What if... the rich young ruler said okay,... and he went and sold all his things, and he came back and followed Jesus? What then? 1 P a g e Do you know the story in the Bible? A rich young man comes to Jesus and says, Good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus says, Keep all the commandments. The young man says, This I have done all my life. Jesus says, Good, then go sell all you have and come follow me And the Bible says the young man turned away sad, because he had many things. But, what if... he didn t?... What if he came back the next day, naked as a jay bird, and the only possessions he had were his smile and his tan and said, Okay, Jesus, I ve given it all away, I m here, now what? What must I do to follow you, now? What would life as a follower of Jesus have included for him? What are the things he would have had to do or be or change or begin or practice? More importantly, what does that look like now for us? What does it take to follow Jesus? Not, today, what does it take to become a follower, but what are the things we need to have in our lives to be a faithful follower of Jesus. With it being the beginning of the year, and believing that some of us would want to get our act together following Jesus, and that all of us could use a broad understanding of areas we might need to let God work on in our lives, last week I started this message about The 7 Irreducible Minimums of Following Jesus. These are seven basic principles everyone should understand, commit to memory, and embrace in life to follow Jesus Christ. They are not all that is important. But they are what are most important. And, this is also a great list of things that we can encourage our children and teens to do and have in their lives to help them to follow and to equip them to remain following Jesus Christ in their lives. If you are a parent, this is for you in that way too.
So, last week we hit the first three, here a brief review in case you weren t here. 2 P a g e Checkpoint #1: True Faith To be a follower of Jesus we need to have True faith. Real faith. Authentic faith. That s the idea that your faith in Christ has to be real, your own, and not just an outward show. And that it has to be ongoing faith that you trust in God for everyday issues and challenges. Because here s a key principle you need to keep to be a follower of Jesus: Principle: God can be trusted; He will do all He has promised to do. True faith is confidence that God is who He says He is, and confidence that He will do everything that He has promised to do. So if we turn these principles around on ourselves, they can become a question. Here s the critical question for you... Critical Question: Are you trusting God with the critical areas of your life? Followers of Jesus Christ walk by faith. Checkpoint #2: Spiritual Habits If you want to be a follower of Christ, you need to do some things that help you connect to him, and that help you learn and live for Him. These are things like reading the Bible, memorizing it, prayer, worship, and more. Here s the key principle here. Principle: When you see as God sees, you will do as God says. And you learn to see as God sees by reading and hearing and memorizing his Word. If you were taking notes last week, some said I missed this one. Here s the critical question for you... Critical Question: Are you developing spiritual habits that will help you live for Jesus Christ? If you need to start in this area again, the best habit to keep is Bible reading... Followers of Jesus Christ have regular and consistent spiritual habits.
Checkpoint #3: Healthy friendships 3 P a g e If you have close friendships with good people, with those who have good values and beliefs and who make good choices, they will help you follow Jesus. If you surround yourself with immoral people, you will struggle. The key principle. Principle: Your relationships greatly determine the quality and direction of your life. Healthy friendships build you up and draw you closer to God. Unhealthy friendships bring you down and cause you to compromise what you know is right. Critical Question: Are you building healthy relationships and avoiding unhealthy ones? If you need healthy Christian friendship, get involved in a Sunday school class or small group. Last week we restarted our small groups after the holiday break, And every one of them reported 10-12 people having a good time and liking their group. Followers of Jesus Christ build healthy friendships. Checkpoint #4: Moral Boundaries To follow Christ, you need to know the boundaries of what is right and wrong. And you need to stay away from them. Here s a passage that relates to this one: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 It is God s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit. God calls us to a holy life. It is God s will that we should be holy. A police officer stopped a motorist for failing to come to a full stop at a stop sign and proceeded to give him a ticket. The motorist protested, "Don't I get a warning?" The officer said, "Sure. If you don't come to a complete stop next time, you'll get anothr ticket. We want to break the rules, say we re sorry, and then try to get out of the consequences. But so much of what God tells us to stay away from, is stuff that we can t undo the conseq...
We need to decide before hand, what is right and what is wrong. What is good and what is evil. 4 P a g e Here s the principle. Principle: God s boundaries are intended for my own good. All of God s commands could be seen as boundaries. We tend to think of them as rules and sometimes as rules that we wish we didn t have to follow. But we should see them as boundaries that are designed for our good to keep us from hurting ourselves and others. Don t murder hurt others and yourself, ultimately. Don t steal - hurt yourself or others. Don t lie Don t get drunk - you ll hurt yourself or others. Don t commit adultery hurt others Do not lust hurt yourself, and maybe others. Don t take the name of the Lord in vain rebellion hurts us and others. Honor parents so it will go well with you. Respect authority Forgive one another Keep a Sabbath day of rest good for you and others. I challenge you to tell me 1 commandment of God s Word that does not have at its core a reason that involves protecting us or others from harm. God s word is full of boundaries stay inside them, you will be well and happy. Go outside them, and you risk hurting yourself and others. But, here s the thing about boundaries though we like to push them. We like to test them. We like to risk. When our kids were little, if we said Play outside, but don t ride your bike in the street - just the sidewalk and the driveway. Where would we always find them? They would always ride down the driveways and into the street just a little to turn, right. If your mom told you play in your yard. Wouldn t you always just have some reason to go in the neighbor s yard or into the field behind your yard? You say, time to be home is 11:00 o clock. 11:15 always seems to have something so important that kept them.
5 P a g e Here s the thing, with God s boundaries, when we get close to the boundaries, The temptation increases greatly and the chance of violating God s law increases greatly. You have a girl friend or boyfriend. You want to stay pure. Do you have a greater chance of failing in that area if your boundary is a) We only hold hands and we never sit alone in the dark? Or b) if your boundary is we only make out in the basement with our clothes on and no touching key areas? If you set a good boundary, you protect yourself from temptation. If your boundary is a) I never steal anything at all, even the smallest thing at work. Or if it is, b) No one will know, so I can take small things. Which one gives you some chance of someone thinking you are a thief and firing you? Which one eliminates that chance? To follow Christ, for our own good and others, And to honor Christ who lived a holy life, we need to understand God s boundaries and we need to be clear about what they are for us Critical Question: Are you establishing and maintaining godly moral boundaries? Followers of Jesus Christ establish and stay within godly moral boundaries. Checkpoint #5: Wise Choices Key Passage: Ephesians 5:15-17 Be very careful, then, how you live not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord s will is. Not everything in this world is black or white, good or evil, cut and dry. You need wisdom sometimes not to just choose the wrong way, but to choose the better way. Here s the principle Principle: Walk wisely.
Can I do something? Should I do this or that? is not always a question of right or wrong. 6 P a g e Can I watch this movie? Can I make that purchase? Can I date that person? Where are you going to college? There may not be a right or wrong choice, but there may be a more wise choice in light of godly wisdom and your values and future needs, plans, hopes, and dreams. The book of Proverbs speaks about people who make everyday choices in light of God s wisdom And here are just a few benefits of the path of wisdom: The wise person Makes good decisions (Prov 1:1-5) Will live longer (Prov 9:11) Will be attractive to others (Prov 11:30) Will be wealthy (Prov 14:24) Will be a good counselor (Prov 16:4) Will be persuasive (Prov 16:23) Will be prepared for the future (Prov 21:20) Will be sought after by those in power and influence (Prov 14:35) Will ultimately rise to a position of leadership (Prov 17:2) Will be delivered from destruction (Prov 28:26) We need to ask, In light of my past experience and my future needs, plans, hopes, and dreams, what is the wise thing for me to do in this situation? Critical Question: Are you making wise choices in every area of your life? Followers of Jesus Christ make wise choices. Checkpoint #6: Ultimate Authority We all need to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ as it is expressed and embodied in other people and other institutions in this world. Key Passage: Romans 13:1-2 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently,
7 P a g e whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. We often view freedom and authority as opposing concepts. But the Bible teaches that true freedom is found under authority. Principle: Maximum freedom is found under God s authority. Adam & Eve had it perfect & they only had one rule don t eat from the one tree God said not to. They rebelled against his authority thinking he was keeping them from freedom, They lost freedom. Jesus submitted to God the Father s authority. Jesus respected the religious leader s authority in his day. Jesus submitted to the Roman authorities, even though they were pagan and immoral. God establishes all authority. If we rebel against authority, we rebel against God. We cannot be right with God and be in rebellion to the authorities he has established In our home, at school, in our work place, church, and state. Critical Question: Are you submitting to the authorities that God has placed over you? Followers of Jesus Christ submit to authority. Checkpoint #7: Others First Followers of Jesus Christ put others before themselves. Key Passage: Philippians 2:3-8 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross!
To follow Jesus we must have his servant heart. Principle: Consider others better than yourself. 8 P a g e Jesus didn t allow his personal goals or selfish ambition to determine his decisions. Jesus saw us as more important than himself. Jesus put the needs of others ahead of His own. Jesus humbled himself and Jesus had the very nature of a servant. He made himself nothing in order to serve the people he loved. Critical Question: Are you putting the needs of others ahead of your own? If you have been considering how you could serve, or if you would like to make a change in how you serve, you can do that. We need one or two Sunday school teachers for children. You could make a difference if the lives of young hearts and minds. And you could follow Christ in one of his most significant ways He served He taught us the Word and ways of God. Followers of Jesus Christ put others first. Followers of Jesus Christ walk by faith. Followers of Jesus Christ have regular and consistent spiritual habits. Followers of Jesus Christ build healthy friendships. Followers of Jesus Christ establish and stay within godly moral boundaries. Followers of Jesus Christ make wise choices. Followers of Jesus Christ submit to authority. Followers of Jesus Christ put others first. If you want to be a follower of Jesus Christ, If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus Christ, these are the principles and the practice you need to possess more and more by his grace. I pray you would follow Him today.
Adapted from The Seven Checkpoints (2011) by Andy Stanley & Stuart Hall. 9 P a g e