In a Broken World

Pick up your teaching notes, we are going to jump right in. And as we jump right in, I want you to really think about, pause, what is the greatest fear you’re facing today?

Not some generic – you personally, your life sitting here – what is the greatest fear you’re facing? I want you to really name it. Fear of the future, fear of health, fear you’ll never get married, fear the marriage will never get any better, fear for one of your kids, fear about the economy, fear about politics, fear about racism… what is it?

What is it that when you get knots in your stomach, what is it when you are just driving in your car and everything is quiet, your mind drifts to something and all of a sudden you can feel the heart rate go up, the blood pressure starts to go up, and you begin to fixate on things and you realize you’re afraid?

Here’s what I want you ask you – second question. And I want you to think about this. Would you like to overcome that fear? And not casually. Because the way to overcome it is not going to be an easy thing. But I want you to really think. And even say a little prayer to God.

Some of us are afraid that one of our kids or one of our grandkids is going to be in an auto accident or we are not going to have enough money to live on as time goes on. Or, we have all got fears. But Jesus said, “My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, but My peace I give to you.” That’s a promise.

Isaiah would foretell God would keep those in perfect peace whose minds are focused or stayed on Him. The most common command in Old and New Testament is, “Fear not.” “Be not afraid.” And it’s usually followed, “Because I am with you.”

So, how do you experience God’s power and presence that eliminates fear in such a way that in the midst of storms, you’re not a slave to fear? Because so many of us are.

In order to discover that, I’m going to suggest that you need to understand how God has made and wired your mind and your emotions, how they work together, and when you do and when you understand that, then you understand exactly what you need to do.

Because, yes, there are challenging things happening in the world, but I want to tell you how we think some of us are feeding our fears instead of starving them. And I am going to talk this morning about starving your fear and feeding your faith.

There’s a study at the University of Tennessee a number of years ago. It was not very complicated. It was a twelve-year study. There was a control group that heard five minutes of a radio program with just benign information. There was an experimental group that heard five minutes of information that it was all negative. There was an earthquake in such-and-such a city, a child was abducted in Memphis. Just five minutes. No video. Just five minutes.

After twelve years, they did an evaluation of both groups to find out: was there any impact of five minutes of negative audio content over a twelve-year period? The results: the people in the experimental group were more depressed, they believed the world was a more negative place, they were less likely to help others, and they believed that those things that they heard over the last twelve years would happen to them.

Now, pause! Think about this! This isn’t like an hour of the nightly news. This isn’t like a three-hour movie. This isn’t like in front of a screen things blowing up. This is just five minutes of audio.

We all know – right? that you are what you eat, physically. Right? We all know that. It’s sweets today and it’s hips tomorrow, right? What I want you to get is that you are what you eat psychologically. Here’s where science and Scripture are in such alignment.

Three truths about our thinking. Number one, we are the product of our thought life. Who you are today is the product of your past thinking of what you thought was true, what you think isn’t true, your focus, your decisions. It’s your thought life. Proverbs 23:78, I love the King James on this one, “As a man thinketh, so is he,” or, “so you become.” As a man thinks in your heart, so you become.

Second, our emotions flow from our thoughts. In other words, you think and it triggers; your emotions follow your thoughts. Most of us make lots of the decisions based on our emotions but our emotions follow our thoughts. Scripture says, Romans 8:6, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is,” notice, “life and peace.”

Third truth is that what we allow into our minds is the most important decision we make each and every day. What you think about, what you allow in your mind, what you watch, what you listen to, what is on the radio in your car.

What you listen to. The conversations with people that you have. What you allow into your eye gate and your ear gate that seeps down into your soul, that gives you a perspective of what life is really about is the most important decision you ever make each and every day. So, what goes into your mind, is paramount. And what I want to encourage you is that what you allow to go in your mind in many ways is what is creating or feeding your fears.

As you turn the page, the apostle Paul – remember, he is speaking from a prison cell. His life is very challenging. It’s very difficult. And, yet, he has this amazing peace. He’s writing to this church that he loves very much, that has grown and he has a wonderful relationship.

And he is trying to help them live in peace, live with joy, live with love.

And in the anxiety of the Roman world and a world that is filled with violence and injustice, especially for a follower of Christ, he writes to them and he is going to teach them: this is how you can, you might underline in your notes, choose. You choose peace. It’s a gift, but you’ve got to choose it in a very broken world, in a violent world, in an uncertain world.

He says, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,” Here's the first command, "Let your mind dwell on these things."

I would like you to underline these key words. Underline the word true in your notes, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and then, anything worthy of praise.

And what he is saying is: there is a way to think about life, but this is how God wants you to think about life and this kind of thinking is – we are going to learn what it means in a minute – this is what I want you to dwell on, to ponder, to meditate, to review, to fill your mind with.

And then he is going to move from their thinking to their behavior. “The things that you have learned and received, heard and seen in me,” Here's the second command, "Practice these things."

Notice, they weren’t just sitting in a room listening to the apostle Paul. “The things you learned,” in other words, they had an appetite, they took it in, that you received; you actually applied it.

“The things you heard,” they heard him talk, and you saw, they watched him model it. He says, “I want you to practice the very kind of teaching and lifestyle that I had,” and then the very last line he says, “Here’s a promise.” It’s not the peace of God this time. What is it? "The God of peace will be with you."

So, are you ready to go? The first command is to dwell on these things. The words means to think deeply, to review, to replay, to meditate, to talk about, to analyze, to ponder, to deduce. Colin Brown is the expert in New Testament dictionary and I love the one, the word is, are you ready? Listen to it. Logizomai. Can anybody hear the English word: logic? It’s a word, he says, that is not unemotional or philosophical thought, but it’s the very process of reasoning and the deduction which separates good from evil. It’s dwelling on what you see, what comes on the screen, the email, the blog and asking yourself: dwell, ponder.

Here’s, though, the things you want to dwell on. Number one: things that are true. This word means objectively true. That which conforms to reality versus things that are deceptive. Illusions that promise peace and happiness.

I want you to think about, okay, so what do you know is true? So, it would be pondering and dwelling on Scripture that is true. It would be pondering on some truth about your life.

This morning, I don’t know if you all ever have this, do you ever just wake up and feel a bit negative and not know exactly why? Just like semi-bummed out? I just taught this. I just taught this last night. You would think I would wake up chippy! And I laid in bed and it was early and just this negative filter. And so, I decided I would practice this, so I prayed through Psalm 23 a couple times slowly. And when I got done I felt slightly less negative. You have to focus on what is true. And you will see a world of difference in your life.

Second, the preview question then is: when you are watching or listening to something you ask, “Is this true or false?” Is this true or false? I am going to spend the most time on this because all the others flow out of this. Here’s an illustration. You think that your emotions are responding to reality. No, no. Your emotions are responding to your thinking and your thinking is the perception of reality.

Those people who listened to just five minutes of negative things, their perception was: the guy in that car, he probably wants to hurt me. Never pick up a hitchhiker because I heard that story. It’s their perception.

So, pretend you’re out, maybe on Quicksilver Trail or you’re taking a big hike, and as you’re walking, “Ah!” You freeze, it’s coiled up, it’s a snake and you got within – and all of a sudden your stomach tightens up, perspiration, heart rate! “Oh my gosh, it’s a snake!” And you hold someone back and you look at it and you look at it and you look at it. And then, it’s not moving at all, and so you get closer and you get closer and you get closer and you realize it’s a piece of rope that is coiled around.

It was your perception that created all the exact same emotions as though it were a snake. And there’s a lot of snake thinking. It takes an incredible amount of discipline and diligence to be someone who starts to think about what is true.

Second: is it honorable? The word means sober, serious, worthy of respect, inspires awe. It refers to those things that reflect the weighty purpose of a believer’s life. Now, there is a time for fantasy football, there’s a time to get jacked up over the Super Bowl and other things. There’s a time, I suppose, to figure out who won the Globe or the Oscar.

But there’s trivia ad nauseum in the world. And this is saying: in the midst of all that, here’s what you need to think about. You need to think, at times, about some things that are grave, sober, serious.

Things like the living God through His Son, Jesus Christ, has rescued you from eternal damnation by His gift on the cross. And He loves you and favors you with unconditional love and draws you close to Himself and has an amazing plan for your life. Whoo.

He has an Ephesians 2:10 purpose for you that you are His actual workmanship. You are His piece of pottery, His poem, you are made and designed by the living God for a purpose that only you can fulfill that He did before the foundations of the earth.

Question: am I fulfilling it? You are living in a world that is called: window – time. But you are made for eternity. There is a heaven that is real. There is a hell that is real. Those are serious things.

The writer of Ecclesiastes says there is far more wisdom at a funeral than there is at a party. Now, I don’t mean you focus on this all the time, but we are living in a world that is quick, fast, immediate. Those deep kind of thoughts shape your thinking.

My wife asked me after last night’s message, she said, “So, Chip, what are you afraid of?” I said, “I am most afraid that I will squander the life that God has given me and I will not fulfill His purposes.” And she said, “Why?” I said, “Because at least in the world’s standard, I am way more ‘successful’ than I thought I would ever be, God has given us more than I ever dreamed in every arena, and all that creates comfort and a lifestyle that works against the kind of focus and sacrifice of taking up my cross and following Him and taking big risks for the kingdom of God. And so, I just, I am afraid that I could slip into a status quo type life and everyone would think it’s just wonderful except the Lord would know and I would know.”

Ask this question: does this honor or dishonor God? When you’re watching it: does this honor God? Does this really honor God? It might be gray, it might just be evil. That’s easy. But does this show honor God? Does this conversation honor God? Does this movie honor God? Does the book I’m reading, does this relationship honor God?

Third, is it right? The word means righteous. It’s used in the New Testament to refer to the Father, to Jesus, to God’s actions, to God’s character. It pictures doing what is right when tempted. You might write the word integrity.

At the heart of this is there is a standard that is not outside of God but God’s very character creates a standard. And integrity just means there is an alignment with that. And the question you want to ask: is this right or is it wrong? Did I just say the whole truth or a partial truth? Is this what is really clearly I know is true or is it a white lie? Is it everyone does this on their taxes and that time is coming up or is it absolutely pure? Is this: I’m padding my expenses just a little because I can kind of justify it and I know I’ll get away with it or, in fact, is this integrity? Just ask yourself.
You are the product of your thoughts. And we are casual with what we allow into our mind and it is shaping your character, it’s shaping your decisions, it’s shaping your emotions.

He is going to give us six words and I am going to define each one and then I have created a set, a little question out of each one that you and I could say, before I watch, listen, or think: is it true? Does it honor God? Is it right or wrong? And next: is it pure?

This is from the same root word as holy that means to be set apart. And the question you want to ask is: will this cleanse or dirty my soul?

Job would say in Job 31:1, “I have made a covenant with my eyes. How, then, could I gaze lustfully for a virgin?” David, in Psalm 101, about verses 2 and 3, he says, “I have committed before You, Lord, to live a blameless life and I will set no worthless or vile thing before my eyes.”

If you have a porn addiction, just get help. All the research is that it is as addictive as cocaine and trying hard and really intending and wanting to break a porn addiction is not something you’ll probably do on your own. No one else has.

And it produces fears and it multiplies into lies and cover-up. And it’s no less addicting than if you were sticking a needle in your arm. And it’s a pseudo intimacy that will destroy your relationships and so, God’s heart would be, I want you to see sex as holy and pure. The Bible says God made it. He loves it. But the marriage bed should be holy.

He wants what you watch, not just porn, but the kind of movies. And not just the sexually explicit ones, but what about the ones that they sort of suck us in by you have this mean guy married to this wonderful gal and she falls in love with someone who is really not her husband but he is a nice guy and she is a nice guy and he’s a jerk. And we find ourselves rooting for them in their affair.

And you know what that does? Tick-tok, tick-tok, tick-tok, seed planted. The enemy is very shrewd. The battle for your life is not out there. The battle is right here. The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but divinely powerful. And we will take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

And that’s why, if you have a teenage son, in fact, in our day now, if you have a teenage daughter, you have to open the phones and have a conversation and you need to do it in the next twenty-four or forty-eight hours and sit down and talk about: your mind is so precious. And you are so precious. And the kind of addictions and the kind of information and the kind of attacks – no one would take their twelve or thirteen or eleven-year-old daughter or son or ten-year-old boy and drop them off in downtown San Jose in the middle of the night, or downtown Oakland and go, “Hey, I’ll catch you later. Have fun!”

And, yet, when you don’t have filters, when you don’t have a conversation, when you haven’t talked about these things, that’s exactly what you’re doing. And our kids are dying. Ask yourself: will this cleanse or dirty my soul?

The next word is lovely. I like this one. Attractive, winsome, beautiful. It pictures things that call forth a response of love and warmth versus bitterness, criticism, and vengeance.

This is a call to smell the roses, to look at a rainbow, to watch kids playing in a park, to ponder a pleasant memory, to pause with a warm embrace, to put your feet up and read an encouraging book.

Yesterday, I’m very excited, I guess it was Friday, and I just, I played golf a couple times. So fun. And as I was driving, it was about six thirty in the morning and all these puffy clouds and then it was all red and pink behind them. And I was just driving and it was just like – winsome, attractive, admirable. Oh Lord.

And I happened, in my phone, you know how these phones work where they just play songs that are on your phone, you never know which is coming up? And out of the blue comes up a song from a twenty-five-year-old young man who is best friends with my son. And he died of cancer at twenty-five and the song came on, “Restore Me.”

And I thought back of those memories and I thought back of what God has done and it was just, I just began to ponder His kindness and His sovereignty and His love and beauty and creation. Guess what happened to my emotions. We live close to the ocean. When was the last time you went there? When was the last time you went to the redwoods? Get your faces out of the screens and look at the beauty that God has brought.

Ask yourself this question: will this renew or harden my heart?

I had come home and we were going to eat in about ten minutes and I looked on channel two and it was like, Oh my gosh. I got to channel four and, I thought, PBS, sometimes they’ll give you more documentary position.

I found myself disturbed within, sad, angry about the injustice in the world, a sense that the world is completely messed up. Here’s the deal: in ten minutes, in ten minutes everything bad that happened in the globe went on my screen and to me. And I’m telling you, there were hundreds of millions of acts of kindness and children born and people being generous and love given and people caring and kids adopted and food given and fresh water and people pulled out of the sex trade. And all that wonderfulness I didn’t see. All I got in ten minutes was that and it shaped my thinking.

What you allow in your mind the last thirty to forty-five minutes before you go to bed and what you allow in your mind the first thirty minutes of your day will shape your subconscious, your mind, your thinking – you are either starving fear and feeding faith or you are doing the opposite.

Finally, he says, “That which is commendable, good repute,” he says, “gracious,” admirable is the meaning of the word. It literally means fair speaking. It describes things which are fit for God to hear versus ugly words, false words, impure words.

And the test here is: could I recommend this to someone who looks up to me? Right? Now, you don’t – by the way – if you are thinking, Oh my gosh. This would radically change what comes in my house. Good. It will also change you fear, change your emotions, change your kids if you have them. But, you don’t have to raise your hands on this one, have you ever been watching something and someone is coming down the hall and before they walk in, you change the channel? Oh, okay. I did that once. We have all been watching something and a little kid is coming in or your mate is coming in or something. And I don’t mean that it’s terrible, but you just, I’m not comfortable with them watching this.

How about this test: imagine you’re out sitting on one of those couches with two or three seats. And whatever is coming on your phone, your screen, your TV the Lord Jesus in His resurrected body shows up and says, “Hey! Chip, how are you doing? Great. I’m just going to relax a little bit and watch this.” “Great.” “You mind if I sit down?” “No, I’d love to have you.”

Here’s the question to ask: are you comfortable with Him sitting next to you watching what you’re watching? Are you comfortable with a five-year-old? With a grandchild?

He finally summarizes and said, “If there is any virtue or praise,” in other words, “in case I left anything out,” it’s a, “think on anything that has the moral excellence and that will inspire and motivate you to love God and to love others.” So, everything doesn’t have to be spiritual.

I’m listening to a book called The Last Line, it’s the life of Winston Churchill. It’s fabulously interesting. So, in my car, it’s a book like this. That’s why I put it on Audible. I said, “I’ll never read that.” I have got six hours in and I looked the other day, there are only thirty-one hours left. But his courage and what was happening in the war.

And I’m listening to another book by John Ortberg on The Life You Have Always Wanted, and at night before I go to bed, and it’s just ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty minutes. I’m reading about the life of Martin Luther and just all I want to do is, Lord, how do I fill my life and my mind with good things? Because I will be the product of my thought life.

But it's just not thinking, it's then acting. Habitually practice these things. Habitually practice these things.

He says, “You have learned and received. You had an appetite and you applied. You heard and saw; I gave instruction and I modeled it.” And here is why: your thought life determines your – write the word – future.

I don’t know what your hopes are, but I am going to tell you, your future will be determined by your thought life. The dreams. The passions. The joys. The thoughts. For friends, for family, for work.

The Scripture in Romans chapter 8, I put it in the Amplified, because it’s so graphic. Here is a great truth. Follow along. “For those who are living according to the flesh, set their minds,” notice the phrase, “on the things of the flesh, which gratify the body, but those who are living according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit, His will, and His purpose. Now, the mind on the flesh is death, both now and forever, because it pursues sin; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, the spiritual wellbeing that comes from walking with God – both now and forever; the mind of the flesh with its sinful pursuits is actively hostile to God. It doesn’t submit itself to God’s law, since it cannot, and those who are in the flesh living a life that caters to sinful appetites and impulses,” notice, “cannot please God.”

You can’t keep putting things in your mind and then in your will, Oh God, I want to do this. Transformation always begins with your thinking.

Second – how? It’s the principle of mind renewal. The principle of mind renewal. It’s a verse we hear a lot around here. Romans chapter 12:2. And I like this, again, in the Amplified Bible. “And do not be conformed to this world any longer with its superficial values and customs, but be transformed,” and notice, not overnight, “progressively changed as you mature spiritually by the renewing of your mind.”

Sometimes, in some of these illustrations, they get me because I’m getting old-er. I have been a Christian a little over forty years. I didn’t grow up as a Christian. I am still doing the most basic things that I did years ago, because I am still struggling with everything that I am talking to you about.

But what I can tell you is, as I have done what I have talked about, the transformation that I have seen God in my life and those I love and those I have had the chance to help. So, I have a little card. You can make your own. Before I watch, listen, or think on it: is it true? Does it honor God? Is it right or wrong? Will this cleanse or dirty my soul? Will this renew or harden my heart? Would I recommend this to someone who looks up to me? Will this bring peace or fear in my life?

When I went through this stuff with my back, I had a time to really ponder some big issues and look at some pretty big holes that I felt God was speaking to me. And so, there was a lie. I have always been semi-ADD, A-type personality.

But here’s what I, here’s a lie I believed most of my life: I am a prisoner of the opinions of the important, influential people in my life. I agonize when my best judgment and direction from the Lord is different from theirs. Disagreeing with them will harm our relationship irreparably, so I attempt to please everyone, creating an unhealthy lifestyle.

You could say it a lot easier, like, “people pleasing.” But part of that is an alcoholic father and realizing you’ve got to keep the peace and so you learn clues. And so, that’s on one side of a card. And it says, “lie I believe.” Then I flip the card over and it says, “truths.”

Here’s a truth: people love me and are for me and want me to live a life of joy, rhythm, rest, and fruitfulness in all areas of my life. I do not need to prove my worth through hard work or extraordinary productivity. I am accepted, loved, and greatly valued just for who I am.

But that lie pops up. So guess what I do. I read this side of the card and then I say, “Stop.” And then I turn it over and I read this side of the card. And you know what I do? I am setting my mind on the Spirit.

What lies do you believe? What cards do you need to make? You would just be shocked at what God will do as you renew your mind.

As you turn the page, here’s the promise: the God of peace, the God of shalom will be with you. It’s not just you’re going to receive His peace, but his blessing, His power, His presence, His provision. He wants to fulfill the desires of your heart. Are you ready for this? Here’s the biggest lie you believe: you don’t think God is for you. You think you’ve got to measure up.

He is so outlandishly for you. In the New Living Bible, Psalm 86, about verse 5 says, it says, “O Lord, You are so good, so ready to forgive, so abounding in unfailing love to all who ask for Your help.”

And I bet I read that hundreds of times in the last probably ninety days, because I read that and I just, getting it from here to here for me, is I just have this predisposition, and I know where it came from, is that God’s arms are probably a little bit crossed and now and then His toe is tapping. And no matter what I do, Well, Chip, that wasn’t quite good enough. Here’s what you need to do. And that’s a lie.

And I am changing. And you can change. And your kids need to change. But you will have to guard your mind like never before. Remember? We started, I asked you a question: do you want to overcome your fear? Do you?

Now, for real, I want you to go back to: this is what I was afraid of. Do you want to overcome your fear? If you do, then you have to radically change. These things don’t come into my house, they don’t come into my mind, they don’t come on my screen, they don’t come on my phone, and they don’t come into my kids’ or grandkids’ lives.

This truth is going to start into my mind. I have given you a game plan. Twenty-one minutes of how to spend time with God. That’s a good start. It’s written out for you. I am so excited that as you take these steps, God will show up in your life like never before. Now, here’s the deal. Your emotions aren’t going to change overnight. But if you do what we are talking about, a week, you’ll go, Hmm, a little different. A couple, three weeks, Whoa, a little different.

About thirty days, it’ll be like, Wow! Ninety days, people will say, “What happened to you?” Six months, two years – those addictions, those anger issues, those “I’ve got to measure up,” those things can really change.

Lord God, my Savior, my Friend, the lover of my soul and the soul of every person in this room and anyone at any time whoever might watch or listen to this, we praise You. Here’s what is true: You are good and You are forgiving. You are slow to anger. That You are abounding in steadfast, loyal love. And You want the best for us. Lord, there is an enemy that has infiltrated the media and sends messages of death and comparison and immorality. That, Lord, we would just confess. We want to confess corporately, our sin of how casual we have been with what we have allowed into the most precious commodity you have given, this mind. And so, Lord, would You help us to say no to that which is evil and say Yes, renew our minds that we could break the power of slavery. In Jesus’ name, amen.