WEBVTT - The Pressure To Perform 0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:04.600 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:06.880 Church and this is our podcast and I wanted to 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:09.800 thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:12.400 Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:18.000 to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:24.120 Let's look at John chapter seven together. I feel God's 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:28.760 presence in this place. Now. Even if I didn't feel it, 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:31.840 I would know that it was real. But it's good 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:37.159 to feel it. And I feel God's presence in this place. Amen. 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:46.440 John chapter seven is a very interesting scenario, or more accurately, 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.920 episode in the life of Jesus. And I think you 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:54.440 probably will say I never really heard a sermon on 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.080 that story before, and then you won't be able to 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:01.200 say that after today. But it's a it's a really 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:06.120 human moment in the life of Jesus, and it's a 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:10.080 great example to us today. So as we look at this, 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:13.440 we hope that we will see the example of Jesus 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:16.800 and how it applies to our lives. In John chapter seven, 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.199 verse one, the Bible says after this, Jesus went around 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:23.600 in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.640 there were waiting to take his life. But when the 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:31.080 Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus's brother said to him, 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:34.000 you ought to leave here. How many know, there's always 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:37.720 somebody to tell you what you ought to do, always, 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:40.640 and usually as people with your same last name, you 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.960 know you oughta well, you ought to leave here and 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:47.920 go to Judea so that your disciples may see the 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:50.440 miracles you do. No one who wants to become a 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:54.120 public figure action secret. Since you are doing these things, 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:57.440 post them on Instagram. For even his own brothers did 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:00.920 not believe him, and therefore Jesus told them the right 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:05.520 time for me has not yet come for you. Anytime 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:11.120 is right, salty Jesus. The world cannot hate you, but 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.560 it hates me because I testify that what it does 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:18.120 is evil. If you haven't had a head on collision 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:20.600 with the devil lately, it means you might be headed 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:23.799 in the same direction. That's what Pastor Mickey used to say. 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:27.280 Of course I'm in conflict. I am a contradiction of 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:29.920 the world's values, and so it's not easy for me 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:33.120 to live on this earth. According to Kingdom principles. But 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:35.840 Jesus said verse eight, you go to the feast. I'm 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:37.960 not going to control you, but you do what you 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.480 need to do. You go ahead and go. I am 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:44.000 not yet going up to this feast because for me 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:48.680 the right time has not come. I wonder how different 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:50.520 our lives would be if we would learn the power 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:56.080 of those two words, not yet, not yet. And having 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.560 said this, he stayed in Galilee. However, after his brothers 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:02.760 had left for the feast, he went also, not publicly, 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:10.919 but in secret. Not publicly, but in secret. Now at 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:14.560 the feast, the Jews were watching for him and asking 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:19.440 where is that man Among the crowds. There was widespread whispering, 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:24.239 widespread whispering about him. Some said he is a good man. 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:29.639 Others replied, no, he deceives the people. But no one 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:35.000 would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews. 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:40.640 The key for this message today is in verse ten. However, 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:44.040 after his brothers had left for the feast, he went also, 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:47.120 not publicly, but in secret. And what I want to 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.200 talk to you about today is the pressure to perform, 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:54.560 the pressure to perform. And let's pray one more time, 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:58.000 Spirit of God. I thank you for the accuracy with 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:01.920 which you register in the hearts and the minds of 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:05.320 people who are open. Give us this openness that we 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:07.880 may receive whatever you wish to speak, and we give 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:12.480 you praise in advance in Jesus' name. Amen, would you 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:14.240 touch somebody on your way to your seat and say, 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:23.719 I don't have to post it to prove it. It's 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:28.960 so great to have the opportunity now to apologize to 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:33.760 my mom for my teenage years. I just didn't have 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:38.719 an appreciation at the time for the pressure of parenting. 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:42.160 You really can't until you are blessed with the same 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:50.599 pressure of parental responsibility for yourself, because like, really, my 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:57.560 mom and dad stretched their resources in order for me 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:03.719 as a as a I guess like a spoiled, entitled 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:10.279 brat of a kid to not appreciate the sacrifices and 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:14.600 really the pressure that they were under to buy me 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:21.320 those rebock pumps. And since my dad was a barber, 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:25.640 and he started out just five dollars a haircut six 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:28.000 dollars by the time he quit cutting hair, he was 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:31.400 up to thirteen dollars a haircut, I believe. And my 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:35.800 mom had been in education, teaching special education and then 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:40.599 as an early interventionist, which wasn't exactly a high paying job, 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:48.120 but they provided for me so competently that I never 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:51.239 really thought about the pressure that it must have been 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:55.200 to try to make sure that I never really felt 0:05:55.760 --> 0:06:01.760 their pressure. I remember going to this telephone office, the 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.640 Berkeley Telephone Company, and my parents would clean the office 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.039 at night after they would get off their other job, 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.279 and all I could do was complain, and I thought 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:14.480 that it was child abuse that they made me empty 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:20.200 the trash, but I just didn't understand when she was 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:23.279 making me run the vacuum cleaner while she was cleaning 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:28.120 the toilets on Saturday, just like I didn't appreciate the 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:32.400 pressure even emotionally. I remember when my dad kind of 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:36.080 quit coming home. I didn't realize that the reason he 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.839 was doing that was because of not having a father 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:43.359 example for himself when I hit the teenage stage, he 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:46.640 had no frame of reference for how to deal with 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:49.480 what he felt, and I thought he was lazy. So 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:51.919 he went to go drink with my uncle. But it 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:54.640 wasn't so much laziness, I now have come to believe, 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:57.440 as it was the fact that he was under a 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:00.679 weight that he hadn't felt like he had been built 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:04.160 for and there is a sense in which his pressure 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:08.240 in his own life paralyzed him, like pressure often can. 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:11.120 When you find yourself in a situation where you have 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:15.520 not been exposed to that particular responsibility, and now you 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:19.160 are responsible for something that you've never been exposed to. 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:22.720 It can create a lot of pressure, not only on 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:27.880 the financial side with kids, but just emotionally and how 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:29.720 by the time you come home from work where you're 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:33.320 providing materially, you don't have anything left to give emotionally, 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:37.240 and even if you do. There was this dude that 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:39.800 came up to me Friday night at the baseball game 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.240 and he just looked. He had the look on his 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:44.800 face like all parents get from time to time, like 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:47.440 if you shoot me, I'll give you half the insurance money. 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:49.400 It was just a parent look, and you only know 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:54.640 it if you've been there. But I just said to him, 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.080 kind of randomly, I said, you're such a good man, 0:07:57.120 --> 0:07:58.720 because I could tell he was having one of those 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:00.840 days and he was running back and forth and it 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:02.760 kind of stopped them in his tracks. And he's like, really, 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:05.400 I don't feel like a good man today, you know. 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.080 I was I was at work, and then I left 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:09.720 work at four because I'm supposed to get off fit 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:12.000 for But then the idiot who took my next shift, 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:13.680 he didn't show up in time for a shift. So 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:15.800 who does the manager call Not the person who didn't 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:17.480 show up, but me, because they know they can count 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.400 on me, because the people we treat the worst are 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:21.080 usually the people that we know we can count on 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.320 the most, and we expect the most out of them. 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.480 But by the time he got off work, he was 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:27.320 throwing the ball with his daughter to get it ready 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:29.240 for the game. And by the time he finished throwing 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:31.080 with his daughter, he said, this is what he's telling me. 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:33.400 By the time I finished throwing my daughter, my manager 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:35.800 been blowing up my phone. Now my manager is mad 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:37.720 at me, and I'm walking in the house talking to 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:40.040 my manager who's yelling at me, and my wife's got 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.080 dinner ready, but I can't eat dinner because I'm talking 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:44.080 to my manager, and so my wife is mad because 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:45.800 the food is coll But I can't help it that 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:47.760 the food is coll because if I lose this job, 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:49.520 we're not going to have any food to cook. So 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:51.920 coal food is better than no food, and all that 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:54.240 they're on the baseball team and I want to die. 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:56.080 And funny thing is he doesn't come to the church. 0:08:57.120 --> 0:08:58.959 He doesn't come to the church. He's only been one 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:00.599 time that I know of. And when he came that 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:03.880 one time, he told me it was a good sermon. 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:06.320 So I knew that he didn't have like a Christian 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:11.080 vocabulary the word that he put in there. But he 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:14.520 didn't know that I was preaching on pressure today. He 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:16.640 didn't know that he was giving me, he was helping 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:20.319 me see that it's not just as a preacher, or 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:22.839 it's not just those of us who stand on a 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:26.640 stage who feel this pressure. Because it used to be 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:30.840 enough if you just provide for your kids. It used 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:33.000 to be enough if you just protect your kids. It 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:36.360 used to be enough if you would just prepare your kids. 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:40.479 And sometimes all of those things seem to be in conflict, 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:44.559 that while you want to protect your kids, you also 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:48.280 have to prepare your kids. And so sometimes I don't know, 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:51.760 should I catch you or should I let you fall 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:55.600 a little bit so you don't fall a lot? Should 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:58.560 I let you skin your knee now so that you 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.280 don't break your neck later? Should I should I let 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:05.000 you Peter sink down into the water and let you 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:09.520 sink and not let you drown. Sometimes, even Jesus, if 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:12.760 you read the scripture, he did not prevent the failure. 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:16.400 He allowed the failure so that the person could learn 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:20.240 the lesson that would enable them later. Sometimes there's so 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:24.520 much pressure coming from so many different directions, And if 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:27.120 you stop to think about the life of Jesus, he 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:31.760 was he was under pressure from the Pharisees who wanted 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.280 to kill him because he threatened their political power, And 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:38.560 so they were watching everything that he did, and they 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:44.320 were watching him with very, very scrutinizing eyes, even to 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:47.720 the point that if he healed somebody, not only would 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.720 they watch him heal the person, but they would they 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:54.040 would find him healing on the wrong day, and if 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.040 he healed on the Sabbath, they would stand up and 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:00.760 accuse him for doing something good. Would you like to 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:04.319 get accused not only for doing the wrong thing, but 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:07.559 for doing the right thing at the wrong time. This 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.360 is Jesus. He shows up and they follow him to 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:13.000 see if he's gonna wash his hands before he eats. 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:16.320 How creepy is it when you have people following you 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.640 in the bathroom to see one time I was at PF. 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:25.240 Chanin's and there was a man that was standing there 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:33.360 watching me while I was and it was threatening to me. 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:37.160 It was threatening to me, So I kind of looked 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:40.040 down my fishies in the bathroom and I washed my hands. 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:42.160 I walked over to him and he said, I was 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:44.360 waiting to see if you do wash your hands after 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:55.959 you went I go to your church. I'm like, bro, 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:58.000 there's a lot of other great churches I would like 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:03.640 to tell you about right now. But for Jesus, it 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:07.560 was ceremonial. It wasn't It wasn't a hygienic thing. They 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:09.360 were watching to see what he breaked the law and 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:11.840 not wash his hands. They weren't worried about the fact 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:13.760 that he was trying to eat with people that they 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:16.839 considered unclean, because he was righteousness and grace and truth. 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:19.800 They were so focused on the cosmetics, and so everything 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:22.240 that he did was under scrutiny. Oh he's talking with 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:24.400 a woman. Oh he's touching a leper al. He's not 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:26.680 supposed to act like that, he's not supposed to speak 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:31.120 like that. And then sometimes for Jesus he would perform 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:34.560 a miracle for the crowd, but they would miss the 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:39.200 deeper meaning, which is what has just happened when we 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:43.080 read on chapter seven. Because he just fed five thousand 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:49.240 men and women and children, and he provided for their 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:53.120 needs in such a great way that they all ate 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:57.679 and had their fill. But after he filled them up physically, 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:01.720 he turned to fill them spiritually. And it turns out 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:06.000 that they were following him not for the spiritual dynamics 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:09.400 of who he was, but for the physical benefits of 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.560 what he could provide. And when he began to speak 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.640 at a deeper level, the Bible says that many of 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:18.800 them didn't want to hear it. After he fed them 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.360 the bread, he turned around and said, now that you've 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:25.400 had bread, recognize that I am bread. The miracle that 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:28.600 I just performed was not about what I did. It 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.440 was to point to who I am. I am the 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:34.680 bread of life, and if you eat my flesh and 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:38.480 drink my blood, you can remain in me. Well, they 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.480 didn't like that very much. It's like he had the 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.920 crowd and then he lost them. He had the following 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:47.360 and then he lost it. And the Bible says in 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:51.720 John six sixty six sixty sixty six, I always remember 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:54.719 that like it's a bad number, six sixty six. I 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:57.280 always remember it because it said many then deserted him 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:01.800 and followed him no more, then went away because this 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.080 is a hard saying, and followed him no more. And 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:08.240 as they're walking away, Jesus turns to his disciples and says, 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.040 do you want to walk away too? And Peter said, 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:13.680 we don't have no options. I already gave my boat 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:16.200 away for a little while, and I already put my 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:19.080 investment in you, and I got to see where this ends, 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:23.680 even if it ends at a cross. That's the context 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:27.920 of John chapter seven. And it's one thing to kind 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:32.960 of have to deal with opposition from the devil. It's 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:34.840 another thing to kind of have to deal with it 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:41.640 from inside your own house. And Jesus had seven siblings. 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:47.440 Some traditions infer these are his human brothers, And whether 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.840 or not Jesus had any sisters, it's interesting to me 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:54.560 that it was his brothers who pulled him aside with 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:58.240 a strategy watch this for how to get his followers back. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.640 And they've got it all figured out, and they've got 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:07.760 it all calculated, and they say, Jesus, do more of 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:12.800 the stuff like where you're feeding people, and less of 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:16.920 the cannibal stuff that you say in your speeches. Let's 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:20.680 take out the cannibalism. And why don't you go to 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:24.880 Judea because the Feast of Tabernacles is about to start, 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:27.880 and you can come with us and you can do 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.440 the kinds of things that you've been doing here in Galilee, 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:33.960 which was in the northern part of Palestine, which was 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:38.600 not as densely populated as Jerusalem and Judea. You can 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:43.200 do publicly what you've been doing privately. You can take 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:45.800 this show on the road. We can get you a 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:50.120 headlining spot at the Coachella. Of the Old Testament. This 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.040 was the feast where they would come and build booths. 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.240 It was actually called the Festival of Booths or Tabernacles. 0:15:56.560 --> 0:15:58.600 And they would build the booth when they got there, 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.040 and they would stay for a while, and they would 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:03.880 thank God for the water that he gave them, and 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.800 they would thank God for the sustenance that he gave them. 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:10.240 They would remember in the wilderness how God saw his 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.480 people through even though they didn't have quail or grain. 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:16.880 But he made manna, which literally means what is it, 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:20.480 and it means what it is? So God meets what 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:22.960 is it? With what it is, and it shows that 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.960 he can show up in any situation and take what 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:28.920 it is, and when he fills what it is with 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.560 who he is, it will become what you need it 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.720 to be for the season that you're in. Two people 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:38.880 recognize good preaching when they hear it, and they say, 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:43.520 come on and do some of the flashy stuff that 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.880 you've been doing here in Nazareth, and take this show 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.840 fifty five miles south to Judea. And if you can 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:54.280 do these public things in front of people, you can 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:58.640 become a public figure. In fact, that's the phrase that 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:02.200 drew me to the text. It said, no one who 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:07.560 wants to become a public figure acts in secret. We 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:11.040 live in a time where everybody wants to be a 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:15.120 public figure. We live in a time and please don't 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:18.160 get mad at me for saying this, where even people 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:24.120 who have a private account spend their whole LIFs posting 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:28.879 stuff and commenting on stuff to create an image and 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:33.199 a projection of a reality that may bear no resemblance. 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:35.640 The awkward golf collapse really helped me. I appreciate that 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:41.160 to the reality of their situation and Jesus's brothers pull 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:44.560 them aside and say, we've got a great idea. Why 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:48.439 don't you show the world who you really are. The 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:50.600 interesting thing about the text, and I'm gonna give this 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:53.760 to you quick, because the nexus of this text is 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:58.280 in verse five. It says that even Jesus' brothers did 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:04.480 not believe in him, and since they didn't believe, they 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:09.040 were trying to get him to perform. Any time you 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.560 have unbelief in your heart, it will cause you to 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:16.879 try to perform to prove something that you don't really believe. 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:24.160 In psychological terms, it's called the fraudulence complex, or some 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:28.520 call it the impostor syndrome, and it speaks about how 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:34.359 many of us have an inability to internalize our strengths 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:40.080 and our accomplishments. Psychologists call it the impostor syndrome because 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:44.399 they say that many of us secretly, deep down feel 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:48.960 like we're a fraud. Many of us secretly, deep down 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.480 feel like we have so much less to offer than 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:56.640 what people expect, and that even when people compliment us, 0:18:56.920 --> 0:19:00.160 we figure that the reason that they're complimenting us is 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:02.800 because they don't really see us for who we are. 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:05.600 And if they ever saw us for who we are, 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:09.199 if they ever saw how stupid we feel. If they 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:13.120 ever saw how inexperienced we feel, if they really saw 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.760 how nervous we really feel, they would kick us out 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:20.800 the room. It happens to fathers, It happens to mothers. 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:25.119 It happens to leaders, it happens to teenagers. It is 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:29.520 the fear of being found out to be less than 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.800 they thought you were. It is the fear that keeps 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:36.159 you in a performance mode. It is the fear that 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:40.479 keeps you spending money to look like something important, because 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:44.080 deep down you're afraid that you're really not. It is 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:47.680 the fear that keeps you over compensating, and you get 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:50.800 in situations and rather than letting other people be the 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:54.520 center of attention, you feel the need to overcompensate to 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:57.680 show how intelligent you are because deep down you don't 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:01.280 feel intelligent enough, so people think you're cocky, but you're 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:05.320 really not cocky. You're scared with the conflict between who 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:08.040 they think you're supposed to be and who you feel 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:12.639 like you really are. It's called the imposter syndrome. It 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:16.760 means that sometimes even as I'm trying to fulfill my purpose, 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:20.280 I feel like a fake. It's not that I'm a hypocrite. 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:24.399 It's not that I'm insincere. It's just that deep down inside, 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:27.720 I'm a man who sometimes feels like a little boy. 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:31.280 I'm a preacher who sometimes feels like a sinner. I 0:20:31.320 --> 0:20:34.320 want to be wise, but sometimes I feel like a fool. 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:38.160 And I'm wondering, is there anybody here who lately has 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:49.440 been up under the pressure of an expectation? And when 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:54.800 you feel that, the temptation and the tendency is to 0:20:54.920 --> 0:21:00.399 prove it. I gotta prove I'm a good dad, prove 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:03.199 I'm a good mom. I got to prove I'm a 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:07.280 good preacher. I got to prove it. And when you 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:09.800 do it to prove it, it takes the joy out 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:17.119 of it. See Jesus, Jesus didn't mind performing miracles. He 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:20.760 just wasn't going to do it for the wrong motives. 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:25.480 Jesus was going to Judea. He just wasn't going to 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:30.359 make a public spectacle out of his power. Jesus was 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:34.960 ultimately determined to show the world who he was, but 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:46.280 he wasn't going to do it for the gram. I 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:50.000 think the key thing that he says in the text 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:55.919 is not now I'm going to Judea, which is the 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:59.919 region where he would ultimately give his life, but not now. 0:22:02.040 --> 0:22:04.720 And it's such a weird world we live in, isn't it. 0:22:05.840 --> 0:22:09.600 I mean, I'm so scared for my kids. Honestly, I 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:13.480 don't even know what to tell them about growing up 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:16.720 in a time where we've always had the pressure, but 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:22.320 now the performance. Now everybody gets to experience performance anxiety 0:22:22.400 --> 0:22:25.080 because we all perform our lives for one another all 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:31.359 the time, just constantly. I mean, if you cook a 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:35.159 good meal for your family, it does not count unless 0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:41.000 you make an Instagram story out of the meal. This 0:22:41.080 --> 0:22:45.040 is a very common thing to preach about. Is common 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:51.159 because it's killing us. Jesus said, if I go to 0:22:51.280 --> 0:22:55.000 Judea for the wrong reasons, and if I show up 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:58.320 with the wrong motives, and if I live my life 0:22:58.840 --> 0:23:02.919 to perform for others rather than to glorify my father, 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:08.480 it'll kill me. The religious leaders were waiting to literally 0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:11.600 kill Jesus. But I wonder, what are the things that 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:16.399 are killing you? It says that he purposely stayed away 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:20.840 from Judea. What do you need to purposely stay away 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:24.760 from in this season of your life? What do you 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:28.600 need to purposely stop thinking about in this season of 0:23:28.640 --> 0:23:32.280 your life, who do you need to purposely stop comparing 0:23:32.320 --> 0:23:36.600 yourself to in this season of your life? For me, 0:23:37.240 --> 0:23:45.560 it's Buck. I was doing squats the other day and Chunks, 0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:49.199 Chunks was watching me do these squats and I was 0:23:49.280 --> 0:23:53.560 doing them deep, deep squats. I only do leg day 0:23:53.760 --> 0:23:55.679 once every six weeks, so I got to make it 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:57.919 count when I do it. And I don't know if 0:23:57.960 --> 0:23:59.440 I can do it in these genes. I should have 0:23:59.520 --> 0:24:02.960 tested this. I hadn't done this illustration yet, but I mean, 0:24:03.040 --> 0:24:06.720 I was down deep on the squad. Now. Buck wasn't 0:24:06.720 --> 0:24:09.800 there that day. Chunks was there, and Chunks was spotting 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:13.640 me and he said, what are you doing? And I said, 0:24:13.680 --> 0:24:17.240 I'm doing I'm doing my squats like Buck. But he 0:24:17.280 --> 0:24:20.720 said something so important. He said, don't do them like Buck. 0:24:22.440 --> 0:24:30.560 Buck is built different than you. You're gonna break your 0:24:30.720 --> 0:24:35.920 back trying to be like Buck. And I wonder how 0:24:35.920 --> 0:24:42.760 we look to God trying to You are gonna snap 0:24:42.880 --> 0:24:49.320 your hamstring, you are gonna pop your quads, trying to 0:24:49.600 --> 0:24:54.040 trying to be Buck, getting getting trying to turn, trying 0:24:54.080 --> 0:24:59.159 to I went on Instagram the other day and I 0:24:59.200 --> 0:25:03.679 saw I I saw Kevin Hart, and I felt like 0:25:03.760 --> 0:25:08.800 a failure in my whole life. I felt like, what 0:25:09.000 --> 0:25:12.520 am I doing with my whole life? What is the 0:25:12.640 --> 0:25:20.080 point of my existence? Within fifteen seconds, here I am 0:25:20.119 --> 0:25:23.480 with a burden on me that I wasn't built for 0:25:24.320 --> 0:25:31.359 by comparing myself to someone with a different calling. And 0:25:31.560 --> 0:25:35.680