Living on the Edge

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Did you know that your joy and your happiness is
largely connected to one very specific word. It's called expectations.
What you expect, whether they're met or not, can make
all the difference in the world. Let's discover what God
says about our expectations. Don't go away.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Welcome to this edition of Living on the Edge with
Chip Ingram. The mission of this daily program is to
intentionally disciple Christians through the insightful Bible teaching of Chip Ingram.
And we're nearing the end of a series I Choose Joy,
where these last two programs Chip will reveal the key
to enduring our most challenging circumstances and actually experienced genuine

(00:59):
joy through them. If that sounds too good to be true,
settle in to learn why it's absolutely possible. Grab your
Bible and go to Philippians, chapter one, verse twenty seven,
and listen in for chipstalk understanding the power of expectations.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
If you haven't lived very long, you may not know this,
And if you've lived very long at all, you do.
Life is hard. You know, life is hard for some
of you. You've been through some really, really hard things,
and they can be hard relationally, family wise, emotionally, financially,
health wise. And here's the thing. Not to discourage you,

(01:37):
but it's going to be hard your future. It's going
to be hard. But what I don't want you to
think is that choosing joy is about willpower. If I
just have stronger willpower, that's not how it works. What
we've learned in this series is that you can choose
joy when something happens, when you get these windows of perspective,

(02:02):
when you begin to see life not through the human
lens but from the divine lens. Look on the front
of your notes by way of quick review. When you're
going through a difficult time in a relationship or finances,
or your health, one of your kids, or you're sick
of being single or sick of being married, you know

(02:22):
you can turn inward and it gets from bad to worse.
But if you'll pause and say, wait a second, where's
my focus right now? Is my focus upward on God
and outward on others or on me? You get perspective.
If you can say, oh, well, what's my purpose? Is
my purpose just that comfort and happiness and everything works
out for me, which it never does? Or how could

(02:44):
God leverage this challenge to help people understand who Christ is?
How could he leverage this to change me? How could
he leverage this to build up some other Christians? And
then you ask yourself, so where's my hope? Is my
hope in this job? Is it in this family? Is
in this person I'm going to marry someday? Is it
that you know finally I'm going to get healthy again?

(03:05):
Or is my hope in eternity? Is it I have
an anchor that won't change. See, when you begin to
ask those questions, you get perspective. And God never promised
that he would eliminate the problems. What he promised is
that he would be with you, that he would supply grace,
that he would help you, that he would produce things

(03:25):
both in you and through you. That there's no explanation
for other than the reality that Jesus is who he
said he was. The last question and the last key
word that we're going to look at is the word expectation.
And this, for me is one of the most important ones.

(03:46):
I remember playing golf with a guy a couple of
years ago, driving around in a cart in Indiana. His
wife had this burden for international kids. They adopted three
kids from China. How could you do something better and
more loving than a adopting kids from China? And they
just thought, you know, God's blessing his favor. When he
sat across from me and he goes, I just I

(04:08):
didn't know if our marriage was going to make it.
I didn't know if I was going to make it.
And then he said this, I don't know if I
would have done it, if I would have known how
hard it is. But my expectations were so out of whack.
It's taken about four or five years to realize it's
really really hard. And then he smiled, and it's really

(04:30):
really worth it. Here's the question, where's your expectations? What
do you expect from God? What do you unconsciously think,
especially if you listen to some of the current teaching,
If you love Jesus, your marriage will be great. If
you're single, this person is going to walk into your life.
If you love Jesus, and especially send some money to
their ministry and just think positive thoughts. Everything's going to

(04:53):
be great, your kids are going to turn out right,
everything's wonderful. Do you know why so many Christians are
disillusioned because here's the principle. The distance between your expectations
and your experiences disappointment, and if you have unrealistic, delusional expectations,
you get devastated. Open your notes. Let's learn from the

(05:17):
apostle Paul very specifically, what can we expect from God?
And what does God expect of us. He's in prison,
he's chained to these Pratorian guards. He's wondering whether I'm
going to be executed or whether I'm going to be released.

(05:38):
His circumstances are terrible, but he has an upward focus
and an outward focus. He's asking the question what's my purpose?
And now he doesn't know whether he's going to get
to see this Philippian church that he loves deeply, or
whether he's going to die. And he's gotten some reports
from one of their members of Paphroditis, and there's some
disunity in the church. And there's also a culture in

(06:00):
Rome and a culture in Philippi that is I mean,
anti anti anti Christian. It's described as these are the
people that have turned the world upside down, and in
acts that describes them as everywhere people speak of this
sect negatively. So if you feel like the world's getting
a little harder for Christians in the United States, if

(06:21):
you feel like there's some persecution happening, if you think
that you're labeled, they've got this on steroids. And so
in his final thoughts about choosing Joy in chapter one,
he wants to set clear expectations. He wants them to understand, Look,
this is what God expects of you in terms of

(06:41):
your behavior, in terms of your beliefs, and in terms
of your boldness. And then he's going to say, but
I want you to also know this is what you
can expect from God, because if you don't get clear,
accriate biblical expectations, you can actually have a pretty good
life and be miserable because think it out to be
a perfect life. In one of my deepest times of

(07:04):
marital struggle, and after lots of counseling, and I had
such skewed expectations the first few years, I remember reading
a line by Francis Schaeffer in one of his books,
and he just said in Passing, you know a lot
of people give up on a good marriage because it's
not a perfect marriage. And I was one of those

(07:25):
people that privately inside was it wasn't perfect. It wasn't
what I thought every area wasn't. And so I want
you to begin to ask yourself what's the issue that
you're struggling with or the person. And then I want
you to listen carefully because God's going to tell you
this is what he expects of you. And by the way,
when you give to God what he expects of you,

(07:46):
there's this domino effect where he begins to provide for
you what you need and he changes what happens on
the inside. So with that we pick it up. Paul says,
this is my final lesson what does God expect? He
expects consistent conduct Verse twenty seven. Whatever happens, He's finalizing, literally,

(08:06):
at all costs, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of
the Gospel of Christ. Circled the little word manner worthy.
It's an interesting New Testament word. The Philippians would immediately
recognize where he's going. He's kind of taking part of
their personal experience, and he's going to give him this
little parallel. Philippi was a Roman colony. Now it's not

(08:29):
all that close to Rome, but there was a war
earlier and between some generals in Caesar and the little
town of Philippi decided we're going to go with Caesar,
and Caesar won, and so Rome made them an official colony.
And to have citizenship was like WHOA. I mean, there
were privileges, the Roman army, the Roman all the aqueducts,
everything that came with being a Roman citizen. Philip I

(08:52):
really felt like wow. But there was also responsibility of
being a Roman citizen. You paid taxes to Caesar, there's
certain laws that you kept, there was a certain way
that you would be aligned. And so this word really
what he's saying is, here's what God expects at all costs, literally,

(09:13):
live like a citizen of the Kingdom of God. He said,
you're getting pressured. There's persecution. He's going to tell us
in just a minute. You're experiencing the same conflict, the
same persecution, the same difficulties, both within and without. That
I am, here's what you got to do. You need
to be one of those Christians that actually lives like
a Christian. I don't know where I heard that before,

(09:38):
but after traveling around probably six seven years ago, and
after kind of traveling around America and teaching a lot
of churches and being with pastors, and then I had
a suspicion, and then I remember picking this book up
by John Dickerson, and he started to talk about that
the numbers of genuine Christians in America is highly inflated.

(09:58):
They're more hated. The church in general is going bankrupt
next fifteen or twenty years at the current rate of
giving and commitment, the morality in the church. Just he
goes through and basically does a diagnostic evaluation of born
again evangelical people who actually believe the Bible following Jesus
and says they're on life support. The Church in America

(10:21):
is descending, and this sparked sparked a movement among pastors.
And the answer, he said, is discipleship, and that's really
how God connected our hearts. And what the apostle Paul
is saying back then was the problem with the Philippians
is you're in danger of being Christians that don't live

(10:41):
like Christians. Your behavior, your morality, your finances, your priorities,
your family. You say you love Jesus, but your beliefs
and your behavior is telling two different stories. And I
don't know when I grew up when your belief said
this and your behavior said this week a hypocrisy, And

(11:02):
what God wants is you know we're never going to
be one hundred percent aligned, but what he wants is integration.
He wants alignment, not perfection, the alignment between what I
say and how I live. The alignment where my words,
my life, my energy, and my money align with what

(11:22):
I say I believe and when they don't. It's not
that I'm all terrible person. I ask God to forgive me,
and I'm honest and vulnerable about I'm still on the journey.
And what Paul is saying is this is what God expects.
And then the very next line you can imagine them thinking, well,
how would you ever know for sure whether you're a

(11:43):
Christian who's living like a Christian, whether you really are
kind of a Kingdom citizen living consistently.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
You're listening to Living on the Edge and Chip will
be back in just a minute to finish today's talk,
but quickly. This program is supported by the generosity of
listeners like you, and right now during our midyear match,
it's a great time to partner with us. Between now
and June thirtieth, every gift we receive will be doubled
dollar for dollar. You can gift today by going to

(12:13):
Living on the Edge dot org. Or calling triple eight
three three three six zero zero three. Well, with that
here again his chip to continue his message.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
Well in the very next verses, he explains, he says,
what does it look like this consistent conduct? Then, when
ether I come and see you or only hear about
you in my absence, I'll know that you stand firm
in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith
of the Gospel, without being frightened in any way by

(12:45):
those who oppose you. And this will be a signed
to them that they will be destroyed, but that you
will be saved, and that by God in essence, he says. Okay, Now,
if I die, I'm not going to get to see
you again. If I live and i'm released, I'm going
to come see you again. But whether I see you
again or don't see you again, let me give you

(13:06):
three specific ways that God measures whether you're living a
consistent life, a life that's aligned with His purposes and
his will. Now, I'd like you to circle three words,
and I try to make it as easy as possible.
You notice they're in bold, right, Okay, I want you
to circle, he says. The first thing is that you're
standing firm, and then underlying in one spirit, he said,

(13:28):
and I'll explain it in just a minute. You're standing
firm and a culture that is against you, but notice
you're doing it in unity, in one spirit. You're together
on this second circle. The word contending as one man. Literally,
it's one soul. You're in this together. But you're contending
for the faith. Put a box around the word faith.

(13:49):
This isn't private faith, he says. You're contending, you're striving.
You're in mortal combat. The word was used for gladiators
going arm in arm and fighting against other people. You
are pending for the truth, the doctrine, the reality that
Jesus is God, that the second person of the Trinity

(14:09):
became a man, that he rose from the dead, these narrow,
absolute crazy claims based on his resurrection and his teaching.
That he said the Word of God is true, that
the Old Testament is true, that what I have shared
with you, Paul saying what was written in the Prophets,

(14:30):
the Law, and the Psalms, and then predicting what the
New Testament writers. He's saying, I want you to contend
to battle for the faith. And then third, he says,
don't be frightened, do it without being frightened. The word
here was a word used for a noise or something

(14:52):
that would spook horses and they would stampede. He says,
don't let persecution, don't let what your boss thinks, don't
let what's politically correct, don't want what everyone says, don't
let labels that people are giving you in the twenty
first century. Don't let it frighten you to where you
shrink back and become sort of the secret agent Christian.

(15:12):
He said, eternity is on the line, people's lives, people's souls.
People don't have to believe the right thing, but the
consequences and the pain of what happens when people turn
away from God are devastating. And so he says, those
are the three ways that you'll know that you're standing firm,
that you're living the life, that you have a consistent conduct.

(15:34):
And then he says, when you do that, it'll be
a sign. Literally, it's a token. It'll be a proof.
And after I explain these, I'll tell you why it's
a sign and how it demonstrates the future of those
who oppose you, and how it also demonstrates your future
because of your commitment in boldness. Let's go through these
three words. It says, stand firm, literally, don't give up.

(15:58):
Don't give up. Anybody here ever get discouraged and feel like,
I mean, I don't have any biblical grounds, but the
world says you shouldn't be this unhappy in this marriage
this long. I think I'll give up. All the other
salespeople are patting their reports. I'm going to give up.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
You know.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
I know I should take a stand here in the
hospital about this issue about life, but I might lose
my job, and I'm afraid. I think I'll give up.
I know what the Bible says about sexual purity and
all the stuff that's happening in the world, but you know,
psychology has come a long way, and I can't imagine
that Jesus would really expect us to have sexual purity

(16:40):
and not live together. And I mean, I mean, how
bad can it be. I look at a few pictures
now and maybe more then, and you know everybody does it.
And I know my finances won't really reflect my heart,
but you know, there's a lot of pressure, and there's
financial man's and life is really hard, and I mean,

(17:02):
God certainly can't expect me to give back, I mean
the very first and best, I mean ten percent. I
can't even live on what I'm going now. So what
we have is a church that is in danger of
shrinking back and giving up on what they believe, both
corporately and giving up individually. You got to hang tough

(17:27):
in tough times. It's in the difficulty, It's in the pain.
You have to lean in when it's hard. At the
end of the day, it always revolves around this one issue.
Do you believe and trust God? Do you believe in
trust God enough that if you take a stand that
even if you get fired, God can get you another job.
Are you willing to buy faith, set some boundaries and

(17:49):
say I'm going to have consistent conduct. I'm going to
live by God's grace and by his power in the
community of people like a Christian. Because see, when you
do that, that's when you're light. That's when we're light,
That's when we're salt. That's when we make a difference.
The conclusion of the secular world today is there is

(18:09):
not a Nichols Worth the difference between the average Christian
and the average non Christian. And they see how most
of us live and where our priorities are and our
behavior and our morality and basically are saying why should
I trust in your Jesus? I mean, that's harsh, but
that's the lay of the land.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
This is living on the edge with Chip Ingram. And
you've been listening to part one of Chip's message understanding
the Power of Expectations from our series I Choose Joy.
Chip will be back shortly to share some helpful application
for us to think about. How do people know you're
a Christian? What is it that sets you apart and
causes others to say I want to be like them? Well,

(18:52):
through Chip's study in Philippians Chapter one, he reveals the
supernatural work of joy in a Christian's life that intrigues
them around us discover how joy can affirm your purpose,
energize your expectations, and renew hope in your life. If
you've missed any part of this series or want to
share one of these messages with a friend, check out

(19:12):
the Chip Ingram map. Well, Chips joined me in studio now,
and Chip, you know, right at the end of the message,
you said, the conclusion of the secular world today is
that there's not a Nichols worth of difference between the
average Christian and the average non Christian. I'll take a
minute and explain why people think that.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
I'd be glad to Dave. We've got millions of people
going to church, going through the motions, many of them
sincere but ignorant about the Gospel about truth. Their lives
don't change. We have a whole generation of young people
saying you can have your Jesus and your Churchianity and
I'm out of here because they don't see reality. And

(19:52):
living on the edge has been called to declare war
on religious activity that doesn't align with the Jesus of
the New Testament. But we can't do it without you.
I grew up in that environment and I turned away
from God, and I just praise God that he brought
people into my life that clearly explained the Gospel. But

(20:14):
as importantly, they lived it out, and they lived it
out in real life and loved me and cared for me,
and they were holy and they weren't weird. God longs
to do that in our day, and the message of
living on the Edge is helping Christians live like Christians.
We do it through teaching, We create resources, but it

(20:34):
requires a team and for us to do it moving
toward the future, as God has opened more and more doors.
I simply tell you I need your help. Would you
prayerfully consider partnering with us today and kind of move
that good intention you thought about it I ought to
help them out. Yeah, I already decided in my head
I would. But the fact is you haven't acted on

(20:55):
it yet. Act on it today. Let's make a difference.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Great challenge, Chip, So if you believe God is calling
you to join us and helping Christians live like Christians,
now's a great time to become a financial partner because
during our midyear match, every gift we receive until midnight
on June thirtieth will be doubled dollar for dollar. To
send a gift, call us at triple eight three three
three six zero zero three, or go to Living on

(21:22):
the Edge dot org. That's triple eight three three three
six zero zero three, or visit Living on the Edge
dot org app listeners tap donate well with that? Here
again is Chip.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
As we wrap up today's teaching, I'm not sure that
there is a portion of this entire series that has
more real application to today's believers than this section, because
I think that over time more and more, especially for
those of us that live in the United States and
have a Western mindset and have been bombarded literally by

(21:59):
years and years and years of the prosperity Gospel, we
just unconsciously and sometimes very consciously expect if we do
certain things, we pray, we live a good life, we're
generous with people, you know, we give our money, that
God literally has made a commitment that our life is
going to work out great, that we're going to be happy,

(22:20):
that our families are going to be super that our
kids are going to turn out right. That if we're single,
we're going to get married. That if we're generous with
our money, we're going to be financially well off. On
and on and on it goes. And yet the Bible
talks about you have been called for this purpose, not
only to believe in Him but also to suffer for

(22:40):
his sake. And the reality of history is those twelve
disciples were very faithful, and they did exactly God's will,
and yet eleven of them were martyred, and one got
stuck on a rock to write the Book of Revelation.
I want you to know that if your expectations are
not in alignment with what the Bible actually teaches.

Speaker 3 (23:03):
It's so easy to get disillusioned with God. And the
fact is you're disillusioned with a promise that he never made.
Let me encourage you to open your hands. And if
you feel disappointed with God, or angry at God, or
resentful or somehow thinking I've done these certain things you

(23:23):
owe me, could you just pause and say, Lord, you
have given me life, You've prepared heaven. You didn't promise
to take away problems. You promised to be with me
through them. God, I want to thank you, and would
you help me? Would you wash over my heart and
my mind? Would you realign my expectations with your word?

(23:46):
And what I will tell you that will change your attitude.
You have a heavenly father who sees you as his
precious child, but that doesn't mean that everything's going to
be great or easy when you're most obedient. It means
He's a good God in the midst of a fallen
world that will never leave you or forsake you.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
Hang tough well as we close. Do you want to
deepen your connection to God amid your busy life, then
take chip with you by subscribing to our daily podcast
with a few simple taps on your phone, you can
access the full length versions of our latest series, and
if you're always on the go, download a handful and
listen to him at your own pace. Let us help

(24:29):
you grow your faith. Search for Living on the Edge
with Chip Ingram today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever
you listen to podcasts. Listen the next time as Chip
wraps up our series, I Choose Joy. Until then, this
is Dave Druy saying thanks for joining us for this
edition of Living on the Edge.