Jesus: Nothing and no one can stop him.
-That’s very hopeful, very promising.
I’m sending you with a purpose: You don’t have to guess, and no one can stop you.
-So, I don’t have to find my life purpose.
-Nothing external to me can stop me from living my purpose
Teach them to obey: Because when they obey, they will live free in the truth.
-So, I’m not selling, I’m telling…you can live in freedom.
I’m with you to the very end: The Lord himself stands behind his words.
We are called by Christ into the freedom of living in obedient relationship with him.
We are called by Christ into the joy of inviting others into the freedom of obedient relationship with him.
We don’t have to be defensive.
We don’t have to worry about offending people…”they have their beliefs, I have mine…I don’t want to be offensive.”
Then don’t be…I have good friends who don’t believe…and are not offended that I do…and when I tell them of what I believe.
Some of course will be offended…but if you are not being offensive…that’s not on you.
The gospel is truth, it is freedom.
We get to enjoy that freedom, we get to invite others into it.
You can make it more complicated than that, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.
Today we are in John 1 starting in verse 19.
This was John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He didn’t deny it but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”
Word had reached Jewish headquarters in Jerusalem that some strange guy was drawing crowds, baptizing people in the river and causing some commotion.
So, some priests and Levites (guys who served as a kind of Temple Police) went to check him out.
First century Palestine was filled with expectations that the Messiah was imminent…coming any day now.
There were plenty of nutty self-proclaimed Messiahs running around as well.
So, there was a team(s) who went out to check on these kinds of things.
The nuts could cause a lot of problems if they stirred up trouble and caught the Roman authorities attention.
Plus, they genuinely wanted to know if God was actually doing something…maybe the Messiah will show up.
Ironically, he had, and many of them missed him.
So, this delegation asked, “Are you the Messiah.”
“Nope!”
21 “What then?” they asked him. “Are you Elijah?” “I am not,” he said.
Malachi (4:5) said, “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord.”
So, if he is not the Messiah, maybe the forerunner, Elijah.
Again, there were plenty of self-appointed prophets who dressed up like Elijah and ran around saying “Thus saith the Lord.”
But they were false spokesmen.
When I was in Seminary a man set up a wooden stand in a parking lot where students were crossing from building to building and he was calling down God’s wrath on us hypocrites.
I stood there fascinated, listening to the guy ranting.
I mean, some of what he was saying wasn’t too far off…I knew I was at least deserving of some critique.
Then a professor, who was widely known for being a man of deep and authentic faith walked by the parking lot prophet.
This man was my mentor, Dr. Roy Fish…he had discipled men and women who were all over the world.
I once took him to the DFW Airport and people working there knew him by name…he was kind to them and had shared the gospel with them.
This is who he was, everyone he went.
So, when the parking lot prophet pointed his finger at Dr. Fish and declared him to be a fraud, well, everyone walked away…okay, this guy doesn’t know what he is talking about.
“So” the delegation asked, “Are you Elijah?”
He could be a fraud…but he could also be the real deal…and they wanted to know.
“nope” John said not him.
Now, this is odd because Jesus would later identify John as the Elijah who came pointing to him.
So, was John confused?
No, he was unaware.
Jesus had a greater view of John’s importance than John himself had.
That’s a good thing.
More on that in a few minutes.
“Are you the Prophet?”
They asked.
Moses had told Israel all those years earlier that God would rise up a prophet like himself.
First century Jews were looking for this guy as well…hoping he would come and usher in a new age of Israel’s greatness…Kick out the Roman oppressors.
Again, he answered, “Nope, not him either.”
22 “Who are you, then?” they asked. “We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What can you tell us about yourself?”
They were required to bring back a report, they can’t just go back and say, “ahh, we don’t know.”
But John refused all their categories…finally in exasperation…”You gotta give us something!”
23 He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord,—just as Isaiah the prophet said.”
He described himself using the words of Isaiah (40:3).
Isaiah was announcing deliverance for the exiles in Babylon, and he called for the preparation of a road back to Jerusalem.
He was speaking metaphorically…the road was their hearts…prepare your hearts for freedom.
John said, “I’m just a guy out here in the desert telling people…get your hearts ready for a return to God…the way out of exile, the Messiah is coming…he is the path to freedom.”
25 So they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”
If you aren’t one of the big three…where does your authority to baptize come from?
Non-Jews were often baptized at the time, as a part of becoming Jews…it was a kind of ceremonial cleansing.
But John was baptizing Jews…why?
And since he is not a person of importance…he had no authority from God…what did he think he was doing?
He didn’t answer their question directly…instead he focused his attention on his purpose…which was to bear witness to Jesus.
26 “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. 27 He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.”
In the first century, the task of removing sandals and washing feet was carried out by servants.
But normally, a Jewish servant would not even be asked to do this for another Jew, it was assigned, to a Gentile servant.
It was the lowest of low tasks…for the bottom of the rung servant.
John, in line with his humility that we have already seen…now makes a clear statement of where he believes he ranks in relationship to Christ.
I’m not worthy to untie his sandal…wash his feet.
So, a Jewish servant would not wash feet.
A Gentile servant was low enough to wash feet.
John said, I’m lower than that…even washing his feet would be too great an honor for me.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’ 31 I didn’t know him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he rested on him. 33 I didn’t know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descending and resting on—he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”,
John had already baptized Jesus and knew who he was at this point.
When he says he formerly didn’t know who Jesus was, until it was revealed to him, he doesn’t mean he didn’t know Jesus the man, they were in fact related on his mother’s side.
What he is means is that he didn’t know he was the Messiah…until God revealed it.
Similar to what Paul wrote…
So, from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Cor. 5:16,17
We used to see Christ as merely a man…no longer!
In fact, we no longer see anyone as mere humans..
When we see Jesus as he is, we can begin to see others as they are.
Not to be feared, hated, ignored, or idolized, and overly influenced by…but either they are followers of Christ or lost and separated from God.
He is the lamb that takes away the sins of the world, but this doesn’t mean that everyone is saved.
John will later write, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that WHOEVER believes will not perish but have life eternal.”
He IS the savior of the world…and all who believe and receive him are saved by him.
John, Jesus is going to baptize in the Holy Spirit, all those who follow him
Baptize means to be immersed in.
All followers of Christ will have the very Spirit of God permanently indwelling them.
Some believe in an experience, separate from salvation, where Christians are “baptized in the Spirit.”
The idea is that you become a Christian and then at some later time…you have a kind of advanced experience often accompanied by some emotions and some kind of spiritual signs…like speaking in tongues, or falling down, etc… now you are fully empowered for ministry.
This is not biblical.
Baptism in the Spirit is synonymous with being born again.
At conversion you get all of the Holy Spirit and are fully (potentially) empowered for ministry.
I say “potential” because potential doesn’t always become actual.
What sometimes happens is that we find out that though we got all of God at conversion, he didn’t get all of us…not that we intentionally held back but that we find out as we grow that we have held on to parts of our hearts and lives.
As we give more of ourselves to him…his power is further unleased through us.
As we walk in his commands…we experience increasing freedom in him.
This was my story…and many of yours.
Ironically…many who have sought an emotional post conversion “experience” of the Spirit…have become experience junkies.
Looking for that “feeling” to continually validate their faith.
If you trust Christ, you have received the Holy Spirit…all of him.
As you walk in obedience, as the Spirit puts his finger on areas of your life that he wants control over…you give them to him.
The more of your life he controls…the more freedom you will experience.
So, we don’t seek more “experience” or “power” we seek more obedience.
If we obey him, then we are living in a full knowledge of truth, and the truth of his Lordship will lead us to increasing freedom.
35 The next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus.
Okay, here is the third time that John the Baptist has revealed his true colors.
1. I’m not Elijah, I’m just a dude pointing people to Jesus. (No, in fact you are a genuine prophet of God…first one in about 400 years…but you are not making it about you.)
2. I’m not worthy to wash his feet.
3. Now he says to two of his own students (disciples)…”Hey, you guys ought to follow him, he is in fact the one I’ve been teaching you about.”
-Off they go.
Let me give the gist of how the next part of the chapter unfolds…you can read it yourself this week.
Jesus looks at the two guys who John sends his way: “What are you looking for (what do you want)?”
They respond: “Where are you staying?”
*Wait a minute…how can you answer, “What do you want” with “Where are you staying?”
“You want to know my address?”
Jesus knows that they want, so he says…
“Come and see.”
So, they went with him and spent the rest of the day, starting at about 4:00 talking.
What’s going on here?
Well, they aren’t going to plunge into deep heart level talk standing right there.
So, it’s “What do you guys want?” means…”can you articulate what you are really after…do you know what you want from me?”
They respond with, essentially…”Can we talk in private.” (where are you staying)
The Lord’s “Come and see” means…”Yes, we can talk…let’s go.”
Then one of the guys, Andrew, after their talk, went and told his brother, Simon…we have found the Messiah…the talk with Jesus made an impact.
Enough that Andrew’s first impulse is, “I need to go tell my brother.”
Simon came back with Andrew, to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and immediately, gave him a nickname…call sign…”Peter” or “rock”.
John is not randomly giving facts…we already know (because will tell us) that he has a huge supply of stories he can tell from the Lord’s life…he has carefully selected which ones make the cut into his book.
So, a couple of things are in play here.
1. What do you want?
-This is going to be a common kind of question from the Lord.
Chapter 2 to his mom, “What does your concern have to do with me?”
Chapter 4, “If you knew enough to ask, you would be asking me for a drink.”
Chapter 5 “Do you want to get well?”
Chapter 6 “Where will we buy bread so that these people can eat?”
Chapter 8 “Where are your accusers?”
The questions Jesus asks are designed to get people to recognize, articulate, their need and how Jesus can meet that need.
In all the different scenarios…whether it is a wine deficit, not enough food, sickness, or people about to stone a women caught in sin…the need is more than what is on the surface.
The solution is salvation…all Jesus did points to him being who John, in his introduction said Jesus is.
Jesus knows what they want and who they are and who they will be.
“I know what you guys want, do you?”
“I know who you are, you are Peter(rock)…you just don’t know that yet, you just think you are Simon.”
Let’s go back to John’s narrative.
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (the Jews had a very low view of Nazareth) Nathanael asked him. “Come and see,” Philip answered.
Jesus calls Philip to follow him, Philip goes and finds Nathanael and tells him about Jesus.
Nathanael is skeptical…so Philip replies…”Just come see for yourself.”
Stop Here: What we have in chapter 1 is people encountering Jesus, understanding(to a degree) who he is…then going to tell their friends and family.
This has been, and still is, the foundation for the spread of the gospel…followers of Jesus bear witness to others, who in turn become followers of Jesus and repeat the process.
Technology, mass meetings, books, conferences, celebrity testimony…God has used it all.
But what he has always used most effectively is someone with an existing trust relationship with another person saying, “Come and see Jesus for yourself.”
We do not change or convert people…we invite them into our lives, then we invite to meet Jesus.
47 Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
Nathanael was a blunt guy, “Nothing good comes from Nazareth.”
But Jesus knew he was a certain kind of person…one who wasn’t playing games…he was without “guile” no deception in him.
Some people are less blunt, but they are also less honest…this was not Nathanael.
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered. 49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!”
We don’t know what kind of experience Nathanael had that Jesus knew about…but it was probably something Nathanael had not told anyone about…and it was an important event for him.
Jesus demonstrated supernatural knowledge.
When I was in the 5th grade, I had an experience with God I will not elaborate on here…but for me when I read this, I think it would be like Jesus saying,
“Terry, when you were in the back of your dad’s car, in the dark, on windmill road in 1970, I saw you.”
Only me, and God know about that…and even if I told you…I couldn’t describe what is in my heart about that night.
50 Jesus responded to him, “Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then he said, “Truly I tell you; you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Nathanael, you believe because I know about what happened to you at a time when you encountered God in your life…but you will see something much greater than that.
Jesus then makes the connection for this sincere seeking Jewish man to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In Gen 28, Jacob is asleep, and he dreams of a ladder that reached from earth to heaven and angels were going up and down that ladder…
At the top of the ladder was the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac.
Then God gave Jacob a promise of a thriving life for himself and his offspring in the land.
The Jacob woke up and called the place “Bethel” which means “house of God.”
This was the place where Jacob encountered God and where God revealed his plans for him.
Jesus is saying…”You don’t fully get it now, but I am the place where people will encounter God and through me God is now revealing his truth…his purpose for people.”
The greater thing that they would see would be the Life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus.
There’s a lot packed in that first chapter…but there is one big idea…It is all about Jesus.
We don’t have to figure out our purpose, it’s been given to us…we exist to know Jesus and to make him known.
*We talked in January about faithfulness from the life of Daniel.
In terms of the details of what that life will look like it will vary, but for every one of us we have the same general purpose.
We exist to know and love Jesus and to make his love known to others.
I’ve watched a tone movies and had as many conversations where I have heard, “I’m just trying to find my purpose.”
I get it.
You don’t have to find your purpose, it is has been given to you.
*John figured this out…so much so that he didn’t even know how “great” he actually was.
His purpose, like yours and mine is to use our lives and words to point to Jesus.
Later John will say, “He must increase, I must decrease.”
Jesus did increase and John was executed for his faithfulness.
What would it mean for us to live in the freedom of truth if we could actually more and more make life less and less about us.
What if we could happily let God do whatever he wants to do in order to magnify Christ in our lives?
Know Christ…be a disciple…everything else is secondary.
-That of course means we work at our jobs, love our families, take care of our bodies.
-All of this is a part of our stewardships, faithfulness as followers of Christ.
Make Christ known…make disciples…whatever you do for a living, or whether your work is largely in the home…your essential calling is to make disciples.
-Of course that includes your own children if you have then…but you are called to make disciples of more than just them.
If you feel oppressed, or guilty, or overwhelmed by this challenge “Great, another Sunday morning of hearing how I am failing.”
That is the negativity bias kicking in.
Hunt the good stuff!
Knowing Jesus, making Jesus known is freedom, and joy, and purpose…is your opportunity.
Challenge doesn’t have to lead to guilt…we all need to be challenged.
If you have guilt…confess and leave it with Jesus.
Now, embrace the challenge, the opportunity…to know Jesus and to make him known.
I am often distracted by things other than this…it has been good for me to be challenged.
When I considered spending my life decreasing so that Jesus would increase…I felt relief
Making life about myself is exhausting and unfulfilling…I don’t even know what I keep doing it, but I do.
This feels to me like an invitation to greater joy.
That is exactly what it is.