Date: October 17th, 2010
Speaker: Pastor Kevin Snyder
Title: Success
Text: Joshua 5 & 6
Introduction
On the screen is a sample of people who we tend to see as successful. One’s perhaps you recognise and ones that you don’t. That may speak to the realm you are in or answer the question how you define success.
I think everyone wants to be a success.
But defining what is successful is hard and often differs from person to person. We are caught in between the model of success our world puts before us – relates it to power, wealth & fame – and the biblical view which lifts up the servant as the greatest in the kingdom of God.
Caught between someone who has it all and someone who has given all for others and made a difference.
- Some see success as making it to the top, but often looks to them like failure if in the process they lost their marriage and families.
- Some see success in “me” terms what I have accomplished whereas others see it terms of others – what good they did for others
Well, as I reflected on this I reduced success down to one basic component. Generically I think of success as “conquering”
A successful person is one who has conquered something.
a. A successful person can also be someone who has conquered something about them
– a physical disability
- a tough upbringing
b. Sometimes the thing conquered is within them:
- a fear,
- a self-consciousness,
- an anxiety,
- a negative habit,
- personality trait,
- a lifestyle.
Something that has limited them and kept them hostage.
We perhaps can all think of people who conquered habits, and battles within.
Those are success stories.
c. A successful person can also be someone who conquered something outside of them
In this area we think of military leaders, business leaders, political leaders, (Mandela), social leaders (Martin Luther King,
- Greg Mortenson – given his life to build schools in Afghanistan
- LIG – man who built the Olympic village against some pretty insurmountable odds…successful
- Can be spiritual people who have helped push back the darkness
- People who at the end of their life have finished the race, kept the faith…
- People who have remained married to each other for 50+ years & still love each other.
We could probably go on & on. But a successful person is one who has conquered something rather than being conquered by it.
Transition
Well, in Joshua 5 & 6 we are given what I have come to think the greatest lessons on conquering…on becoming successful.
Lessons that can help us all to become better leaders, more successful in whatever arena we are thinking of.
The Story:
We have 3 min stories in this text which each give a lesson on success biblical style.
Part 1: Consecration Story (Joshua 5: 1 – 12)
Consecration = an act where a person is set apart for a sacred cause or purpose.
It is an act of commitment to God.
Uncomfortable Story of circumcision.
Joshua is instructed to have all the men circumcised. Apparently they weren’t when in the wilderness. And this is the first step. And so you have a mass circumcision event.
Circumcision was a sign of God’s covenant with the OT Hebrews.
Gen 17:10 -
10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
Why God chose that part of the body to make the mark I’m not sure…couldn’t he have said a tattoo of a cross on the arm or something.
Only one person I have heard has ever ventured to answer why that part of the body.
- Intimate, private part, very personal part – God has that part of us he has us all. Went on to say that given most of the Canaanites gods were fertility gods – enlarged sex organs – reminder to people that God has ownership even over this arena of your life.
We do know from other Scriptures that there was a deeper more spiritual meaning attached to this ritual.
Deut 30:6 - The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
Anyone willing to do that as an adult also had a spiritual motivation. They were consecrating themselves to God. Offering themselves for his use.
Ever notice God has never made it easy to follow him…it’s costly.
New Testament – deny self, pick up cross and follow me.
Never easy
i.e.
Think how many of you would consider serving on the MLT or being a Kid’s Place teacher or youth worker if that was the pre-requisite?
Your reaction tells you that these guys were fully consecrated to God…especially when you think of the knives – Make flint knives – not clean stainless scalpels – but knives out of rock…
This hurts thinking about it.
Point
This story points to a surrender of our goals and ambitions to God. The deepest part of us.
It is a giving of ourselves 1st to God. Presenting ourselves on the altar as Romans 12 says “as living sacrifices….”
You see, the 1st step wasn’t committing to any goal or ambition, it was giving all of themselves to God. Talk about significance of that in few minutes.
Part 2: Joshua’s Surrender Story
In verse 13 we read an interesting encounter:
13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord?a? have for his servant?”
15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Joshua surrenders control, leadership to the “Commander of the Lord’s Army.”
He bends a knee.
- If the 1st story is a surrender of our heart goals & ambitions, the end.
- This is a story of surrendering of the means…how we get there.
- For an action to be truly Christian the motive, means, and end all need to be Christian.
- Not only did they surrender their motives and the end goal to God, but here we see Joshua surrender the means as well.
In public Joshua was the leader, but here in private we discover he was a servant.
Leadership from this point on was nothing more than good followership. He didn’t have to figure out all the strategy, all the logistics, know everything…God did. His job was to bend a knee and listen and follow.
His mode of everyday leadership was discover what God was saying and then communicate that to the people. God gave the strategies, the how’s of conquering the land.
The mantle of leadership, the responsibility is lifted off of him and he becomes merely the spokesman for the Commander. He just acts on the Generals commands.
Part 3: Faith Story
This is the obedience, courage, action step.
Joshua’s submission and surrender to the Commander of the Lord’s army is very quickly tested. He is told what to do to conquer Jericho.
- Told to march around Jericho 6x and on 7th day – march 7x
- On 14th time around – blow trumpets and give shout of faith and walls will come tumbling down.
Can you imagine Joshua’s huddle with his military leaders. They all come prepared with notepads and pens to hear Joshua’s strategy on how they are going to conquer this city.
“Okay guys here is the plan….
Step 1: we are going to march around the city….no one talk, no complaining…
Step 2: We are going to walk around the city
Step 3: We are going to walk around the city
Guys starting to nod off
Step 12 – going to walk around the city.
I wonder if Joshua told them the whole story upfront…probably have locked him up…created real questions about his leadership ability.
It would seem he told them simply the strategy for the day.
- “Today we are going to walk around the city. No yelling, no complaining just circle it once.
- Significance to 7 & 14. 7 was perfect number….God’s number. Another indication this was God’s battle not theirs.
Nothing happens until 14th round – no cracking in the walls, no sign of imminent change…nothing until they shout and the walls collapse.
15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted?b? to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute?c? and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”
20 When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city.
Interesting, not until 14th time.
- Wonder if we don’t see God’s activity sometimes because we quit too early. Don’t see anything happening so we quit…don’t see it through to the end. It takes faith, perseverance to keep going to the end.
This story displays Proverbs 3:5,6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Application
If success is conquering something in life, overcoming our Jericho….what are the lessons we can glean from this passage.
In these stories we see the road to success was really one of surrender
- ends – motives and goals, ambitions
- means – do it God’s way not our way
- our reputation – willing to lean on the Lord and not our own understanding.
That just is so much God’s way;
- Matt 10:39 – “Whoever finds his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Bill Hybels puts it this way in “Descending into Greatness”
“Lose your selfish ambition; I will honour you for loving others. Lose your addiction to things; I will provide for you if you seek me wholeheartedly. Lose your obsession to be in control; I will give you power as you follow Me. Lose your appetite for thrills; I will startle you with pleasures you could never have found on your own. Lose your life; I will give you eternity.”
But let’s get more specific
1. Success is preceded by Consecration
We learn from Joshua that conquering/success isn’t automatic, it’s conditional. We need to consecrate ourselves.
Difference between consecration & commitment.
- Commitment is a decision, a strength of the will, to do something. I’m committed to a goal.
- Consecration is more vertical. It is a giving ourselves to God first.
i.e.
Addiction & 12 Steps
1st step is not saying “I’m committed to stop drinking.”
You need that…it’s good.
But 1st step is “I admit I am powerless to overcome my addiction and surrender myself to God…”
It moves the source of strength.
True success in life comes with saying “I give myself completely to God. I offer myself. I want to be all he wants me to be.
You see, there are people who are dedicated. Dedicated to their own goals. Dedicated to what they want. Determined to get to their goal. Never laid those things on the altar. Never settled the ambition or end issue.
Result:
Our commitment to God depends on his ability to help us get to our end. God becomes a means, a method.
- If following God is way to wealth…I want wealth so I follow God.
- If following God is way to marriage success… then follow God until it does or doesn’t get better and then quit.
i.e.
young wife – all upset
“I heard that you only married me because my daddy gave you money.”
Not true – I didn’t care who gave me the money.”
In Acts we read a story of Simon the Sorcerer. It says he became a believer. And when he saw the Holy Spirit given to people by the laying on of hands, he wanted that. It says he offered money to get this ability.
Question:
Did Simon want the Spirit or was his heart still set on power and he saw the Spirit as the means?
You see, there are a lot of people who want what God gives - not God himself.
That is not a consecrated heart.
True success in Heaven’s eyes starts with a consecrated heart…a heart given to God and what he wants in our lives.
Examples:
A. Sometimes that means a radical change.
i.e.
Friend – living a successful life…moving up in career….6 figure salary.
But went overseas & saw some needs and God started speaking to him.
Gave it all up,set himself apart for God’s exclusive purpose, and is seeking what that will be
B. Sometimes that is surrendering our goals and mission
LIG luncheon – Christian guy whose company built Olympic village in Vancouver. Family & business goal is : - “to work together, have some fun, to care for the needs of our family, and better our community.”
C. Personal
i.e.
Time in ministry when God confronted me. I wanted a big church. I wanted a respected church. I wanted to be admired , asked to share the secrets….wasn’t happening like I envisioned and was kind of ticked with God… Time when God had to deal with that.
Because I wasn’t doing this for God. I was doing it for me.
Many times I have had to go back and ask why? And surrender those things on the altar to God.
The question of consecration gets at the “Why?” Why am I doing what I’m doing?
- Does it have a godly goal? Have I surrendered that to him?
Hard thing….as with circumcision the act of consecration is never an easy thing. It is the essential battle of the heart.
We too need a circumcision of the heart.
Remember Deut 30:6
The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
2. Follow
This is probably the greatest leadership principle I have learned.
Maxwell has some 25 or 17 laws… I have 1.
Good leaders are good followers.
They are leaders in public , but servants/followers in private.
Sometimes we shy away from leadership because we don’t want the responsibility. We aren’t sure we can carry the load.
- Sometimes we are afraid of the responsibility of being a father or mother…not sure we can do it well.
- Sometimes we are afraid of marriage – not sure can be a good husband or wife.
- Sometimes we shy away from positions of leadership because we fear the responsibility.
- Sometimes in business we are scared. We feel the weight of responsibility. We feel people are waiting on us to make some decisions.
How does this picture change the image?
- You don’t have to know all the answers.
- You don’t have to know how to strategize every battle.
- You don’t have to figure out how to feed everyone.
- You don’t have to know it all.
- You don’t have to shoulder all the responsibility
What you need to do is be humble enough, to go God, bend a knee, and say :
“Help me. Guide me. Show me. Teach me.”
i.e.
Confession
Pastor of church & as led the Center downtown…sometimes I get a little stressed. I think I have to have it all laid out.
I need to have answers for all the problems in the church.
I have to know the path for the center.
This week I was stressed over this message – I was sick & feeling lousy & felt like “I” have to come up with something
I have a tendency to take on my shoulders a lot more than God intends. I can tend to think it rests on me or on us as leadership…and in this day and age…pretty daunting task.
And I have to come back regularly to this lesson of Joshua. A good leader is simply a good follower. The responsibility is really on the Commander I am just his servant. Often I would be better if I worked less and prayed more.
I wonder if a lot of our stress, fear of responsibility, sense of pressure is product of forgetting this picture in the various arenas of our lives.
Success rests on us learning to follow the leader…the Head of the church…the Commander of the Lord’s army.
3. Don’t let others hold you back
Joshua had to risk looking foolish. Logic said this strategy of marching around Jericho is goofy.
Sometimes the biggest limiting factor in our success is our ego…our reputation. We fear doing what God wants for fear of what others think. We let others opinions control us.
History is full of examples of accomplishments that would never have happened if people listed
i.e.
- The Wright brothers would have given up on flight.
- Henry Ford would have given up on the automobile.
- We never would have a person in space.
- Do you think that guy who played piano with his feet was criticized?
Spiritually you will never make steps if you listen to the critics…because it looks goofy. Faith often doesn’t look logical.
And you need to ask:
Who am I listening to in regards to my walk with God?
Who is determining my level of spiritual commitment?
- friends at school or work?
- Family members
- Media?
If you are going to become all God has in mind for you - you can’t let your fear of people’s opinions hold you back.
Wrap-Up
- Consecrate your heart – let him circumcise your heart of all the selfish goals and ambitions so that you love him with all your heart and soul. Surrender all to him.
- Confess taking to much on your shoulders and commit to being a more listening follower. Surrender your strategies and means to him.
- Ask for courage – courage to step out and be a sold-out Christ-follower. Resolve to not let people hold you back any longer.
As you prayer, make these words your prayer
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The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ge 17:10-14
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Dt 30:5-6
a Or lord
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Jos 5:13-15
bThe Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 18 and 21.
c Or possibly innkeeper ; also in verses 22 and 25
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Jos 6:15-20
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Dt 30:6