Today, we talk about how to live out the Christian life.  Is it practical or is it spiritual?  How, as disciples of Jesus, do we take on the day?  We ask, as a Christian, how do you live with a successful mindset?   I want to start with two stories.  Story 1.  A man came to Church, and he looked tired.  He shared with me why he looked tired.  His wife left him.  His daughter wouldn’t talk to him.  His health was failing him.  Because of his health, he was losing his job and losing his house.  His story was just awful.  As he shared this story, it sounded like he was all alone.  This man was walking through life and was absolutely beaten up and worn down.  I prayed for him, and he left.

Later, I was surprised to meet his mom and brother.  I thought he was all alone.  They cared deeply for this man and shared that their family had reached out to him to love and support him.  They offered him a place to stay.  They offered him help to clean up his house and property.  They challenged him to reach out to his wife and make things right.

The man comes back to Church.  I asked him about his family.  He said they did offer him a place to stay but it wasn’t where he wanted to be.  He said they did offer to help with the house and property, but he didn’t want anyone touching his stuff.  He said they did challenge him to reach out to his wife but he didn’t want to.

The question is, what do you do in this moment?  Is this a spiritual issue playing out or a practical issue playing out?  I tried to help him see that his life was collapsing around him and all he needed to do was make a few practical decisions to find relief.  He refused.  He wanted me to pray, and he expected God to change things.  Sadly, I need to report, it didn’t happen.

Story 2.  A young man called me because he was depressed.  We met and I discovered he was depressed often and even thought about suicide.  When I asked more questions and listened, he began to reveal some things about his past.  The people in his past wounded him and as a child he concluded, he didn’t matter.  Now as an adult, every time something negative happened in his life, he felt like it was too much for him.  He would slip back into those old feelings that he didn’t matter and become depressed and consider suicide.

The question is, what do you do in that moment?  Is this a spiritual issue playing out or a practical issue playing out?   We prayed together.  He began to forgive the people who delivered those wounds, and at that moment, God broke the depression in his life.

Is living as a disciple of Jesus spiritual or practical?  How do we live with a successful mindset?  You can hear two different messages on how to live out what it means to be a Christian.  And because these messages are different, they can be very confusing.  And to make it worse, both messages can be supported by scripture.  So which message is right?  Today we will talk about these two conflicting messages, we will turn to Proverbs to see what wisdom says.

Ready.  Two very confusing messages that are based in scripture.

Message one.  Do nothing.  Wait on God because God will take care of it.

The Holy One of Israel, says: Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved; in quietness and confidence is your strength; but you’ll have none of this. TLB Isaiah 30:15

Sounds like we need to wait on God and as we wait, God will do the work.  It can lead us to believe that we do nothing, God does everything.  What we need to do is pray and wait on God to move.  Why?  Because Christianity is spiritual, God will take care of it.  And because it’s spiritual, some people believe, my Christianity is not based on a choice I make, it’s based on God moving and doing things.

A person who believes that Christianity is 100% based on God moving and doing things probably won’t take responsibility for the things happening in their lives.  They may struggle to make the choices they need to make while at the same time, they will say, ‘I’m praying that God will give me the desire to… fill in the blank.’  It’s never their choices that lead to a life of struggle, it’s always up to God.  They would say, ‘My life reflects what God has allowed to happen, it’s not based on the choices I make.’

Church to this person probably is more emotional.  They probably are comfortable living in a repetitive way of sin-confess-sin-confess.  They struggle to make right choices while at the same time, they feel God’s grace on the weekends and feel better.  Then they repeat that every week.

If you talk to this person about making right choices, they will look at you like deer in headlights.  They don’t want to make any changes in their lives so they might hide behind, ‘it’s spiritual’.  They are comfortable blaming bad things happening on ‘spiritual warfare’ but never their poor choices.

Message one.  Do nothing.  Wait on God because God will take care of it.

Message two.  Do everything.  Work harder because you need to make it happen.

Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.  NCV 1 Corinthians 15:58

Sounds like we need to get busy serving the Church and all ministries in the world.  It can lead us to believe that we must make things happen.  We need to make plans and work hard.  Why?  Because Christianity is practical, you need to make it happen.  Because it’s practical, some believe, it’s not based on God moving, it’s based on our ability to get things done.

A person who believes that our relationship with God is 100% practical probably will be the person who appears to have it together.  They probably appear to live a life of order.  And because they live a life of order, they feel good about themselves and might find it easy to notice when others don’t.  Instead of showing mercy to people who are in pain, they think the simple solution is that they pull their lives together.

Church to this person is strategy, structure, success, programs, events, marketing, and activities.  Church is about what we can get done.  They define success as bigger… everything.  Bigger budgets, bigger attendance, bigger ministries, bigger activities, bigger impact, etc.  They are comfortable, always looking and comparing and competing with other churches.  They get excited when people from other churches attend their church not realizing, we are only attracting Christians not people who are far from God.

If you talk to this person about slowing down to develop a deep connection with God, they look at you like a deer in headlights.  They don’t want to slow down from all the events and activities.  If you ask them to do less, they will look at you and ask, ‘The things we are doing, don’t you think these things are good?’

Message two.  Do everything.  Work harder because you need to make it happen.

So which message is right?  To be a disciple of Jesus, which is the successful mindset?  Do nothing or do everything?  Is Christianity spiritual or practical?  What do you tend to believe?  Is your walk with God more spiritual or more practical?  How do you view Church?  Should we pray and fast more or should we have more programs and events?  How do you take on life?  Do you tend to wait on God?  Do you tend to get busy and try to take on life yourself?  Do you see it?  These messages can be confusing.

Let’s turn to Proverbs.

Do your best, prepare for the worst – then trust God to bring victory. MSG Proverbs 21:31

Scripture teaches us, it’s both.  Your walk with God is spiritual and it is practical.  It means that we must make wise choices while at the same time realizing, we are 100% dependent on God.  Notice what Proverbs says.  What is our role?  We make wise choices; we do our best and we prepare.  Who brings victory?  God does.  Just to be even more clear.  Does it say we do our least and live a lazy life?  No.  Does it say we can bring victory on our own strength?  No.

A recap of the first two stories and five more real stories.

The man whose life was collapsing around him.  It was a practical issue.  He needed to make a few changes and those changes would have saved him lots of pain.  However, for full healing, it was spiritual.  he needed to spiritually give his life to God and work on his heart condition.  He needed to experience God’s grace and forgiveness so he could ultimately give that to those around him.

The depressed young man.  It was a spiritual issue.  We needed the power of God and forgiveness to break the depression in his life.  However, for full healing, it was practical.  He needed to practically walk with God from that day forward to avoid falling back into depression.  I gave him the following verse to read daily, ten times a day if not fifty times a day.  2 Corinthians 5:21.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. NIV 2 Corinthians 5:21

Practically, he had to remind himself that because of what Jesus did, he was filled with the righteousness of God.  He had to daily replace that message sent to him as a child, ‘I don’t matter’ with the message, ‘I am filled with the righteousness of Jesus.’

Story 1.  I met a teenager.  In fact, his mom wanted us to meet.  That never goes well because the son had no interest in meeting me, but his mom was desperate.  This young man was a mess.  He was making so many bad choices but he was way too cool to listen to anyone.  He sits down and he couldn’t have been more irritated to be with me.  I began to ask him questions and he couldn’t have been more checked out.  I realized being a pastor wasn’t going to help him.  So, I told him I was going to talk to him like a bigger brother would talk to a younger brother who was making stupid decisions.

I said, “You know, I don’t get a commission if you go to heaven – right?  Whether you go to heaven or hell, that’s on you and I get paid the same.”  That seemed to wake him up a little.  I said, “Here’s the deal.  Your life is a mess, and you know it and if you want out of it, God can help you.  If you want to continue living like this, you can.  You are just going to make your life worse.”  Now call your mom and tell her our meeting is over.

What was happening?

People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, so why does God always get blamed? MSG Proverbs 19:3

The tone of that meeting changed, and he started to talk more.  Years later I saw him at a wedding and he was very grateful for the big brother wake-up call.

Story 2. A couple made an appointment.  They were angry with God because their start-up business was struggling.  As we met, I sensed that the husband was lying.  He wasn’t doing the hard work required to start a business.  I asked him directly, “Can you say with integrity that you have a plan and are aggressively following the plan to find customers?”  He looked down and admitted, “No.”

What was happening?

People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, so why does God always get blamed? MSG Proverbs 19:3

They weren’t doing their part well.  They were making choices that would naturally lead to business failure.  The good news was, they left my office, made a plan, and began to hold each other accountable.  The business then grew.  They made right choices, and God moved.

Story 3.  Divorce.  A couple made an appointment.  They were frustrated, hurt, and disappointed in the other spouse.  Completely defeated, they were looking for help.  We met and I listened.  I suggested a simple solution.  Get out a piece of paper.  List on that paper the three things your spouse can do for you that will bring you to life.  When finished, I said, switch papers.  Before you read the paper your spouse gave you, understand, that is the key to their heart.  You hold in your hand the thing that will change your marriage.  Now look at your spouse’s list and rearrange your life to make that list happen.

They looked at me like deer in headlights.  They began to stutter and talk about how hard that would be.  I said, “I’m not a counselor but if you can’t do that, chances are, your marriage is over, I can’t help you.”

What was happening?

People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, so why does God always get blamed? MSG Proverbs 19:3

They somehow wanted a marriage where they could do nothing while at the same time expecting the other to make all the changes.  Ridiculous.  They were making choices that would naturally lead to divorce.  Because of their choices, God couldn’t move in that marriage through forgiveness, love, and serving.

Story 4.  College student.  I was called one night because a young man was really stressed.  One of his friends was hit by a drunk driver and was killed.  This event shocked this young man and lead him to feelings of fear, lots of fear.  With so much fear, he struggled to sleep at night.

We met and I listened to him talk.  His fear, his questions, and his confusion were real.  I explained that this is the normal human experience when you realize you are not in control.  The only answer is to give your life to God and invite the power of the Holy Spirit to give peace.  Up to this point in his life, there was no real pain or loss.  All the bills were paid.  All vacations were wonderful.  College was going great.  Everything was like it should be.  Then something awful happened.  He was confronted with the reality of life, we are not in control.

What was happening?

Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death. MSG Hebrews 2:14-15

With his girlfriend, we all held hands, and he prayed.  He accepted God as His savior.  Asked God to forgive him of his sins.  Asked God to anoint him with the Holy Spirit.  From that day on, the fear, the questions, and the confusion was replaced with peace.

Story 5. Debt.  I preached one Sunday about God.  In that message, I talked about what it looked like to walk with God, wait on God, and experience a relationship with God.  Weeks later, after church, a couple explained how stressed out they were.  I asked what was happening.  They said they were drowning in debt and were praying that God would move.  Through the discussion, I realized they were praying that God would remove their debt while at the same time, not making any wise financial changes.

What was happening?

People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, so why does God always get blamed? MSG Proverbs 19:3

They weren’t doing their part well.  They were making choices that would naturally lead to financial ruin.  I immediately explained that when in debt, you must work and work hard to get out of debt as fast as possible.  If necessary, work two jobs.  If you practically got into this, you will practically need to get out of this.  Yes, God is there, but get busy.

What am I saying today?  There seem to be two messages that are opposite.  One says, do nothing, it’s spiritual.  The other says, do everything, it’s practical.  Here is what Proverbs says.

Do your best, prepare for the worst – then trust God to bring victory. MSG Proverbs 21:31

Both messages are true.  Both messages work together.  We are expected to do our best.  We prepare for the worst.  Then we live in 100% dependence on God.  And if you don’t see that, life and Christianity will be very confusing.  You will wonder, is being a Christian spiritual or practical?  Proverbs teaches, it’s both.  Your walk with God is spiritual.  Your walk with God is practical.

Questions we need to ask ourselves.

Am I honestly doing my best in life?  Do I take 100% ownership of the things I control?  Do I take ownership of my attitudes, or do I lazily allow my emotions to control me?  Do I take ownership of how I treat others, or do I lazily respond the way I want in the moment?  Do I take ownership of the negative thoughts and assumptions in my mind and take them to Jesus, or do I lazily allow them to stay in my mind?  Am I comfortable being stuck and not doing anything about it?  Am I comfortable making excuses instead of making right choices?  Am I comfortable blaming others for the way I am living?

Do I trust God?  Do I walk with God every day?  Do I pursue God?  Do I pursue God in the good times as much as the bad times?  Do I believe that God is with me in my worst moments?

If Jesus said He is with me, do I have an unusual amount of stress, anxiety, or fear?  Can I relax and enjoy today?  Can I relax and enjoy God?

Let’s close with this.  Your walk with God is spiritual.  Your walk with God is practical.